Cable Reel Stands Usable for Hoist Rope Replacement in Electric Rope Shovels

Abstract

An improved cable reel stand for rotational support of a cable reel comprising a spool and a length of cable wound thereon, which spool is carriable by an axle spanning axially through said spool. Two stanchions of the stands carry two respective axle cradles, of which on is neighboured by a brake selectively couplable to the axle by a coupling of non-circular profile that cooperates with non-circular internal profiles of the brake and the axle to provide rotational interlocking thereof. The axle cradles are roller cradles serving to self-align the axle into a properly seated position atop two adjacent cradle rollers, and are equipped with hold-downs for positive capture of the seated axle. The axle features a circumferential V-groove for mating with tapered cradle rollers at one of the axle cradles.

Claims

1. A cable reel stand for rotational support of a cable reel comprising a spool and a length of cable wound thereon, which spool is carriable by an axle spanning axially through said spool on a central axis thereof from a first side of said spool to an opposing second side thereof, said cable reel stand comprising: first and second stanchions spaced apart from one another for respective support thereatop of first and second end-regions of said axle situated axially outward of the spool at said first and second sides thereof to enable rotatable support of said spool between said first and second stanchions; first and second cradles mounted respectively atop the first and second stanchions for respective receipt of said first and second end-regions of said axle to support said axle in a position rotatably seated in said first and second cradles, thereby achieving said rotatable support of the spool between said first and second stanchions; and at an outer side of the first stanchion facing away from the second stanchion, and in a mounted position of proximate relation to the first cradle, a brake having a rotatably supported brake rotor and a brake caliper cooperatively associated therewith, of which said brake rotor is selectively couplable to the axle, when received in said first and second cradles, and when coupled to axle, and operable, under action of the brake caliper on said brake rotor, to impart a braking effect on rotation of the axle for tensioned unspooling of the cable from the reel during rotation thereof.

2. The cable reel stand of claim 1 wherein at least one of the cradles is a roller cradle comprising an adjacent pair of cradle rollers rotatable about parallel axes for rolling support of the axle of the cable reel atop said adjacent pair of cradle rollers at facing-together top quadrants thereof.

3. The cable reel stand of claim 2 wherein said roller cradle comprises a pair of angled axle guides sloping downwardly toward one another.

4. The cable reel stand of claim 2 wherein both of said cradles are roller cradles.

5. The cable reel stand of claim 1 wherein each cradle is equipped with an openable/closeable hold-down movable between an open position permitting loading of the axle onto the cradle, and a closed position capturing the axle once loaded onto the cradle, and lockable in said closed position.

6. The cable reel stand of claim 5 wherein said openable/closeable hold-downs comprise hold-down rollers thereon at positions overlying the axle when loaded on the cradle and captured by the hold-downs.

7. The cable reel stand of claim 5 wherein the openable/closeable hold-down of each cradle is adjustably mounted to enable fine tuning of the closed position for best conforming fit thereof with the axle in said closed position.

8. The cable reel stand of claim 1 further comprising a coupling pin, and wherein said brake rotor comprises an internal channel passing axially therethrough, through which said coupling pin is insertable into removable engagement with the axle at the first end region thereof, and said coupling pin is of non-circular outer-profile, at least at one or more engagement regions thereof that respectively engage one or both of the brake rotor and the axle at one or more non-circular inner profiles thereof in a fully inserted state of said coupling pin, whereby the non-circular outer profile of the coupling pin cooperates with the one or more non-circular inner profiles of said one or both of the brake rotor and the axle to prevent relative rotation between the coupling pin and said one or both of the brake rotor and the axle.

9. The cable reel stand of claim 8 in combination with the axle, wherein said one or both of the brake rotor and the axle comprises at least the axle.

10. The cable reel stand of claim 9 wherein the axle comprises an axle shaft, and an end-fitting installed on a first end of the axle shaft, and the non-circular inner profile of the axle at the first end region thereof is embodied by said end-fitting.

11. The cable reel stand of claim 10 wherein said end-fitting comprises an externally flanged collar comprising two external flanges and an unflanged area therebetween for supportive engagement of the unflanged area by the first cradle.

12. The cable reel stand of claim 8 wherein the second end region of the axle is characterized by absence of a flanged fitting thereon.

13. The cable reel stand of claim 8 wherein said one or both of the brake rotor and the axle comprises at least the brake rotor.

14. The cable reel stand of claim 1 wherein the brake rotor comprises a tubular brake shaft through which the internal channel axially extends, and a pair of support bearings are disposed on opposite sides of said rotor to rotatably support said tubular brake shaft.

15. The cable reel stand of claim 1 wherein the brake is adjustable in position thereon to enable optimal alignment of the brake with the cradles, and with the axle when received by said cradles.

16. The cable reel stand of claim 15 wherein said brake is adjustable in both vertical and horizontal directions to enable optimal alignment of the brake with the cradles, and with the axle when received by said cradles.

17. The cable reel stand of claim 1 in combination with the axle, wherein said first end region of the axle comprises two external flanges and an unflanged area therebetween for supportive engagement thereof by the first cradle.

18. The cable reel stand of claim 1 wherein at least one of the cradles comprises tapered rollers for rolling contact with the axle at a circumferentially V-grooved area thereof.

19. The cable reel stand of claim 1 in combination with the axle, wherein the second end region of the axle is characterized by absence of a flanged fitting thereon.

20. (canceled)

21. A cable reel support apparatus for support of a cable reel comprising a spool and a length of cable wound thereon, said support apparatus comprising: an axle on which said cable reel is carriable by installation of said axle through a central axial bore of said spool; a cable reel support stand comprising: first and second stanchions spaced apart from one another for respective support thereon of said axle thereof to enable rotatable support of said spool between said first and second stanchions; in mounted accompaniment to the first stanchion, a brake comprising a rotatably supported brake rotor and a brake caliper cooperatively associated therewith, of which said brake rotor is selectively couplable to the axle, when received and supported on first and second stanchions, and operable to impart a braking effect on rotation of the axle, when coupled to the brake rotor, under action of the brake caliper on said brake rotor, to impart a braking effect on rotation of the axle for tensioned unspooling of the cable from the reel during rotation thereof; and a coupling pin for coupling the brake rotor to the axle; wherein: the brake comprises an internal channel passing axially through the brake rotor, through which the coupling pin is insertable; the axle, at least at a first end thereof, has a hollow interior, at least part of which is characterized by a non-circular shape profile; the coupling pin, at least at an engagement region thereof that resides within the hollow interior of the axle in a fully inserted state of the coupling pin, has a non-circular outer profile that cooperates with the non-circular profile of the hollow interior of the axle to prevent relative rotation between the coupling pin and the axle.

22-30. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention, featuring skid-mounted pair of inventive cable reel stands for use in the mining industry to support two cable reels during replacement of two hoist ropes of an electric rope shovel.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the skid-mounted cable reel stands of FIG. 1 with the two cable reels installed thereon.

[0033] FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the skid-mounted cable reel stands of FIG. 2.

[0034] FIG. 4 is an isolated perspective view of one of the two cable reel stands of FIG. 1.

[0035] FIG. 5 is an isolated perspective view of an axle assembly from the cable reel stand of FIG. 4, on which the respective cable reel is rotatable when installed on the cable reel stand.

[0036] FIG. 6 is another perspective view of the axle assembly of FIG. 5 from an opposing end thereof.

[0037] FIG. 7 is an isolated perspective view of one of two axle cradles of the support stand of FIG. 4, with one side plate thereof omitted for illustrative purpose.

[0038] FIG. 8 is an isolated perspective view of a brake assembly of the support stand of FIG. 4 from an inner side thereof, in exploded accompaniment by a coupling used to couple the brake assembly to the axle assembly when the respective cable reel is installed on the cable reel stand.

[0039] FIG. 9 is another isolated perspective view of the brake assembly of FIG. 8 from an opposing outer side thereof.

[0040] FIG. 10 is an isolated perspective view of the other of the two axle cradles of the support stand of FIG. 4, again with one side plate thereof omitted for illustrative purpose, but this time the opposing side plate relative to that which is omitted in the axle cradle of FIG. 7.

[0041] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention, of similar general layout to the first embodiment, but with a number of improvements among different components thereof, and showing a cable reel installed on one of the two identical cable reel stands of this embodiment.

[0042] FIG. 12 is an isolated perspective view of one of the two cable reel stands of FIG. 1.

[0043] FIG. 13 is an isolated perspective view of an axle assembly from the cable reel stand of FIG. 12, on which the respective cable reel is rotatable when installed on the cable reel stand.

[0044] FIG. 14 is an isolated perspective view of one of two axle cradles of the support stand of FIG. 12.

[0045] FIG. 15 is an isolated perspective view of a brake assembly of the cable reel stand of FIG. 12 from an outer side thereof, and with the coupling pin present in an inserted state thereof for rotationally coupling the brake to the axle assembly.

[0046] FIG. 16 is another isolated perspective view of the brake assembly of FIG. 15 from an opposing inner side thereof.

[0047] FIG. 17 is another isolated perspective view of the brake assembly of FIG. 16 from the inner side thereof, with select componentry removed for illustrative purpose.

[0048] FIG. 18 is an isolated perspective view of a stanchion and cable support shelf of the cable reel stand of FIG. 12.

[0049] FIG. 19 is a partial cross-sectional view of the support stand of FIG. 12, as taken along line A-A of FIG. 20 to reveal interna details of the brake assembly and the coupling thereof to the axle assembly via an inserted coupling pin.

[0050] FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of the skid-mounted cable reel stands of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] FIG. 1 shows a transportable skid 10 on which there is hosted a matching pair of support stands 12A, 12B each designed to rotatably support a respective cable reel 14A, 14B (see FIGS. 2 and 3) from which wire rope, or other cable, can be unwound, for example for the purpose of replacing the two hoist ropes of an electric rope shovel of a mining operation, though it will be appreciated that one or more novel cable reel stands of the present invention may also be used in any variety of applications where a reel stand is useful. The term cable is used herein in a general sense, that encompasses wire rope, but also any other cable that may likewise be stored in similarly spooled fashion. As used herein, a cable reel refers to the combination of a flanged spool 16 having a central drum 18 disposed between two circumferentially circular side flanges 20A, 20B, and a length of cable (not shown) wound circumferentially around the central drum 18 of the spool 18 in the confined area between the two side flanges 20A, 20B. The terms cable reel, spooled reel and reel may be used interchangeably herein to refer to either cable reel 14A, 14B. Likewise, the terms cable reel stand, reel stand and stand may be used interchangeably herein to refer to either cable reel stand 12A, 12B. In the illustrated embodiments, the two cable reel stands 12A, 12B are identical to one another, and the reference number 12 may be used to refer generically to either individual cable reel stand, and so any description made of one cable stand 12 may likewise be applied to the other stand, without explicit duplication of such description for both stands. Other embodiments of the present invention may include a single-stand embodiment featuring only a singular cable reel stand 12, whether skid-mounted or otherwise, as well multi-stand embodiments featuring more than two cable reel stands 12, again whether skid-mounted or otherwise, with the quantity of cable reel stands depending, for example, on particular applications or contexts for which such embodiments are intended or used.

[0052] The skid 10 in the illustrated embodiments is of rectangular shape in overhead plan view, which rectangular shape is an elongated one of greater measure in one of its two horizontal dimensions than the other. The directionality of this elongated horizontal dimension is referred to herein as a longitudinal direction in which a length of the skid is measured, while the directionality of a shorter horizontal width of the skid that is measured perpendicularly transverse to the longitudinal direction is referred to herein as a lateral direction. In the illustrated examples, the two cable reel stands 12A, 12B are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the skid 10, and each include a pair of A-frame stanchions 22A, 22B that are spaced apart from one another in the lateral direction of the skid 10. In another embodiment, not illustrated, the two cable reel stands may be reoriented ninety-degrees about respective vertical axes, such that the A-frame stanchions 22A, 22B of each cable reel stand 12 are instead spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the skid 10. Embodiments of the present invention may include one or more in which the cable reel stands 14 are repositionable between these two different orientations to enable reconfigurability of the skid 10 between different modes corresponding to different applications of use (for example, replacing the lift ropes of different types of electric rope shovels).

[0053] The skid 10 is a skeletal framework composed, at least primarily, of metal tubing, including a rectangular upper subframe 24, composed of longitudinally oriented side beams 26, laterally oriented end beams 28 spanning perpendicularly between the two side beams 26 at opposing ends thereof in FIG. 1 (and typically also in the embodiment of FIG. 11, despite omission therefrom), and laterally oriented cross beams 30 also spanning perpendicularly between the two side beams 26 at spaced intervals therealong. The illustrated examples each include four such cross beams 30, between a first pair of which the first cable reel stand 12A is hosted, and between a second pair of which the second cable reel stand 12B is hosted. Each A-frame stanchion 22A, 22B is mounted atop a longitudinally oriented support beam 32 spanning perpendicularly between the respective pair of cross beams 30. As shown, the end beams 28 may each have a rounded cross-sectional profile to allows closure of a sling therearound in a manner useful to pull or lift the skid 10 at the respective end thereof denoted by such end beam, while avoiding the comparatively sharp corner edges that would be embodied by square or rectangular end beams that would have wear-inducing impact on such a sling. As shown, all, or at least a subset, of the other tubular members 26, 30 may be made of square or rectangular metal tubing.

[0054] The skid 10 includes a pair of longitudinally oriented runners 32 each underlying a respective one of the side beams 26 of the upper subframe, which runners 32 may likewise be formed of square or rectangular tubing, but which are shorter than the two side beams 26 so that each runner 32 stops short of both ends of the skid 10, whose locations are denoted by the end beams 28 of the upper subframe. At each end of each runner 32, an inclined runner end 34 is affixed to and angles obliquely upward from the respective end of the runner 32 and makes affixed connection to the overlying side beam 26 of the upper subframe at or proximate the nearest end thereof. Angled braces 36 are fixed between each runner 32 and the overlying side beam 26 at spaced intervals therelong, in a truss like pattern, and reinforcement beams 38 lying parallel to the cross-beams 30 of the upper subframe span perpendicularly between the two runners 32 in fixed attachment thereto at longitudinally spaced apart intervals thereon in the FIG. 1 example. As shown, these reinforcement beams 38 may be large enough in cross-sectional profile to fill the entire elevational space between the runners 32 and the side beams 26 such that the side beams 26 rest atop the reinforcement beams 38. At or near the four corners of the rectangular upper subframe 24, the topside of the skid 10 features lift brackets 40 at which shackles can be connected to enable lifting of the skid 10 by any variety of capable lifting equipment, for example via one or more connected slings. The described structural composition of the skid 10 is merely one non-limiting example of a skid structure on which the support stands 14 may be mounted.

[0055] As referenced above, each cable reel stand 12 features a pair of A-frame stanchions 22A, 22B, of which stanchion 22A is referred to as the first stanchion of the given stand, and stanchion 22B is referred to as the second stanchion of the given stand. With reference to FIG. 3, it can be seen how when a cable reel 14 is installed on either cable reel stand 12, the spool 16 of the cable reel 14 resides in the space between the two stanchions 22A, 22B thereof, and so the side flange 20A of the spool 16 nearest to the first stanchion 22A is referred to as the first side flange 20A of the spool 16, and the other side flange 20B of the spool nearest to the second stanchion is referred to as the second side flange 20B of the spool 16. The side of the installed cable reel 14 on which the first stanchion 22A resides is referred to as the first side of the cable reel 14, and likewise the side of the installed cable reel 14 on which the second stanchion resides 22B is referred to as the second side of the cable reel 14.

[0056] Atop the first stanchion 22A of each cable reel stand 12 is mounted a first axle cradle 42A, and atop the second stanchion 22B of each cable reel stand 12 is mounted a second axle cradle 42B. The purpose of the axle cradles is to rotatably and cooperatively support an axle assembly 44 on which the respective cable reel 14 is rotatable when installed on the cable reel stand 12. The two axle cradles 42A, 42B of the support stand 12 share common componentry and construction to one another, though with one subtle difference in the present embodiment. First, description is made of the axle cradle componentry shared by the two axle cradles 42A, 42B. Each axle cradle (or simply cradle, for short) features a housing 46 having an outer side wall 48A and a matching inner side wall 48B, of which the inner side wall 48B refers to that which faces the other one of the cable stand's two axle cradles, and which therefor faces the nearest side flange 20A, 20B of the cable reel spool 16 when installed on the cable reel stand 12. Rotatably journaled on the two side walls 48A, 48B of the cradle housing 46 are a pair of adjacent cradle rollers 50 that are rotatable about parallel horizontal roller axes that lie perpendicular of the cradle housing side walls 48A, 48B, and thus parallel to the direction in which the two stanchions 22A, 22B are spaced apart from one another.

[0057] The two cradle rollers 50 are passive rollers lacking any means of driven rotation, and are of closely adjacent but non-touching relationship to one another, whereby the two adjacent rollers 50 can rotate in matching direction to one another. The two cradle housing side walls 48A, 48B feature matching arcuate cutouts 52 at the tops thereof, through which cutouts the outer peripheries of the two rollers 50 are exposed only over partial segments of two respective top quadrants thereof, of which these two top quadrants face one another, while the rest of each roller is instead concealed inside the cradle housing 46 between the side walls 48A, 48B thereof. On either side of these cutouts 52, the cradle housing 46 is capped off at the top thereof by an angled axle guide 54 residing above a respective one of the cradle rollers 50 in a position spanning between the housing side walls 48A, 48B and thereby covering the other top quadrant of the respective cradle roller 50. Each such axle guide 54 angles downwardly toward the far cradle roller and the other axle guide 54 that resides above that far cradle roller. At a distal end of each axle guide 54 furthest from the arcuate cutout 52 and the exposed top quadrants of the two cradle rollers 50, a supplemental axle guide 56 angles upwardly and outwardly at a steeper angle than the roller-covering axle guide 54. During installation of a cable reel 14 onto the cable reel stand 12, the four axle guides 54, 56 of each of the two axle cradles 42A, 42B serve to guide the axle assembly 44 toward the exposed top quadrants of the cradle rollers 50 at the arcuate cutouts 52 of the cradle housing side walls 48A, 48B so that the axle assembly 44 will come to rest atop the rollers 50 when the cable reel 14 is lowered into place onto the cable reel stand 12. Once the cable reel installation is completed, the axle assembly 44 can thus rotate smoothly atop the two pairs of cradle rollers 50, all of which rotate in the same direction, as the cable is pulled off the spool 16.

[0058] Each axle cradle 42A, 42B also includes an openable/closeable hold-down 58 that, in a closed position thereof, arches over arcuate cutouts 52 and the exposed top quadrants of the cradle rollers 50, and in doing so when a cable reel 14 is installed on the cable reel stand, likewise arches over the axle assembly 44 rotatably seated on those rollers 50, thus capturing the axle assembly 44 on the axle cradle 42A, 42B. For movement of this hold-down 58 between this axle-capturing closed position and an open position that instead permits loading and unloading of the axle assembly 44 to and from the axle cradle 42A, 42, the hold-down 58 has one end 58A thereof pivotally pinned to the cradle housing 46 through the two side walls 48A, 48B thereof off to one side of the central arcuate cutouts 52 and the exposed cradle roller quadrants. An opposing end 58B of the hold-down 58, in the closed position thereof, is selectively lockable to the cradle housing 46 at the other side of the central arcuate cutouts 52 and the exposed roller quadrants, for example via insertion of a locking pin 60 through alignable lock pin apertures in the hold-down 58 and the cradle housing side walls 48A, 48B.

[0059] In the illustrated embodiments, the hold-down 58 is a roller-equipped hold-down 58, with a pair of hold-down rollers 62 thereon at positions that, in the closed position of the hold-down 58, overlie the exposed top quadrants of the two cradle rollers 50 at spaced positions thereabove so to overlie the axle assembly 44 seated on the cradle rollers 50 when the cable reel is installed on the cable reel stand 12. The hold-down 58 of the illustrated embodiments is formed of two arch-shaped plates each pivotably coupled to a respective one of the cradle housing side walls 48A, 48B, and the hold-down rollers 62 are rotatably journaled to the two arch-shaped plates in the space therebetween overtop of the cradle housing 46. In the illustrated embodiments, the two axle cradles 42A, 42B of each cable reel stand 12 differ from one another only in that the cradle rollers 50 of the first axle cradle 42A are tapered rollers with center-peaked peripheries, while the cradle rollers 50 of the second axle cradle 42B are flat rollers having flat outer peripheries, for reasons that will become apparent further below.

[0060] The two respective axle assemblies 44 for the two identical cable reel stands 12A, 12B of the illustrated embodiments are likewise identical to one another, and one such axle assembly 44 of the present embodiment is shown in isolation in FIGS. 5 and 6. The axle assembly 44 features a round axle shaft 64, an externally double-flanged end-fitting 66 affixed to a first end of the axle shaft 64, an engagement bar 68 affixed to the axle shaft 64 adjacent to the end-fitting 66, and a lift bar 70 removably attachable to the axle shaft 64 at a location adjacent to a second end thereof of opposing relationship to the first end thereof at which the end-fitting 66 resides. The second end of the axle shaft 64 lacks an end fitting of the type found at the first end of the axle shaft 64, and in the present embodiment, this second end lacks an end fitting of any type. The end-fitting 66 at the first end of the axle shaft 64 serves to modify both an internal and external shape profile of the overall axle cooperatively defined by the axle shaft 64 and the end-fitting 66, versus the simple round exterior and round hollow interior of the cylindrical axle shaft 64 itself.

[0061] The end-fitting 66 is an externally flanged collar that imparts two external flanges 72 to the axle on either side of an unflanged area 74 of the end-fitting's exterior that resides between those external flanges 72. The hollow interior of the end-fitting 66, at least over part of an axial measure thereof unoccupied by the axle shaft 64, has a non-circular shape profile 76, and more particularly a square profile in the illustrated example. The unflanged area 74 between two external flanges 72, at least in the illustrated embodiment, is a grooved area containing a V-shaped circumferential groove 78 therein, for mating receipt of the tapered peripheries of the two rollers 50 of the first axle cradle 42A of the cable reel stand 12. Both the external flanges 72 and the V-shaped circumferential groove 78 of the end-fitting 66 denote deviation from the plainly cylindrical exterior of the axle shaft 64 itself, and the square or otherwise non-circular inner profile 76 of the end-fitting 66 denotes a deviation from the plainly circular interior of the hollow, cylindrically round axle shaft 64.

[0062] Like the engagement bars of the prior art referenced above, the engagement bar 68 lies perpendicularly transverse of the axle shaft 64 in diametric relation thereto, whereby two halves of the engagement bar 68 radiate in opposing radial directions from the shaft 64. Each such radiating half of the engagement bar 68 features a respective engagement stud 80 that projects from the engagement bar 68 at an inner side thereof from which the axle shaft 64 extends, and which, in this case, faces away from the end-fitting 66, so that these two engagement studs 80 can be engaged into a pair of holes in the first side flange 20A of the cable reel spool 16 during installation of the axle assembly 44 thereon, as described of the prior art. Unlike the engagement bars of the prior art however, the engagement bar 68 does not occupy the terminal end position of the axle assembly 44, which in this case is instead occupied by the end-fitting 66, and the engagement bar also lacks any coupling jaw on its outer side. As described further below, a braking assembly of the inventive cable reel stand 12 likewise lacks any such coupling jaw. The lifting bar 70 may be the same or similar to those of the prior art, having a clamp 82 by which is it removably attachable to the axle shaft 64 near the second end thereof that protrudes from the second side of the cable reel spool 16 when installed on the cable reel stand 12. As in the prior art, the lifting bar 70 need project only in a singular direction from the clamp 82, in matching radial directionality to a respective one of the two halves of the diametrically radiating engagement bar 68. This way, the lifting bar 70 and the corresponding half of the engagement bar 68 may be used to lift the cable reel on which the axle assembly 44 is installed, via attachment of shackles (not shown) to the engagement and lift bars 68, 70 at matching ends 84A, 84B thereof.

[0063] The installation of the axle assembly 44 onto the spool 16 of a respective cable reel 14 is similar to the axle installation process described above for the prior art, where, prior to attachment of the lift bar 70, the free second end of the axle shaft 64 furthest from the engagement bar 68 is inserted through a central axial bore of the spool 16 until the fixed engagement 68 bar is abutted against the first side flange 20A of the spool. Here, the engagement studs are received in two holes in that side flange 20A at radial distances from the shaft-receiving central axial bore of the spool 16. In matching fashion to the prior art, at the opposing second side of the spool, the detachable lift bar 70 is clamped to the shaft 64 at a protruding end region thereof outside the spool bore, in a position abutting the lift bar 70 against the second side flange 20B of the spool 16 in an orientation radiating from the shaft 64 in matching direction to the respective half of the engagement bar 68, so that the matching ends 84A, 84B of the two bars 68, 70 reside at matching positions around the circumferences of the spool's two side flanges 20A, 20B. In the present invention, unlike the prior art, no flanged collar is subsequently installed on this protruding region of the shaft 64 between the lift bar 70 and the free second end of the shaft 64. Instead, end-fitting 66 provides a permanently affixed flanged collar at the opposing first end of the shaft, at a location axially beyond the jawless engagement bar 68.

[0064] In addition to the first axle cradle 42A, the first stanchion 22A of each cable reel stand 12 also has a brake assembly 86 mounted thereto, particularly at an outer side of the first stanchion 22A of opposing relation to the second stanchion 22B and in closely neighbouring adjacency to the first axle cradle 42A. The brake assembly includes a rotatably supported brake rotor 88 whose rotational axis is parallel to those of the two cradle rollers 50 of the neighbouring first axle cradle 42A, and resides in a vertical plane that bisects the arcuate cutouts 52 of the axle cradles 42A, 42B and across which the axes of the two cradle rollers 50 of each cradle axle are symmetrically disposed. This rotational axis of the brake rotor 88 is thereby positioned to align with the central longitudinal axis of the axle shaft 64, and the coincident central axis of the end-fitting 66 thereon, when the axle assembly 44 is seated on the two axle cradles 42A, 42B. Ther rotational axis 88 of the brake rotor 88 is thus likewise coincident with the central axis of the spool 16 of the cable reel 14 when installed on the cable reel stand 12. The brake rotor 88 has an internal channel 89 passing axially therethrough, which internal channel is of the same non-circular internal shape profile as the end-fitting 66 of the axle assembly 44. The brake rotor 88, near an outer end thereof furthest from the first axle cradle 42A, has a circular brake disc flange 90 of radiating relationship to a cylindrical hub 92 of the brake rotor 88.

[0065] The brake rotor hub 92 is rotationally supported by a bearing installed in a rotor holder 94 that stands upright from a brake support shelf 96 mounted to the outer side of the first A-frame stanchion 22A. Also mounted on the brake support shelf 96 is a hydraulic brake caliper 98 positioned and operable to impart a hydraulically adjustable braking force to the brake disc flange 90 at a lower segment of its revolution around the brake rotor axis. As in the prior art, application of an adjustable braking force to the axle assembly 44 by the brake assembly 86 is used to impart an adjustable resistance to rotation of the cable reel 14 on the cable reel stand 12 during pulling of the cable therefrom, to impart tension to the pulled w cable.

[0066] In addition to the optional, but preferable, replacement of a manually operated braking member with a hydraulic caliper 98, the brake assembly 86 differs notably from that of the aforementioned prior art in the manner by which the brake rotor 88 and the axle assembly 44 are coupled together during installation of the cable reel 14 onto the cable reel stand 12. Instead of a coupling jaw on an inner end 88A of the brake rotor 88 for mating with a coupling jaw on the engagement bar 68 to rotationally lock the brake rotor 88 and the axle assembly 44 together, the inventive cable reel stand 12 instead employs a coupling pin 100 of non-circular, and in the illustrated example square, outer shape profile to provide this rotational interlock via cooperation of the coupling pin's non-circular outer shape profile with the correspondingly shaped non-circular inner profiles of the brake rotor 88 and the axle assembly's end-fitting 66.

[0067] The coupling pin 100 is passed through the profiled internal channel 89 of the brake rotor 88 from the outer end thereof, and onward through the brake rotor 88 into the profiled interior of the end-fitting 66 of the axle assembly 44, until a stop flange 102 at an outer end of the coupling pin 100 abuts the outer end 88B of the brake rotor 88. To lock the inserted coupling pin 100 in place, a lock pin 104 is engageable through a cross-bore in the coupling pin 100 near the stop flange 102 thereof via a pair of diametrically pin holes likewise provided in the brake rotor 88 near the outer end 88B thereof. Inside the brake rotor 88 and axle end-fitting 66, the square or otherwise non-circular outer profile of the coupling pin 100 engages the correspondingly square or otherwise non-circular inner profiles of the brake rotor 88 and axle end-fitting 66, whereby the axle assembly 44 and the brake rotor 88 rotate synchronously during rotation of the cable reel 14 installed on the cable reel stand 12.

[0068] Having described the design of the two cable reel support stands, attention is now turned to the process of installing a respective cable reel 14A, 14B on each of those cable reel support stands 12A, 12B, which process is identical for each thereof, and thus described only once. First, the axle assembly 44 is installed on the spool 16 of the cable reel 14 in the manner already discussed above, and a respective lift cable is attached to the top end 84A, 84B of each of the engagement bar 68 and the lift bar 70 to thereby connect the engagement and lift bars 68, 70 to the forks of a telehandler, or similarly suitable lift attachment points of another type of lift equipment. Using said telehandler or other lift equipment (the lifter, for short), the axle-equipped cable reel 14 is lifted up off the ground via the engagement and lift bars 68, 70 of the installed axle assembly 44, up to an elevation in which the axle shaft 64 and attached end fitting 66 of the installed axle assembly exceeds the cradle rollers 50 of the two axle cradles 42A, 42B, whose respective hold-downs 58 are both placed in their open positions to accommodate admission of the axle assembly 44 to the two axle cradles 42A, 42B.

[0069] The end-fitting 66 of the installed axle assembly, denoting an externally flanged first end region of the axle assembly, resides outside the first side flange 20A of the spool 16 on the same side thereof as the brake-equipped first stanchion 22A of the cable reel stand 22. Outside the second side flange 20B of the spool 16, the axle assembly is characterized by a second end region of the axle assembly embodied by a bare exposed end portion of the axle shaft 64, that lacks any such end-fitting or external flanges in the present embodiment. Using the lift equipment, the axle-equipped cable reel 14 is lowered into place under the visual guidance of an attending worker 200 on the skid 10, during which the unflanged and preferably V-grooved central area 74 of the end-fitting 66 is lowered into the first axle cradle 42A, and the bare axle shaft 64 at the unflanged second end region of the axle assembly is lowered into the second axle cradle 42B, during which any minor misalignment of the axle assembly in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the axle shaft 64 (i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the skid, in the illustrated example) is self-correcting, owing to the design of the two axle-cradles, where the axle guides 54, 56 and cradle rollers 50 all act to urge the axle assembly toward a properly centered and seated position on the facing-together top quadrants of the cradle rollers 50. Here, the preferably V-grooved area 74 of the end-fitting 66 rests atop the peaked peripheries of the tapered cradle rollers 50 of the first axle cradle 42A, and the bare axle shaft 64 rests atop the flat cradle rollers 50 of the second axle cradle 42B. This lowering and self-correcting alignment of the axle-equipped cable reel into place onto the cable reel stand 12 requires no particular positioning of the brake rotor 88, omits the level of alignment precision needed to properly align the coupling jaws of the engagement bars and brake rotors of the aforementioned prior art, and omits the installation and alignment of a removable flanged collar outside the lift bar 70 near the second end of the axle shaft, all of which reduces the need for manual interaction of the attending worker 200 with the cable reel 14 and cable reel stand 12, for improved worker safety.

[0070] Once the axle assembly 44 is properly seated in the axle cradles 42A, 42B, the hold-downs 58 thereof are closed, and locked in their closed positions, thus capturing the seated axle assembly 44 in place on the axle cradles 42A, 42B for further safety optimization. Next, the coupling pin 100 is inserted through the profiled internal channel 89 of the brake rotor 88 into the profiled interior 76 of the axle assembly end fitting 66, for which purpose which the hydraulic brake caliper 98 may be placed in a depressurized state to permit rotational adjustment of the brake rotor position to achieve properly aligned relationship between the profiled internal channel 89 thereof and the profiled interior 76 of the axle assembly end-fitting 66 to enable the full insertion of the coupling pin 100. Once fully inserted, the coupling pin 100 is locked in place to the brake rotor 88 via insertion of the locking pin 104. With the cable reel 14 now fully installed on the cable reel stand 12, the shackles and lift cables (not shown) can be removed from the engagement and lift bars 68, 70 of the axle assembly 44, and the desired brake force applied to the brake disc flange 90 of the brake rotor 80 through the hydraulic brake caliper 98.

[0071] While the illustrated embodiments use attachment of a separate end-fitting 66 to an end of a plainly cylindrical axle shaft 64 to impart a non-circular internal shape profile to the overall axle cooperatively formed by these two assembled components, other embodiments may instead feature a unitary single-piece axle with a profiled internal shape likewise capable of cooperating with the profiled internal channel of the brake rotor 88 to rotationally couple the brake rotor 88 and the axle assembly 44. It will also be appreciated that while the coupling pin 100 of the illustrated embodiment possesses its non-circular (square profile) over a substantial entirety of its overall length, varying from such non-circular uniformity only at tapered insertion tip 100A thereof to ease insertion of the coupling pin into the brake rotor's internal channel 89, it will be appreciated that an equally effective coupling pin 100 could have more cross-sectional variation, including possible circular profile, at any various fractions of its length, provided that engagement regions of the coupling pin at locations therealong that specifically occupy correspondingly profiled internal regions of the brake rotor and axle at least have non-circular profiles suitably shaped to prevent relative rotation between the coupling pin 100 and each of the brake rotor 88 and the axle.

[0072] FIGS. 11 through 17 illustrate second embodiment, which has much in common with the first embodiment, and is described, at least primarily, if not entirely, in terms of the features thereof that are of notably improved, or otherwise changed, in relation to the equivalent, or most closely comparable, componentry of the first illustrated embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 10. In any instance of no described difference, the present embodiment may be presumed identical with the other illustrated embodiment. As with the earlier embodiment, the two stands 12A, 12B are identical to another, either of which may therefore also be generally labeled as stand 12, as are the two axle assemblies 44, and so any description made of one may likewise be applied to the other, even if not explicitly duplicated in the interest of brevity. Among the componentry of each stand 12A, 12B, the two axle cradles 42A, 42B are substantially identical, differing only in the use of tapered rollers in the first axle cradle 42A, and flat rollers in the second axle cradle 42B. The second illustrated embodiment differs from the first, at least primarily, in modifications to the axle assembly 44, the axle cradles 42A, 42B and the brake assembly 86.

[0073] Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, each axle assembly 44 again features a round axle shaft 64, an externally double-flanged end-fitting 66 affixed to a first end of the axle shaft 64, an engagement bar 68 affixed to the axle shaft 64 adjacent to the end-fitting 66, and a lift bar 70 removably attachable to the axle shaft 64 at a location adjacent to a second end thereof of opposing relationship to the first end thereof at which the end-fitting 66 resides. As shown, the end fitting 66 in the present embodiment may be a multi-piece fitting, where the square (or otherwise straight-sided, or at least non-circular) internal profile 76 of the end fitting 66 is embodied in an annular bolt-on head 66A that defines and outer end of the end fitting 66, and is bolted to the outside flange 72 of a flanged sleeve body 66B that hosts both the two flanges 72, 74 and the V-groove 78 therebetween in which the cradle rollers 50 engage the end fitting 66 in rollable contact therewith. A square, or otherwise straight-sided, or at least non-circular, central hole of the bolt-on head 66A embodies the internally profiled end if the shaft assembly for mated receipt of the coupling pin 100 during coupling of the shaft assembly to the braking assembly.

[0074] In the present embodiment, the second end region of the axle shaft 64 that gets seated in the second axle cradle 42B is not a bare area of the axle shaft like in the first embodiment, and instead is equipped with a sleeve fitting 166 slid onto this second end region of the axle shaft 64 from the second end thereof. This sleeve fitting 166 is cylindrical in exterior shape, and lacks any radially protrusive flanges, unlike the flanged end fitting 66 at the first end of the axle shaft 64. So while not bare like in the first illustrated embodiment, the second end region of the axle shaft 64 in the present embodiment is still of unflanged character, in contrast the flanged end fitting 66 at the opposing first end region of the axle shaft 64.

[0075] In the present embodiment, it is this cylindrical sleeve fitting 166 that rides on the cradle rollers of the second axle cradle 42B, and atop which the two hold-down rollers 62 of the associated hold-down 58 ride in capturing relation to the axle assembly 44 to prevent inadvertent ejection thereof from the axle cradle 42B. In the illustrated example, the sleeve fitting 166 is welded, or otherwise affixed, to the lift bar 70 and an associated half of the lift bar clamp 82, whereby the sleeve fitting 166 and the lift bar 70 are installed on the axle shaft 64 together as a singular unit in a singular installation step, in which they are both locked in place on the axle shaft 64 through shared use of the lift bar clamp 82. So while this embodiment does include installation of both a lift bar 70 and a fitting 166 onto the axle shaft 64 at the second end region thereof (where both a lift bar and flanged collar are installed in the prior art), they fit on the axle shaft together as a singular unit, and the unflanged cylindrical sleeve fitting 166 requires no fine tuning of its installed position in precise alignment to the axle cradle 42B, whose cradle rollers can engage any part of the cylindrical exterior of the unflanged sleeve fitting 166.

[0076] FIG. 14 shows the first axle cradle 42A of the present embodiment, which lacks the dedicated axle guide pieces 54, 56 of the first illustrated embodiment, in instead relies on four downwardly sloped top edges 54 of the two side walls 48A, 48B of the cradle housing 46, each of which possesses a respective pair of such sloped top edges 54 that reside on opposite sides of the arcuate cutout 52 of that side wall, and which sloped top edges 54 slope downwardly toward the cutout 52 in convergent relation to one another. Accordingly, during lowering of the axle assembly 44 into place, landing thereof onto either pair of sloped top edges 54 on either side of the arcuate cutouts 52 will gravitationally encourage the axle assembly 44 into place onto the facing-together top inside quadrants of the cradle rollers 50 exposed at the cutouts 52, as described of the functionality comparable axle guides 54 of the earlier illustrated embodiment.

[0077] As illustrated of the earlier embodiment, but not explicitly described, the hold-down 58 may be adjustably mounted in a way enabling fine tuning of the closed position thereof to ensure placement of the hold-down rollers 62 into contact with the axle assembly 44 when the hold-down 58 is closed, thus holding the axial assembly down into continuous reliable contact with the cradle rollers 50. In the illustrated embodiments, this adjustability is achieved by hosting of the pin-bore at which one end of the hold-down 58 is pinned to the cradle housing 46 in a movable pinning body 200 that is raisable and lowerable relative to static componentry (e.g. side walls 48A, 48B and base) of the cradle housing 46, for example by a screw adjuster 202. The pinning body 200 hosts a cylindrical pin-bore that penetrates horizontally therethrough in the same direction in which the side walls 48A, 48B of the cradle housing 46 are spaced apart. This pin-bore aligns with vertically elongated slots 204 in the two sidewalls 48A, 48B of the cradle housing 46, so that the location of the pin received through this pin-bore (lock pin 60 in the FIG. 7 example, or pivot pin 61 in the reversed FIG. 14 example) can be raised or lowered via operation of the screw adjuster 202, thereby adjusting the closed position of the hold-down 58.

[0078] A drive head 202A of the screw adjuster resides below a base 204 of the cradle housing 48, though which the screw shaft 204B of the screw adjuster 202 passes upwardly to connect to the movable pinning body 200 above the base 204 of the cradle housing 48. The base 204 of the cradle housing 204 is a double layered base, composed of a bottom base plate 204A affixed atop the respective A-frame stanchion 22A, 22B of the reel stand 12, and a top base plate 204B seated atop the bottom base plate 204A. One of the cradle base plates 204A, 204B, particularly the bottom base plate 204A in the illustrated example, has elongated bolting slots 206A therein (see FIG. 18) for bolted fastening of the top base plate 204B to the bottom base plate 204A through the bolting slots 206A therein and a set of aligned non-elongated bolt holes 206B in the top base plate 204B. The bolting slots 206A are elongated in the longitudinal direction of the skid, so that when the axle cradle mounting bolts (not shown) are loosened, the position of the top base plate 204B (to which the sidewalls 48A, 48B of the cradle housing 46 are welded or otherwise affixed) can be horizontally slid, longitudinally back and forth, on the bottom base plate 204A to best align the axle cradles 42A, 42B with one another, whereupon the bolts are retightened to lock adjusted axle cradle in place in this aligned position.

[0079] FIGS. 15 through 17 illustrate the brake assembly 86, which again features a rotatably supported brake rotor 88 and associated hydraulic caliper 98 positioned and operable to impart a hydraulically adjustable braking force to a brake disc flange 90 of the brake rotor 88. In this embodiment, the brake rotor 88 is more robustly supported for optimal stability and alignment with the axle cradles 42A, 42B, and the axle assembly 44 when received therein. This embodiment sees replacement of the singular rotor holder of the earlier embodiment on one side of the rotor with a pair of pillow block bearings 208A, 208B disposed on opposite sides of the rotor 88.

[0080] In this embodiment, the rotor comprises a cylindrical and tubular brake shaft 210 to which the brake disc flange 90 is rotationally locked, and which brake shaft 210 is journaled, on opposite sides of the brake disc flange 90, in the two pillow block bearings 208A, 208B. In the illustrated example, the disc brake flange 90 is removably hosted on the brake shaft 210, which brake shaft 210 is composed of two stub shafts 212A, 212B residing on opposite sides of the brake disc flange 90. Each stub shaft 212A, 212b hosts a respective bolting flange 214A, 214B fixed at a disc-holding end of the stub shaft nearest to the brake disc flange 90. Here, an annular inner web of the brake disc flange 90, which surrounds a central hole of the brake disc flange 90, is sandwiched between the two bolting flanges 214A, 214B, which bolting flanges 214A, 214B are bolted together through a set of bolts provided in the annular inner web of the disc brake flange 90. As visually revealed of one bolting flange in FIG. 17, each bolting flange 214A, 214B of the brake shaft 210 has an annular recess 216 in a disc-opposing face thereof in which the disc-adjacent end of the respective stub shaft 212A, 212B is received and welded in place.

[0081] Each bolting flange 214A, 214B, at a central position thereon surrounded by the annular recess 216, has a square-shaped hole 218 therein, whereby the two square holes 218 of these bolting flanges 214A, 214B define the straight-sided internal profile 89 of the brake rotor 88 for engagement by the straight-sided exterior profile of the coupling pin 100 that is responsible for rotational coupling of the brake rotor 88 to the axle assembly 44 via insertion of this coupling pin 100 into the straight sided internal profile 76 of the end fitting 66 of the axle assembly 44. Outside the two bolted together bolting flanges 214A, 214B, the hollow interior of the two tubular stub shafts 212A, 212B of the brake shaft 210 define a circularly profiled remainder of the axial channel that passes axially through the assembled brake rotor 88 to accommodate the insertion of the coupling pin 100 into the end fitting 66 of the axle assembly 44. In this embodiment, the cross-bore 105 for hosting the lock pin 104 that locks the inserted coupling pin 100 in place is hosted in the outer one 212A of the two stub shafts that penetrates the outside pillow block bearing 208A furthest from the stanchion 22A. The lock pin cross-bore 105 resides near an outer end of this stub shaft 212A that resides outwardly beyond this outside pillow block bearing 208A.

[0082] The housings of the two pillow block bearings 208A, 208B are bolted down onto a base plate 220 of the brake assembly 86 of this embodiment, which in turn is bolted down onto the brake support shelf 96 of the stanchion 22A, through bolt holes 222 in the base plate 220. The base plate 220 also hosts a caliper support plate 224 that stands upright from the base plate 210 between the two pillow block bearings 208A, 208B to host the brake caliper 98. In the illustrated example, the housing of each pillow block bearing 208A, 208B has horizontally elongated bolting slots 226A therein that are elongated in the longitudinal direction of the skid 10 to enable longitudinally horizontal shifting of the pillow block bearings 208A, 208B relative to a set of aligned non-elongated bolt holes 226B (FIG. 17) in the base plate 220 of the brake assembly to fine tune the positions of the pillow blocks 208A, 208B (and the brake rotor 88 supported thereby) when brake mounting bolts (not shown) engaged in these bolting slots and holes are loosened. This enables proper horizontal alignment of the braking assembly 86 with the axle cradles 42A, 42B, and with the axle assembly 44 when hosted thereby, whereupon the brake mounting bolts are retightened to lock the brake assembly 86, and more particularly the pillow block bearings and rotor thereof, in this properly aligned position.

[0083] Which of these components hosts the elongated bolting slots and the non-elongated bolting holes may optionally be reversed from the setup described, as may the case of any cooperative pairing of bolting slots and bolting holes described herein for various adjustment purposes. Another example of such adjustable mounting of componentry to aid in proper alignment between the braking assembly 86, the axle cradles 42A, 42B and the axle assembly 44 is described now with reference to FIG. 18, which illustrates adjustable mounting of the brake support shelf 96 to the associated stanchion 22A. The brake support shelf 96 is fixed atop a shelf bracket 230, which in turn is adjustably mounted to the stanchion 22A at the outer side thereof in a manner enabling vertical adjustment of the shelf bracket position, thereby adjusting the shelf bracket height. The shelf bracket 230 is composed of two gussets 232 atop which the brake support shelf 96 is affixed, and a backing plate 234 to which the gussets 232 are affixed at an outer face of the backing plate 234 that faces away from the stanchion 22A. The angled A-frame pillars of the stanchion 22A have a mounting plate 236 affixed thereto at the outer side of the stanchion 22A to receive the backing plate 234 of the shelf bracket 230.

[0084] To enable the vertical adjustment of the shelf bracket 230, the backing plate 234 thereof features a set of vertically elongated bolting slots 238A therein, for example four such slots at four corner regions of the backing plate, with which bolting slots 238A a set of non-elongated bolting holes in the mounting plate 236 align for bolted attachment of the shelf bracket 230 to the mounting plate 236 of the stanchion 22A by a set of shelf mounting bolts (not shown). With the shelf mounting bolts in a loosened state, the bolting slots 238A allow vertical shifting of the shelf bracket 230 up or down to gain optimal alignment of the braking assembly 286, which is installed atop the brake support shelf 96, with the axle cradles 42A, 42B, and with the axle assembly 44 when received by said axle cradles. Once the brake support shelf 96 is adjusted to the appropriate height for such alignment, the shelf bracket bolts are retightened to fix the self bracket 230 and attached brake support shelf 96 at this properly aligned height.

[0085] Since various modifications can be made in the invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.