Disadvantages of the standard cable spooling machine

The market for spooling machines is dominated by one of two designs: spooled and spoolless.

The standard design of spooling machine

Spooled: Shafted winding technology requires the operator to remove the spool (usually wooden) or reel (usual steel) from storage and impale it on the machine's spool, which is secured to a flange to rotate the spool with a rotating motor. The winder arm lifts the winder from the ground manually (assisted by a jack) or using an electric lift control.

Spoolless: Shaftless winders clamp the reels with short spikes mounted on adjustable pivot arms; this eliminates the time required to mount them to the shaft. Otherwise, they work similarly to their counterparts with shafts. The motor rotates the reel attachment point, which in turn rotates the reel itself.

Receivers with these designs are available in rolling, gantry configurations, or single-sided units where the user must load and unload from the same angle of approach.

Either way, these designs have the identical drawback regarding set-up time: they require the operator to bring the spool or reel to the machine and load it.

Disadvantages of Handling cable reels and spools for bulk orders and high-voltage conductors

High-voltage conductors require thicker insulation; therefore, take-up reels and spools must be more significant than medium- and low-voltage cables to store the same foot lengths. Even with smaller low-voltage cables, orders for larger installations require the upper end of the spool and reel size range.

These larger reels present two familiar material handling challenges: size and weight.

For example, wooden spools are used for sizeable fixed-length cable orders. A standard 18-gauge (in the UK) wooden spool is 5'11" in diameter and weighs nearly 1,000 lbs - half a ton. It is not safe to roll an object of this weight. Moving an empty spool of this size to a rewinder usually requires using a forklift equipped with special spool handling attachments.

Reusable steel spools will be heavier and require similar material handling skills to bring a loose spool to a rewinder. If empty spools and spools are stored on racks or A-pallet carriers, the time required to remove them from these systems is increased. If stacked in a warehouse, they are even more challenging to retrieve safely.

In short, operators must complete the following material handling tasks to safely fill an empty high-capacity spool or reel before they can begin filling orders.

Prepare and deploy material handling equipment, such as a forklift with spool attachments.

Remove empty spools and reels from storage.

Transporting them to rewinders elsewhere in the facility

Attaching spools or reels to the spool or spoolless arm of the winder

Lifting spools to allow rotation

Once the order is complete, the user will face the same material handling challenge - increased product weight. This multi-step process can incur high additional labor costs for cable distributors. Still, until recently, there was no other way to meet the demands of large cable orders.

Taizheng offers you a more efficient cable spooling machine

Effectively reducing the number of stops for reel changes and improving the overall efficiency of the production line. Know more about cable spooling machine.