Dismountable reels offer substantial savings as compared with pre-assembled reels. They are easier to ship and store, and may be set up as required in the manufacturer's plant.
After usage by the customer, of the product on the reel, the reels may again be dismounted and returned to the manufacturer.
This offers substantial savings over conventional reels which are costly to ship and store, and cause problems with customers who may be forced to store reels as they are emptied, until a sufficient quantity has been assembled for shipment back to the manufacturer.
Numerous proposals in the past have been made for dismountable reels, but most of them have suffered from various disadvantages. They were either excessively complicated to assemble, or did not achieve significant savings in shipping and storage space, or were costly to manufacture.
When reeling certain products such as wire products, and in particular welding wire, other problems arise.
Some form of reels used for welding wire are arranged with a wire cage at the core. As the wire is wound on the cage, it is bent and kinked.
This interferes with the convenient and effective use of the wire by the customer and is considered undesirable.
In addition to this, when reeling wire products the conventional spooling equipment provides a level wind control. As the reel is filled up, substantial pressure is applied to the side flanges of the reel. Unless they are made extremely strong, they tend to bow outwardly or "dish".
The distortion of the reel in this way by the wire again causes inconvenience to the customer.
Clearly, it is desirable to provide a reel in which the two sides or flanges of the reel remain flat after the wire has been wound on.