Claims:We claim:
1. An overhead pulley cover (302) for reducing the scale spillage at a vertical pay-off unit (300) in a wire drawing process, the overhead pulley cover (302) comprising:
an overhead pulley housing (302-A) attached at an upper horizontal arm (306) of a vertical pay-off stand (104) so as to enclose an overhead pulley (108) attached the upper horizontal arm (306);
a funnel unit (302-B) having wide side edges coupled downstream to the overhead pulley housing (302-A); and
a hollow pipe (302-C) having edges coupled downstream at narrow side edges of the funnel unit (302-B).
2. The overhead pulley cover (302) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the overhead pulley housing (302-A) is one of cuboid or cylindrical in shape.
3. The overhead pulley cover (302) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the funnel unit (302-B) is one of an inverted truncated pyramid or an inverted cone in shape.
4. The overhead pulley cover (302) as claimed in claim 1, comprising a scale collection tray (304) which is positioned, beneath an outlet of the hollow pipe (302-C), on a lower horizontal arm (308) attached to the vertical pay-off stand (104).
5. The overhead pulley cover (302) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the upper horizontal arm (306) and the lower horizontal arm (308) are mounted from their one end on the vertical pay-off stand (104) of the vertical pay-off unit (300).
6. The overhead pulley cover (302) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the hollow pipe (302-C) is slanted towards the vertical pay-off stand (104).
7. The overhead pulley cover (302) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the overhead pulley housing (302-A) is attached to an end, of the upper horizontal arm (306), facing away from the vertical pay-off stand (104).
, Description:OVERHEAD PULLEY COVER FOR REDUCING THE SCALE SPILLAGE AT PAY-OFF UNIT IN WIRE DRAWING PROCESS

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure, in general, relates to the field of wire drawing mechanisms and, particularly to an overhead pulley cover at a height for reducing the scale spillage at vertical pay-off unit in a wire drawing.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[0003] Wire drawing process involves a vertical pay-off unit with an overhead pulley at a height. The function of the pay-off unit is to uncoil the wire rod coil and feed the wire rod to a wire drawing unit. The arrangement of the overhead pulley is such that wire rod bends nearly 135° at a height of 4 meters from the ground. During bending over, the wire rod descales causing small particles of scale to fly and spread over a shop floor, making it dirtier. This dirty environment is a major concern from the health and working point of view. Also, the slippery floor and frequent chocking of the nearby motor and bearing raise a safety concern and productivity loss.
[0004] Accordingly, there is a need to prevent scale spillage on the floor from the overhead pulley during the wire drawing.

OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0005] In view of the foregoing limitations inherent in the state of the art, some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfy, are listed hereinbelow.
[0006] It is a general object of the present disclosure to cover an overhead pulley for reducing the scale spillage at a vertical pay-off unit in wire drawing.
[0007] It is an object of the present disclosure to confine the scale spread within a cover so as to avoid scale spillage.
[0008] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred form of the present invention is illustrated.

SUMMARY
[0009] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to an overhead pulley cover for reducing the scale spillage at a pay-off unit in a wire drawing process. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0010] In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to an overhead pulley cover for reducing the scale spillage at a vertical pay-off unit in wire drawing. The overhead pulley cover includes an overhead pulley housing attached at an upper horizontal arm of a vertical pay-off stand so as to enclose an overhead pulley attached the upper horizontal arm; a funnel unit having wide side edges coupled downstream to the overhead pulley housing; and a hollow pipe having edges coupled downstream at narrow side edges of the funnel unit.
[0011] In an aspect, the overhead pulley housing is one of a cuboid or cylindrical in shape.
[0012] In an aspect, the funnel unit is one of an inverted truncated pyramid or an inverted cone in shape.
[0013] In an aspect, the overhead pulley cover includes a scale collection tray which is positioned, beneath an outlet of the square cross-section hollow pipe, on a lower horizontal arm.
[0014] In an aspect, the upper horizontal arm and the lower horizontal arm are mounted from their one end on a vertical pay-off stand of the vertical pay-off unit.
[0015] In an aspect, the square cross-section hollow pipe is slanted towards the pay-off stand.
[0016] In an aspect, the cuboid shape top portion is attached to an end, of the upper horizontal arm, facing away from the vertical pay-off stand.
[0017] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
[0018] The illustrated embodiments of the subject matter will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems, and methods that are consistent with the subject matter as claimed herein, wherein:
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a conventional vertical pay-off unit;
[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of the conventional vertical pay-off unit during the wire drawing process; and
[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic view of a vertical pay-off unit with overhead pulley cover during the wire drawing process, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] The detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments are described herein in such details as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of details provided herein is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0023] It is also to be understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
[0024] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “consisting” and/or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
[0025] It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may, in fact, be executed concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
[0026] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[0027] Embodiments described herein relate to a pay-off unit used during the wire drawing process. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional pay-off unit 100. The pay-off unit 100 consist of a cage 102 and a stand 104. On the cage 102, a wire rod coil 106 is placed upside down. The wire rod 106 is being uncoiled and passed through an overhead pulley 108 and pay-off stand pulley 110 to feed a wire drawing unit (not shown in figures).
[0028] Before entering the overhead pulley 110, the wire rod 106 passes through a basket 112 and a false die 114. The role of basket 112 is to help in smooth uncoiling and the role of the false die 114 is to guide the wire rod 106 in the overhead pulley 108. To further reduce the impact of the jerk, the basket 112 is hinged to the pay-off stand 104 and tied with a safety sling 116.
[0029] Further, in an aspect, a spring 118 is attached to the overhead pulley 108, and a roller 120 is attached to pay-off stand 104 to align the wire rod.
[0030] As mentioned previously, the function of the pay- off unit 100 is to uncoil the wire rod coil 106 and feed the wire rod to the wire drawing unit. The arrangement the overhead pulley 108 in pay-off unit 100 is such that wire rod bends nearly 135° at a height of about 4 meters from the ground. During bending over, the wire rod descales causing small particle of scale to fly and spread over the shop floor, making it dirtier. The flying scale particles 202 and loose scale particles 204 spread over the shop floor are shown in FIG. 2. This dirty environment is a major concern from the health and working point of view. Slippery floor, frequent chocking of nearby motor and bearing raises a safety concern and productivity loss.
[0031] In recent years, many approaches had been adopted to prevent/reduce the scale spillage from the overhead pulley 108, but none of them were effective in reducing the spillage of the scale. One approach for addresses, the problem of scale spillage, by covering the whole pay-off unit 100 from the top and three sides. This arrangement prevents the scale from spreading all over the shop floor and confines the scale spread within the cover. This arrangement is generally not preferred in cases where the operator sits on another side of the cover from where the operator needs to continuously see the wire feeding process and take quick preventive action before the entanglement happens.
[0032] Also, in the state of the art, there is no such a direct solution is available to prevent this kind of scale spillage. The scale is peeling off due to tensile and compressive stress developed at the wire rod surface due to the bending over the overhead pulley 108. And in the present vertical pay-off unit 100, the overhead pulley 108 is at the height which allows the scale to spread all over the shop floor making work environment hazardous.
[0033] To address the issues related to scale spillage, the overhead pulley 108 has to be covered in a manner to collect the scales without hindering wire rod movement during the wire drawing process. However, there were a few challenges in the designing of a scale collector for the overhead pulley 108. For instance, the overhead pulley 108 is at height and the wire rod is in continuous movement at that height in the vertical direction, the direction in which scale falls. Accordingly, the design of the scale collector should sustain the vibration of the vertical pay-off unit 100. The design of the scale collector should be small enough so that wire rod is visible up to a height of the false die 114 from operator’s sitting location. This is required to take quick action to prevent the wire entanglement. The design of the scale collector should be such that in wire breakage condition, the feeding of wire rod should be smooth and should not take any extra time. Also during the shutdown, changing of overhead pulley 108 or bearing should not be delayed due to the design implementation. The design should be compatible with the changing/switching position of the in-built design of pay-off unit 100.
[0034] To this, the present disclosure proposes an overhead pulley cover 302 for reducing the scale spillage at the vertical pay-off unit 300 in a wire drawing process, as shown in FIG. 3. The overhead pulley cover 302 includes an overhead pulley housing 302-A attached at an upper horizontal arm 306 attached to the pay-off stand 104 so as to enclose the overhead pulley 104 attached the upper horizontal arm 306; a funnel unit 302-B having wide side edges coupled downstream to the overhead pulley housing 302-A; and a hollow pipe 302-C having edges coupled downstream at narrow side edges of the funnel unit 302-B.
[0035] Although, the overhead pulley housing (302-A) is shown cuboid in shape in FIG. 3, however it can be of any shape or size suitable for enclosing the overhead pulley 104.
[0036] Also, the funnel unit 302-B is shown as an inverted truncated pyramid in shape in FIG. 3. However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the funnel unit 302-B can be of any regular funnel shape.
[0037] In an aspect, the overhead pulley cover 302 includes a scale collection tray 304 which is positioned, beneath an outlet of the square cross-section hollow pipe 302-C, on a lower horizontal arm 308.
[0038] In an aspect, the upper horizontal arm 306 and the lower horizontal arm 308 are mounted from their one end on a vertical pay-off stand 104 of the vertical pay-off unit 300.
[0039] In an aspect, the hollow pipe 302-C is of square cross-section and slanted towards the pay-off stand 104.
[0040] In an aspect, the overhead pulley housing 302-A is attached to an end, of the upper horizontal arm 306, facing away from the vertical pay-off stand 104.
[0041] In an aspect, one of the vertical surfaces of the overhead pulley housing 302-A can be opened for changing of overhead pulley 108 or bearing thereof.
[0042] In an aspect, the overhead pulley cover 302 may have openings for the feeding and supply of the wire rod from the overhead pulley 108.
[0043] Thus, with the implementation of the overhead pulley cover 302, the environmental hazard like scale spillage is eliminated from being spreading over the shop floor. This positively impacts the health and morale of operators of the vertical pay-off unit. Additionally, the dirty and slippery environment of the shop was a safety concern and major noncompliance in audits, which will be resolved with the implementation of the overhead pulley cover 302.
[0044] Also, earlier, the pay-off stand pulley bearings need to be changed thrice a month due chocking with spilled scale but after implementation of overhead pulley cover 302, bearing change frequency may come down to once a month. Accordingly, cumulative of 12 hours per month of breakdown time of welding machine motor and time of the bearing change has been saved, resulting in productivity improvement. Further, after the implementation of the overhead pulley cover 302, the shop floor cleaning cycle reduced from once per shift to once daily.
[0045] Furthermore, those skilled in the art can appreciate that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into other systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may subsequently be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as encompassed by the following claims.
[0046] The claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others.
[0047] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the present disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is determined by the claims that follow. The present disclosure is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.