Spool having flange with locking notch

Abstract

A spooler for winding a material onto a spool includes a feeding unit for feeding the material to the spool and a spool drive flange for winding the material onto the spool. The spool includes a barrel and at least one flange disposed on the barrel. The flange is provided with a locking notch having a receiving portion for receiving an outermost end of the material and a retaining portion for retaining the outermost end of the material within the locking notch. The receiving portion or the retaining portion may have a reduced cross-section area for securing the outermost end of the material. A method for retaining a length of a continuous, elongate, flexible material on a spool includes winding the material onto the spool and retaining an outermost end of the material within a locking notch provided on at least one flange of the spool.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.