Spool assembly for pintle

A spool assembly (1;

• 101) for storing and handling a wire (3;
• 103), comprising:
• a spool (11;
• 111) of given outer diameter and thickness on which the wire to be stored can be wound, said spool being annular in shape and devised to define a radially outwardly opened rim (13;
• 113) of U-shaped cross-section in which the wire can be wound, said rim having a bottom wall in the form of an annular ring and two side walls (17, 19;
• 117;
• 119) in the form of flat rings that project radially outwardly from both sides of the annular ring, at least one (19;
• 119) of said side walls having an outer edge with teeth formed in it, said teeth (21;
• 121) being equally spaced-apart, identical in size and all oriented in a same direction (A);
• and
• a spool-receiving member (31;
• 131) comprising:
• a spool-receiving element (33;
• 133) comprising a surrounding wall (43;
• 143) having an inner diameter and a width selected to match with the outer diameter and thickness of the spool (11;
• 111), and a ring-shaped wall (45;
• 145) that projects radially inwardly from one side of the surrounding wall to provide a lateral support on one side of the spool;
• means (47, 47';
• 147) connected to the spool-receiving member (31;
• 131) for catching the spool (11, 111) and freely retaining said spool (11;
• 111) within the spool-receiving element (33;
• 133);
• an outlet (63;
• 163) provided in the surrounding wall (43;
• 143) of the spool-receiving element (33;
• 133) to allow the wire wound on the spool (11;
• 111) to exit from the spool-receiving member (31;
• 131);
• and
• a brake (37;
• 137) connected to the spool-receiving member (31;
• 131) said brake comprising a tiltable arm (57;
• 157) extending substantially tangentially close to the spool (11;
• 111) and at least one tooth (61;
• 161) projecting from said tiltable arm (57;
• 157) so as to contact said spool, said at least one tooth (61;
• 161) being shaped, sized and oriented in a direction opposite to the said direction (A) so as to engage the teeth of the one side wall of the spool and thus to prevent said spool from being rotated in the said direction "A" unless the arm (57, 157) tilted is up.