Reel flange having an inclined interior surface

A flange for use in a reel for supporting a wound flexible medium, the reel including a core defining a longitudinal core axis, the flange comprising:

• a plate member configured to engage the core and extending radially from the core toward an outer edge and having an axially inclined media engaging surface that extends in a first axial direction has the plate member extends radially outward, the plate member including a plurality of voids;
• a set of raised walls axially displaced from the plate member and extending over said plurality of voids and outward from the core;
• a set of connecting walls interconnecting a first raised wall of said set of raised walls and the plate member;
• wherein an axial distance between the plate member and the first raised wall at a first radial position proximate the outer edge is less than an axial distance between the plate member and the first raised wall at a second radial position radially inward of the first radial position.