widening. However, when the welding wire is payed of the package, the walls of the package lose their influence on the wire, and the wire is forced toward its natural cast. This causes the portion of the wire which is being withdrawn from the package to loosen and tend to spring back into the package, thereby interfering with and possibly becoming tangled with other convolutions of wire. In addition to the natural cast, the wire can have a certain amount of twist, which causes the convolutions of welding wire in the coil to spring upwardly.
Payout devices, braking devices or retainer rings have been utilized to control the spring back and upward springing of the wire, along with controlling the payout of the wire. This is accomplished by positioningthe payout or retainer ring on the top of the coil and forcing it downwardly against the natural springing effect of the welding wire. The downward force is either the result of the weight of the retainer ring or a separate force-producing member such as an elastic band connected between the retainer ring and the bottom of the package. Further, the optimal downward force during the shipment of the package is different than the optimal downward force for the payout of the welding wire. Accordingly, while elastic bands or other straps are utilized to maintain the position of the payout or retainer ring during shipping, the weight of the retainer ring can be used to maintain the position of the payout relative to the wire coils during the