Retractable reel with channeled ratchet mechanism
First Claim
1. A retractable reel assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
a spool in said housing and mounted for rotation about an axis, said spool and said housing defining a plurality of chambers within said housing around said axis;
a length of electrical cable wound on said spool in said housing and around said axis in a first one of said chambers defining a cable storage chamber for a first portion of said length of cable and in a second one of said chambers defining a cable expansion chamber for a second portion of said length of cable, said housing having a first opening generally radially outward of said cable storage chamber for extension therethrough of an end of said first portion of said cable and a second opening from said cable expansion chamber for extension therethrough of an end of said second portion of said cable;
a constant force spring disposed in part around said axis in a third one of said chambers defining a spring containing chamber, said constant force spring being the only spring in said reel assembly;
said housing having a spring takeup compartment radially outward from and in communication with said third chamber, said spring having one end operatively coupled to said spool in said third chamber and an opposite end in said spring takeup compartment, said spring urging said spool to rotate in a cable retracting direction that winds said first portion of said cable onto said spool in said cable storage chamber, said first portion of said cable being manually unwindable, against the urging of said spring, off of said spool and out of said cable storage chamber through said first housing opening.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A retractable reel assembly comprises double tear drop shaped housing, a spool disposed in the housing and journaled for rotation about an axis, the spool and housing defining a plurality of chambers within the housing around the axis. The spool and housing define a cable storage chamber with a second length of cable retractably stored therein and a cable expansion chamber with a length of cable stored therein, a spring chamber and a ratchet chamber. The housing also has a spring takeup compartment and cable adjustment compartment located on a second parallel axis. A constant force spring extends from the spring storage chamber to the spring takeup compartment to urge the spool to rotate in a cable retracting direction.
148 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A retractable reel assembly, comprising:
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a housing; a spool in said housing and mounted for rotation about an axis, said spool and said housing defining a plurality of chambers within said housing around said axis; a length of electrical cable wound on said spool in said housing and around said axis in a first one of said chambers defining a cable storage chamber for a first portion of said length of cable and in a second one of said chambers defining a cable expansion chamber for a second portion of said length of cable, said housing having a first opening generally radially outward of said cable storage chamber for extension therethrough of an end of said first portion of said cable and a second opening from said cable expansion chamber for extension therethrough of an end of said second portion of said cable; a constant force spring disposed in part around said axis in a third one of said chambers defining a spring containing chamber, said constant force spring being the only spring in said reel assembly; said housing having a spring takeup compartment radially outward from and in communication with said third chamber, said spring having one end operatively coupled to said spool in said third chamber and an opposite end in said spring takeup compartment, said spring urging said spool to rotate in a cable retracting direction that winds said first portion of said cable onto said spool in said cable storage chamber, said first portion of said cable being manually unwindable, against the urging of said spring, off of said spool and out of said cable storage chamber through said first housing opening. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A retractable cord reel, comprising:
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a spool, a housing enclosing and rotatably supporting said spool about a spool axis, said housing and said spool defining a cable storage chamber, a cable expansion chamber and spring containing chamber coincident with said spool axis, said housing having a first opening generally radially outward from said cable storage chamber, said housing having a spring takeup compartment radially outward from and in substantially the same transverse plane as said spring containing chamber, said spring takeup compartment having a spring takeup axis parallel to said spool axis, said spring containing chamber being in communication with said spring takeup compartment; said housing having a first axial portion and a second axial portion, said first axial portion being teardrop shaped in its transverse plane and housing said spring containing chamber and said spring takeup compartment, and said second axial portion housing at least a portion of said cable storage chamber, the exterior of said housing having a shoulder on said second housing portion adjacent to and recessed relative to said first housing portion, said shoulder having said first opening therein; a first length of signal carrying cable wound on said spool around said axis in said cable storage chamber and having an end extending out of said housing through said first opening; a second length of cable wound on said spool around said axis in said cable expansion chamber, said second length of cable being operatively connected to said first length of cable, and a length of spring having one end within said spring containing chamber attached to said spool and an opposite end within said spring takeup compartment, said spring urging said spool to rotate in a cable retracting direction. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A retractable reel assembly, comprising:
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a housing; a spool disposed in said housing and mounted for rotation about an axis, said spool and said housing defining a cable storage chamber and a cable expansion chamber, said cable storage chamber having a first length of cable retractably stored therein and said cable expansion chamber having a second length of cable stored therein; a cable adjustment compartment in said housing radially outward from and in communication with said cable expansion chamber and having an opening from said cable adjustment compartment, an end of said second length of cable extending through said adjustment compartment and said opening and beyond said opening by a preselected length, and said cable adjustment compartment is adapted to receive and contain a portion of said preselected length of cable to control the length of cable that extends beyond said opening from said cable adjustment compartment; and a spring operatively associated with said spool, said spring urging said spool to rotate in a cable retracting direction. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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35. A retractable reel assembly, comprising:
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a housing having a first opening; a spool disposed in said housing and mounted for rotation about an axis, said spool and said housing defining a cable storage chamber having a first length of cable retractably stored therein, a cable expansion chamber having a second length of cable stored therein, and a spring containing chamber; a spring in part disposed in said spring containing chamber; said housing having a spring takeup compartment radially outward from and in communication with said spring containing chamber, said spring having one end operatively coupled to said spool in said spring containing chamber and an opposite end in said spring takeup compartment, said spring urging said spool to rotate in a cable retracting direction that winds said first length of cable onto said spool in said cable storage chamber, said first length of cable being manually unwindable, against the urging of said spring, off of said spool and out of said cable storage chamber through said first housing opening; a recessed area on said housing radially outward from said cable storage chamber; and a stop member attached to said first length of cable outside of said housing to prevent complete retraction of said first length of said cable through said first opening into said cable storage chamber, and said recessed area of said housing receiving said stop member therein. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification