WO1989003360A1

WO1989003360A1 - Latching mechanism for reeling device

Info

Publication number: WO1989003360A1
Application number: PCT/AU1988/000397
Authority: WO
Inventors: William King
Original assignee: William King
Priority date: 1987-10-15
Filing date: 1988-10-12
Publication date: 1989-04-20

Abstract

A latching mechanism for a reeling device including a reel (3) rotatably mounted for holding, paying out and winding in a linearly extendible flexible member (25) and including means for biasing said reel (3) in a direction of rotation for winding in said member (25), said latching mechanism including a pivoted arm (23) carrying a pivoted abutment member (30) including an abutment surface (29), abutment members (7) carried by said reel (3) and positioned to be engaged by the abutment surface (29) in one position of said arm (23) to prevent rotation of said reel (3) in the winding in direction, release means normally holding said arm (23) in its first direction to prevent winding in rotation and being manually operable to release said arm (23) for pivotal movement to a second position in which said reel (3) is free to rotate in the winding in direction.

Description

TITLE: LATCHING MECHANISM FOR REELING DEVICE Field of the Invention; This invention relates to a latching mechanism for a reeling device which may be used to reel linearly extendible flexible members, such as hoses or electrical cables. Background of the Invention: In my previous United States Patents Nos. 4,227,661 King et al, 4,487,380 King and 4,511,101 King, several different forms of latching mechanism for reeling devices are described. While such latching devices are suitable for use in the reeling of relatively short hoses or cables, they are not suitable for use with long hoses or cables, such as may be required in field use by builders and the like. In order to properly reel such long lengths of hose or cable, a large spring would be required thereby introducing difficulties in the construction and operation of the reeling device, particularly in paying out the hose or cable against the high spring force. Brief Summary of the Invention and Object: It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative latching device which requires positive actuation to release the latch to enable the reel to wind in the hose or cable. The present invention provides in a reeling device including a support, a reel mounted to said support for holding, paying out and winding in a linearly extendible flexible member, means for biasing said reel in a direction of rotation for winding in said member, a latching mechanism for preventing winding in of said flexible member comprising a first abutment member carried by said reel and a second abutment member carried by an arm mounted for pivotal movement from a first pivoted orientation in which the first abutment member and the second abutment member will come into contact on winding in movement of the reel to prevent such winding in to a second pivoted orientation in which the first abutment member and the second abutment member will not come into contact on a winding in movement of said reel to permit such winding in, release means carried by said support, said release means being positioned normally to prevent movement of said arm from said first position to said second position, said release means being movable to a disengaged position in which said arm is free to move from said first position to said second position whereby winding in by said reel is allowed. The reeling device preferably includes means for guiding said member during paying out and winding in, said guiding means being carried by said arm and including a guide member through which said flexible member extends. In one form, the guide member comprises a pair of spaced parallel guide rollers carried by said arm at one end of the rollers and supported by a further pivoted arm at the other end of said rollers. The release means may comprise an actuating button carried by said support and arranged to be manually movable from its normal position to its disengaging position. In a preferred arrangement, one of the first abutment member and the second abutment member is mounted so as to be pushed aside by the other of the first abutment member and the second abutment member during paying out of said flexible member. In a preferred form, said second abutment member is biased by gravity or by spring means to a predetermine orientation with respect to said arm, from which orientation said second abutment member may be pushed aside by the firs abutment member during paying out of said flexible member. Brief Description of the Drawings: One embodiment of latching mechanism in accordance wit the invention will now be described with reference to th accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the latchin mechanism for a reeling device in the latched condition; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the mechanism i the released condition; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the latching mechanism; Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of th latching mechanism and release mechanism in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of the latching mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of the release mechanism of the latching mechanism. Description of the Preferred Embodiment: The reeling device shown in the drawings comprises an outer casing 1 which serves as a support for an axle 2 on which is mounted a reel 3 for holding cable or hose. The reel 3 is biased by a spring (not shown) for example as described in U.S. Patent No. 4,227,661, in the direction of arrow 4 to tend to wind the cable or hose onto the reel. The reel 3 has a side flange 6 on which is mounted abutment members 7 having an abutment face 8, a guide face 9 and an end 21. Mounted to the casing 1 by means of a pivot 22 is an arm 23 provided with guide rollers 24 and 26 and between which guide rollers the cable or hose (25 in Fig. 1) may pass to be guided thereby. A similar arm on another side of the casing (not shown) may also support the guide rollers 24 and 26. The arm 23 is provided with an abutment 27 and by means of a pivot pin 28 carries an abutment member 30 comprising a U-shaped member carrying an abutment surface 29. The abutment member 30 has a projection 31 for engagement with the abutment 27 to limit pivoting of the member 28 in one direction. The member 28 is biased by a spring 32, but may be biased by gravity, so that the projection 31 will normally abut against the abutment 27. In consequence of the abutment surface 29, winding in of the reel in the direction of arrow 4 will cause the abutment face 8 to engage therewith when the arm 23 is within the arc 36 in Fig. 1. A release mechanism button 40 is carried by the casing 1 and is biased by spring 41 to the latched position in which a cylindrical portion 42 of the release mechanism button 40 engages a shaped opening 43 in the arm 23. When the release mechanism button 40 is pushed against the spring 41, a slot 44 above the cylindrical portion 42 is aligned with the holding portion of the opening 43 to release the arm 23 and allow it to locate within the arc 37 (Fig. 2) to thereby allow winding in of the reel 3 in the direction of the arrow 4. When the arm 23 is in this position, the surface 29 will be outside an arc 38 (Fig. 4) in which the surface 29 will engage the face 8, thereby permitting rotation of the reel 3. Since the release mechanism button 40 requires manual operation, the operator must return. o the reeling device 1 and may bring the hose or cable 25 to the reeling device 1. In this way, the torque required for reeling the hose or cable is more than halved, thereby significantly reducing the size of the reeling spring required. Furthermore, since the operator must be near the reeler during winding in, the hose or cable 25 may be guided evenly into the reeler to prevent bunching of the hose or cable 25. When the hose or cable 25 has been fully reeled in, the arm 23 may be re-engaged with the release mechanism button 40, by pivoting the arm 23 to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings either by lifting the hose or cable 25 against the roller 24 or by direct manipulation of the rollers 24 or 26 or the arm 23, at the same time pivoting the release mechanism button button 40 to align the slot 44 with the opening 43. Since the guide face 9 and the end 21 of each abutment member 7 operates to push the surface 29 of the abutment member 30 aside during rotation of the reel 3 in a direction opposite to the arrow 4, paying out of the cable or hose 25 may be effected at any time irrespective of the position of the release mechanism button 40 or the arm 23. It will be appreciated that the abutments 7 and 30 may take many different forms while still achieving the required result of preventing rotation of the reel 3 in the direction of the arrow 4 when this is not desired. Similarly, the release mechanism button 40 may take any desired form which enables the abutment 30 to be maintained in its reeling-in preventing position until the release mechanism button 40 is actuated by the operator to allow reeling in to commence. However, the arrangement shown has the advantage of being mechanically simple and therefore relatively easy to manufacture. In view of the reduction in the size of the reeling spring facilitated by the use of the latching mechanism embodying the invention, the reeler described above is suitable for portable operator use since it is able to function at a docile recoiling rate. Most spring actuated reelers have severe recoiling characteristics that render them unsafe for portable use. This problem is overcome by -the use of the latching mechanism embodying the invention since the torque required for reeling the hose or cable is signficantly reduced by the requirement that the operator must return to the reeling device to release the latching mechanism before reeling may occur. In view of the spring torque reduction referred to above, the position of the guide rollers 24 and 26 in the unlatched position will be seen from Figure 2 of the drawings to be such as to minimise bending over one of the rollers during winding in to avoid the undesirable absorption of energy during the recoiling process. In the latched position shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, paying out of the hose or cable is in the general direction indicated in the drawing, and no undesirable bending over the roller 26 should occur.

Claims

CLAIMS : 1. In a reeling device including a support (1), a reel (3) mounted to said support for holding, paying out and winding in a linearly extendible flexible member (25), means for biasing said reel (3) in a direction of rotation (4) for winding in said member (25), a latching mechanism for preventing winding in of said flexible member (25) comprising a first ahutment member (7) carried by said reel (3) and a second abutment member (29,30) carried by an arm (23) mounted for pivotal movement from a first pivoted orientation (36) in which the first abutment member (7) and the second abutment member (29,30) will come into contact on winding in movement (4) of the reel (3) to prevent such winding in to a second pivoted orientation (37) in which the first abutment member (7) and the second abutment member (29,30) will not come into contact on a winding in movement (4) of said reel (3) to permit such winding in, release means (40) carried by said reel, said release means being positioned normally to prevent movement of said arm (23) from said first position (36) to said second position (37), said release means (40) being movable to a disengaged position in which said arm (23) is free to move from said first position (36) to said second position (37) whereby winding in by said reel (3) is allowed. 2. The reeling device of claim 1, wherein said second abutment member (29,30) is pivoted to said arm (23) in a manner which allows deflection of said second abutment member (29,30) by said first abutment member (7) on rotation of said reel (3) in a paying out direction (4). 3. The reeling device of claim 2, wherein said arm (23) carries guide means (24,26) for guiding said flexible member (25) during paying out and winding in, said abutment members (7,29,30) being configured to allow limited pivotal movement of said arm in said first and second pivoted orientations (36,37). 4. The reeling device of claim 1, wherein said release means comprises a manually depressible pin (40) which engages an opening (43) in said arm (23) to prevent movement of said arm from said first position (36), said pin being movable to a position in which the arm is released from engagement with said pin (40) to allow movement to said second position (37). 5. The reeling device of claim 3, wherein said second abutment member (30) is biased by gravity or by spring means (32) to have a predetermined orientation with respect to said arm (23), from which orientation of said second abutment member (7) may be pushed aside by said first abutment member during paying out of said flexible member. 6. The reeling device of claim 3, wherein said guide means comprises a pair of spaced rollers (24,26) carried by said arm (23), said arm (23) and said rollers (24,26) facilitating movement of said arm (23) from said second pivoted orientation (37) to said first pivoted orientation (36) by manual manipulation of said flexible member (25) or said rollers (24,26) or said arm (23).