US2672304A - Spring driven reel - Google Patents

Description

March 6, 1954 G. E. KAUFMAN 2672304 SPRING DRIVEN REEL v v Filed Jan. 28, 1950 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. George EKaufman 4i"? TTORNEY.

G. E. KAUFMAN SPRING DRIVEN REEL March 16, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 28, 1950 INVENTOH. Geozyel'f. Kaufmazz ATTORNEY.

Marcb 16, 1954 G. E. KAUFMAN SPRING DRIVEN REEL 5 Sheets-Shee't 3 Filed Jan. 28, 1950 INVENTOR.

Ge or ye E Kaufman 57 ZM ATTOBNEY.

Patented Mar. 16, 1954 SPRING DRIVEN REEL George E. Kaufman,

Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Ho o ver Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

ornomtion o Oh Applica'tion January 28, 1950, Serial N0. 141,096

15 Claims.

This invention relates to suction cleaners, floor poiishers 01 other such hand-manipulated appliances and more particularly 120 a spring weund cord real applied therete whereby Ehe. canductor cord is automaically wound and rewound cnto a reel associated with -the appliance as lt is moved away from 01- toward an outlet soeket 170 whieh the conductor cord is connected.

In the usual spring -weund cord reel the unwinding resistance increases progressively as the cord is unwound. Conversel-y, the rewinding force decreases progressively as the cord is returned 170 the reel. The above is exaetly the reverse of that desired in hand manipulated appliances. As the ambulatory appliance is moved away from the outlet connection the more cord there 1 I:o manipulate. Conseque'ntly I;he rewinding force or the force necessary I:o propel the appliance away from the ouletis greatly decreased as the appliance is moved I;oward I:-he outlet. With ordinary spring wound reels, fihe force is sometimes not sutfiei@nt to eompletely rewincl the cord onto the ree The latter, cf course, can he remedied by increasing the spring tension but' thatwould also increase the resistance to movement of the appliance away from theoutlet as the vcord is unwound.

The preferable arrangement weuld be one in which the resistanee 110 movement of the applh anee away from the outlet would be constant or in which such resistance to movement decreases as the cord is unwound.

According to the p esent inve ntion -the abo.v.e results are carried out by the use o f a prestressed spring arranged to resist unwinding movement of the cord and to t en d to rewindthe cord, in which the prestressing 0,.f the spring eauses it 120 r 5it unwinding movement of the cord with a eonstant iorc e or to resist such movement with a progressiy ely decreasing force.

According to the broadest aspe cts 01 this invention a spring rewound cord reel f or an ambm latory appliance is provided in WhiCh 15he resistance to cord unwinding movementiscons tant er decreases as the appliance-is mc ved away from an outlet andinwhich the :I;enden cy for the cord to rewind is constant or in creases ;as th e appliance is moved toward the outlet.

Other object s and advantages of t his Invention will become apparent a's the descrlption proceeds when taken in connection with.the a0]- companying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view :Iihrough the lower end of the" handlepflanambulatory appliance showing I;he cord reel of this invention applied thereto;

Fig. 1a is a cross sectional view through the upper end of the handle of Fig. 1;

Figure 2 is a view caken ab right angles to that 0f Fi. 1;

Fig. 2a is a view taken of Fig. 1a;

Figure 3 schematicallyshows how the prestressed spring acts according to this invention;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a modifi cation of the invention; and

Figure 5 is a view of the cord reel of Fig. 4 taken a1; right angleS to Fig. 4.

Referrihg to the drawing, tne reference numeral I!) represents the handle of an ambulatory appliance, such as"a suction cleaner or floor polisher, and having a flat eylindrical casing I I suitably secured the underside thereof. Within the cylindricaheasing- I I is a cord reel generally indicated b3;i:he reference numeral I2. The reel I2 comprises a cylindrical portion I3, outwardly extending fianges to forma space for receivihg I5 and a hub I6 which is rotatably mounted within the casing II |by means of ash'aft I7 rigid with the hub portion I6.

The ends of the wires of conductoreerd I5are electrically connected '-to spring c011tacts I8 mounted on the upper side ofan insulating plate I9 ecured 110 the hub I6. The spring contacts I8 cooperate with slip rings 2II suitably secured to the under face of an insulating plate 2I suitably secured the back of the casing II next to the handle II). The slip rings 20 are electrically connected to conductor cords 22 leading downwardly to a plug 23 a1: right angles to that band grip end thereof. to be electrically connected to the motor of an ambulatory appliance such as a suetion cleaner, floor p'olisher er other such appliance. The free end of the cord I5 extends upwardly throxigh a tube 24 securedto the underside of the handle I0 and is guided f0r movement through the tube and onto the reel I2 by a guide pulley 25.-

AI. the end of the tube 24 is a clamping pawl 21 which willlock I;he cerd against inward movement into the taube 24 until manually released but will permit the cord Ioe pulled outward freely. A suitable pronged attachment plug 28 is suitably seeured t'o the free endet the cord I5.

The shaft I'I extends into o'he interior of tl-ie handle I 0 and has a pinion gear 30 rigidlysecured thereto' which coactg with the teeth of araek I4 which cooper d7e th'e conduetor cord in the bottom endof the handle I0 and toan elctri0 switch 26 in the The plug 23 is adapted an ambulatory appliance such as a suction;cleaner or a fioor polisher having a spring wound cord reel in which the force required to pull the cord from the reel is constant or decreases as the cord is unwound regardless of the distance cf the appliance from the electrical outlet.

Whiler1 have shown laut two embodiments of my invention it is to be understood that these embodiments are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to includeall equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope cf the claims.

I claim:

1. A handle for an ambulato-ry appliance comprising, an elongated tube, an electric cord associated therewith, a cord winding spool rotatably mounted on said handle one end of said cord being attached to said cord winding spool the arrangement being such that the length of said cord is wound upon said cord winding spool when it is rotated in one direction and unwound therefrom when it is rotated in the opposite direction, a second freely rotatable spool carried by said handle in spaced relationship to said cord winding spool, and a thin elongated narrow fiat spring having its one end wound in a solid coil about said second spool, means forming a drivi'ng con nection between the other end of said spring and said cord winding spool so that said spring resists unwinding movement of said cord, said spring being prestressed crosswise in a manner to assume a camber bowed outwardly relative to said second spool as it is unwound from said coil and pre-stressed along its length so as to have a natural arc of smaller radius than said second spool so as to resisi; being unwound from said second spool and to tend to rewind itself on said second spool whereby said spring will resist unwinding movement o1" said cord winding spool.

2. A handle according to claim 1 in which the prestressing of said spring is such that as it is unwound from said coil only that portion of length being unwound resists unwinding thereof.

3. A handle according to claim 2 in which the prestressing of said spring is such that as a portion of the length of said spring is unwound from said coil and assumes its camber the prestressed forces in that portion are locked out of action.

4. A handle according to claim 3 in which the prestressing of said spring along its length is such that the resistance to unwinding of said spring from said coil is constant along the length of said spring whereby the resistance to unwinding of said cord is substantially constant and the rewinding forces are substantially constant regardless of the length of cord unwound.

5. A handle according to claim 3 in which the prestressing of said spring along its lengch is suoh that the resistance to unwinding of said spring from said coil decreases as it is unwound therefrom whereby the resistance to unwinding cf said cord from said cord winding spool decreases as the cord is unwound.

6. In combination, a handle for an ambulatory appliance, an electric cord carried by said handle. a winding reel including a cord winding spool rotatably carried by said handle, said cord heing secured to said spool so that the length o-f said cord will be wound upon and wound from said spool upon rotation thereof in opposite directions, a spring winding spool carried by said handle in spaced relationship to said cord winding spool and having its axis parallel to the axis of saidoord winding spool, and a prestressed thirr elongated flat narrow spring having one ofitsends coiled about said spring winding spool in a solid coilmeans-forming a driving connection be tween the: other end of said spring and aid cord windingspool so that said spring resists unwinding of said cord therefrom and said spring heilig prestressed along its length so as to have a nat' ural-arc of smaller radius than that cf said spring winding spool soas to wind upon said spring winding spool and prestressed so asto takea camher bowedoutwardly relative to= said spring winding spool asit is unwound from said coil.

7. The combination according to claim 6 in which the arrangement is such that the length of the spring assumes a straight portion between said coil and its driving oonnection to said cord winding spool.

8. In combination, an elongated body, a 1-0 ta-tably mounted cord winding spool carried b? said body an electric cord having one end securedtosaid spool whereby rotation thereof in one direction will wind said cord thereon and rotation thereof in the opposite direction Will unwindsaidcord therefrom, a second spool mounted on:said body for rotationon an axis spaced from and paralleltothe axisof said cord winding spool and a. flat thin elongated narrow spring having one end wound in a solid coil about i second spool, means forming a driving connection between the other end of said spring and said cord winding spool so that said spring resists unwinding of said cord therefrom, said spring being prestressed crosswise so as to assume a camber bowed outwardly relative to said second spool as it is unwound from said coil and prestressed along its length to have a natural arc o1 less radius than that of said second spool so as to tend to Wind itself into a solid coil on said spool.

.9. The combination according to claim 8 in which the prestressing of said spring is such that as the spring is unwound from said coil, straightens out and assumes its camber it Will. lock out the tendency of the straight portion of. said spring to rewind itself upon said coil;

10. A handle for an ambulatory appliance comprising, an elongated tube, a reel secured to said tube intermediate of its ends, a smaller tube secured to the underside of said elongated tube and extending from said reel to adjacent the band grip end of said elongated tube, said reel including a cord winding spool, an electric cord hars;- one end attached to said spool in such manner that rotation of said spool in one direction will Wind the length of said cord thereon and rotation in the opposite direction will unwind said cord. therefrom, said cord winding spool having a shait extending into the interior of said elongated tub* a pinion gear on said shaft interiorly of said elengated tube, a rack bar slidably mounted on the interior of said tube and having teeth in engagement with the teeth cf said pinion gear, a secon=i spool on the interior of said elongated tube adjacent the hand grip end thereof and a thin elengated narrow spring having one end wound in solid coil about said second spool and its other end attached to said rack bar, said spring being prestresed crosswise in such manner as to assume a camber bowed outwardly relative to said second spool as it is unwound from said coil and prestressed along its length so as to havea natural arc of less radius than that 01 said second spool whereby said spring tends to wind itself into a solid coil about said second spool to resist unwinding cf said cord from said cord winding spool by the force required to unwind each portion 01 length cf said spring from said coil.

11. A handle according to claim in which said spring is prestressed a.long its length in such a manner that the resistance to unwinding of said cord from said cord winding reel decreases es the cord is unwound.

12. A handle for an ambulatory appliance comprlsing, a, reel casing, tubular handle sections secured 130 said casing and extending in opposite directions therefrom, a cord winding spool rotatably mounted within said casing and includfing a drum in alignment with the interior of said. handle sections, an electric cord ha.ving one of its encls secured 130 seid spool whereby rotation of said spool in one direction will wind the length of seid cord onto said spool and rotation in the opposite direction will unwind said cord therefrom, a second spool mounted for free rotation in seid casing upon an axis in spaced parallel relationship to the axis of seid drum, the diameter of said second spool being smaller than that of saicl drum, and a thin flat elongated spring having its opposite ends wound in solid coils abont seid drum and second spool, said spring being prestressed along its length so as to have a natural am of lesser radius than that of said second spool whereby said spring tends to wind from said drum and onto said second. spool so as to resist unwinding 01 said cord from said cord windlns' reel.

13. A handle according to claim 12 in which sald spring is prestressed crosswise in such manner as to assume an outward camber relative to said coils as it unwinds from seid coils.

14. A handle according claim 13 in which the prestressing of seid spring is such that as each portion of the length thereof is unwound from said coils '1t straightens out assume its autward camber whereby the tendency of that portion to rewind itself on seid coils is locked out 013 action.

15. A handle according to claim 12 in which said spring is prestressed in such manner that the resistance to unwinding cf said cord remains substantia lly constant.

GEORGE E. KAUFMAN.

Beferences Cited in the file Of this patent UNI'I'ED STATES PATENTS Name Da.te Fornelius Ost. 16, 1934 OTHER REFERENCES Number

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