GB2023983A - Folding handle and fishing reel incorporating it - Google Patents

Abstract

A handle (1) is mounted on shaft (3) to rotate about pivot (4) from a working position to a retracted one. To lock the handle releasable in the working position a collar (8) is mounted on the shaft (3) and resiliently urged by spring (10) towards the handle. A pair of tongues (12) on the collar extend generally along the axis of the shaft, one on each side of the shaft, and engage between abutment faces of slots (7) on the handle. The faces are in planes set at angles such that they are radial of the axis of the handle or undercut with respect to the radial to facilitate retention of the handle in a working position during use. To release the handle the collar (8) is slid manually against the spring. The handle can be held in its restracted position by abutment of plane faces (6) on the handle which are generally tangential of the axis (4) with a plane face on the end of the tongues (12). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Folding handle and fishing reel incorporating it The present invention relates to a folding handle and particularly although not exclusively to a turning handle which can be used for rotating a shaft, for example, the shaft of a fishing reel.

It is convenient to be able to fold down the turning handle of a fishing reel so that the rod and other tackle can be more readily packed into a case. For efficient operation the handle must be locked firmly in a working position, yet at the same time for ease of handling and compactness be readily folded down to a storage position. Additionally it is convenient for the handle to be held in its storage position whilst however having an easy action to return it to a working position.

Known folding handles include an arrangement in which a rotating arm of the turning handle ends in a boss which fits over one of the shafts and has a pivot pin passing diametrically through it to allow the arm to be pivoted between the two positions. A locking element mounted on the shaft can move towards the boss to lock it in either of the two positions or away from the boss to allow the arm to pivot. In a simple arrangement the locking element is a nut threaded on the shaft which can be screwed towards the boss to lock it or away from the boss to permit its movement. A more complex known arrangement has a locking element in the form of a spring-loaded element slidably mounted on the shaft and urged towards the boss. A second spring-loaded element is rotatable about the shaft.The latter element is biassed towards a rotational position in which it locks the first element in a position abutting the boss and thus prevents the handle from leaving its working position. Rotating the second spring-loaded element against its spring loading releases the first element allowing edges of the boss to press the first element along the shaft as the arm is pivoted towards the shaft to a storage position. The edges pass through an over-centre position so that once the handle has reached its folded position a force must be applied against the bias of the first spring loaded element to permit the return of the arm to a working position.

Both of the known handles described above suffer from disadvantages. The handle with the screw threaded nut although cheap to manufacture is clumsy to operate. Several fiddly turns of the nut are necessary to release the handle from a working position in order to allow it to be pivoted to a folded down position. The same is true of the reverse operation: screwing the nut towards the handle to lock it in the storage position or, of course, the working position again. In the locked storage position no quick release mechanism is provided to return the handle to the working position, the nut has to be laboriously screwed along the shaft and back again.

The more complex of the two known folding handles involves two spring loaded moving parts mounted concentrically with respect to each other. Such an arrangement not only leads to a bulky addition to the shaft, but its complex nature must undoubtedly provide more opportunities for malfunctioning and increase its initial cost of manufacture.

The present invention seeks to solve the problem of providing a folding handle which is easy to operate yet involves a minimum of moving parts. The essence of the present invention lies in the provision of a springloaded sleeve urged into locking abutment with the handle. To remove the handle from a locked working position the sleeve is simply pushed manually down the shaft against the bias of its spring-loading leaving the handle free to pivot to a folded down position. In this folded down position an upward pressure applied to a holding portion of the handle levers the boss against the sleeve moving it back down the shaft. The handle can thus be returned to a working position by a single manual movement as the sleeve automatically snaps back into locking abutment with the boss.

The locking arrangement between the sleeve and the boss must hold the handle firmly in a working position. Any pressure applied to the holding portion of the handle should not pivot it relative to the shaft. A feature of the present invention is the provision of a locking arrangement between the sleeve and the boss which is particularly adapted to fulfil these requirements and yet is released by the simple axial movement of the sleeve along the shaft. This provision is embodied in a tongue and slot locking arrangement. The spring loaded sleeve urges the tongue and slot combination into locking engagement, a force applied against the bias of the spring loaded sleeve readily unlocking it.

The distribution and number of tongues and slots between the sleeve and the boss depends on the size of the handle and the work which it has to perform. For use in a device such as the turning handle of a fishing reel the provision of two tongue and slot combinations, one on both sides of the shaft has been found suitable. Conveniently the tongues can be carried by the sleeve with respective slots being formed in the boss and the abutment faces between the tongue and slot should be at an angle to the plane containing the axis of rotation of the shaft which is not greater than radial from the axis of pivot of the handle.

This means that the faces (or one of them they are not necessarily at the same angle) will either not transmit axial force to the sleeve or, being effectively undercut, will urge the sleeve and handle together when turning force is exerted on the handle.

A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a semi-locking arrangement to hold the handle in a predetermined folded down retracted position. Edge faces of the boss adjoining the open side beneath the handle are formed at an acute angle with respect to the normal to the axis of the shaft.

Pivoting the handle from a working position perpendicular to the shaft through the same acute angle moves the edge faces into a position parallel with leading faces of the tongues, one portion of each edge face being moved through an over-centre position with respect to a respective tongue of the springloaded sleeve. Each tongue can thus abut its respective edge face of the boss, which edge faces are preferably planar, and hold the handle in a folded down position determined by the angle at which the edge faces are formed.

However, there is preferably no lock in this position and a force applied to the holding portion of the handle away from the boss levers the said portions of the edge faces against their respective tongues and permits the handle to pivot back to its working position. The sleeve automatically snaps back into a locking relationship with the boss, no further operations being necessary. The sleeve can conveniently be provided with an inwardly projecting ridge at or near the end carrying the tongues. A lower surface of the ridge can thus serve as a seat against which one end of a helical spring can act so that the spring can be located between the sleeve and the shaft.

A particular embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a longitudinal part cross sectional and part side view of a turning handle mounted on a shaft, Figure 2 is a top view of the handle shown in Fig. 1 and Figure 3 illustrates the handle of Fig. 1 in a folded down position.

Referring firstly to Figs. 1 and 2 a rotating arm 1 of the turning handle 2 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 3 by means of a pivot pin 4. The arm has a boss portion 5 of substantially square cross-section (see Fig. 2) which fits over an end of the shaft 3 and is open at the side beneath the arm 1 to allow the whole handle to be pivoted in the directon of arrow A about the axis of the pin 4.

Opposing sides of the boss portion 5 adjoining this open side are each formed with a slanting face 6 and a tapered slot 7. A tubular sleeve 8, also of substantially square cross section, has an inwardly projecting ridge9 which is in sliding contact with the shaft 3.

The axial end of the sleeve 8 away from the boss portion 5 is slidably mounted on a thicker part of the shaft 3 so that a helical spring 10 lodged between a ledge 11 and the ridge 9 urges the sleeve 8 towards the boss portion 5. In the position shown in Fig. 1 two tongues 1 2 formed as part of the sleeve 8 fit into respective slots 7, the spring 10 biassing the tongues home so as to lock the turning handle 2 in a working position.

The upper abutment face between the tongue and its respective slot is in a plane approximately radial to the axis of the pin 4 and is at about 15 to the plane containing the axis of the shaft 3. The lower abutment face is at a lower angle so that (relative to the radial of the axis of the pin 4) it is effectively undercut and pivoting of the handle about the axis 4 will only urge the sleeve faster into engagement with the handle.

The turning handle 2 can thus be safely rotated by use of its handle portion 1 3. Because the contact faces are appropriately angled, no upwardly or downwardly directed force applied to the handle portion 1 3 can overcome the bias of the spring 10 and so dislodge the rotating arm 1 from its locked relationship with the sleeve 8-. However, since both contact faces are at an angle to the axial of the shaft 3 there is no hindrance to deliberate manual withdrawal of the sleeve 8. In addition the non-circular cross-section of the ridge 9 and sleeve 8 keyed onto the shaft 3 prevents rotation of the sleeve about the shaft 3.

To pivot the turning handle to the position shown in Fig. 3 the sleeve 8 is pushed, for example by a bevelled portion 14, against the bias of the spring 10 until the tongues 1 2 are removed from their respective slots 7 and the faces 6 can be swung across respective leading faces of the tongues 1 2. The rotating arm 1 is conveniently pivoted in the direction of arrow A, once the tongue and slot combinations have been unlocked, by applying a force to the handle portion 13. A portion 6a of each face 6 passes through an over centre with respect to the spring 10 and contributes to the retention of the turning handle 2 in the position shown in Fig. 3. The released sleeve 8 is urged by the spring 10 so that the tongues 12 abut respective faces 6. To return the arm to the working position of Fig. 1 an upward force applied to the handle portion 1 3 moves the portion 6 a of each face 6 across the loading face of its respective tongue 12, against the bias of the spring 10, and thus allows the tongues 1 2 to snap back into a locking relationship with their respective slots 7. In Fig. 3, as in Fig. 1, dashed lines are used to show one of the tongue and slot combinations, neither of which are in the plane of the cross-section.

.The shaft 3 of the device described above can be suitably linked to apparatus which can be turned by hand, for example a fishing reel.

A fishing reel, or other rotatable apparatus, can thus be provided having a turning handle which is held firmly in a working position for rotation, but which can be easily folded back, e.g. for storage, and then returned to its working position by means of a single springloaded element.

For apparatus such as a fishing reel which may be used by either left-handed or righthanded people the shaft 3 is conveniently attached to an appropriate part of the reel by a linkage which can allow the handle to face in either direction with respect to the reel. In Figs. 1 and 3 a screw 1 5 joins the shaft 3 to portion 1 6 of e.g. a reel. A threaded hole is additionally provided in the other end (not shown) of the portion 1 6 at the other side of the reel to allow the attachment of the handle in the reverse handedness.

Claims (9)

1. A handle mounted on a shaft to drive the shaft in rotation but be pivotable about an axis at right angles to that of the shaft between a working position and a retracted position, a collar on the shaft for releasably locking the handle in at least its working position, the collar being resiliently urged into engagement with the handle, thus engagement in the working position of the handle being effected between side faces of a tongue projecting generally paraliel to the axis of the shaft and a pair of abutment faces for the tongue which are to respective sides of the axis of the shaft, the tongue being on the collar or the handle and the faces on the handle or the collar.

2. A handle according to Claim 1 wherein an abutment face lies in a plane generally radial of the axis of pivot of the handle.

3. A handle according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein an abutment face lies in a plane undercut relative to the radial of the axis of pivot of the handle.

4. A handle according to Claim 1, Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the tongue is on the collar and the abutment faces on the handle.

5. A handle according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the handle and collar have as well as the tongue and abutment faces planar surfaces normal to the axis of the shaft which abuts in the working position of the handle.

6. A handle according to Claim 5 wherein the normal face of the collar is provided by a flange on the collar extending inwardly from a plain tubular sleeve.

7. A handle according to Claim 6 wherein part of the collar projects axially of the shaft over a portion of the handle, in the working position of the handle.

8. A handle according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a planar axial end face of the tongue engages under the resilient urging of the collar with a planar face contiguous to one of the abutment faces and directed generally tangentially to the axis of pivot of the handle whereby to define by engagement between the planar faces the retracted position of the handle.

9. A fishing reel incorporating a handle according to any one of the preceding claims.