GB2106863A - Clothes line assembly with tensioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

A clothes line assembly has a tensioning device which can apply tension to the drum 12 for rewinding of the line 11 but can be released during unwinding. The device consists of a handle 36 which is releasably coupled to the drum by drive means including ratchet teeth co-acting between the drum housing and the handle and inhibiting rotation of the drum by the handle in an unwind direction and disengagement means comprising cam surfaces on a non-circular spring-biased, slidable spindle 22 which co-act with cam surfaces on the handle to withdraw the spindle from a pinion 27, forming part of the drive means, so as to disengage the coupling between the handle and the drum when the handle is rotated in a reverse direction. The tensioning device is in addition to a retraction spring co-acting with the drum to urge rotation in a rewind direction. The torque of the retraction spring may be adjustable. Rotation of the handle in the forward direction causes rotation of the drum in the rewind direction. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tensioning device and clothes airer This invention relates to a tensioning device which constitutes an improvement in an extensible clothes line assembly of the type having a series of lines each secured at one of its ends to a drum which is carried in a housing for rotation in an unwind direction for extension of the clothes line and a rewind direction for retraction of the clothes line onto the drum.

In clothes line assemblies (and in certain other applications, for example blinds which can be drawn or retracted) there is frequently a requirement to apply additional tension to the torsion imparted by a retracting spring, but at the same time to provide means whereby the tension can be released for unwinding purposes.

One object of this invention therefore is to provide a tensioning device which can perform the dual function of applying tension for an extended element, for example a series of clothes lines, and can also be used to release the tension for unwinding purposes.

In this invention, improvements in an extensible clothes line assembly of the type herein defined comprise a tensioning handle retained by the housing for rotation, drive means releasably coupling the tensioning handle to the drum such that rotation of the handle in a forward direction causes rotation of the drum in a rewind direction, said drive means including ratchet teeth co-acting between the housing and the handle and inhibiting rotation of the drum by the handle in an unwind direction, said drive means also including drive disengagement means operable to disengage said coupling between the handle and drum whereupon the drum is freely rotatable in both said directions.

It is convenient that a single handle should be used both for tensioning of the clothes lines and for freeing the drum for rotation, and in an embodiment of the invention the disengagement means comprise cam surfaces on a non-circular spindle which co-act with cam surfaces on the handle to withdraw the spindle from a pinion, which said pinion forms portion of the drive means, so as to disengage the coupling from the handle to the drum.

If the cam surfaces are steep, the spring will cause the slidable shaft to normally lie in engagement with the pinion, and only to be withdrawn therefrom upon rotation of the tensioning handle in a reverse direction. On the other hand, the locking ratchet can be arranged to be permanently operative due to the pressure of the spring on the locking ratchet sleeve.

In another embodiment of the invention, said housing comprises a cover having an end portion, said ratchet teeth including axially extending teeth in the end portion surrounding a central aperture therein, said cover also having an axially extending bearing sleeve on which said handle is journalled for rotation, a ratchet sleeve having a splined inner wall and axially extending ratchet teeth on one end coacting with the ratchet teeth of said cover end portion, gear teeth on said drum in mesh with a pinion journalled for rotation in said housing, said pinion also having a splined inner wall, an axially movable spindle having splines which slidably but non-rotationally engage the splines of said ratchet sleeve in all positions of the spindle but disengagement means comprising said spindle the splines of which are movable from a position of engagement with the splines of the pinion to a position of disengagement, said spindle extending through said central aperture and through said handle and having a head with axially extending cam surfaces co-acting with axially extending cam surfaces on the head, and a spring co-acting between the spindle and the ratchet sleeve retaining said ratchet teeth It. encagcuient and also said cam surfaces in engagement, such that rotation of the handle in said forward direction causes the ratchet teeth of the ratchet sleeve to ride over the ratchet teeth of the cover, and the pinion to rotate causing said rewind rotation of drum, and rotation of the handle in said reverse direction causes the cams to co-act and disengage the spindle from the pinion.

There is frequently a need to increase or decrease the tension of a retraction spring in a drum type arrangement as herein described, and in another embodiment of this invention there is provided spring tensioning means carried by the frame and coupled to the retraction spring, said spring tensioning means being adjustable to adjust the torque imparted to the retraction spring.

An embodiment of the invention is described hereunder in detail with reference to and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the housing and drum of an extensible clothes line assembly, Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the drum, showing a biassing spring and a drum end with gear teeth, Figure 3 is an elevational section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Figure 4 is an end elevation in the direction of arrow 4 in Fig. 1, Figure 5 is an elevational section of the handle and pinion assembly, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4, Figure 6 is an "exploded" elevational section of that assembly, Figure 7 is an end elevation of the pinion as seen from line 7-7 of Fig. 6, and Figure 8 is an end elevation of the handle as seen from line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

In this embodiment an extendible clothes line assembly 10 comprises a plurality of clothes line 11 wound around a drum 12 which is rotational within a housing 13. The clothes lines 11 are joined together at one end in spaced array by means of a cross member (not shown) which can be located, upon withdrawal of the clothes lines, and retained by support means but can be released from those support means for retraction purposes. Such a device is already marketed by the applicant herein under the registered trade mark "EXTENDALINE", and described in Australian Patent 416,097.

The drum 12 is supported at its two ends by end members 15, each having a skirt 16 which engages the inner surface of a tubular drum 1 2. and a central boss 17 containing a bearing surface. At one end the central boss merely functions as bearing means for supporting that end with respect to what can herein be regarded as a temporarily fixed central tubular shaft 18, and the shafr 18 extends through the end of that bearing and terminates in a pretensioning member 19 which non-rotationally engages the shaft, the pretensioning member 19 having a key 20 moulded therein, the surface of the key 20 engaging abutment surfaces formed by a notch (not shown) in the end of the tubular shaft 18.

The pretensioning member 19 is provided with a ratchet portion (not shown) which enables the shaft to be rotated in a direction which tensions a retraction spring 22 surrounding the shaft 18, and having one end engaging the shaft and its other end engaging the adjacent end member 15. To assist in tensioning, the pretensioning member 19 is provided with a square aperture 23 which will receive a square section key member (not shown).

The other end of the drum is provided with bearing means in the boss 17 as said above, and around which the end of the retraction spring 22 is located. However, that end bearing has an outwardly extending annular skirt 25 the inner surface of which is constituted by internal gear teeth 26, and these gear teeth are engaged by a pinion 27, the pinion 27 being rotatable in an apertured boss 28 in a tensioner housing 29 which forms part of housing 3. The apertured boss 28 is not concentric with the tubular shaft 18, but the pinion 27 is in mesh with gear 26 and can be rotated to cause corresponding rotation of the drum. (The gear teeth 26 are shown "exploded" for simplicity of representation in the drawing) The pinion however is provided with a central aperture 31 which is splined and has abutment surfaces, and these are engaged by corresponding abutment surfaces near but not at the end of a slidable spindle 32.

The tersioner housing 29 comprises an outwardly extending portion 34 itself having a bearing sleeve 35 in which is journalled a tensioning handle 36, and the tensioning handle 36 has a central aperture through which extends the splined spindle 32, but the handle can rotate independently of the spindle 32. The outer end of the slidable spindle 32 terminates in an enlarged head 38. and the enlarged head 38 is provided with a pair of steeply axially extending cam lobes 40 which engage correspondingly steep sloped cam lobes 41 on the handle 36. As shown in Fig.

5, these lobes are located outwardly of end portion 43 of cover 34, but on the inner face thereof there are axially extending ratchet teeth 44 (Fig. 6) which function as fixed ratchet teeth directed inwardly in an axial direction and releasably engaged by complementary teeth on a ratchet sleeve 45 which is slidable over but engaged by splines of the slidable spindle 32. A circumferential groove 46 in the splines contains a retaining circlip 47 which iself bears against an axially inner end of a compression spring 48, the axially outer end of the compression spring bearing against the rachet sleeve 45 to retain the locking ratchet teeth in engagement. and at the same time retain cam lobes 40 and 41 in engagement.The spring 48 functions therefore to draw the slidable spindle 32 axially inwardly so that the abutment surfaces of the spline on the axially inner end of it engage the complementary abutment surfaces of the pinion 27 until such time as the shaft is moved outwardly by further compression of the compression spring.

The arrangement is such that, upon release of the drum 12 by withdrawal of spindle 32 from pinion 27 by rotation of handle 36 in a reverse direction, rotation in a release direction of the drum 12 is permitted as the clothes lines 11 are withdrawn therefrom, the withdraw action being opposed by only the tension in the retraction spring 22. However it is convenient not to apply excessive tension to the clothes lines as they are withdrawn, and after the withdrawn ends have been fixed to their retaining means, the tensioning handle is rotated in a forward direction (clockwise) to retract the clothes lines 11 onto drum 12 and force tensioning of the clothes line which is retained by means of the locking ratchet, once more being effective due to engagement of splined spindle 32 with pinion 27.

When it is required to release the clothes lines, this is achieved by rotation of the tensioning handle in a release (anti-clockwise) or reverse direction which again causes withdrawal of the spindle splines from the pinion, and allows the clothes line to become slack. A small flat area (not shown) on the release ratchet enables the release position to be retained while the clothes lines are retracted onto their drum.

Claims (9)

1. Improvements in an extensible clothes line assembly of the type having a series of lines each secured at one of its ends to a drum which is carried in a housing for rotation in an unwind direction for extension of the clothes line and a rewind direction for retraction of the clothes line onto the drum, the improvements comprising a tensioning handle retained by the housing for rotation, drive means releasably coupling the tensioning handle to the drum such that rotation of the handle in a forward direction causes rotation of the drum in a rewind direction, said drive means including ratchet teeth co-acting between the housing and the handle and inhibiting rotation of the drum by the handle in an unwind direction, said drive means also including drive disengagement means operable to disengage said coupling between the handle and drum whereupon the drum is freely rotatable in both said directions.

2. Improvements according to Claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a noncircular spindle coupled to the handle for both relative rotational and axially sliding movement, said disengagement means comprising axially movable means to cause said sliding movement of the spindle to a disengagement position upon rotation of the drum in a reverse direction.

3. Improvements according to Claim 2 wherein said ratchet teeth comprises teeth on the housing co-acting with teeth on a sleeve which is non-rotatably but slidably engaged by the non-circular spindle.

4. Improvements according to either Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein said axially movable means comprise cam surfaces on the noncircular spindle co-acting with cam surfaces on the handle.

5. Improvements according to any one of Claims 2, 3 or 4 further comprising an internal gear on one end of the drum and a pinion journalled for rotation in the housing, the pinion having a non-circular central aperture which is engaged for relative slidable movement only by the non-circular spindle when said drive means couple the tensioning handle to the drum but is disengaged when said spindle slides to a disengagement position.

6. Improvements according to Claim 1 wherein said housing comprises a cover having an end portion, said ratchet teeth including axially extending teeth in the end portion surrounding a central aperture therein, said cover also having an axially extending bearing sleeve on which said handle is journalled for rotation, a ratchet sleeve having a splined inner wall and axially extending ratchet teeth on one end co-acting with the ratchet teeth of said cover end portion, gear teeth on said drum in mesh with a pinion journalled for rotation in said housing, said pinion also having a splined inner wall, an axially movable spindle having splines which slidably but non-rotationally engage the splines of said ratchet sleeve in all positions of the spindle but disengagement means comprsing said spindle the splines of which are movable from a position of engagement with the splines of the pinion to a position of disengagement, said spindle extending through said central aperture and through said handle and having a head with axially extending cam surfaces co-acting with axially extending cam surfaces on the head, and a spring co-acting between the spindle and the ratchet sleeve retaining said ratchet teeth in engagement and also said cam surfaces in engagement, such that rotation of the handle in said forward direction causes the ratchet teeth of the ratchet sleeve to ride over the ratchet teeth of the cover, and the pinion to rotate causing said rewind rotation of drum, and rotation of the handle in said reverse direction causes the cams to co-act and disengage the spindle from the pinion.

7. improvements according to any preceding claim further comprising a retraction spring contained within the drum and coacting between the drum and the frame urging the drum towards rotation in a rewind direction.

8. Improvements according to Claim 7 further comprising spring tensioning means carried by the frame and coupled to the retraction spring, said spring tensioning means being adjustable to adjust the torque imparted to the retraction spring.

9. Improvements in an extensible clothes line assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.