GB2132172A

GB2132172A - Hanging device cable reel

Info

Publication number: GB2132172A
Application number: GB08317566A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Norio Furuya; Tohsuke Tajima
Original assignee: TAJIMA INDUSTRY CO Ltd
Current assignee: TAJIMA INDUSTRY CO Ltd
Priority date: 1982-11-04
Filing date: 1983-06-28
Publication date: 1984-07-04
Also published as: GB8317566D0; FR2535829A1; DE3323716A1

Abstract

To enable an object, such as a foliage plant, to be suspended at a convenient height in a room, it is hung from a cord 35 that is unwound from a reel drum 34 which rotates against the action of a spiral spring 33. To prevent the load from running away a braking mechanism acting on the reel or cord is provided. The cord may pass over fixed pins 39, 40 and adjustable pins 43, 44 on a rotary unit 41, 42 that can be turned to each of a series of latched positions resulting in different sinuous paths for the cord with correspondingly different braking effects. When the load is removed, the spring winds up the cord. In an alternative braking arrangement a ratchet and pawl mechanism is provided between the reel drum and a rotatable braking device (10, 11, Fig. 2). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Hanging device The present invention relates to a hanging device. Recently, there has been in fashion the use for indoor decoration of a foliage plant in a home living room or at the window of an office. For small-sized plants, a hanging cord is often hung down from the ceiling of a room to support a whole flowerpot at an end of the cord. The purpose is to position a small-sized plant at a place where it looks at its best.

However, if the plant is positioned at a high level, one must remove the plant from the hanging cord every time it has to be watered or use a foot-stool.

In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a hanging device which can be adapted to change the level or height of an object suspended, the object being typically the aforesaid small-sized foliage plant.

According to the invention a device for hanging an object at a variable distance from a fixed support by the use of a reel drum from which a cord can be drawn out and which is interposed between the object and support, comprises a case, a shaft fixed within the case on which the drum is rotatably mounted, a hanging cord fixed to the drum at one end, wound on the drum and guided out of the drum for attachment at the other end to the object or support, a spiral spring interposed between the drum and a location fixed within the case and arranged to be stressed under a load withdrawing the cord from the case and to cause the cord to be wound on the drum when the cord is released, and a braking mechanism operable on the reel drum or the cord within the case to provide resistance to the withdrawal of the cord from the case.

Thereby, the hanging cord is wound on the reel drum and accommodated within the case, in a condition wherein no load is applied.

When the hanging cord accommodated within the case is pulled out in the absence of the braking mechanism through a suitable amount of length against the resilient force of the spiral spring as it is wound up to hang the article suspended at the extreme end of the hanging cord, the article suspended hangs down until the length of the hanging cord terminates, since the load of the article suspended is generally much greater than the resiliency of the spiral spring, and the article suspended cannot be held at a suitable height. However, the present invention overcomes the above-described problem and to this end a resistance due to the braking mechanism against operation in a direction of drawing the hanging cord is imparted to the reel drum or hanging cord within the case to prevent said suspended article from hanging too far down.

While the present invention has been briefly described, the present invention, other objects and novel characteristics will be fully understood by reading the following description in connection with preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted however that the drawings merely illustrate the embodiments for elucidation of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.In the drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a hanging device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line Il-Il of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a front view showing the mode of using the device of Figs. 1 and 2; Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respectively perspective views of modifications of the device of Figs. 1 and 2; Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a hanging device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on line VII-VII of Fig. 7; Figure 9 is a front view showing the mode of using the device of Figs. 7 and 8; Figures 10, 11 and 12 are explanatory diagrams showing the mode of operation of a load adjusting mechanism in the device of Figs. 7 and 8; and Figures 13 and 14 are perspective views showing modifications of the device of Figs. 7 to 12.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, a hollow case as indicated at 1 is composed of a front case 2 and a rear case 3 which are united, and in the centre thereof, a fixed shaft A extending from the inner surface of the front case 2, is mounted on the rear case 3, said hollow case 1 having its outer upper end integrally formed with a hanging ring 5. A reel drum as indicated at 6 is mounted rotatably on the fixed shaft 4 extending through an axial hole 7. A spiral spring 9 is fixed between the base of a reel groove 8 formed in the outer periphery of the drum 6 and the fixed shaft 4, said spiral spring having an inner end tangentially fastened to the fixed shaft 4 and an outer end tangentially fastened to the.base of the reel groove 8. The spiral spring 9 is stressed by rotation of the drum 6 in the direction of arrow A (Fig. 2) and relaxed when rotating the drum in the direction of arrow B.

A brake ring as indicated at 10 is loosely rotatable between the outer circumference of a boss 11 of the reel drum 6 and a peripheral shoulder portion 1 2 formed coaxially with the fixed shaft 4 on the inner surface of the front case 2. A plurality of resilient detents formed from flat springs 14, 14, 14 resiliently extend radially inwards from the peripheral shoulder portion 1 2 to exert pressure on sinuous teeth 1 3 provided on the outer circumference of the brake ring to constitute a rotational braking mechanism. Locking pawls 17, consisting of a plurality of flat springs inclined so as to project chordwise into an axial hole 1 6 in the brake ring 10 engage a ratchet wheel 1 5 formed on the outer circumference of the boss 11.A ratchet mechanism is thus formed which rotates the brake ring 10 only when the reel drum 6 is rotated in a direction as indicated by the arrow A. Thus the ratchet mechanism constitutes a unidirectional clutch mechanism. A hanging cord 18, of which the inner end is tied to a part of the reel groove 8 of the reel drum 6 is arranged to be drawn out through a cord opening 1 9 bored in the lower side portion of the case 1. The cord is wound in the same direction as that of the spiral spring 9 and has its outer end provided with a hanging member such as a hook member 20.

In use of the hanging device constructed as described above, the device is mounted on the undersurface of the ceiling making use of the hanging ring 5 as shown in Fig. 3, and a flowerpot a or the like is hung down at the hook member 20. The hanging cord 1 8 is pulled out to the desired length with a predetermined tensile load determined by the braking mechanism applied thereto so that the height of suspension may be adjusted.

That is, when the hanging cord 1 8 is pulled, the reel drum 6 is rotated in a direction as indicated by the arrow A while the ratchet wheel 1 5 engages the pawls 1 7.

Therefore, the hanging cord 1 8 is drawn out by the load on the hanging cord so long as it exceeds the sum of the total resisting load of the brake mechanism due to the teeth 1 3 and the detent springs 14 and the increasing load due to the spiral spring 9. When the tensile load is relieved, the reel drum 6 is rotated in a direction as indicated by the arrow B by the spiral spring 9 as it relaxes and the hanging cord 1 8 is wound into the case 1 from the cord opening 1 9. Since at this time, the ratchet mechanism provided between the brake ring 10 and the reel drum 6 frees the reel drum, the returning force of the spiral spring 9 is not impaired by the braking mechanism.

Accordingly, the hanging device can stably suspend at a suitable level the article a having a weight determined by the reaction of the spiral spring 9 and the force necessary to pull out the load.

In the above-described structure, the detent springs 14 of the braking mechanism can be increased or decreased in number or varied in resilient force to thereby vary the range of movement of the load. In addition, if the design is such that the relative positions between the detent springs 14 and sinuous teeth 1 3 varies slightly, the hanging cord 1 8 can be drawn out smoothly. Alternatively, a friction disc brake mechanism can be used in the braking mechanism.While in the abovedescribed embodiment, the case 1 is suspension mounted, it should be noted that various types such as the direct-mount type shown in Fig. 4, the rosette type shown in Fig. 5, and the wall-mount type, in which the hanging cord 1 8 is drawn out from the end of a support arm 21 projecting from the body shown in Fig. 6, and the like can be employed. As described above, the aforementioned hanging device may be used to hang the article suspended having a predetermined load at a required level.

Next, in the accompanying drawings, Figs 7 to 14 show a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, a reference numeral 31 designates a case. In the centre of the case 31 there is mounted a fixed shaft 32 between a partitioning wall 31a and an outer wall 31 b, and a reel drum 34 wherein the periphery of a reel groove 34a is fastened to an outer end of a spiral spring 33, while its inner end is fastened to the fixed shaft 32, is rotatably mounted on the fixed shaft 32. On the reel groove 34a of the reel drum 34 is wound, in the same direction as the convolutions of the spiral spring 33, a hanging cord 35 of which inner end is tied to a part of the groove 34a. The hanging cord is wound by the resilient relaxation of the spiral spring 33 after the cord has been pulled out of the case 31.The outer end of the cord passes through a load adjusting mechanism 36 via a guide wall 50a and thereafter via a guide wall 50b is led out of a cord opening 37 of the case 31. A suspension member such as a hook member 38 is attached to the end of the cord.

The load adjusting mechanism 36 comprises a first fixed pin 39 projecting in the neighbourhood of a lead-oklt portion of the reel drum 34, a second fixed pin 40 positioned in the neighbourhood of the cord opening 37, a rotation adjusting element 41 posi tioned between the fixed pins 39 and 40 and pivotally mounted on an outer wall 31 c of the case 31, and two movable pins 43 and 44 mounted between the adjusting element 41 and a rotary member 42 mounted on the partitioning wall 31a. The rotary member 42 is cylindrical and mounted rotatably with respect to the axial hole of the partitioning wall 31 a, the outer end of the rotational adjusting element 41 is cylindrical and is rotatable with respect to the axial hole of the outer wall 31 c.

Small equidistantly spaced projections 45, 45... extend radially on the inner end of the element 41 and are located in each of a series of positions around the element by engaging recesses 46, 46 formed in the inner end surface of the axial hole of the outer wall 31c.

A coil spring 47 interposed between the rotary member 42 and the partitioning wall 31e normally resilient biases the rotation adjust ing element 41 in a direction opposite to the arrow C so that the small projections 45 are fitted into the engaging recesses 46 to prevent rotation of the rotation adjusting element 41. When the rotation adjusting element 41 is forced in a direction of the arrow C against the resiliency of the coil spring 47, the small projections 45 are disengaged from the engaging recesses 46 for free rotation to rotate the rotation adjusting element 41 to vary the relative position of the movable pins 43, 44 to the fixed pins 39, 40.A reference numeral 48 designates a diametral groove formed in the end surface of the rotation adjusting element 41, and a coin or a screw driver can be fitted in the groove 48 to rotate the rotation adjusting element 41 as desired. A reference numeral 49 designates a hanging ring projecting externally at the upper part of the case 31.

In use of the hanging device constructed as described above, the device is mounted on the undersurface of the ceiling making use of the hanging ring 49 as shown in Fig. 9, and a flowerpot a or the like is hung down at the hook member 35. The load adjusting mechanism 36 is preadjusted to the weight of the article a whereby the hanging cord 35 is pulled out to the length desired, that is to a position in which it is stabilised.

Therefore, when the hanging cord 35 is pulled, it is drawn out from the reel drum after passing through the load adjusting mechanism 36. However, since the rotation adjusting element 41 can be displaced, the positional relation between the first fixed pin 39, the second fixed pin 40 and two movable pins 43, 44 can be varied, as shown in Figs.

10 to 12. Thus, the hanging cord 35 between both the fixed pins 39 and 40 can be moved from a position wherein the cord is not in contact with the movable pins 43, 44 as shown in Fig. 10 to positions wherein a sinuous path with respect to the fixed pins 39, 40 and movable pins 43, 44 is defined to vary the sliding resistance of the cord to a greater or lesser extent as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The drawn out hanging cord 35 is stabilised by the fact that the load of the article a and the sliding frictional resistance between the fixed pins 39, 40 and movable pins 43, 44 of the load adjusting mechanism 36 is balanced by the resilient force of the spiral spring 33.

Accordingly, the hanging cord 35 may be reduced in length by releasing the load of the article a to eliminate the sliding frictional resistance caused by the fixed pins 39, 40 and movable pins 43, 44 with the result that the cord is wound onto the reel drum 44 by the return of the spiral spring 33. While in the above-described embodiment, the case 31 is mounted using a spherical suspension type, it should be noted that various other shapes such as the direct-mount type as shown in Fig. 13, the rosette type as shown in Fig. 14 may also be employed. Alternatively, the end of the hanging cord 35 can be secured to the ceiling or the like for use in a state wherein the case 31 body is hung down. As described above, the aforesaid hanging device may be used to hang different articles having a variety of weights at a suitable level.

Therefore, the hanging device of the present invention is very useful for the display of articles whose height has to be varied; for example, a foliage plant which is desirably lowered in level when watering.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be obvious that many other modifications of the present invention may be made without departing from the principle thereof. Accordingly, it is desired so to cover those modifications and variations as to substantially obtain the effects of the present invention through the use of structures substantially identical with dr corresponding to those of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A device for hanging an object at a variable distance from a fixed support by the use of a reel drum from which a cord can be drawn out and which is interposed between the object and support, the device comprising a case, a shaft fixed within the case on which the drum is rotatably mounted, a hanging cord fixed to the drum at one end, wound on the drum and guided out of the drum for attachment at the other end to the object or support, a spiral spring interposed between the drum and a location fixed within the case and arranged to be stressed under a load withdrawing the cord from the case and to cause the cord to be wound on the drum when the cord is released, and a braking mechanism operable on the reel drum or the cord within the case to provide resistance to the withdrawal of the cord from the case.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the brake mechanism comprises a brake member mounted for constrained rotation relatively to the case and driven through unidirectional clutch mechanism by the reel drum when the cord is withdrawn.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which the constrained rotation results from an arrangement wherein resilient detents engage sinuous teeth on the brake member.

4. A device according to claim 2, in which the brake mechanism comprises two stationary and two adjustable pins over which the cord is arranged to travel in its passage from the reel drum to the exterior of the case, the adjustable pins being arranged to be set in different positions resulting respectively in cord paths over the pins having different braking effects.

5. A device according to claim 4, in which the brake mechanism is located between one face of the reel drum and an adjacent side of the case.

6. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 7 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.