GB2286580A

GB2286580A - Apparatus for winding hose

Info

Publication number: GB2286580A
Application number: GB9503254A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Munn; William Manary; David Theobald
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-02-18
Filing date: 1995-02-20
Publication date: 1995-08-23
Also published as: CA2115949A1; GB9503254D0

Abstract

Apparatus 20 for winding hose 38 comprises a housing 24 having a tripod base 26 for supporting the housing on a ground surface, and a shaft 22 with turning means to rotate the shaft inside the housing. Bifurcated hose-engaging means 54, at the bottom end of the shaft locate one end of the hose during rotation of the shaft 22 so that the hose will wind itself about the shaft axis on the ground surface upon operation of the turning means. <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR WINDING HOSE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for winding hose, particularly fire hose with a webbed outer covering and threaded couplings disposed at opposite ends of the hose.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION While the invention finds particular application in the winding of fire hose, it will be understood that the apparatus made according to the invention may be modified as required to be adapted for winding other strip material or hose such as, for example, a garden hose. Fire-fighters must, of necessity, regularly wind hose after use. The task is inherently difficult because of the added weight in a wet, webbed hose, and sometimes unforgiving terrain at the site of a fire where the ground surface is often wet and, consequently, muddy or slippery. Conventionally, fire hose is wound into upright coils with the flat side of the hose lying on the ground surface and the fire-fighter hunched over the coil as he rolls the hose between the legs. This method of winding hose is affectionately known as "the duck walk". It is a physically strenuous exercise, particularly where the fire-fighter is still at the site of the fire and is carrying a heavy pack after a dangerous fight with the elements.

Other apparatus for winding fire hose are known to the applicants and most of these are unsatisfactory because they are not portable or are unsuitable for use at the site of a fire, as in the case of the apparatus shown in U.S. 5,033,690; U.S. 3,946,964; U.S. 2,933,262 and U.S. 2,197,767.

One apparatus which is portable is shown in U.S. 5,188,307 and provides an elongated member which terminates at a pivot point which, in use, contacts a supporting surface. Turning means are provided at the upper end to rotate the elongated member about the pivot point and a L-shape bracket at the lower end is provided to retain the hose. This construction suffers from many disadvantages and, in particular, the point termination limits the use of the apparatus to a level supporting surface and therefore is unsuitable for use "in the field" where there is ice, mud or snow. Even on level surfaces such as a floor at the fire hall, the point termination is likely to slide where the floor is wet and could poke holes in the floor which is, of course, undesirable. However, the main disadvantage of the apparatus is that it is not self-supporting and will therefore wobble in use. Another consequence is that the hose will constantly have to be oriented on its edge and twists and curls unfurled by a second operator as the hose is wound about the pivot point.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus suitable for winding fire hose which is stable and also portable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, there is provided apparatus for winding hose comprising a rotatable shaft and a housing for the shaft having support means for supporting the housing on a surface, the shaft being disposed for rotation inside the housing. Turning means to rotate the shaft are provided, and hose-engaging means disposed at an end of the shaft adjacent to the surface rotate with the shaft and locate one end of the hose during rotation of the shaft so that the hose will wind itself about the shaft on the surface upon operation of the turning means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention may be better understood, a preferred embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a lower portion of apparatus made according to the invention in use for winding fire hose and which is partly sectioned to show a rotatable shaft within a housing; Fig. 2 is a top plan view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a partly-sectioned side elevational view of the apparatus made according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT - An apparatus for winding hose made in accordance with the invention is generally indicated by numeral 20 in Figs. 1 and 3, and comprises a rotatable shaft 22 shown protruding from a cylindrical housing 24 in Fig. 1.

The housing 24 has support meals in the form of a tripod base, generally indicated by numeral 26 and comprising legs 28, 30, 32 which, in use, rest on a ground surface 34. As seen in the drawings, the legs 28, 30, 32 extend radially and downwardly from the cylindrical housing 24 so as to inscribe a space 36 sufficient to accommodate a wound hose 38, typically 50 feet in length (Fig. 1). The legs 28, 30, 32 each have a respective cap 40, 42, 44 at the free ends thereof which are conveniently made of rubber or synthetic plastic material suitable to minimize slipping on a wet surface and adapted to minimize penetration of the legs into soft ground.

It will be appreciated that the shaft 22 is disposed inside the cylindrical housing 24 for rotation about a vertical axis. The shaft 22 rotates by means of turning means comprising a handle portion, generally indicated by numeral 46 (Fig. 3), and comprising an upper portion of the shaft 22 bent radially to the axis of rotation and having a grip 48 on a vertically-extending end portion. A swivel grip 52 in the form of a sleeve is disposed on the main portion of the shaft 22 extending from the housing 24 so that the shaft may rotate inside the swivel grip 52 upon rotation of the handle portion 46.

Hose-engaging means at the lower end of the shaft 22 comprise a -bifurcated portion in the form of an inverted U-bolt 54 to which has been welded a collar 56 disposed to extend upwardly from the bolt and dimensioned to receive the shaft 22. The shaft 22 is secured to the collar 56 with a pin 58. The legs of the U-bolt 54 are sufficiently spaced to accommodate a thickness of hose 38 therebetween and preferably are separated by a distance which does not exceed the diameter of a selected hose coupling 59, typically 11E or 2'k inches.

The cylindrical housing 24 is capped off with a pair of washers 60, 62 disposed at opposite ends of the housing and apertured to receive the shaft 22. A cylindrical bushing 64 disposed at the lower end of the cylindrical housing 24 locates the shaft 22 at the lower end and is sealed with a ring 66.

At the upper end, the shaft 22 locates in a flanged bushing 68 and the shaft 22 is welded to the washer 62. The washer 62 effectively defines stop means which will determine the lower-most position of the shaft 22 relative to the housing 24 and, accordingly, the vertical separation between the hoseengaging means and the ground surface. It is preferable for the U-bolt 54 to be suspended above the ground surface 34 by a height sufficient to clear any irregularities in the surface and also to be low enough to reach the fire hose 38 even as it lies flat on the ground. Typically, the separation of the bottom of the hose-engaging means from the plane surface defined by the legs of the tripod base will be 1/4 inch.

- A pair of foot rests 70, 72 in the form of an angle iron are welded to respective legs 28, 32 so as to present a generally horizontal upper surface.

A carrying handle 74 is also welded to the cylindrical housing 24 above the tripod base 26.

In use, the apparatus 20 is brought to the site of a fire and placed over a hose 38 adjacent to a coupling 59. Preferably, the tripod base 26 is placed on the ground surface 24 in such a manner that a free end of the hose 38 remote from the coupling 59 will lie adjacent the outside of the leg 30 (Fig. 2) with the other legs 28, 32 extending away from the unravelled hose. A foot rest 70, 72 is selected by the user according to whether the fire-fighter is right or left handed. One hand is placed on the swivel grip 52 and the other hand grasps the grip 48 on the free end of the shaft 22 and proceeds to rotate the shaft 22 within the housing 24. The hose-engaging means 54 will rotate with the shaft 22 and will operate to locate the hose 38 adjacent the coupling in a vertical orientation with the flat side of the hose extending upwardly as shown in Fig. 1. Continued rotation of the shaft 22 will wind the hose in a tight coil around itself within the space 36 and the leg 30 will operate to guide the hose 38 so as to feed the hose in an upright orientation and thereby unravel twists in the hose as shown in Fig. 2. The separation of the legs 28, 30, 32 may, of course, be predetermined to suit the length of hose required to be wound. After the hose is wound into a tight coil, the apparatus, according to the invention, may simply be lifted so that the U-bolt 54 clears the hose 38 and carried away using the handle 74.

It will be appreciated that several variations may be made to the abovedescribed embodiment of the invention without departure from the scope of the appended claims. It is foreseeable that the apparatus may comprise other forms of hose-engaging means, support means for the housing, and turning means to rotate the shaft, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In particular, the apparatus described may be modified to incorporate electrically-powered turning means disposed for rotation of the shaft. It will also be appreciated that the apparatus could, if desired, be mounted to a support surface which might be oriented vertically and could, for example, include a planar base attached to the housing and adapted to be secured to a wall.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Apparatus for winding hose comprising: a rotatable shaft; a housing for the shaft having support means for supporting the housing on a surface, the shaft being disposed for rotation inside the housing about an axis of rotation; turning means adapted to rotate the shaft; and hose-engaging means disposed at an end of the shaft adjacent to said surface, the hose-engaging means being adapted for rotation with the shaft and adapted to locate one end of the hose during rotation of the shaft so that the hose will wind itself about the shaft on said surface upon operation of the turning means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the shaft in use is oriented for rotation about a vertical axis and the housing has a tripod base so that the housing is self-supporting on a ground surface, the tripod base having three legs inscribing a space sufficient to accommodate a wound hose of predetermined length.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, in which the shaft has stop means controlling the relative position of the shaft in the housing and adapted to space the hose-engaging means from the surface by a predetermined distance.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, in which the turning means comprises a handle portion disposed at another end of the shaft remote from the hoseengaging means.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which the handle portion comprises a bent shaft portion having a grip at one end extending outwardly in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the shaft, the shaft having a swivel grip in the form of a sleeve disposed on the shaft about the axis of rotation of the shaft and adapted to allow the shaft to rotate inside the swivel grip upon rotation of the handle portion.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the housing includes at least one footrest disposed to allow the application of force on the housing towards the ground surface.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the housing has a carrying handle.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the hose-engaging means comprises a bifurcated portion having members extending outwardly in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation, the members being sufficiently spaced to accommodate a thickness of hose therebetween.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, in which the separation between the members is selected not to exceed the diameter of a selected hose coupling.

10. Apparatus for winding hose comprising a rotatable shaft which, in use, is oriented for rotation about a vertical axis and has a top end and a bottom end; a self-supporting housing for the shaft having a tripod base for supporting the housing on a ground surface, the tripod base having three legs inscribing a space sufficient to accommodate a wound hose of predetermined length, the shaft being disposed for rotation inside the housing; turning means adapted to rotate the shaft; and hose-engaging means disposed at the bottom end of the shaft for rotation with the shaft, and spaced from said ground surface by a predetermined distance, the hose-engaging means comprising a bifurcated portion having members extending downwardly, the members being sufficiently spaced to accommodate a thickness of hose therebetween and adapted to locate one end of the hose during rotation of the shaft so that the hose will wind itself about the shaft on said surface upon operation of the turning means.

11. Apparatus for winding hose substantially as here described with reference to the accompanying drawings.