GB2349378A

GB2349378A - Buoyant reel

Info

Publication number: GB2349378A
Application number: GB0009835A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keith Farquharson Belgrove
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-04-26
Filing date: 2000-04-25
Publication date: 2000-11-01
Anticipated expiration: 2020-04-25
Also published as: GB9909604D0; GB0009835D0; GB2349378B

Abstract

A buoyant reel 11 includes a spindle 12 for receiving a rope or line 15 to be payed out into water. The reel floats with the spindle horizontally positioned, and the spindle is rotatable to enable paying out of the line 15. The spindle 12 may be hollow to contribute buoyancy, and flanges 13, 14 may be buoyant. The reel may be rotatably mounted in a triangular frame 16, 17, 18 having buoyant parts. The frame may have opposed ends 16, 17 which may be hollow and air-tight, and there may be a handle part 18 extending between them. The frame may have feet 19, 20. One end of the line may be attached to a reel flange though a loop (6) and the other end attached to a weight (7) which may be held to a flange using a clip (8). The spindle may rotate relative to the flanges and the flanges may have stabilising vanes.

Description

Reels This invention relates to reels.

The invention is concerned especially with reels for retaining a rope or line in a coil ready to be run out down into a depth of water. Such reels have application in connection with underwater diving in sea or freshwater where a weighted line with a buoy attached to its upper end, is to be run out to mark the location of a wreck or other target feature on the bottom. However, there is difficulty in marking the target in this way when it is identified and located from a boat passing over the target during sonar underwater search. The difficulty arises from the normal inability to run the line out fast enough from a reel mounted or held on the boat, to avoid considerable inaccuracy in placement of the line.

The desired accuracy of line-placement is usually only achieved if the whole length of line and its attached buoy are thrown overboard as the boat passes over the target feature. However, there is then the disadvantage that the line can easily become entangled within the boat either before or during the operation of throwing it overboard, so that accuracy of placement is prejudiced.

The likelihood of such entanglement can be reduced by retaining the line coiled on a reel and throwing the reel together with a buoy attached to it overboard in the expectation that the line will run freely from the reel as it hangs in the water beneath the buoy. The reel with the buoy attached is cumbersome to handle and the attachment between the reel and buoy may become snagged as the reel and buoy are thrown overboard. But more importantly, consistent free running out of the line from the reel hanging underwater from the buoy, is not normally experienced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a form of reel which may be used with advantage in the context of line-placement for divers, to reduce significantly the difficulties referred to above.

According to the present invention there is provided a reel for retaining a rope or line ready to be run out down into a depth of water, including a spindle portion for receiving the rope or line wound in a coil on the spindle portion, and wherein other parts of the reel contribute buoyancy to the reel such that the reel wound with the line floats in the water with the spindle portion substantially horizontal, the spindle portion being rotatable at least when the reel is floating as aforesaid to enable the rope or line to run out from the reel.

The reel of the invention may be used with advantage for marking a diving position with accuracy. In this regard, the reel as wound with a line that is attached to the reel at one end and suitably weighted at the other, does not require attachment to a buoy, so the bulk that is required to be stowed in the boat is significantly reduced. Moreover, the reel can be readily thrown overboard without becoming snagged, and floats with the spindle portion substantially horizontal so that the line can run out, unwinding freely and rapidly from the reel.

The spindle portion, which may be hollow, may have flanges that contribute buoyancy to the reel. In particular, the flanges may be fixedly attached to either end of the spindle portion, the spindle portion and the flanges being hollow and sealed air-tight.

Alternatively, the spindle portion may be rotatably mounted within a frame having parts that contribute buoyancy to the reel; these parts may in this respect be hollow air-tight enclosures. Also, the spindle portion may be rotatably mounted within opposed ends of the frame, and said parts of the frame may in these circumstances comprise parts that extend between the frame-ends.

Two examples of reel in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is part-sectional side elevation of the first reel wound with a line; Figure 2 is an end elevation of the reel of Figure 1; and Figures 3 and 4 are, respectively, an end elevation and a perspective view of the second reel according to the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the first reel 1 to be described is of plastics having a central-spindle portion 2 with circular flanges 3 and 4 fixedly attached to it at either end. The spindle portion 2 and the flanges 3 and 4 are hollow and sealed air tight to give buoyancy to the reel 11, and a line 5 is wound in a coil on the spindle portion 2 between the flanges 3 and 4. The line 5 is attached at its inner end within the coil to a securing loop 6 that is fixed to the flange 3 adjacent the spindle portion 2. The other end of the line 5 is attached to a weight 7 and is held to the flange 4 by means of a releasable clip 8.

The reel 1 wound with the line 5, is compact and easily stowed when not in use. When the reel 1 is brought into use, the clip 8 is first opened to release the line 5 and attached weight 7 from the flange 4, and the reel 1 carrying the coiled line 5 is then thrown overboard at the appropriate time as the boat passes over the target position identified and located by the boat's sonar.

The hollow flanges 3 and 4 have substantially the same displacement as one another ensuring that the reel 1 floats with the spindle portion 2 substantially horizontal. The hollow spindle portion 2 also contributes to the buoyancy of the reel 1 so that the reel 1 wound with the line 5, floats high in the water for visual effect comparable with that of a conventional marker buoy. The reel 1 floats higher as the line 5 unwinds and so is clearly visible to mark the linelocation.

The substantially-horizontal attitude of the spindle portion 2 ensures that the line 1 runs out freely from between the flanges 3 and 4. The reel 1 turns in the water about the longitudinal axis of the spindle portion 2 as the line 5 unwinds, allowing the weight 7 to fall to the bottom substantially un-retarded, for quick deployment of the line 5.

A swivel-eye 9 is mounted centrally of the flange 3 to facilitate attachment of the reel 1 to a buoy or boat.

Another swivel-eye may correspondingly be mounted centrally of the flange 4.

It may be found desirable to provide the flanges 3 and 4 with vanes or other features to condition and/or stabilise the manner and rate of their turning in the water as the line 5 runs out. On the other hand, there may possibly be situations in which it is desirable for the spindle portion 2 of the reel 1 to be replaced by a spindle that is journalled in each flange so as to be free to rotate independently of the flanges 3 and 4.

The second reel to be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4, has a structure that enables the reel to be more-tidily stowed and more-conveniently handled than the first reel.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the reel 11 in this case is also of plastics, and has a sealed, hollow centralspindle 12 with flange-parts 13 and 14 at either end, on which a line 15 is wound; the line 15 is shown in Figures 3 and 4 only where it emerges below the reel 11. The spindle 12 with its flange-parts 13 and 14 is rotatably mounted within outer, hollow frame-ends 16 and 17 that afford the reel 11 a generally-triangular external configuration (Figure 3).

The frame-ends 16 and 17 are coupled together at the top of the reel 11 by a tubular handle 18 and also in two hollow wedge-shape feet 19. Each foot 19 is defined between the frame-ends 16 and 17 by an external angular wall 20 and an internal curved wall 21 that faces conformally onto line 15 where it is wound onto the spindle 12. The two wedge-shape, air-tight enclosures defined between the frame-ends 16 and 17 and the pairs of walls 20 and 21, add significantly to the buoyancy of the reel 11.

The structure of the reel 11 in addition to providing for buoyancy facilitates handling, in particular through provision of the handle 18. Stowage is also facilitated by the generally-enclosed nature of the reel 11 and its generally-triangular form enabling it to stand firmly without tendency to roll with movement of the diving vessel. Moreover, the generally-enclosed, hollow form of the reel 11 with its hollow feet 19, provides substantial buoyancy giving it a tendency to float high and upright in the water.

Claims

Claims: 1. A reel for retaining a rope or line ready to be run out down into a depth of water, including a spindle portion for receiving the rope or line wound in a coil on the spindle portion, and wherein other parts of the reel contribute buoyancy to the reel such that the reel wound with the line floats in the water with the spindle portion substantially horizontal, the spindle portion being rotatable at least when the reel is floating as aforesaid to enable the rope or line to run out from the reel.
2. A reel according to Claim 1 wherein the spindle portion is hollow to contribute buoyancy to the reel.
3. A reel according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein flanges at either end of the spindle portion contribute buoyancy to the reel.
4. A reel according to Claim 1 wherein flanges are fixedly attached to either end of the spindle portion, the spindle portion and the flanges being hollow and sealed air-tight to contribute buoyancy to the reel.
5. A reel according to Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the reel when floating as aforesaid turns in the water about the longitudinal axis of the spindle portion when the rope or line runs out from the reel.
6. A reel according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the spindle portion is rotatably mounted within a frame, and the frame includes parts that contribute buoyancy to the reel.
7. A reel according to Claim 6 wherein the frame has a generally-triangular external configuration.
8. A reel according to Claim 6 or Claim 7 wherein said parts of the frame comprise hollow, air-tight enclosures.
9. A reel according to any one of Claims 6 to 8 wherein the spindle portion is rotatably mounted within opposed ends of the frame, and said parts of the frame comprise parts that extend between the frame-ends.
10. A reel according to Claim 9 wherein said parts that extend between the frame-ends provide feet for the frame.
11. A reel for retaining a rope or line ready to be run out down into a depth of water, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
12. A reel for retaining a rope or line ready to be run out down into a depth of water, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.