US2322038A - Cord-winding device - Google Patents

Description

June 15, 1943. e. E. LOFGREN 2,322,938

CORD-WINDING DEVICE Filed Dec. 12, 1940 2 Sheets -Sheet 1 June 15, 1943. e. E. LOFGREN CORD-WINDING DEVICE 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1940 INENTOR. Z! /Y' 4&4 ATTORNEY.

Patented June E5, 1943 CORD-WINDING DEVICE Gustaf Einar Lofgren, Riverside, Conn, assignor to Electrolux Corporation, Dover, Del., a a corporation of Delaware Application December 12, 1940, Serial No. 369,765

Claims.

My invention relates to a cord-winding device, and more particularly to a device of this type which may be attached to a standard vacuum cleaner without the use of tools and without the provision of any special fastening means on the cleaner. Another object of my invention is to eliminate the necessity of slip rings or other relatively movable current-carrying parts in a cordwinding device. Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and of which: 1

Fig. 1 is a side view, partially in cross section, of a device in accordance with my invention secured to a vacuum cleaner;

Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, the cord-winding device and a portion of the vacuum cleaner being in cross section.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cordwinding device showing the cord entirely unwound, but still attached to the reel of the device: and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but with the cord detached from the reel.

Referring to the drawings, reference character I!) designates generally a vacuum cleaner unit while reference character I l designates the cord- Winding device. The vacuum cleaner unit includes a casing I2 provided with runners l3 for supporting the unit horizontally upon a horizontal surface. A dust-separating member I4 is located within the casing and may be removed for emptying through an opening in one end of the casing which is closed by means of a removable cover member l5. Member I5 is provided with an inlet opening is to which may be connected a. conduit leading to a suction nozzle or other dusting tool. Also located within the casing is an electric motor I! driving a centrifugal fan l8. Rotation of the fan serves to cause a flow of air into thecasing through opening l6. This air passes through the material of the dust-separating member id to the fan and flows therefrom through the electric motor and is discharged from the casing through an exhaust opening l9, shown in Fig. 2.

The exhaust opening is provided with any suitable coupling means, whereby if desired a hose may be connected thereto for using the cleaner as a blower. As shown, this coupling means consists of screw threads 20. The cord-winding device l l is provided with a hollow member 2! which is provided with screw threads adapted to engage the threads 20. The interior of the device H is hollow and the air discharged from the exhaust opening l9 passes through an opening 22 therein to the atmosphere. Obviously, the opening 22 could be provided with screw threads, or other suitable coupling means, so that the hose could be connected thereto for blowing.

The hollow member 2| is secured to or integral with a circular end wall 23. This wall is provided with a flange 24 to which is bolted a cylindrical wall 25. Member 25 is secured to or integral with another end wall 23 in which is The hub portion of the reel is provided with openings 32 in order to permit flow therethrough of air. The reel includes spaced cord-retaining flanges 33 and 34. A plurality of lips 35 are struck from near the periphery of flange 34 and the outer end of a spiral spring 36 is riveted to one of these lips. The remaining lips serve, to retain the outermost turn of the spring when the spring is completely unwound. The inner end of the spring is suitably secured to the spider 21.

The cylindrical wall 25 is formed with an opening 37 around the edges'of which is preferably provided a gasket 38 of rubber or the like. The dimension of the opening 31 in axial direction is substantially the same as the distance between the reel flanges 33 and 34.

A strap member 39 has one end secured to the hub of reel 30, as by being provided with a hook All engaging an opening formed in the hub. The strap is of such length as to permit of its being wound about two turns around the hub and the other end of the strap is secured to a cord-retaining clamp designated generally by reference character 4|. This clamp includes a pair of parallel plate- like members 42 and 43. Member 42 is pivotally secured to the end of the strap by means of a pin 44. Arivet or'the like is rigidly secured to plate 43 and engages a slot 43 formed in plate 42, whereby the plates may he slid relative to each other in a direction parallel to the 5 4 Plate 42 is formed with a hook-like member "which co-operates with a projection 48 formed on plate 43 to clamp therebetween an electric cord 43 when the plates are in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5. When the plates are slid relative to each other to the position shown in Fig. 6, suiflcient space is provided between the hook 41 and the projection 48 to remove the -cord.

Two arms 50 are pivoted on the rivet 45 and each arm is provided with a slot 5| adjacent to its outer endv Plate 43 is provided with a slot 52 near either edge and pins'or the like 53, which are fixed to plate 42 as by riveting, extend through the slots 5| in the arms and the slots 52 in plate 43. Pins 53 are engaged by a spring 54, the midpoint of which passes overthe rivet 45. The tendency of spring 54 is to move the pins 53 through the slots 52 from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that illustrated in Fig. 6. Such movement of the pins 53 causes the arms 50 to pivot about the rivet 45 so that the ends of the arms project beyond the sides of the cord clamp 4|, the slots 5| in the arms permitting such pivoting. Inasmuch as pins 53 are secured to plate 42, the pins can move in this manner only when the plate 42 is slid upwardly with respect to plate 43. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 5 the pull of the cord on hook 41 cannot slide the plate upwardly relative to plate 43, inasmuch as the pins 53 engage the slots 52 in arms 50 and the latter cannot pivot upwardly about rivet 45 because their outer ends are restrained by flanges 33 and 34 of the reel. Hence, the cord cannot be accidentally released while the clamp li is within the case. However, when the clamp is pulled through the opening 31, the arms 5!) are free to pivot outwardly and hence the plate 42 opening 31.

may he slid upwardly with respect to plate 43 to the position shown in Fig. 6 in order to release the cord. Spring 54 acting on pins 53 tends to slide the plates apart and is aided by the pull of the cord on hook l1.

Th above-described device operates as follows. The cord 49 is initially wound on the spool 30 with the ends of the cord extending through the opening 31. The plugs 55 and 56 are sufiiciently large so that they will not pass through this opening. To unwind the cord, the plugs 55 and 56 are grasped and the cord is pulled outwardly through the opening 31. This causes the reel 30 to rotate and wind up the spring 36. The cord is thus pulled out through the opening until it is completely unwound from the reel. When this occurs, the cord-holding clamp attached to the end of strap 39 is likewise pulled through the opening. The pull of the cord on the hook 41, together with the force exerted by spring 54 is now able to move the parts to the position shown in Fig. 6, where the arms extend beyond the edges of the opening 31 and thus prevent the retraction of the clamp into the casing by the force exerted by the spring 36. In this position the plate 42 has been slid upwardly with respect to the plate 43 so as to release the cord from the hook 41. With the parts in this position, which is illustrated in Fig. 6, the arms cannot be accidentally retracted to within the clamp inasmuch as the pins 53 prevent downward pivoting of the arms as long as plate 42 is slid upwardly with respect to plate 43.

The plug 56 of the cord may then be inserted in a suitable receptacle of the vacuum cleaner unit, while the plug may be connected to a convenient outlet.

When it is desired to again wind the cord, the central part thereof is placed underneath the hook 41, the clamp It is pulled outwardly a slight distance to permit pivoting or the arms, and the'plate 42 is slid downwardly so as to clamp the cord in place and to retract the arms sufdclently so that they will pass-through the Sliding of the plate 42 downwardly with respect to plate 43, causes such retraction due to the engagement or the pins 53 with the slots 5| in the arms. The spring 36 thereupon causes the spool 30 to rotate and thus wind the cord upon the hub and between the flanges 33 and 34.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a cord reel which may be easily attached to a standard vacuum cleaner unit, and more specifically to one of the air flow openings in the casing of such a unit. The details of the reel itself, which are disclosed here but not claimed, constitute the claimed subject matter of my divisional application Serial No. 392,405, filed on May 8, 1941.

While I have shown and described one more or less specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this has been done for purposes'of illustration only and is not to be considered as limiting the scope of my invention, which is to be determined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a vacuum cleaner having a casing formed with an opening therein for the passage of air and coupling means for connecting a hose to said opening, a cord-winding device including a case, means carried by said case and engageable with said coupling means for removably securing said device to said opening, said case being formed with a centrally disposed passage therethrough communicating with said means carried by said case, a cord-winding reel having a hub portion and a cord-retaining portion, and means extending transversely of said passage for rotatably mounting said hub portion within said case, said last-mentioned means and said hub portion be ing formed with apertures for flow of air.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a vacuum cleaner having a casing formed with an opening therein for the passage of air and coupling means for connecting a hose to said opening, a cordwinding device including a casing having spaced parallel walls, means carried by one of said walls and engageable with said coupling means for removably securing said device to said opening, the other of said walls having an aperture substantially in alignment with the second-mentioned means, a cord-winding reel having a hub portion and a cord-receiving portion, the inner di ameter of said cord-receiving portion being substantially the same as the diameter of said aperture, and means disposed between said walls for rotatably supporting said hub portion within said said case, said last-mentioned means and said hub portion being formed with apertures for the flow of air.

3. A portable vacuum cleaner comprising antifriction means for supporting the cleaner making said cleaner easily movable over a flat surface, a casing having an opening therein, electric means producing when in operation a flow of air through said opening, said casing having coupling means quickly manually connectable and releasable for connecting an air conduit to said opening in such a manner as to cause air flowing through the opening to flow through the conduit, means including an electric cordfor connecting said electric means to a source of electhe atmosphere when. said device is supported 1 on said cleaner as aforesaid.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a vac-i uum cleaner having a casing formed with an opening therein for the passage of air and coupling means for connecting a hose to said opening, a cord winding device including a casing having spaced walls roughly parallel to one another, means carried by one of said walls and engageable with at least a part of saidcoupling means for removably securing said device to said opening, the other of said walls having an aperture substantially in alignment with the second mentioned means, a cord-winding reel having a cord-receiving portion, the inner diameter of said cord-receiving portion being substantially the same as the diameter of said aperture, and means disposed between said walls for rotatably supporting said re'el within said case, said last mentioned means and said reel being formed with apertures providing means through which air can flow through said device between said opening in the vacuum cleaner casing and the atmosphere.

5. A portable electric vacuum cleaner comprising a casing having an opening, an electric-cord winding-reel having a casing with an opening therein, two open ended tubes, one of said tubes being carried by each of said casings and each having a mouth coincident with the opening in the casing on which it is carried, said tubes being of such size as to fit one within the other, means including said tubes for quick-detachably supporting said winding-reel casing wholly upon said vacuum cleaner casing, means including said opening in the vacuum cleaner casing and the tube coincident therewith for quick-detachably coupling a hose to said opening in the vacuum cleaner casing, said winding-reel casing having a path through the center thereof substantially parallelto the axis of said reel and in substantial alignment with the tube carried thereby for the .fiow of air between the interior of the vacuum cleaner casing and the atmosphere through said winding-reel and said tubes.

GUSTAF EINAR LOFGREN.

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