US3160173A - Power-driven hose reel - Google Patents

Description

1366- 1964 A. J. BOWEN POWER-DRIVEN HOSE REEL.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1960 R. 0 m E V N I fIZfred' J Bowen Dec. 8, 1964 A. J. BOWEN POWER-DRIVEN HOSE REEL.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 25, 1960 IN VEN TOR. A Zfr ed J Bowen Dec. 8, 1964 A. J. BOWEN POWER-DRIVEN HOSE REEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 25, 1960 INVENTOR. AZfred J B Owen United States Patent Ofitice 3,160,173 PatentedDec. 8, 1964 3,160,173 POWER-DRiVlEN HOSE REEL Alfred .1. Bowen, Evergreen Farm, The Ledges, RR. 1, Roscoe, ill. Filed Apr. 25, 1969, Ser. No. 24,386 12 Claims. (Cl. 137-45552) This invention relates to a power-driven hose reel designed for location in a basement, crawl space or utility room. The reels drive means is so designed that the hose can be automatically paid out to whatever length is desired so long as there is a slight pull exerted on its outer end to maintain the drive means operative, and to be rewound onto the reel while the switch button controlling the operation of the drive motor is being pressed.

Included among the novel features of the power-driven hose reel of my invention are the following:

(l) The hose is maintained under water pressure at all times and is arranged to slide through a guide in the wall and has on its outer end a shut-off valve to which sprinklers, car washing brushes, hose nozzles and so forth can be readily attached. When the hose is returned to the reel, this shut-olf valve functions as a sill-cock and is adapted to be releasably latched in that position with respect to the wall. The valve also has key projections on the body thereof which are received in key-ways in its base on the wall to prevent turning of the valve while it is used as a sill-cock, the location of the shut-off valve on and moving with the outer end of the hose to the place where the water is to be used being of great convenience to the user by eliminating trips back to the house, common with the old, conventional arrangement.

(2) The valve body has a tubular extension threadedly connected with the hose connection and the valve stem is correspondingly extended so that the shut-off occurs inside the house, thereby providing a frost-free installation ready for instant use regardless of outside temperatures.

(3) An automatic switch, operable by a straightening of a bend in the hose between the reel and the guide in the wall when the user applies a slight pull on the hose in sliding the length that has been paid out, serves to throw the drive motor into operation to operate the reel to continue paying out hose as long as the slight pull is continued, thereby reducing to a minimum the labor involved in extending the hose from the house to a distant point of use.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a vertical section on the line 11 of FIG. 2 showing the equipment provided on the Wall of a building in connection with the power-driven hose reel of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a face view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional detail corresponding to a portion of FIG. 1, showing an alternative valve construction;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a side view and end view, respectively, of the power-driven hose reel unit of my invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are sectional details on the correspondingly numbered lines of FIG. 4, and

FIG. 10 is an electrical circuit diagram. 0

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference numeral 10 designates the wall of a building and 11 the faceplate that is fastenedto the outside thereof by screws or bolts entered in the corner holes 12, the plate also having a hose guide tube 13 for the hose 14 threaded into the enlarged threaded inner end 15 of a guide hole 16 provided through the plate, thereby further anchoring also.

the plate to the wall. The inner end of the tube 13 is flared, as indicated at 17, and the outer end of the hole 16 is similarly flared, as indicated at 18, to reduce wear on the hose in sliding back and forth in winding onto and unwinding off the reel 19 (FIG. 6). A compressible gasket ring 20, metal backing washer 21, and clamping plate 22 are shown surrounding the protruding inner end portion of the hose guide tube 13, abutting the inner side of the wall 10 to seal the opening made in the wall for the tube 13. The plate 22 may be fastened to the inside of wall It by screws or the like (not shown). 23 is a valve body through which a hand operable stem 24 extends through the center of a tube 25 to operate a hollow molded rubber valve plug 26 in and out relative to a seat 27 threadedly mounted in the inner end of the tube 25, the stem 24 being threaded in the neck portion of the body 23, as indicated at 28, and being rotatable by means of the handle 29 to turn the water on or off. The plug 26 is shown in FIG. 1 in its open position, withdrawn from the seat nipple 27. In its closed position, the plug end portion which is marginally tapered to match the taper 33 (FIG. 3) of seat nipple 27, is radially compressed to close the longitudinal plug bore. The hose 14, as will soon appear, is maintained full of water under pressure at all times and has the usual knurled internally threaded fitting 3i) swiveled on its outer end for threaded connection with the seat nipple 27, and a lock nut 31 threaded on the nipple against the inner end of the tube 25 locks the nipple in place and prevents its turning when the valve plug 26 is turned home therein to shut off the water. As shown in FIG. 3, a solid, molded, rubber valve plug 32 may be substituted for the hollow plug 26, but, in both cases, the valve seat 27 has a tapered inner end 33 for wedging engagement therein of the valve plug for a good, Watertight fit. The hollow plug 26 in the open position shown in FIG. 1 allows water flow through its bore and radial ports. The solid plug 32 in its open position shown-in FIG. 3 allows water flow around it, but, in both forms, the compressibility of the molded rubber enables wedging, sealing engagement in the tapered seat 33. The threaded spout 34 on the valve body 23 permits connecting sprinklers, car washing brushes, hose nozzles and so forth at the point where the water is to be used when the hose is extended, and it is obviously of great advantage to the user that he can shut off the water at the point distant from the house and not have to make so many trips back to the house for that purpose. Also, the extension 25 gives the advantage that the water is shut off inside the house when the valve body 23 is returned to the house with the hose and is serving as a sill-cock, as shown in FIG. 1, thereby providing a frost-free installation and making Water available at all times regardless of outside temperatures. This all-season availability of water under pressure enables a home owner to bring water to any part of the house in a matter of a few minutes and, in an emergency, this could easily mean the difference between failure and success in the event of a fire breaking out somewhere on the premises. With the hose carrying water under pressure at all times, the danger of kinking of the hose is also greatly reduced and that, of course, is a big advantage and makes for increased life of the hose, and it also makes it practical to use lighter weight, thinner walled plastic hoses and that, of course, makes for greater ease of operation To make the valve body 23 substantially as rigid as a convention sill-cock when used for that purpose, as ilustrated in FIG. 1, I provide keyways 35 in diametrically opposed relationship in the neck 36 at the outer end of the guide hole 16, and provide key projections 37 in diametrically opposed relation on the back of the valve body 23 for engagement in these keyways, thereby prea 7:9 venting turning of the valve body relative to the plate 11. is arranged to engage in a notch 49 in the body 23 to lock the body in place, and this latch is held under pressure of a coiled compression spring 41 normally in this position but is releasable by thumb pressure on its bell-crank extension 42 when the user wishes to pull the hose out, using the valve body 23 as a handle for that purpose. There is a rewind switch 43, the push-button 44 of which is suitably protected against the weather by means of a flexible, plastic cover 45 and, as will soon appear, the operator presses this button 44 when the hose is to be rewound on the reel 19, using the power of the electric motor 46 (FIGS. 46). In order to provide a safety disconnect feature in the event the button 44 of switch 43 fails to return to off position when the operator releases pressure thereon, I have provided an auxiliary switch 47 connected in series with the switch 43 and having its button 48 normally extending like the button 44 as shown in FIG. 1, but depressed by the bellcrank 42 of the latch 38 when the hose 14 is completely rewound. In other words, the spring-pressed button 48 of switch 47 works in the same direction as spring 41 to urge the latch 38 in a counter-clockwise direction, and, when the valve body 23 is pulled out with the hose 14, the latch 38 will then be free to swing in a counterclockwise direction under the action of button 48 and spring 41, to an extent limited by the stop 49, closing the circuit through switch 47 while switch 43 is still in its open circuit position with its button 44 projecting to the extent shown. However, when the hose 14 is rewound on the reel 19 by depression of button 4 4, the latch 38, at the end of the inward movement of tube 25, is kicked out of the way by the inner end of the valve body 23 sliding on the cam surface 50 on the latch 38, thereby depressing button 48 to open switch 47 and accordingly stop the motor 46 whether or not the button 44 has been released by the operator, or if the button 44 fails to return by itself when thumb pressure thereon is released.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 to 9, 51 designates the hollow, generally rectangular base for the hose reel 19, having attaching lugs 52 for fastening the same to a A latch 38, pivoted at 39 relative to the face plate,

direction to drive the reel 19 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, for unwinding the hose when there is-a slight outward pull on the hose enough to straighten out the bend at 75 and have the hose extend along the dot and dash line ab from guide roller 76 to guide tube 13. A coiled tension spring 77 extending. from the fixed arm 78 to the outer end of the oscillatable arm 79, where a guide roller 80 'is provided for engagement with the hose 14 on the inner side of the bend 75, immediately produces the bend 75 in the hose the moment there is no longer any outward pull on the hose, the extent of the bend or bow in the hose being limited by engagement of the arm 79 with an adjustable stop screw 81 threaded in the outer end of the fixed arm 78. While I have shown a fixed mounting 82 for the arm 78 on base 51, this is on the assumption that the base 51 is mounted on a vertical side wall, which is generally the most convenient. However, if it is preferred to mount the base 51 in a horizontal plane on the ceiling or on a bracket or other support, then, of course, the switch 74 and its operating means 79 will have to be adjustable to a plane at right angles to the horizontal plane of the base 51 or else be provided on a separate support where it can be operated as herein described and illustrated in a vertical plane independently of the plane of the base 51. Also, it should be understood that while I have illustrated a mercury type switch 74, there are microswitches available thatcould be used where the movable element of the switch would be operable by the oscillation of the arm 79 to obtain the same results, without limitation to the plane of operation of arm 79.

The operation of the power-driven hose reel of my invention should be clear from the foregoing description. The shut-off valve 23 functions as a sill-cock when the hose is wound on the reel 19 and the valve is releasably secured in place on the wall 1t), as shown in FIG. 1. It is a simple matter to release the latch 38 by depression of its bell-crank end 42 when the user wants to pull out the wall or ceiling or a suitable supporting bracket in the basement, crawl space or utility room. A centrahhollow boss 53 has a bearing sleeve 54 for the hub 55 of the reel mounted therein and secured by means of a set screw 56 along with a swivel fitting 57 to one side of which the fixed water supply pipe 58 is connected and to the other side of which the rotatable outlet pipe 59 is connected. The latter carries the elbow 60 on its outer end for :onnection with the inner end of the hose 14, whereby to keep the. hose 14 filled with water under pressure at all times. An anti-friction needle bearing is provided ?or the hub 55 on the sleeve 54, as indicated at 61-,

1nd washers 62 at both ends of the hub 55 assume the and-thrust. A retaining ring 63 is fixed on the outer and of the sleeve 54 to hold the hub 55 in assembled pollilOll thereon, and a large pulley 64 is fixed to the inner ride of the reel 19 around the hub 55 for drive purposes. A belt 65 extends from this pulley 64 to a :maller pulley 66 provided on one end of a drive shaft 57 mounted in a bearing 68 on the base 51. This shaft 57 carries an intermediate size pulley 69 on its other end 0 which drive is transmitted from a belt 70 from a :mall pulley 71 on the armature shaft of the motor 46.

ilack take-up means are indicated at 72 and 73 for he belts 65 and 70, respectively. The motor 46 is of l reversible type and when thrown into operation by means of the switch 43, turns in a clockwise direction is viewed in FIG. 4, to drive the reel 19 in a clockvise direction for winding the hose 14 thereon Howiver, a mercury switch 74, shown in its elf-position in IG. 4 while the hose 14 has the slight bend in it, as ndicated at 75, between the hose guide rollers 76 and rose guide tube 13, is arranged to close a circuit through be motor 46 to throw it into operation in the reverse hose 14, and the instant there is a slight pull on the hose the switch '74 closes the circuit for the motor 46 as the bend or bow 75 in the hose is straightened out, thereby unwinding the hose under power operation of the reel and relieving the user of any real exertion in extending the hose to the place where the water is to be used. The

water is instantly available upon opening the valve 23 and can be just as quickly shut off with the same valve, so that long walks back to the house are made unnecessary. When the water is no longer needed the user presses the button 44 of switch 43 and causes the reversible motor 46 to operate in the reverse direction to rewind the hose 14 onto reel 19. The valve 23 is set by the user in its sill-cock position on the wall, as. shown in FIG. 1, locked in place by means of the latch 38. A cutout switch 83, which is normally held closed by a spring 84, is interlocked with switch 43 and connected in series with mercury switch 74, as shown in the circuit diagram, FIG. 10, so that so long as button 44 is depressed for rewinding the hose, the mercury switch 74 is cut out of the circuit automatically and hence the straightening of the bowed portion '75 of the hose incidental to the rewinding of the hose has no effect. It is only in the open circuit position of switch 43, when switch 83 is closed, that the closing of switch 74 by the straightening of the bowed portion 75 of the hose 14' causes motor 46 to operate the reel in the direction to unwind the hose. Latch 38 operates the safety switch 47 to open the circuit at the end of the hose rewinding operation if the operator keeps the button 44 depressed too long. If the button 44 gets stuck in the on position, the operator is made aware of that when he starts unwinding hose and finds upon pulling the hose that the motor 46 fails to operate to unwind the hose by power, in which event he should, of course, have the trouble remedied right away by freeing the button 44.

Spring 84 serves both to close switch 83 and open switch 43.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my in- Vention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

Iclaim:

1. In combination, a flexible hose of suitable length and having inner and outer ends, means inside a building through which water is supplied to the inner end of said hose continuously under pressure, said building having an upright wall in which an opening is provided and through which the hose is adapted to be pulled by its outer end, a combination elongated sill-cock and shut-off valve attached to the outer end of said hose for controlled discharge of water therefrom, said valve having an inner inlet end and having an outer discharge end outside the building, said valve extending through said opening far enough to make the connection of its inner end with said hose frostproof, and means for rigidly but detachably securing the shut-otf valve in a predetermined position on the upright wall of said building when it is adapted to serve as a sill-cock.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said valve includes an operating handle which has an elongated extension threaded along its outer end portion for threaded adjustment endwise with respect to said valve and extending through the valve for connection at its inner end with a shut-off at the inner end of said extension disposed far enough inside the building to be frost-free, so as to make water always available regardless of outside temperature.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1, including a reel inside said building on which said hose is wound and from which it may be unwound by an outward pull on the valve, electric motor for driving said reel to rewind the hose thereon, a manually operable switch for controlling said motor, and a secondary switch electrically connected in series with said manual switch having a control button operable automatically to off position by said valve when the hose is fully wound on the reel and the valve is thereby returned to sill-cock position on the building.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1, including a reel inside said building on which said hose is wound and from which it may be unwound by an outward pull on the valve, a reversible electric motor for driving said reel, a first switch means electrically connected with said motor which when closed operates the motor to turn the reel in one direction to unwind the hose therefrom, a second switch means electrically connected with said motor which when closed operates the motor to turn the reel in the opposite direction to wind the hose thereon, the latter switch means being manually operable, means responsive to an outward pull on the hose for automatically operating said first switch means and a cut-out switch interlocked with the second switch means and connected in series with the first switch means to render the latter inoperative during rewinding of the hose in response to closing of the second switch means.

5. In combination, a flexible hose of suitable length, and having inner and outer ends, means inside a building through which water is supplied t9 the inner end of said hose continuously under pressure, said building having an upright wall in which an opening is provided and through which the hose is adapted to be pulled by its outer end, a combination elongated sill-cock and shut-off valve attached to the outer end of said hose for controlled discharge of water therefrom, said valve having an inner inlet end and having an outer discharge end outside the building, said valve extending through said opening far enough to make the connection of its inner end with said hose frostproof, and means for rigidly but detachably securing the shut-off valve in a predetermined position on the upright Wall of said building when it is adapted to CJI serve as a sill-cock, said means including a mounting plate adapted to be detachably secured to the outer side of said wall, the plate having a guide opening provided therein in register with the opening provided in the Wall through which the hose is slidable into and from the building, and manually releasable latch means for detachably securing said valve rigidly but detachably in a predetermined position on said plate.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5 wherein said valve includes an operating handle operable outside the building when the valve serves as a sill-cock, said handle having an elongated extension providing the shut-off at the inner end of said extension, said handle extending through the guide opening in the plate and through the hole in the wall of the building for frost-free operation of the valve regardless of outside temperature.

7. The combination set forth in claim 5 including a reel inside said building on which said hose is wound and from which it may be unwound by an outward pull on the valve, a reversible electric motor for driving said reel, a manually operable first switch electrically connected with said motor which when closed operates the motor to turn the reel to rewind the hose, a second switch electrically connected with the motor which when closed operates the motor in the opposite direction to unwind the hose, means responsive to an outward pull on the hose for automatically operating the second switch, and a cutout switch interlocked with the second switch means and connected in series with the first switch means to render the latter inoperative during rewinding of the hose in response to closing of the second switch means.

8. In a power-operated device of the character described, a rotatably mounted reel on which material is to be wound, a reversible electric motor drivingly connected with said reel to turn it in either direction, a first switch means electrically connected with said motor, which when closed operates the motor to turn the reel in one direction to wind the material thereon, a second switch means electrically connected with said motor, which when closed operates the motor to turn the reel in the opposite direction to unwind the material therefrom, the first switch means being manually operable, means responsive to an outward pull on the material with respect to said reel tending to unwind said material for automatically operating the second switch means to closed circuit position, and a cut-out switch interlocked with the second switch means and connected in series with the first switch means to render the latter inoperative during rewinding of the hose in response to closing of the second switch means.

9. A device as set forth in claim 8, including a guide for the material which the material engages in unwinding from the reel and from which it extends in a substantially straight line back to the reel, the last named means including spring-operated means engaging the material at a point between the reel and the guide to flex the material away from said straight line with a force light enough to allow return of the material to the straight line when an endwise pull is exerted on the material to unwind it from the reel.

10. In a power-operated device of the character described, a rotatably mounted reel on which windable material is wound, an electric motor for driving said reel to pay out the material, a switch electrically connected with said motor which when closed operates the motor, and means responsive to an outward pull on the material for automatically closing said switch.

11. A device as set forth in claim 10, including a guide for the material which the material engages in unwinding from the reel and from which it extends in a substantially straight line back to the reel, the last named means including spring-operated means engaging the material at a point between the reel and the guide to flex the material away from said straight line with a force light enough to allow return of the material to the straight line when an endwise pull is exerted on the material to unwind it from the reel.

12. A hose reeling device comprising a rotatably mounted hose reel, a hose adapted to be wound thereon, a reversible electric motor drivingly connected with the reel to turn it in either direction, a first switch electrically connectedwith the motor, means including said hose and actuated in response to tension in said hose produced by a light outward pull on the hose in an unwinding direction with respect to the reel for effecting closing of said switch to cause the motor to turn in one direction to drive the reel in an unwinding direction, and another switch manually operable independently of the last mentioned means to cause the motor to turn in the opposite direction to drive the reel in a rewinding direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,597,328 Read Aug. 24, 1926 c5 Liley Mar. 12, 1940 Wimer Apr. 16, 1940 Zierden Oct. 20, 1942 Davis Mar. 2, 1943 Garancher Jan. 30, 1945 Keener Aug. 15, 1950 Wolfe Mar. 13, 1951 Moore Mar. 20, 1951 Newell NOV. 6, 1951 Granberg Oct. 28, 1952 Karp Feb. 3, 1953 Fletcher Feb. 16, 1954 Baker Sept. 14, 1954 Campbell Feb. 14, 1956 Sparks Jan. 8, 1957 Schlitz 1 July 7, 19159 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada July 13, 1956

Claims (1)

10. IN A POWER-OPERATED DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, A ROTATABLY MOUNTED REEL ON WHICH WINDABLE MATERIAL IS WOUND, AN ELECTRIC MOTOR FOR DRIVING SAID REEL TO PAY OUT THE MATERIAL, A SWITCH ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED WITH SAID MOTOR WHICH WHEN CLOSED OPERATES THE MOTOR, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO AN OUTWARD PULL ON THE MATERIAL FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING SAID SWITCH.

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