US443681A

US443681A - Tape-measure

Info

Publication number: US443681A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1890-12-30
Anticipated expiration: 1907-12-30

Description

No Model.)

T. 1v1. KENNBY.

TAPE MEASURE.

119. 443,681. Patented 1190.30, 1890.

FLL? Z,

Nrrn STATES THOMAS M. KENNEY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

TAPE-MEASURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters atent 110.443,681, dated December 30, 1890. Application tiled August 20, 1888. Serial No. 2783,18? (No modelJ To @ZZ wiz/m it may concez'nf Be it known that I, THOMAS M. KENNEY, of Cambridge, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Tape-Measures, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates t0 a tape-measure such as commonly employed by surveyors, the object of the invention being to increase the convenience of operating the measure, and the invention relating, mainly, to the mechanism Y for winding the tape into its inclosing-case up the tape than is required for the man who has held the free end of the tape to walk up and join the one who is winding the tape into its case. Furthermore, in tapes as commonly made there is no stop to prevent the reel from turning to unwind the tape, so that when any distance less than the full length of the tape is to be rneasuredas, for instance, a distance of Iifty feet with a hundred-foot measureit almost invariably happens that an additional length is drawn out from the reel which has t-o be wound in, thus causing inconvenience and waste of time.

The invention is embodied in a tape-measure comprising a tape and winding-reel therefor and inclosing-case, all of which may be of substantially usual construction. The reelspindle, however, instead of having the usual handle connected with it, has xed upon it a ratchet-wheel and is provided with an actuating-drum, which is loose upon the said tapereel spindle and provided with apawl adapted to engage the ratchet on said spindle and turn the same in the direction to wind on the tape, although the drum turns in the opposite direction without turning` the tape-rcel, as the pawl then passes backward over the teeth of the ratchet without disengaging it. This actuatas inclosed in a secondary case or projection at the side of the main case containing the tape-reel and tape, and the act hating-drum is acted upon by a spring tending to rotate it in the opposite direction to that which winds the tape on the main reel. The said .actuating-drum is of much smaller diameter than the tape-reel, and has fastened to and Wound upon it a short band or strap which winds on the said drum in the opposite direction to the rotation that winds the tape ou the tape-reel. The said band is provided with a stop that limits the movement in winding onto the actuating-drum, said stop being shown in this instance as a ring, which also serves asa handle t0 manipulate the band, and by pulling out the said band or unwinding it from the actuating drum the said drum is rotated and by the ratchet and pawl also rotates the tape-reel in the direction to wind the tape,

which latter is taken up much more rapidly lthan the actuating-band is unwound, owing tothe difference in diameters between the actuating-drum and tape-reel. Thus by alternatelypulling on the actuating-band and then permitting it to be run in or be Wound upon the drum by the action of the spring the tape can be wound intermittingly,but very rapidly. In order to permit the unwinding of the tape, the ratchet and pawl must be retained disengaged, or, in other Words, the pawl held away from the teeth of the ratchet, and a device is provided for thus disengaging the pawl, which is done while the tape is beingpulled out. The pawl is then again permitted to engage the ratchet, when the winding device constitutes a stop to prevent further unwinding` of the tape, as the latter can only be unwound by a corresponding winding on of the actuating-band; but the latter is already Wound on as far as permitted by its stop. The parts are then ready for the winding in of the tape by the manipulation of tho actuating-band, as before mentioned.

The case -is provided with a tally or movable pointer (3o-operating with a dial which may be moved by the operator each time a given length is measured oft, so asto assist in ing-drum and ratchet is shown in this instance keeping the aecountof the number of lengths in measuring a given distance.

Figure .l is a face view of the tape-measure, showing the secondary ease containing the windingmechanism; Fig. 2, a face view of the opposite side of the case, showing the tallypointer and dial; Fig. 2l, a side view similar to Fig. l, with the coverof thewindingmechanism and the pawl-disengaging device rcmoved; Fig. l, a vertical section of the entire instrument; Figs. 5 and G, side elevations of the windingmechanism, showing the pawldisengaging device in different positions, said lgures being on a larger scale than thc first four figures; and Figs. 7 and S, details to be referred to.

Thetapea and its in closing-ease d and winding-reel a?, (see Fig. 4,) contained within the said case, may all be substantiall y the same as in tape-measures now commonly used, said tape ruiming out through a small slot or opening in the side of the case and being provided with a ring a3, which serves as a handle for drawing out the tape and also to prevent the end of the tape from being drawn wholly into the case. The said reel a2 is keyed, pinned, or otherwise fastened securely upon a shaft b, which extends out through the side of the case and into a small or secondary case d at the side thereof, which contains the winding mechanism, and is shown in this Vinstance as provided with a removable cover e, fast.- ened to thc main cylindrical portion of said secondary ease by projections a (see Fig. l) in undercut notches a7 in the said cylindrical portion after the manner of what is commonly known as a bayonet-joint. The spindle l) of the tape-reel also has fixed upon it aratchet c, and has loose upon it an actuating drum (l, having pivotally connected with it at d (see Fig. 3) a pawl e, which when the said drinn is turned in one direction may engage the said ratchet c and rotate the same and the connected shaft and tape-reel in the direction to wind the tape a into the case; but when the said drum d is turned in the opposite direction the pawl runs back over the teeth of the ratchet-wheel without turning the same or producing any effect on the tapereel and tape. rlhe ratchet and pawl constitute a clutch mechanism, by which the rotation of the drum in one direction causes the tape-wheel to accompany it, but permits the drum to turn in either direction, accompanied by the tape-reel.

The spring 6*, connected at one end with the case and at the other end with the drum (l, tends to turn the said drum in the direction to carry the pawl back over the teeth without engaging the same, and the said drn 1n has fastened to and wound upon it an actuating-band f, which passes ont through a slot in the side of the secondary case, and is provided with a stop f that prevents its end from drawing into the secondary case when. winding upon the drum (l, the said stop bcing shown as aring, which also serves as a handle to facilitate the manipulation of the said actuating-band. The spring c* also tends to rota-te the drum in the direction to wind the band j thereon and will retain the said band fully wound up, except when positively unwound by pulling it out from the case.

The drum d is of much smaller diameter than the reel a, as shown in Fig. il, and the band and tape wind on the drum and reel, respectively, in opposite directions, so that when the drum and ratchet are connected by the engagement of the ratchet c and pawl c the unwinding of one will tend to produce the winding on ot' the other, and the rotary movement of the drum and reel produced by the positive unwinding of the band f by the opcrater pullii'ig on the handle f thereof will cause a much more rapid winding up of the tape a upon its reel a?, such winding also being much more rapid than can be produced by turning the shaft l) directly by hand,as is done in instruments of this hind as heretofore commonly made. lVhen the pawl is in engagement with tl1eralchet,itis evident that the tape d cannot be unwound without a further winding on of the band f, which is provided against by its stop f', so that the said tape Ct cannot unwind when the ratchet and pawl are in engagement, and if the said ratchet and pawl are brought into engagement after any required amount of tape a, has been unwound while the said ratchet and pawl were disengaged the .aid devices will actas a stop to preventing further unwinding of the tape.

The pawl e might be left accessible, as shown in Fig. 3, and simply held out of engagement of the ratchet by hand when the tape d. was to be unwound; but for greater convenience in operation a pawl-d isengaging device is provided, (bcst shown in Figs. 5, (i, and 7,) the said device consisting of a ring g, the periphery of which eo-operates with a cam or inclined portion e', connected with the pawl e, the said ring g being movable longitudinally on the spindle t), so that when in the position shown in Fig. 5 it is substantially disengaged from the cam c', permitting the pawl to engage the teeth, but when moved to thc position shown in Fig. ti it has engaged the said cam portion and wedged the pawl out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet, which latter is then free to turn independently of the pawl. This longitudinal movement of the pawl-disengager is produced by projections g', that extend out through the cover a5 in position to be engaged by the fingers of the operator, who, by pressing inward on said projections, will move the ring g from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. G, andV thus disengage the pawl. To provide for retaining the pawl disengaged, so as to leave the tape free to unwind for an indefinite period of time, the ring g is also provided with shoulders gi at the sides of the projections g', said shoulders also passing through slots or openings of sufficient size to receive them in IOO IIO

the cover of the case a5, as shown in Fig. l,

and being brought by a sliding rotary movement of the ring, which can be easily effected by the projections g', into position beneath the cover a5, so that the pawl-disengager is retained in the posit-ion shown in Fig. 6 until the ring is turned back again to permit the shoulders g2 to move outward through the slots in the case-cover, as will be understood from Fig. l. The spring g1 (see Fig. 5) tends to heep the ring in its outer position, andthe spring (Z2 tends to throw the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet when 1t 1s no longer held out of engagement by the rmg g.

The case a is provided with a dial or circle 7i; (see Fig. 2) on the side opposite the Winding mechanism thus far described, and a pointer k' is frictionally pivoted at the center of the ease, so that it can be moved by the operator from one figure to the next in order to keep tally of the number of lengths measured off by the tape in measuring a long line.

The operation of the instrument may be briey described, as follows: Then the tape a is to be unwound and used, the paWl-diseugager is moved into position to disengage the pawl e from the ratchet c, and any desired length of tape may then be unwound by drawing it out of the case in the usual manner. If any amount less than the entire length is required, the said amount may be unwound and the pawl disengager then moved, as shown in Fig. 5, to permit the pawl to engage the ratchet, when further unwinding of the tape will be prevented, as, owing to the engagement of the ratchet and pawl, the tapereel cannot be turned in the direction to unwind the tape Without turning the actuatingdrum in the direction to Wind on the actuating-band f, which is prevented from winding on farther by its stop f', and thus holds the tape a from further unwinding. VYtfhen, now, the tape is to be Wound in, the operator, holding the tape-case, pulls on the actuating-band f, and thus rotates the drum d, and through the ratcllet-and-pawl connection also rotates the tape-reel and rapidly winds on a length of tape. Then by releasing the strain on the bandfit is immediately Wound up again by the spring c4, the pawl then turning back over the teeth of the ratchet without moving the tape-reel, and immediately thereafter another .considerable length of the tape can be rapidly wound into the case by again pulling on the bandj'. Thus by intermittngly pulling ou the band f and permitting its spring to Wind it up again the tape a is very rapidly wound into its case.

The invention is not limited to the specific construction of the various devices described, as others having substantially the same eect may be readily substituted by persons familiar with mechanical construction and are regarded as mechanical equivalents for the specic devices shown.

I claiml. As an improved article of manufacture, a tape-reellcomprising an inclosing-case, a reelspindle having bearings in said case and a reel fixed thereon, a tape connected at one end with said reel and adapted to be wound thereon, an actuating-drum of smaller diameter than said reel loose on said spindle, a band connected with said drum, a spring that acts on said drum to Wind the band thereon, a clutch by which said drum and reel are normally connected in the movement of the drum in the direction to wind the tape on the reel, but not in the other direction, and means for retaining said clutch disengaged to permit the tape to be unwound, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the tape-reel, spindle, and ratchet fixed thereon with an actuating-drum of smaller diameter than said tapereel, provided with a pawl that co-operates with said ratchet, an actuating-band on said drum and provided with a stop, a spring acting ou said drum to wind the band thereon, and a pawl-disengager by which the pawl may be retained disengaged from the teeth of the ratchet to permit the movement of the latter, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

i THOMAS M. KENNEY.

lVitnesses:

Jos. P. LIVERMORE, JAS. J. MALONEY.