US2434119A - Automatic reel - Google Patents

Description

J 6,1948. w. E. NORDMARK 2,434,119

' AUTOMATIC REEL Filed .Oct. 2, 1946 2 sheets-sheet 1 J INVENTOR Falter E.N0rdmark BYMMJ ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1948 AUTOMATIC REEL Walter 'E. Nordmark, GrandRapids, Mich., assignor to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 2, 1946, Serial No. 700,673

- 12 Claims.

The present invention relates to :automatic reels, and more particularly to .an automatic, inertia-operated, safety reel for taking up the cable of a shoulder harness by means of which an occupant of an airplane or other vehicle is secured in his chair.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide an improvement of the automatic reel disclosed in my-copending application Serial #587,411, filed April 9, 1945; to providea reel for reeling in and paying out the cable of a shoulder harness to permit freedom of movement to the wearer of the harness, which reel has inertiaactuated parts for preventing paying out of the cable during a collision or crash landing and which has means for positively locking the reel during such emergency and maintaining the same in locked condition until such emergency has passed and the reel is manually unlocked.

These objects are attained by the illustrative embodiment of the inventionshowniin the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, from the side and rear, of an automatic inertia-operated cable reel showing my new locking device incorporated therein;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view' of the de-' vice, the housing member thereof being shown in vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view thereof taken on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a View partly in top plan and partly in section similar to Figure 3 and showing certain parts of the device in dilferent moved positions;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure land showing parts of the device in still other moved position.

The automatic reel shown inthese drawings is adapted to be secured to the rear panel l0 (shown fragmentarily in Figures 3-5) of a vehicle chair such as the pilot seat of an airplane as by means of bolts H and nuts 12, and is adapted for attachment to a shoulder-harness (not shown) for the chair occupant in such manner that the cable is payed out when the occupant leans forwardly in the chair and is taken up by the reel when the occupant leans rearwardly. The normal sitting position is, of course, with the back of the occupant against the chair back in which position a maximum amount of the cable is taken up by the reel. However irrespective of the occupants position, it is desirable that the reellock against paying out at the time of collision or crashlanding of the vehicle so that the chair occupant issecured against being thrown farther forward and thus possibly injured by contact with the instrument panel, controls, or other part of the vehicle. The probability is that the chair occupant will be in a normal sitting position against the chair back atthe time of such emergency, and it is therefore desirable that the cable reel be positively locked against paying out after an initial crash until such time that the reel is manually unlocked, thusto prevent injury to the occupant during ensuing crashes or rebounds. The mechanism for temporarily locking the reel at the instant of a crash is described in detail and claimed in my co-pending application identified above, and it is briefly described below in order to-make clear the relationship between said mechanism and the stay-lock mechanism of the present invention.

The bolts H and nuts l2, in addition to securing the automatic reel to'the rear panel 10 of the chair back, serve also to secure the base i l and the housing member I5 of the device together in assembly. The base M has a'eentral, rearwardly extending spindle I6 provided with a forward flange 11 secured in a recess H3 in the base by means of rivets I9. A machine screw 20 threaded in the rearward end of the spindle I6 secures the center of the housing member IE to the spindle.

A drum 2| is rotatably and slidably mounted on the spindle l6, and the cable l3 has one end thereof secured to the drum and extends through an opening in the housing member IS, the other end of said cable being secured to the shoulder harness. A coil spring 22 has one end thereof secured to the spindle l6 and the other end thereof secured to the drumZl and said spring 23 normally urges the drum 2| in a direction for winding the cable [3 thereon, thus to take up any slack in the cable. The cable is wound into a recess 23 in the drum 2|. The base I4 and drum 2| are provided with complementary interlocking ratchet surfaces 24 and 25 respectively which are adapted to engage when the drum slides forwardly toward the base to prevent rotation of the drum in a direction for unwinding and paying out the cable l3. A spring unit comprising complementary leaf springs 26 and 21 is interposed between the base l4 and drum 2! so that the drum is normally urged away from the base and the ratchet surfaces 24 and 25 are thus normally disengaged to permit paying out of the cable in response to the chair occupants forward movements. In the event of a collision or other emergency as above described, the inertia of the drum 2| causes the drum to slide forwardly relative to the vehicle and into ratchet engagement with the base l4 thus to prevent paying out of the cable at such time.

The chair occupant may under certain conditions prefer to set the device so that the drum is in ratchet engagement with the base and the cable I3 is thus prevented from paying out. This may be accomplished by means of a manually controlled switch (not shown) located within reach of the chair occupant and connected bya flexible control cable 28 to a control lever 29 fulcrumed in the housing member 15 and provided with a yoke arm 30 adapted to bear against opposite sides of the rearward surface of the drum 2i. The yoke arm 3!] is normally urged rearwardly by means of a coiled compression spring 3! interposed between the head 32 of a pin 33 on the control cable 28 and a bracket 34 secured to the housing member l and having therein a slide bearing for the pin 33. A tension spring 35 provides a yielding connection between the pin 33 and the control lever 29, so that when the drum is moved forwardly by means of the yoke arm, said drum is free to rotate in a direction for taking up cable slack, but not to rotate in the opposite or paying-out direction.

The stay-lock or permanent locking mechanism of the present invention comprises a spring metal leaf 36 having an end 3'! thereof secured as by rivets 38, 39 to the housing member 15, said housing member thus serving as a mounting member for mounting the end 3'! of the leaf spring 35 in fixed relation to the base i l of the device. A locking pin 40 is secured near the other end All of the spring leaf 36 and extends through an opening 42 in the housing member i5, transaxially of the drum. The spring metal leaf 38 normally urges the locking pin 4! into engagement with the outer peripheral surface of the drum 2|, rearwardly of the cable-receiving recess 23 in the drum, and the pin 48 thus bears against the rotating drum when the drum is in its normal, rearward position shown in Figure 3. It will be seen, however, that when the drum 2! is slid forwardly by inertia into ratchet engagement with the base 14 as shown in solid lines in Figure 4, the spring leaf 36 urges the locking pin 4i] inwardly and behind the drum 25. When the pin is in this position, the drum is positively prevented from moving rearwardly beyond its position of engagement with the pin 55 and with the base I 4, as seen in dotted lines in Figure 4. The drum is thus locked against rotation in either direction and the cable is neither taken up nor payed out when this condition obtains.

In order that the reel may be manually unlocked after the emergency has passed, the free end 4! of the spring metal leaf 36 is extended upwardly into engagement with the control lever 29. It will be seen that manual movement of the control lever 29 to its solid line position shown in Figure 5, will also move the spring leaf 35 to its position shown in solid lines in this view, thus withdrawing the locking pin 40 from the path of the drums sliding movement. When the control lever is released and the drum is urged rear-' wardly by the spring unit 25, 21, said drum enters the path of inward movement ofthe locking pin as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5, and the drum and locking pin ultimately assume their original, normal positions shown in Figure 3.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a stay-lock feature for a cable reel of the temporary inertia-locking type, and while but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that other embodiments thereof may fall within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and rotatable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base, locking means operable by the sliding movement of the drum toward the base for automatically locking said drum in its slid position of interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

2. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and normally rotatable in both directions thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base to prevent rotation of the drum in one direction, locking means operable by the sliding movement of the drum toward the base for automatically locking said drum in its slid position of interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said looking means.

3. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and rotatable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base, means for normally urging the drum away from the base, locking means operable by the sliding movement of the drum toward the base for automatically locking said drum in its slid position of interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

i. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum rotatably and slidably mounted on the base, a cable connected to said drum and adapted to be wound thereon, means for normally yieldingly urging said drum in a rotating direction for winding the cable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid in one direction relative to the base to thus prevent rotation of the drum in a direction for unwinding the cable, locking means operable by the sliding movement of the drum in said one direction for automatically locking the drum in said slid position, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

5. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum rotatably mounted on the base and slidable relative thereto, means for normally yieldingly urging the drum away from the base, a cable connected to said drum and adapted to be wound thereon, means for normally yieldingly urging saiddrum in a rotating direction for winding the cable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base to thus prevent rotation of the drum in a direction for unwinding the cable, locking means operable by the sliding movement of the drum toward the base forautomatically looking the drum in its slid position of interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

6. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and rotatable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base, a mounting member associated with the base, a locking pin mounted on the mounting member movable transaxially of the drum, a spring on the mounting member for urging the locking pin into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is slid into interlocking engagement with the base.

7. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and rotatable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base, a mounting member associated with the base, a locking pin mounted on the mounting member movable transaxially of the drum, a spring on the mounting member for urging the locking pin into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is slid into interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

8. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and normally rotatable in both directions thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base to prevent rotation of the drum in one direction, a mounting member associated with the base, a locking pin mounted on the mounting member movable transaxially of the drum, and a spring on the mounting member for urging the locking pin into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is associated with the base, a locking pin mounted on the mounting member movable transaxially of the drum, a spring on the mounting member for urging the locking pin into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is slid into interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

10. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum rotatably and slidably mounted on the base, a cable connected to said drum and adapted to be wound thereon, means for normally yieldingly urging said drum in a rotating direction for winding the cable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid in one direction relative to the base to thus prevent rotation of the drum in a direction for unwinding the cable, a mounting member associated with the base, a locking pin mounted on the mounting member movable transaxially of the drum, and a spring on the mounting member for urging the locking pin into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is slid into interlocking engagement with the base.

11. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum rotatably mounted on the base and slidable relative thereto, means for normally yieldingly urging the drum away from the base, a cable connected to said drum and. adapted to be wound thereon, means for normally yieldingly urging said drum in a rotating direction for winding the cable thereon, interlocking means on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base to thus prevent rotation of the drum in a direction for unwinding the cable, a mounting member associated with the base, a locking pin mounted on the mounting member movable transaxially of the drum, 3, spring on the mounting member for urging the locking pin into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is slid into interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

12. In a device of the class described, a base, a drum slidably mounted on the base and normally rotatable in both directions thereon, means for normally yieldingly urging the drum away from the base, a cable connected to said drum and adapted to be wound thereon, means for normally yieldingly urging said drum in a rotating direction for winding the cable thereon, interlocking ratchets on the base and the drum adapted to engage when the drum is slid toward the base to thus prevent rotation of the drum in a direction for unwinding the cable, a housing member mounted on the base and enclosing said drum, a leaf spring secured to the exterior of said housing member, a, locking pin secured to the leaf spring and extending through an aperture in the housing member and bearing against the outer periphery of said drum, said locking pin being pressed by the leaf spring into normal engagement with the outer periphery of the drum and into automatic locking engagement behind said drum when the drum is slid into ratchet interlocking engagement with the base, and manually operable means for releasing said locking means.

WALTER E. NQRDMARK.

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