Patent ID: 9460831
Filing Date: 2016-10-04
CPC Classification: B65H,H01B,H02G

Claim Text:
1. A retractable cord reel assembly comprising a cord reel including a spiral coil of flat flexible cable (FCC) in operable connected to a spool of round cord material for data and power transmission; wherein the FCC comprises: a ribbon of generally parallel wires embedded in a non-conductive polymeric matrix, the FFC having two ends, an end to end length, a width perpendicular to the length in a plane defined by the wires, and a thickness in a direction perpendicular to the length and width; the embedded wires comprising two or more power transmission wires and two or more data transmission wires; each data wire in the FFC being spaced from any adjacent wire by a portion of the polymeric matrix; the FFC comprises non-shielded end regions flanking a shielded middle region that includes a shielding layer on at least one side thereof; and a non-conductive coating over the shielding layer; wherein the shielding layer comprises a metal-containing coating, foil, or film, and optionally is in electrical contact with at least one of the data transmission wires at one or more spaced locations along the length of the FFC; the polymeric matrix is absent in a portion of the non-shielded end regions; the power transmission wires have a larger cross-sectional area relative to the data transmission wires; and the power transmission wires are flattened in the plane defined by the wires such that they have a greater width than thickness; the power transmission wires in the FFC are operably connected to power transmission wires in the cord material and the data transmission wires of the FFC are operably connected to data transmission wires in the cord material, such that the cord and FFC together form a single power and data transmission pathway; and wherein: the cord reel is defined by a first generally circular plate spaced from a second circular plate by a hub; the first and second plates having substantially the same diameter and being substantially parallel to each other, with a collar projecting from the first circular plate away from the hub and along the axis of rotation thereof, such that the collar rotates with the reel; the cord reel is rotatably mounted in a housing such that the reel is rotatable about an axis centered on and running through the hub; a length of the cord material is wound around the hub, one end of the cord material being attached to the hub; one end of the FFC is attached to the collar with the FFC spirally wound around the collar, and the other end of the FFC is attached to a circuit board mounted on or in the housing, such that when the reel rotates, the number of spiral turns of the FFC increases or decreases depending on the direction of rotation; the cord reel is biased by a spring such that when a tension is applied to the end of the cord material that is not connected to the hub, the cord reel rotates against the bias of the spring as the cord material is unwound, and when the tension is released, the cord material is re-wound onto the cord reel due to the bias of the spring; a latch mechanism mounted to the housing, which is operably connected to the reel, the latch mechanism being is selectively operable to latch the reel in a stationary position to prevent rewinding of the cord material; and a pilot mechanism mounted to the housing, which is operably engageable with the latch mechanism to prevent the latch mechanism from operating.