Abstract:
A water powered hose reel operated by household water pressure. The hose reel has a traversing hydraulic motor for use in retrieval of a flexible hose. The hose reel includes a spool carried by and enclosed within an enclosure, the spool having a hub with a pair of flanges at opposing ends configured for proper alignment of the hose during storage, take-up and pay-out of the hose. The enclosure is configured for receiving the spool so as to rotate within the enclosure. A hydraulic motor allows take-up of the hose by use of a reciprocating traversing motor driving a rack attached to the spool by a series of gears. Disengagement of the motor allows for manual pay-out of the hose.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/941,460, filed on Jun. 1, 2007, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention pertains to the storage of flexible hoses, and more particularly, to a water powered hose reel having a hydraulic motor operated by municipally supplied water pressure for purposes of winding a hose reel by use of pressurized water. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Water hoses are used to transfer water from one location to another, a necessity for homeowners attempting to efficiently water lawns and gardens as well as for general all-around home care. Before the use of hose reels storage systems, water hoses were typically left on the ground in coiled or uncoiled position, either such position exposed the hose to the collection of dirt. If the hose was lifted from the ground the hose may still be stored in an arrangement that would lead to early degradation. The advent of hose reels gained wide public acceptance as a convenient device for properly storing of the water hoses. These devices include portable hose reel carts, stationary hose reel carts, and stationary hose reel hangers that can be mounted to a surface of a building all of which store the water hoses in a location in a convenient area for reuse. The hose reel provided proper coiling of the hose, positioning off of the ground, and in many instance portability in a storage condition. 
     A typical portable hose reel cart includes an open, rotatable reel or spool positioned between a pair of side frames. These carts include wheels to permit ready transport of the hose from one location to another. The hose is merely wound upon the reel for storage and pulled or dispensed from the reel for use. 
     The construction of a hose reel is primarily of molded plastic components having a rotatable spool for wheeling of the flexible hose, a frame for supporting of the spool, and a means for rotating of the spool, most commonly performed by a manually operated hand crank. Illustrative of the structure and operation of hose reels and hose reel carts can be viewed and referenced to various patents issued to the Suncast® Corporation such as U.S. Pat. Nos. Reissue 32,510; 4,512,361; 4,777,976; 5,046,520; 5,901,730; 5,998,552; 6,050,291; 6,834,670; 6,877,687; and 7,017,603 the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     Common to such hose reels is the use of a crank handle secured to a hub for rotation of the spool. The spools are typically arranged with the crank handle located at the center of the hub to wind the flexible hose. Variations to the use of the hand crank include a battery powered hose reel wherein a small direct current motor obtaining power from a rechargeable battery supply can be coupled to the spool providing rotation. In many instances manual rotation of the spool is not convenient to the consumer. For instance, the consumer may require automatic hose take-up due to a physical aliment or the consumer may simply choose to have the convenience of automatic hose take-up. U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,687 is directed to a battery powered hose reel to provide an alternative to manual cranking of a hose reel. The battery powers a low draw motor allowing hundreds of hose retrievals before recharging, recharging may be performed by coupling to an electrical source such as an AC source or DC solar panel supplied current. 
     A water powered motor is yet another alternative means that can be used for automatic hose take-up. Various attempts at making water powered motors for use with hose reels can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,188 directed to a water driven motor having an external gear motor, a linearly translating actuator, and a rotatable actuator; U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,342 discloses the use of a water operated motor for conversion of linear motion to a rotational motion using pistons linked to a spool for rotation in a manner similar to a steam engine; and U.S. Publication No. 2006/0045733 discloses the use of a water turbine for use in rotation of a hose reel. 
     What is not disclosed in the prior art is a simplified hydraulic motor for use in a water powered hose reel. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Disclosed is a water powered hose reel driven by a traversing cylinder with a gear rack for use in retrieving a flexible hose. The hose reel includes a spool having a hub and a pair of flanges at opposing ends of the hub configured for storage, take-up and pay-out of the flexible hose. In the preferred embodiment, the hose reel is supported in an enclosure having front and rear wall panels, side wall panels extending between the front and rear wall panels, and a cover. The enclosure is configured for receiving the spool so as to rotate within the enclosure and for storing a length of flexible hose on the spool. The traversing cylinder is operatively associated with the spool by use of a reciprocating rack for driving a series of gears attached to the spool. Disengagement of the traversing cylinder allows for ease of manual pay-out of the hose. Operation of the spool is by of household water pressure. The hydraulic motor provides a reciprocating movement that is converted to rotational movement of the spool via the series of gears for retrieval of an elongated member such as a hose. 
     Thus, an objective of the invention is to disclose the use of a water powered traversing cylinder with a gear rack to provide rotational movement of a spool. 
     Another objective of the invention is to disclose the use of a water switching valve assembly allowing reciprocal movement of a traversing cylinder by placement of pressurized water to each side of a piston to cause and maintain a traversing motion. 
     Still another objective of the invention is to disclose the use of a spring loaded clutch paw to provide unidirectional winding. 
     Still another objective of the invention is to teach the use of a level winder driven by a powered motor wherein the level winder. 
     Other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention should be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a right front perspective view of the water powered hose reel enclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a left front perspective view of the water powered hose reel enclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the water powered hose reel enclosure illustrating the spool and motor; 
         FIG. 4  is a right perspective view of the hose reel enclosure illustrating the spool and motor; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the spool, level wind, and motor; 
         FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of the spool and motor; 
         FIG. 7  is a left rear perspective view of the spool and motor assembly hosing; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the drive mechanism for the water powered motor; 
         FIG. 9  is a plane view of the motor and drive mechanism; 
         FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view of the motor and spool; 
         FIG. 11  is a cross sectional front view of the spool and motor assembly; 
         FIG. 12  is an enlarged view of the toggling switch in operation with the traversing cylinder; 
         FIG. 13  is a rear perspective view illustrating a water inlet connection and an exhaust port; 
         FIG. 14  is an exploded view of the switching assembly; 
         FIG. 15  is an exploded view of the traversing cylinder; and 
         FIG. 16  is an exploded view of the switching assembly and traversing cylinder forming the motor assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, set forth is a hose reel enclosure  100  having a front wall panel  10 , side wall panel  12 , and a hinged lid  14 . The enclosure  100  is generally constructed and arranged to enclose a spool  20  onto which a flexible elongated member, namely a garden hose, is rotatably wound or taken up, and from which the flexible hose is fed out or paid out. The front wall  10  includes a lower opening  16  to permit the taking up or paying out the garden hose, not shown. A right side wall  18  includes an aperture  21  that allows operation of a handle  60  used for diverting of inlet water and to disengage a gear train to allow a free wheeling of the spool allowing ease of hose removal. The handle  60  further allowing engagement of a hydraulic motor for use in rotating of the spool causing a garden hose to be drawn in as directed by an operator.  FIGS. 3-4  set forth a top view and front right perspective view, respectively, showing the enclosure  100  with the spool  20  and motor housing  62  positioned within the enclosure  100 . 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 5-16 , depicted is a water motor housing  62  having a water inlet  70  which is coupled to a pressurized water spigot, not shown, to obtain pressurized water from a municipal supply or pressured well water supply. An exhaust water outlet  71  is used to expel water used to power the water motor ( FIG. 13 ). The diverter handle  60  for use in directing water from the inlet to either the garden hose wherein the spool  20  may be free wheeled when the diverter handle is in a first raised position or to the motor when the diverter handle is in a second lowered position. An inlet diverted valve  116  directs the pressured inlet water to the out-tube  79  which passes into the center of the spool  20  for coupling to an end of the garden hose. The out-tube having a sealing o-ring to allow rotation of the spool without leakage of the water. When the diverter handle  60  is placed in the first lower position, the water flowing through the inlet  70  is directed through a fluid coupling line  72  to a switching valve  74 . The switching valve is preferably a spool valve ( FIG. 15 ) and preferably includes a valve body  118  having a plurality of suitably placed and sized apertures  120  for transferring water. Slidably located with the body  118  is at least one spool  122  operably connected to the toggle actuator  102  to cause the spool to translate within the body  118  for directing the fluid through the appropriate aperture  120  to cause motion of the cylinder  76 . The switching valve may also contain a pilot valve portion  126  to balance the load on the spool  122  and allow easier translation of the spool. The switching valve is preferably mounted within a lower frame  130  that is constructed and arranged to cooperate with an upper frame  132  that contains the cylinder  76 . The upper frame preferably includes a pair of end members  132  separated by a pair of guide rails  136 . The guide rails are constructed and arranged to prevent rotation of the cylinder  76  during traversal thereof. 
     Still referring to  FIGS. 5-16 , the switching valve  74  is fluidly coupled to a first end  73  and a second end  75  of cylinder  76 . The pressurized water is directed through the one of the end members  134  through hollow cylinder rod  140  to force the traversing cylinder  76  to move across a stationary piston  82 . Linear motion of the traversing cylinder  76  is converted to rotational motion by use of a gear rack  90  which operates in conjunction with a first drive gear train  91  and a second drive gear train  93  ( FIG. 12 ). As the traversing cylinder is moved in a first direction the gear rack  90  is moved along with the cylinder  76  along guide rails  136  causing gear  92  to engage and rotate gear  96  which drives spool gear  94 . As the gear rack  90  traverses gear  92  traverses to engage the first gear  97  of the second drive gear train  93 . Gear  92  includes a central axel  113  which fits into elongated slot  115  to control the movement path of gear  92 . This construction allows gear  92  to traverse with the gear rack  90  until the gear  92  intermeshes with gear  96  or gear  97 . Gear  97  is intermeshed with idler gear  99  that is intermeshed with spool gear  94 . The idler gear  99  is provided to cause the spool gear to rotate in the same direction regardless of the movement direction of the cylinder. Once the gear rack  90  has then moved across to the opposite end of the cylinder housing, cylinder guide  124  again engages the toggle actuator  102  causing the switching valve to again move the spool  122  to divert the pressurized water to the now non-pressurized end of cylinder  76  resulting in a continuous traversing of the gear rack, and continuous rotation of the drive gear trains  91 ,  93  for rotation of the spool  22 . A spring loaded clutch paw  111  prevents the spool from reversing direction during hose take-up and allows the spool to freewheel when the diverter handle is in the first raised position. In the preferred embodiment, the diverter handle includes a pin  110  that is constructed and arranged to cooperate with an aperture  112  in the clutch paw  111  to cause movement thereof when the diverter handle is moved. As shown in  FIG. 8 , when the diverter handle  60  is in a the lowered position gear  92  engages the gear rack  90  on top of the cylinder  76  further causing coupling to the idler gear  96  for operation of the spool gear  94 . Gear  92  transverses between gears  96  and  97  which drives through gear  99  so as to cause spool gear  94  to rotate in one direction when the gear rack  90  moves back and forth along a horizontal plane. As mentioned previously, rotation of the spool results in operation of the level wind by rotation of the level wind gear train  38 ,  36 ,  34  and double helix screw  30  from attachment gear  32 . It should be noted that while spur gears are illustrated other types of motion transfer assemblies may be utilized without departing from the scope of the invention, such motion transfer assemblies may include, but should not be limited to, belts and pulleys, friction wheels, bevel gears and shafting, cables and the like. It should also be noted that while a spool valve is illustrated other types of valves well known in the art may be utilized without departing from the scope of the invention. 
       FIG. 5  depicts the spool  20  having a central hub  22  and a pair of radial extending flanges  24  and  26  that are configured to accommodate a length of flexible garden hose wrapped around the hub  22 . The flexible hose, not shown, may be properly placed upon the central hub by use of a level wind gear train  150  which utilizes rotation of the spool  20  to cause rotation of a double helix lead screw  30 . The lead screw gear  32  is suitably secured to the lead screw  30  to cause rotation therewith. Idler gears  34  and  36  are positioned with the spool gear  38  and directly meshed thereto to provide the spacing necessary to allow accumulation of hose on the spool and desired positioning of the level wind assembly. Rotational movement of the spool gear  38  will cause similar rotational movement of the lead screw gear  32  and reciprocation of the hose guide  40 . Preferably the spool gear  38  is larger than the lead screw gear  32  thereby achieving the desired amount of hose guide travel per spool revolution thereby providing compact hose storage configuration. Hose guide  40  includes a double helix lead screw release  42  that allows for consumer positioning of the hose guide  40  along the length of the double helix lead screw  30  by lifting of the release  42 , which is spring loaded, and positioning the hose guide  40  in a desired location so as to cause proper placement of the hose in relation to the spool. The hose guide  40  has a lower U shaped channel  44  for positioning over an alignment support  46  so as to maintain the aperture  48  of the hose guide in a position relatively perpendicular to the entry of the garden hose. Operation of the spool  20  allows manual rotation of the spool by pulling of the garden hose through the hose guide when the diverter handle  60  is positioned so as to disengage the hydraulic motor that is preferably positioned within motor housing  62 . 
     It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and drawings.