Abstract:
A line holder is provided which permits using one hand to selectively engage and disengage a line as it is unwound from a reel. A line lock in the form of a hook assembly is secured to the reel so that angular movement of the reel to first and second positions selectively engages the hook assembly with the line to prevent uncoiling the line and selectively moving the reel to the second and first positions releases the hooked line to permit uncoiling the line. A base is provided for mooring the line to a fixed position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Lines are in common usage which are made of numerous materials, including natural materials such as cotton and wool and synthetic materials such as nylon and steel. Where the line usage includes a person holding a line in tension there have been numerous devices constructed to store the line and to facilitate holding the line in tension by means of holding a comfortable handgrip. 
     Some devices such as Kuncz U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,458, a U.S. patent issued Aug. 26, 1975, provide a handgrip and serve solely to store lines. 
     Some devices such as Powell, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 250,746, a U.S. design patent issued Jan. 9, 1979, and Latimer No. 447,636, a British patent issued June 18, 1936 provide apparatus for both storing a line and maintaining a line in tension but they do not permit simple one-handed operation by which a line in storage on the device can be selectively released as it is being pulled off the storage reel. 
     It is therefore an object of this invention to provide apparatus for storing a line and selectively adjusting the line extending from the apparatus while the line is in tension. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide a line handle which stores the line and while being held by one hand selectively engages and disengages the line so as to adjust the amount of line being pulled from the handle. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide a line handle which stores a line, permits one-handed selective engaging and disengaging of the line to adjust the length of the line extending from the handle and which permits mooring the line to a fixed place while maintaining the line in tension. 
     The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawings and descriptions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is of a unique line handle which incorporates a handgrip and line reel in a single unit. Two hooks axially mounted on the reel selectively engage and disengage the line as it is pulled off the reel. The line handle may be controlled with a single hand. After removing the hooks the handle can be secured to a rigidly mounted base to moor the line. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The invention is best understood by reference to the accompanying description and drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of a line handle embodying the principles of the subject invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the line handle in FIG. 1 taken along lines 2--2. 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of the line handle in FIG. 1 with a line installed on the handle. 
     FIG. 4 is an end view of the line handle in FIG. 3 taken along the lines 4--4. 
     FIG. 5 is a partial front view of the line handle in FIG. 3 taken along the lines 5--5. 
     FIG. 6 is a partial side view of the line handle in FIG. 1 with parts removed. 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of a mounting base. 
     FIG. 8 is an end view of the mounting base in FIG. 7. 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of the mounting base in FIG. 7. 
    
    
     A line handle 10 embodying the principles of the subject invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The line handle 10 in large part is compromised of a single unit which includes a handgrip 12, a reel 14, and a line lock support 16 which supports a hook assembly 18. The handgrip 12, reel 14, and line lock support 16 may all be formed of a single piece of material or a combination of natural or synthetic materials. In some applications, particularly when used in sailing, it is desirable that the line handle 10 be made of a buoyant material which floats. Depending upon the application, it may be desired to make the line handle 10 out of laminated wood, a single piece of wood, nylon, aluminum, or two pieces of plastic which may be made into a single piece such as through vibration welding where surfaces join. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the hook assembly 18 in the preferred embodiment is formed of a sturdy metal which resists rusting, such as galvanized steel or stainless steel, and is secured to the line lock support 16 by means of a bolt 20 extending through a mounting hole 22 and a washer 24 where it is secured by a wing nut 26. The line lock support 16 includes a saddle 28 into which the hook assembly 18 is mounted and held a predetermined distance in front of the reel 14. 
     The portion of the reel 14 closest to the hook assembly 18 includes two line guide flanges 30 and 31 best illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 also illustrates how the hook assembly 18 includes a first hook 32 and a second hook 34 formed of a single rod in the shape of a &#34;S&#34; with the respective ends 36 and 37 in a different plane than the center 38 of the hook assembly 18 which is bolted to the saddle 28, which as shown in FIG. 2 has a square cross-section. 
     For reasons which will later become apparent, the reel 14 includes knobs 40 and 41, valleys 42 and 43, and inclined surfaces 44 and 45 which in the illustrated embodiment are at approximately a 45° angle to the reel axis 46 shown as the centerline through bolt 20. The line lock support 16 also includes mounting holes 48 and 49. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, a line 50 is installed on line handle 10 by tying one end 51 of the line 50 around knob 41. The line 50 is then wound on coil 52 around the reel 14, which cradles the coil 52 in the valleys 42 and 43 between the knobs 40 and 41 and the inclined surfaces 44 and 45. The other end 53 in FIG. 3 extends to the right in FIG. 3 as if under a tensile force. The end 53 of the line 50 passes between the reel 14 and hook assembly 18 and passes through the hook 32 as shown in FIG. 5. Persons versed in the art will appreciate that holding handgrip 12 to pull against the tensile force in line 50 pulls line 50 in FIG. 3 tighter against inclined surface 45. It is thus apparent that no matter how hard line 50 is pulled the hook assembly 18 serves to lock the line and prevent uncoiling the line. 
     As shown in FIG. 4 the ends 36 and 37 of the hook assembly 18 are inclined at substantially a 45° angle to the plane in which the center 38 of the hook assembly 18 is located. It is thus apparent that if the line handle 10 is turned sideways a predetermined angle so the line 50 does not extend through the hook 32, which is illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 4, and if the line handle 10 is then tilted so the line 50 comes out from between the hook assembly 18 and reel 14 as illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 3, the line can be released from the hook assembly 18 so it is free to be pulled axially from the reel 14 substantially parallel to the reel axis 46. 
     For purposes of illustration an arrow is depicted in FIG. 4 showing the direction in which the line handle 10 is to be moved relative to the line 50 in order to remove the line 50 from within the hook 32 by grasping the handgrip 12 so as to angularly change the position of the reel axis 46. Similarly, an arrow is illustrated in FIG. 3 to show the angular movement of the line handle 10 which is required to remove the line 50 from between the hook assembly 18 and the reel 14. 
     When line 50 is in tension and not engaged by one of the hooks 32 or 34 it uncoils from the reel 14 by being pulled substantially parallel to the reel axis 46. 
     By using a single hand on the handgrip 12 a person can selectively engage and disengage the line 50 and the hook assembly 18, which serves as a line lock to keep the line 50 locked in a position. To lock the line the operator while grasping handgrip 12 tilts the reel 14 in the angular direction illustrated in FIG. 3 by the arrow so as to hold the line 50 against inclined surface 45 and position line 50 between hook assembly 18 and the reel 14. By angularly moving reel 14 to this first position the line 50 is stopped from uncoiling. However, in the first position it is held solely against the inclined surface 45 and if the operator angularly returned reel 14 to the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 line 50 would continue to uncoil. Therefore once the operator has stopped uncoiling line 50 by angularly tilting reel 14 in the direction illustrated by the arrow in FIG. 3 to the first position the operator then angularly moves the reel 14 to the second position illustrated by the arrow in FIG. 4 so the line 50 passes between the hook assembly 18 and the reel 14 and is adjacent the saddle 28 of the line lock support 16. The operator then tilts reel 14 to the position illustrated in FIG. 3 by moving it in the direction opposite the arrow in FIG. 3 and tilts reel 14 angularly in the direction opposite the arrow in FIG. 4 so the line 50 is engaged by hook 32 as illustrated in solid lines in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. 
     As persons versed in the art will appreciate hooks 32 and 34 curve in the same direction relative to bolt 20. Therefore the operator can engage line 50 when the free end 53 of line 50 is pulled against inclined surface 45 or an additional 1/2 of a coil of line 50 can be removed from reel 14 so the free end 53 is pulled against inclined surface 44 and line 50 is engaged by hook 34 instead of hook 32. 
     Line guide flanges 30 and 31 are provided so that when line 50 is pulled axially off reel 14 it does not accidentally engage one of the hooks 32 or 34. Line guide flanges 30 and 31 guide the uncoiling line 50 outward away from hooks 32 and 34 when it is allowed to freely unwind. 
     As shown in FIG. 6 the line lock support 16 has a relatively deep notch 54 in the saddle 28 so as to prevent hook assembly 18 rotating in the saddle 28 even though a rotational force is applied on the hook assembly 18 by the line 50 tending to rotate hook assembly 18 about bolt 20. 
     As shown in FIG. 7, a base 56 is provided to use line handle 10 as a mooring by removing hook assembly 18 and inserting saddle 28 through a hole 58 in the base 56. Mounting holes 60 and 61 are provided in the base 56 to a line with mounting holes 48 and 49 in the reel 14 so that the reel 14 can be bolted to base 56. Base 56 has sidewalls 62 and 63 perpendicular to a floor 64 so that the sidewalls 62 and 63 hold reel 14 so the reel axis 46 is perpendicular to floor 64. As shown in FIG. 7, sidewalls 62 and 63 do not extend the full length of the base 56 to provide room for line guide flanges 30 and 31. It is thus apparent that line handle 10 can be used to moor line 50 to a fixed position by securing base 56 to that fixed position and attaching reel 14 to the base 56. 
     Persons versed in the art will appreciate that various modifications may be made of the subject apparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention. One such modification would be the reversal of the direction in which hooks 32 and 34 extend from bolt 20 and placement of line guide flanges 30 and 31 on opposite sides of reel 14 so as to permit winding line 50 around reel 14 in the opposite direction from that illustrated.