THREAD MEASURING DEVICE

Abstract: A thread meter comprising a holder for a thread reel, a counter provided with a rotary measuring wheel and guides for a thread, and an outer casing for enclosing said details. The invention is characterized in that a first guide (19) for a thread (20) is located between said holder (13) and said measuring wheel (16), that a second guide (26) for the thread is formed by said casing (4, 6), which consists of a first portion (4) and a second portion (6), which are hingedly interconnected, that in the first portion (4) a recess (26) extends from an edge (27) of the wall of the first portion (4), and the second portion (6) of the casing is arranged to bridge the opening (28) of the recess (26) along said edge (27), so that a hole with closed periphery is formed, and that said wheel (16) is located along a line extending between said guides (19', 26, 30').

Description: Thread measuring device This invention relates to a so-cal led thread meter, which is a device, out of which a thread can be drawn by moving the device away from a place where the free end of the thread is attached. At its outfeed, the thread is caused to actuate a counter, which records the length of thread fed out . Such thread meters are per se previously known. The known thread meters, however, are arranged so that the thread prior to its leaving the device is passed and fed through several holes. This impl ies two substantial disadvantages. One of them is, that it is very difficult in a hard envi ronment, such as in a forest in wintertime or general ly under bad weather conditions, to thread a thread, which is of the type sew¬ ing thread, through a plural i ty of smal l holes. This, how¬ ever, is required when a thread reel is to be changed. The other disadvantage is, that the maximum feeding speed is extremely l imited to prevent the thread from breaking. Such thread meters., are used in many different connections when a distance is to be measured. As examples can be ment¬ ioned the measuring of distances at forest surveys, measur¬ ing of distances for mi l itary purposes such as for positionin arti l lery pieces, measuring of distances at construction wor land surveying, measuring of cable lengths requi red at power cable drawing etc. , as wel l as in entirely different connec¬ tions, such as measuring the length of an orienteering cours etc. At certain appl ications it is desi red to be able to measure a distance whi le using a transport means, such as a car, snow scooter or other vehicle. I t is not possible to use known thread meters in such connections , because the thread is so arranged via holes and guides, that it breaks al ready at a low speed, for example al ready at 10-15 km/hour. The present invention solves the aforesaid problems and provides a thread meter with a structure, which is much simpler and cheaper than at known thread meters. The present invention, thus, relates to a thread meter comprising a holder for a thread reel, a counter provid- . ed with a rotary measuring wheel and guides for a thread, and an outer casing enclosing said details, and is char¬ acterized, in that a first guide for a thread is located between said holder and said measuring wheel, that a second guide for the thread is formed by means of said casing, which casing consists of a first and a second portion hingedly interconnected, where in said first port¬ ion a recess extends from an edge of the wall of the first portion, and where the second portion of the casing is arranged to bridge the opening of the recess along said edge, so that a hole with closed periphery is formed, and that said wheel is located along a line extending between said guides. The invention is described in greater detail in the following with reference, to the accompanying drawing, in which Pigs. 1 and 2 show a mechanism relating to the present thread meter and, respectively, a casing, where for the formation of a thread meter according to the invention the mechanism is placed in the casing, Fig. 3 shows a portion of a third guide in detail, Fig. *. shows a first guide in detail. In Figs. 1 and 2 a thread meter according to the invention is shown. The numeral 1 designates a mechanism, and the numeral 2 designates a casing. It is only for the sake of clearness, that the thread meter is shown divided in two Figures. The mechanism 1 is so located in the casing 2, that the bottom plate 3 of the mechanism abuts the bottom 5 of the first portion 4 of the casing 2. The cas¬ ing 2 also comprises a second portion 6, which constitutes a cover, which via hinges 7,8 is hingedly connected with the first portion 4. Upon folding upward the second port¬ ion 6, as indicated by the arrow 9, the second portion 6 joins with the first portion 4, so that a parallelepiped box is formed, which entirely encloses the mechanism 1. Suitable snap-in devices 10,11 are provided on the second portion 6 for co-operation with the upper lateral edge 12 of the first portion 4, so that the box can be kept clos¬ ed. The mechanism 1 comprises a holder 13 for a thread reel, consisting of an upright pipe. In Fig. 1 a thread reel 14 is indicated by dashed lines. The mechanism further comprises a suitable known counter 15 provided with a rotary measuring wheel lβ, about which a thread 20 is wound in one or several turns. The counter 15 records the number of turns, through which the measuring wheel lβ rot¬ ates, which corresponds to a certain distance, which can be read in the digit window 17 of the counter. The count¬ er is provided with a zero setting button 18. A first guide 19 for the thread 20 is located between the holder 13 and measuring wheel l6. The guide 19 is conn¬ ected with the bottom plate 3 and abuts with a certain pressure the measuring wheel via a cushion 21 of an elast¬ ic material. Between the cushion 21 and bottom plate 3, the guide is provided with a groove .22, which on one side is defined by two lugs 23,24 bent away from each other. In Fig. 4 said guide is shown seen from the right in Fig. 1. This design implies, that a thread 20 can be inserted into the groove from the side, as indicated by the arrow 25 in Fig. 4. According to the invention, a second guide is formed by a recess 26 extending from one edge 27 of the wall of the first portion 4 of the casing, and by the second port¬ ion of the casing being arranged so that, hen it is moved to its position joining the first portion, it bridges the opening 28 of the recess 2β along said edge 27, so that a hole with a closed periphery is formed. In Fig. 2 dash-dotted lines 29,30 show the position for the edges 29', 30' of the second portion 6 of the casing when this portion is in said joining position. According to a preferred embodiment, a third guide 31 5 is provided, which is shown partially also in Fig. 3*. where the guide 31 is shown seen from the left in Fig. 1. The third guide 31 comprises a U-shaped groove 32 and spaced therefrom a shoulder 33 . the lower edge 34 of which is located on a lower level than the opening of the U-shap- 10 ed groove 32. This guide, thus, also is formed so that a free opening 35 is provided where a thread can be directed into the groove 32. The third guide is located between the measuring wheel 16 15 and the second guide 26 and, when the mechanism is located in the casing 2, is located immediately inside of said recess 26. It is, thus, obvious that the thread must not be threaded through any hole, but can first be drawn out outside the 20 device and thereafter be moved in a direction substantial¬ ly perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the thread so as to be located in the grooves 22,32 and recess 26. When the second portion 6 of the casing is moved to its closing position, a hole, as stated, with closed per- 25 iphery is formed through the wall of the casing by means of the recess 26 and edge 30' . This design implies, that it is very easy to position a thread even under hard weather conditions. It is further easy to joint a thread for a new thread reel. This is carr-. 30 ied out so, that the thread from a substantially spent thread reel is drawn or cut off outside the thread meter and thereafter tied to the leading end of the thread on a new thread reel, whereafter the used thread reel is rem¬ oved and the new thread reel positioned on the holder 13. 35Thereafter the new thread is inserted into the grooves 22,32 and wound one or possibly several turns about the measuring wheel 16. Finally, it is observed that the thread is located in the recess 26, whereafter the second portion of the casing is moved to its closing position. The function of said cushion 21 is to constitute a weak brake against the measuring wheel to prevent it from rot¬ ating when the person carrying the thread meter halts, and to see to it that the thread 20 abuts the measuring wheel 16. According to the invention, the measuring wheel iβ is located along a line extending between said first and sec¬ ond guides. According to a preferred embodiment, the measuring wheel 16 is located so that a line extending through said guides tangents the measuring wheel. Due to the location of the measuring wheel 16 in relation to the guides, the thread runs substantially along a straight line .from the thread reel and out of the casing. This implies, that the thread meter can be moved at,subst¬ antially higher speeds than known thread meters. The pres- ent thread meter, thus, can be moved at speeds up to 40 km/hour without any problems whatsoever. It is obvious, that the present invention solves the probl¬ ems referred.to in the introductory portion. It also is obvious that the structure of the thread meter is particularly simple. The frame 36 of the mechanism is made in one piece, for example, of aerylate plastic. The measuring wheel 16 is made, for example, of nylon reinforc¬ ed with glass fibres. The casing is made, for example, of ABS-plastic. The present thread meter, thus, has a simple structure, allows for simple handling of the thread and has high per¬ formance. The present invention, of course, can be modified in ways obvious to the expert to embodiments other than the ones described above by way of example. The present invention, thus, must not be regarded restrict¬ ed to the embodiments described above, but can be varied within the scope defined in the attached claims.

Claims: Claims 1. A thread meter comprising a holder for a thread reel, a counter with a rotary measuring wheel and guides for a thread, and an outer casing to enclose said details-, 5 c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that a first guide (19) for a thread (20) is located between said holder (13) and said measuring wheel (16), that a second guide (26) for the thread is formed by said casing (4,6), which consists of a first portion (4) and a second portion (6), which 10 are hingedly interconnected, that in the first portion (4) a recess (26) extends from one edge (27) of the wall of the first portion (4), and the second portion (6) of the casing is arranged to bridge the opening (28) of the recess (26) along said edge (27), so that a hole with •5 closed periphery is formed, and that said wheel (16) is located along a line extending between said guides (19_ 26, 30')-. 2. A thread meter as defined in claim 1, c h a r a c t¬ e r i z e d i n that said first guide comprises a 0 groove (22), which has not a closed periphery, but has an opening, so that a thread can be moved substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the thread into the groove (22). 3. A thread meter as defined in claim 2, c h a r a c t - 5 e r i z e d i n that a third guide (31) is located between said measuring wheel (16) and said recess (26) and comprises a groove (22;32), which has not a fully closed periphery, but has an opening, so that a thread can be moved substantially perpendicularly to its longit- 0 udinal direction into the groove (22 32). 4. A thread meter as defined in claim 1,2 or 3, c h a r- a c t e r i z e d i n that a line extending through said guides (19.26,30'; 31) tangents said measuring wheel (16).

Inventors: HAGLOEF INGVAR, HAGLOEF, INGVAR
Applicants: HAGLOEF INGVAR, HAGLOEF, INGVAR
Application year: 1986
Main classification: G01B3
IPC codes: B65H61, G01B5