Patent Publication Number: US-9840394-B2

Title: Wire-winding device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wire-winding device, and more particularly to an improved wire-winding device with a better positioning structure. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Taiwan Patent No. 560521 discloses a wire-winding device having a positioning structure where a ball and guide grooves are disposed between a rotary base and a cover. The ball and the rotary base function as a positioning structure to achieve a fixed position of a cable wound around the rotary base. However, the ball is so small in size that it may come off the guide groove when external impact occurs, resulting in damage of the wire-winding device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a wire-winding device having an improved cable wire positioning structure. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, the wire-winding device comprising: an upper cover having a bottom surface and a slot deviating from a center of the bottom surface; a rotary base having an annular track on a top surface thereof, the annular track and the slot of the upper cover constituting an orbit; a spiral spring received in the rotary base; a transmission line winding around the rotary base; a lower cover assembled with the upper cover; and an elastic positioning element having a base and a positioning part extruding from the lower surface of the base, the base having an elastic part and a respective fixed part at each of two ends thereof, the elastic positioning element being moveable along the orbit in response to a rotational movement of the rotary base to avoid the transmission line to be tied a knot. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of a wire-winding device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partially exploded, perspective view of the wire-winding device as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a partially exploded, perspective view of the wire-winding device as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an as exploded, perspective view of a wire-winding device as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an another exploded, perspective view of the wire-winding device as shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6A  to  FIG. 6F  are mutual action principle schematic between the elastic positioning element and the annular track. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 5 , an improved wire-winding device  100  according to the present invention includes an upper cover  1 , a rotary base  5 , a spiral spring  6  received into the rotary base  6 , a transmission line  7  winding around the rotary base  6 , and a lower cover  8  assembled to the upper cover  1 . The transmission line  7  is divided into upper and lower rows. The upper cover  1  has a terraced through hole  11  in the center thereof. And the upper cover  1  has a circular groove  15  formed on the upper surface thereof connecting to the through hole  11 , a long and narrow rectangle slot  12  deviating a center of the bottom surface of the upper cover  1 , a protruding cylinder  13 , and a concave hole  14  at each side of the upper cover  1 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 5 , the rotary base  5  has a through hole  51  in the center thereof. The rotary base  5  has a groove  56  on the bottom surface thereof to position the spiral spring  6 . The groove  56  has a pillar  55 , an outlet  54 , and a wire casing  53  on one side thereof. The transmission line  7  passes through the wire casing  53 . The rotary base  5  has an annular track  52  on the top surface thereof. The annular track  52  includes an outer race/path, an inner race/path, and a guide rail connecting the outer race and the inner race. The annular track  52  has a step with different heights. The transmission line  7  winds around the rotary base  5 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the spiral spring  6  has a first end portion  61  and a second end portion  62 . The second end portion  62  is bent into a semicircle to surround the pillar  55  of the rotary base  5 . A screw column  81  extends upward from the central of the lower cover  8 . The screw column  81  has a groove  82  formed on one side which receives the first end portion  61  of the spiral spring  6  to fix the spiral spring  6 . The lower cover  8  has a protruding cylinder  83  and a concave hole  84  at each side of the lower cover  8 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 5 , the improved wire-winding device  100  further comprises an elastic positioning element  2 , a screw  3 , and a decorative piece  4 . The elastic positioning element  2  has a base  22 . The base  22  has a fixed part at each side and an elastic part between the fixed parts. A positioning part  21  extends from the bottom surface of the base  22 . The height of the elastic part is lower than the height of the fixed part. The base  22  of the elastic positioning element  2  is accommodated to the rectangle slot  12  of the upper cover  1 . The positioning part  21  is accommodated to the annular track  52 . The elastic positioning element  2  moves along the orbit formed by the rectangle slot  12  of the upper cover  1  and the annular track  52  of the rotary base  5 . Because of the steps with different height in the annular track  52 , the positioning part  21  moves up and down in the annular track  52 . And the elastic part can be deformed elastically under the upward force by the positioning part  21 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 5 , during assembling the wire-winding device  100 , the spiral spring  6  is accommodated to the groove  56  of the rotary base  5  at first. The second end portion  62  of the spiral spring  6  surrounds the pillar  55  of the rotary base  5 . And then the transmission line  7  passes through the wire casing  53  and the outlet  54  to make the transmission line  7  surround the rotary base  5  in same direction of the rotation. The transmission line  7  is divided into upper and lower rows. And then the rotary base  5  is installed in the lower cover  8 . The first end portion  61  of the spiral spring  6  is accommodated to the groove  82  on one side of the screw column  81 . Then both ends of the transmission line  7  pass through the gap between the concave hole  84  and the protruding cylinder  83 . Afterwards, the positioning part  21  of the elastic positioning element  2  is accommodated to the annular track  52  of the rotary base  5 . Then the upper cover  1  is installed in the lower cover  8 . The base  22  of the elastic positioning element  2  is accommodated to the rectangle slot  12  of the upper cover  1  at this moment. The protruding cylinder  13  on one side of the upper cover  1  is accommodated in the concave hole  84  and the protruding cylinder  83  of the lower cover  8  is accommodated in the concave hole  14  at the other side of the upper cover  1 . And then the screw  3  is screwed in the column  81  of the lower cover  8  through the through hole  11  of the upper cover  1 . Finally the decorative piece  4  is accommodated in the circular groove  15  of the upper cover  15 . The assembly of the wire-winding device  100  according to the present invention is accomplished through above steps. 
       FIGS. 6A to 6F  show the interaction of the elastic positioning element  2  and the annular track  52  of the wire-winding device  100 . The positioning part  21  of the elastic positioning element  2  is accommodated to the annular track  52 . When the user pulls the transmission line  7  from the wire-winding device  100  in counter-clockwise direction, the rotary base  5  turns in the same direction. The annular track  52  rotates together with the base  5 . The base  22  of the elastic positioning element  2  moves in the rectangle slot  22 . The position of the positioning part  21  changes relative to the rotary base  5 . As shown in  FIGS. 6A to 6F , the annular track  52  rotates sequentially 0 degree (latching position), 180 degree, 270 degree, 360 degree, 450 degree and 630 degree, and finally back to the original latching position. It can be seen that when the transmission line  7  is pulled outwards, the rotary base  5  starts to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. At this moment the elastic positioning element  2  starts to rotate from the latching position to the outer race. When the rotary base  5  rotates to the 270 degree, the elastic positioning element  2  rotates to the inner race in a clockwise direction through the rail which connects the outer race and the inner race. And then the elastic positioning element  2  rotates in the clockwise direction in the inner race all the time until the whole transmission line  7  is pulled out. On the contrary, when stopped pulling the transmission line  7 , the rotary base  5  starts to rotate in the clockwise direction because of the restoring force of the spiral spring  6 . If the elastic positioning element  2  is in the inner race of the annular track  52  at this moment, the elastic positioning element  2  rotates to the latching position in counter-clockwise direction along the inner race. If the elastic positioning element  2  is in the outer race of the annular track  52 , the elastic positioning element  2  will rotate to the latching position in the counter-clockwise direction along the outer race. The elastic positioning element  2  plays an important role in movement and positioning in the annular track  52  through the guiding of the annular track  52  with the steps and the elastic deformation of elastic part of the elastic positioning element  2 . The elastic positioning element  2  moves in the orbit formed by the rectangle slot  12  of the upper cover  1  and the annular track  52  of the rotary base  5 . Therefore, the base  22  of the elastic positioning element  2  can realize the elastic deformation under the upward force by the positioning part  21  in order to play a role in positioning and fixing the rotary base  5 . This avoids tangling of the transmission line  7 . 
     When the improved wire-winding device  100  according to the present invention is in use, the rotary base  5  can be rotated by pulling both ends of the transmission line  7  outward. And the spiral spring  6  is compressed to pull the transmission line  7  out until the positioning part  21  reaches the latching position of the annular track  52 . The user can pull the transmission line  7  out favorably through above steps. Moreover, the transmission line  7  will easily retract when the positioning part  21  is separated from the latching position of the annular track  52  and the spiral spring  6  pulls the transmission line  7  to the external interlayer of the rotary base  5  under a restoring force.