Patent Publication Number: US-2019174869-A1

Title: Reel device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a reel device. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     Generally, when wearing medical wearable protectors (for example, waist guards, knee pads and rehabilitation shoes), a user ties the wearable protector to a body part through a restricting rope, and after the wearable protector is tightly fit to the body part, s/he ties a knot on a rope body of the restricting rope to prevent the rope body from loosening so as to ensure the body part is well protected. However, the above-mentioned process is inconvenient, so a buckle is disclosed. The buckle has an elastic clasp member, a rope body is disposed in the buckle, the elastic clasp member normally presses and clasps the rope body to prevent the rope body from sliding relative to the buckle. When in use, the user needs to press the elastic clasp member to pull the rope body tight, and then loose the elastic clasp member to maintain the rope body in a tightly restricted state and unable to slide relative to the buckle to prevent the rope body from loosening. 
     However, in this type of conventional buckle, after being used for a long term, the elasticity of the elastic clasp member fatigues, so the strength of the elastic clasp member pressing the rope body weakens, the rope body becomes slidable relative to the buckle, and the wearable protector cannot wrap the body part tightly. 
     The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The major object of the present invention is to provide a reel device, which can effectively tighten a rope and is easy and quick to operate, the reel device can effectively prevent the rope from loosening, and it is easier to operate when a user wants to loosen the rope. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, a reel device is provided, including a shell, a knob, an elastic member, a ratchet assembly and a reel unit. The knob is pivoted in the shell along an axial direction and movable to a first position or a second position along the axial direction, and the knob has a first restricting toothed portion. The elastic member is abutted between the shell and the knob so that the knob has a tendency to move toward the first position. The ratchet assembly includes a first ratchet portion and a second ratchet portion, the first ratchet portion is comovable with the knob, and the second ratchet portion is fixedly disposed in the shell. The reel unit is pivoted in the shell for being connected with at least one rope, and the reel unit has a second restricting toothed portion. When the knob is on the first position, the first and second ratchet portions are meshed with each other, the first and second toothed portions are meshed with each other, and the knob and the reel unit is only unidirectionally rotatable relative to the shell; when the knob is on the second position, the first restricting toothed portion is non-meshed with the second toothed portion, and the reel unit is freely rotatable relative to the shell. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembly drawing of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a stereogram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a breakdown view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  are cross-sectional views of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in operation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 6  for a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A reel device  1  includes a shell  2 , a knob  3 , an elastic member  4 , a ratchet assembly  5  and a reel unit  6 . In this embodiment, the reel device  1  is assembled to a medical shoe (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), and in other embodiments, the reel device  1  may also be assembled to a waist guard, a knee pad or other wearable protectors. 
     The knob  3  is pivoted in the shell  2  along an axial direction  11  and movable to a first position or a second position along the axial direction  11 , and the knob  3  has a first restricting toothed portion  31 . 
     The elastic member  4  is abutted between the shell  2  and the knob  3  so that the knob  3  has a tendency to move toward the first position. 
     The ratchet assembly  5  includes a first ratchet portion  51  and a second ratchet portion  52 , the first ratchet portion  51  is comovable with the knob  3 , and the second ratchet portion  52  is fixedly disposed in the shell  2 . 
     The reel unit  6  is pivoted in the shell  2  for being connected with at least one rope  9 , in this embodiment, the reel unit  6  is for being connected to two ends of one of the at least one rope  6  to tighten the rope  9  of the medical shoe, and the reel unit  6  has a second restricting toothed portion  61 . 
     In actual operation, when the knob  3  is on the first position (as shown in  FIG. 5 ), the first and second ratchet portions  51 ,  52  are meshed with each other, the first and second toothed portions  31 ,  61  are meshed with each other, and the knob  3  and the reel unit  6  are only unidirectionally rotatable relative to the shell  2  so that the two ends of the rope  9  are swirled into the reel unit  6  to tighten the rope  9 . In addition, because the first restricting toothed portion  31  is meshed with the second restricting toothed portion  61 , the knob  3  and the reel unit  6  cannot rotate reversely so that the rope  9  can be prevented from getting loose. When a user wants to loosen the rope  9 , s/he can move the knob  3  to the second position. When the knob  3  is on the second position (as shown in  FIG. 6 ), the first restricting toothed portion  31  is non-meshed with the second toothed portion  61 , and the reel unit  6  is freely rotatable relative to the shell  2 . The rope  9  is being tightened, so when the reel unit  6  is freely rotatable relative to the shell  2 , the rope  9  is tightened and drives the reel unit  6  to rotate reversely, and the rope  9  loosens. Therefore, the reel device  1  is quick and easy to operate and can prevent the rope  9  from getting loose easily. 
     The reel unit  6  includes a plate  62 , the plate  62  has a wrapping shaft  63  for the at least one rope  9  to wrap thereon and at least one receiving space  64  for receiving the at least one rope  9 , and in the embodiment, there are two said receiving spaces  64  respectively for the two ends of the rope  9  to be received therein to prevented from being tangled. 
     Specifically, the shell  2  has a cover  21 , the cover  21  has an inner flange  211 , the inner flange  211  defines an opening  212 , the knob  3  has an outer flange  32 , the knob  3  protrudes beyond the opening  212 , and the outer flange  32  is positioned by a side of the inner flange  211  facing the reel unit  6 . In this embodiment, the elastic member  4  is abutted between the inner flange  211  and the outer flange  32 ; therefore, the knob  3  normally moves toward the shell  2  to the first position, when the knob  3  is pulled out toward a direction away from the shell  2 , the knob  3  moves to the second position to loosen the rope  9 , and in other embodiments, directions of the first and second positions are interchangeable. 
     More specifically, the knob  3  has a pivot  33 , the pivot  33  is pivotally disposed on a bottom portion of the shell  2 , a sleeve  34  is sleeved on the pivot  33  and extends along the axial direction  11  toward the reel unit  6  to form the first restricting toothed portion  31 , and the reel unit  6  is sleeved on the pivot  33  and extends along the axial direction  11  toward the first restricting toothed portion  31  to form the second restricting toothed portion  61 . When the knob  3  moves to the first position, it is easier form the first and second restricting toothed portions  31 ,  61  to be meshed with each other. 
     Furthermore, the first ratchet portion  51  is comovably sleeved on the sleeve  34 , the first ratchet portion  51  includes a plurality of ratchet members  511 , and when the knob  3  is on the first position, the ratchet members  511  are meshed with the second ratchet portion  52 . In other embodiments, an exterior circumferential wall of the sleeve  34  includes a non-circular column  341 , the first ratchet portion  51  has a non-circular hole  512  complementary to the non-circular column  341 , and the non-circular hole  512  is sleeved on the non-circular column  341  so that when the ratchet member  511  are damaged after being used for a period of time, it is easier for the user to replace the first ratchet portion  51 . Specifically, the second ratchet portion  52  has an interior annular toothed plate  521 , the second ratchet portion  52  further has a base plate  522 , and when the knob  3  is on the first position, the first ratchet portion  51  abuts against the base plate  522  so that the first and second ratchet portions  51 ,  52  can be positionably meshed with each other. 
     Preferably, in this embodiment, the interior annular toothed plate  521  has an annular flange  523  facing outside, an interior of the shell  2  has an annular groove  213 , and the annular flange  523  restrictedly abuts against the annular groove  213  to be tight fit with each other so that the interior annular toothed plate  521  is non-rotatable relative to the shell  2 . 
     Given the above, in the reel device of the present invention, when the knob is on the first position, the first and second ratchet portions are meshed with each other, the first and second toothed portions are meshed with each other, and the knob and the reel unit are only unidirectionally rotatable relative to the shell so that the two ends of the rope are swirled into the reel unit to tighten the rope. If the user wants to loosen the rope, s/he can move the knob to the second position to make the first and second restricting toothed portions non-meshed with each other to loosen the rope. Therefore, the reel device is quick and easy to operate and can effectively prevent the rope from getting loose. 
     While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.