Patent Publication Number: US-2007119998-A1

Title: Retractable reel device to reduce throwing of school materials

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to the reduction of a student&#39;s throwing of educational materials and also to the repositioning of the thrown materials back to a desired position on a school work surface. The invention relates more specifically to the attachment of a spring loaded retractable reel to a table or work surface and then attaching an item for student interaction to the end of a retractable reel cord such that cord retraction will slow the velocity of the thrown item and will prevent the item from moving off a work surface.  
      It is a common for children with behavioral and intellectual disabilities to have problems in maintaining their school related educational and recreational materials within their reach and grasp. A primary reason for materials moving off of the table surfaces is that the behaviorally challenged child may not yet have learned the behavioral control so as not to throw the teacher provided materials. For such students, the innate reinforcement of throwing an object may cause them to impulsively throw the educational materials or recreational items and then want to regain grasp of the materials or items only moments later. Such loss of access to educational and learning materials reduces learning for the student, as well as causing additional need for teacher assistance as they are needed to put learning materials back in place on the desk or table. Common attempts by the classroom teachers to reduce throwing have included gradual reinforcement of longer time periods with no throwing (i.e. through giving of rewards), taking away a student&#39;s materials once they are thrown, or using prevention of throwing by lessening access to the amount of available materials which may likely be thrown.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a method and an apparatus which satisfies the aforementioned needs. The described invention includes a spring-biased retractable reel, a means of attachment of the retractable reel to the student&#39;s work surface, and a means of attachment of the end of the retractable reel cord to the educational materials. Retractable reels commonly involve a cord or tether wound around a spindle whose rotation is spring powered. As the cord or tether is extended and unwound, the spindle rotates against the relatively constant resistance of the spring. The cord is retracted as the spindle is wound in the opposite direction while the spring continues to apply relatively constant rotational torque to the rewinding spindle. By attachment of materials which may be thrown to the retractable reel cord, and then firmly attaching the retractable reel to a school work surface, an excellent behavioral intervention which can assist in the training of reduced throwing may be provided. As it is the nature of retractable reels that they pull and direct any item attached to their tether back toward the reel location, many retractable reel applications have been employed, and have been patented, that involve moving an object back to a desired location for storage or for use. Seat belt retraction in U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,493, microphone retraction in U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,392, pet leash retraction in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,054, pacifier retraction in U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,756, and hospital gas tube retraction in U.S. Pat. No 5,975,120 are all examples of such use. However, the present invention is different in that a retractable reel is employed to modify a behavior and to train improved student behavior.  
      A preferred embodiment of this apparatus includes a base which has a fastening strip connected adhesively on the bottom side. The fastening strip has an array of hooks typical of the fastening strips routinely sold and registered under the trademark “VELCRO™”. A retractable reel is mechanically attached to the aforementioned base through use of an L bracket and screws. A metal ring is attached to the distal end of the retractable reel chord allowing educational materials and recreational items to be connected to the chord through use of a wide variety of connectors. The base can be connected to a location on a table, desk, or other classroom area by first adhesively attaching a velcro fastening strip to a chosen table, desk, or other secure location, and then attaching the back of the base to the table, desk, or other location by connecting the two aforementioned velcro fastening strips. The educational material can now be attached to the distal end of the retractable reel cord so that the spring biased rotating reel can place a constant pull on the reel cord to slow the thrown object and to return the material back toward the teacher designated table location.  
      This preferred embodiment overcomes difficulties faced by teachers whose attempts to train reduced student throwing have been unsuccessful. As retractable reels can include circular coil springs applying a force to rotate the reel about an axis such that a chord attached to the reel is constantly being rewound to its shortest length, a play or work material attached to the cord is constantly pulled toward the reel housing. By attaching materials to the reel cord, and then attaching the retractable reel to the student&#39;s work surface, a means of reducing the effectiveness of throwing and a means of maintaining the location of work or play materials is provided. It is a key aspect of this invention that the force that pulls the material toward its resting place is applied constantly. This constant force pulls materials during both cord lengthening as the reel unwinds and also during cord shortening as the material is moving back toward its resting place. Because the cord pull is constant, the student who attempts to throw the material will have the angular acceleration gained as the student carries out the throwing motion immediately slowed as the material is released. The resulting immediate deacceleration of the thrown material will eliminate the behavioral reinforcement that is normally provided when an object accelerates away from a student&#39;s hand and moves off of a work surface. Instead of being reinforced for the throwing behavior, the student instead will see that the object, which they had attempted to throw, will move back to the assigned table surface location. With repetitions of this non-reinforced throwing of school related materials, the frequency of the throwing behavior should become reduced.  
      The above preferred embodiment can be modified to meet the exact needs of a given classroom or student. For example multiple retractable reels can be connected to a very large base so that the base itself can be used as a work surface. In this case velcro strips may not be sufficient to hold the base in place, and clamps or ties may be used to firmly connect the base to a desk surface or to wheelchair desk arms.  
      Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide for a method for teaching the reduced throwing of classroom materials.  
      It is another object of the present invention to object to provide a training device to reduce the behavior of throwing of educational and school related materials.  
      It is another object of the present invention to provide a retractable reel holder system to reduce the throwing of classroom materials. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
      The FIGURE is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
      Referring now to the drawing in which like numbers indicate like elements throughout, a preferred embodiment is shown of a retractable reel anti-throwing device in accordance with the present invention.  
      An L bracket  4  is mechanically attached to retractable reel housing  5  with a screw  6 . Cord reel  7  is centrally located within retractable reel housing  5 . Coil spring  8  is centrally located within cord reel  7  and is attached to cord reel  7  at the outer end of coil spring  8 . A cord  9  is attached at its proximal end to cord reel  7  and runs through retractable reel housing opening  10 . Cord  9  is connected at its distal end to connector ring  11 . Retractable reel housing  5  is connected to rectangular base  12  with screw  13  which runs through L bracket  4 . Velcro fastening strip  14  is adhesively connected to the underside of rectangular base  12  such that the velcro side of fastening strip  14  is in connected to the velcro side of velcro fastening strip  15  with the adhesive underside of velcro fastening strip  15  being free to be adhered against a solid surface.  
      The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described by way of example, and will be understood that other modifications may occur by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims.