Patent ID: 7251904

Claim:
A coilable tape rule, comprising: a rule casing comprised of at least one wall having an effectively planar exterior surface, and a peripheral wall extending about said at least one wall, said peripheral wall having an aperture to the interior of said casing; means for mounting a coiled measuring blade within said rule casing for extension therefrom and retraction thereinto through said peripheral wall aperture; a flexible measuring blade mounted upon said means for mounting, said measuring blade having a length dimension and a transverse width dimension and being coilable about an axis of coiling in said casing normal to said exterior surface of said at least one wall and with said width dimension of said measuring blade oriented parallel to said axis of coiling, said measuring blade being preformed to have a concavo-convex transverse cross section in said width direction, in its free state, and being wound on said means for mounting with the concave side thereof facing inwardly toward said axis of coiling; and reorienting means for turning said measuring blade through about a quarter turn on its longitudinal axis so as to reorient said width dimension to a substantially perpendicular relationship to said axis of coiling as said measuring blade is extended from said casing, said reorienting means comprising a pair of rollers disposed within said rule casing, one of said rollers being rotatably mounted adjacent said at least one wall of said rule casing with its axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to said axis of coiling of said measuring blade, and the other of said rollers being rotatably mounted in a position displaced from said at least one wall with its axis of rotation oriented generally transversely to said axis of coiling and at an acute included angle thereto, each of said rollers having a central section that is convexly rounded, both in axial planes, extending on and along said axis of rotation thereof, and also in transaxial planes extending perpendicular to said axis of rotation, to provide curvilinear contact surfaces thereon, said measuring blade following a travel path between said means for mounting and said peripheral wall aperture, sequentially over said rollers, with the surface of said measuring blade on the concave side thereof in engagement with said contact surfaces of both of said rollers, said other roller lying more closely adjacent than said one roller to said means for mounting, along said travel path.