JP7787515B2 - Hose reel - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a hose reel.

Hose reels for winding up hoses and the like are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. The hose reel in Patent Document 1 has support posts on the outer periphery of the hose reel in the axial direction, and an alignment plate that slides along the support posts. The hose is automatically aligned by the weight of the hose and the action of the hose alignment plate, and is wound and stored around the outer periphery of the drum. The drum in Patent Document 2 also has a hollow rotating rod that rotates around a core rod 5 fixed to the bottom leg of the drum to control the hose being wound up.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-116806 JP 2011-79659 A

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, the hose reel of Patent Document 1 attempts to align the hose by pressing it down using the weight of the hose and alignment plate, so it is not possible to reliably suppress the hose's swinging in various directions and wind it up evenly. Furthermore, the drum of Patent Document 2 attempts to control the hose, etc., within the range of the hollow rotating rod, so the hose, etc., swings within the range of the hollow rotating rod, making it impossible to wind the hose, etc., evenly and without bias.

The present disclosure therefore aims to provide a hose reel that can regulate hose vibration and reel in the hose evenly and without bias.

To achieve the above object, the present invention is realized as follows.
(1) The hose reel of the present invention is a hose reel that winds up a hose, and includes a housing, a winding section that is rotatably mounted on the housing and winds up the hose, a hose regulating section to which the hose is hung before being wound up on the winding section and that regulates movement perpendicular to the axis of the hose, and a guide rod that supports the hose regulating section rotatably and axially movably and has a spiral groove spirally formed on its outer periphery, and the hose regulating section has an engaging section that engages with the spiral groove and moves axially along the spiral groove due to the hose being wound up on the winding section.
(2) In the above (1), the hose restricting portion has an operating means that moves between an engagement position where the engaging portion engages with the spiral groove and a release position where the engaging portion is released from the spiral groove.
(3) In the above (2), the hose restricting portion has a holding means for holding the engaging portion in the engaging position.
(4) In the above (2) or (3), the hose restricting portion has a retaining means for retaining the engaging portion in the release position.
(5) In any one of (1) to (4) above, the spiral groove has a constant axial advance distance per rotation.

This disclosure provides a hose reel that can regulate hose vibration and reel in the hose evenly and without bias.

1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a hose reel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of part A in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hose restraining portion of the hose reel according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a hose restraining portion of a hose reel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of the hose restraining portion of the hose reel according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the hose restraining portion of the hose reel according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a hose restraining portion of a hose reel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a hose restraining portion of a hose reel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

Each embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It should be noted that the same elements are denoted by the same numbers or symbols throughout the description of the embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a hose reel 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of part A in Fig. 1.
A hose reel 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

As shown in Figure 1, the hose reel 1 reels a hose 200. The housing 100 of the hose reel 1 includes a reeling section 101 that reels and stores the hose 200. In the example shown in Figure 1, the housing 100 is box-shaped, with the four corners of the side panels 106 and 107 fixed by four supports 105.

The winding unit 101 is rotatably supported by the housing 100. For example, a shaft with both ends fixed to the side plates 106 and 107 may be provided, and the winding unit 101 may be supported on this shaft so that it can rotate in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. A handle 102 is located on the outside of the housing 100, and by turning this handle 102, the winding unit 101 can rotate in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

In FIG. 1, the hose 200 is wound onto the winding portion 101 by turning the handle 102 clockwise. Similarly, the hose 200 may be pulled out from the winding portion 101 by turning the handle 102 counterclockwise.

In the housing 100, the guide rod 10 is attached with both ends fixed to the side plates 106 and 107. The hose restrictor 20 is supported on this guide rod 10 so that it can rotate and move axially.

As shown in Figure 2, the guide rod 10 has a spiral groove 11 formed in a spiral shape on its outer periphery. That is, the guide rod 10 has a continuous spiral groove 11 formed in a concave shape on its outer periphery 12, which supports the hose restricting portion 20 so that it can rotate and move axially.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of the hose restraint unit 20 of the hose reel 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the hose restraint unit 20 of the hose reel 1. The hose restraint unit 20 will be explained using Figures 3 and 4.

As shown in Figure 3, the hose restrictor 20 includes a restrictor body 21, a slide 30, an operating mechanism 40, and a lid 50.

The restrictor body 21 is generally cylindrical and has a hose restriction groove 22 formed around the entire circumference near the axial center. As shown in FIG. 4, the hose restriction groove 22 has a generally U-shaped cross section that is symmetrical from left to right, i.e., it is wider on the outer periphery and narrower at the bottom near the central axis. This configuration ensures that the hose 200 can be reliably guided into the hose restriction groove 22 even if it vibrates significantly laterally before being hung in the hose restriction groove 22 of the restrictor body 21. The hose 200 guided into the hose restriction groove 22 is then guided to the bottom, where the narrowed hose restriction groove 22 restricts vibration of the hose 200 in the direction perpendicular to its axis (lateral direction), ensuring that it is reliably restrained in a fixed position.

In this way, the hose restraining unit 20 is provided with a hose restraining groove 22, and the hose 200 is hooked onto this hose restraining groove 22 before being wound onto the winding unit 101, restricting movement perpendicular to the axis of the hose 200 (lateral movement), i.e., movement in the radial direction of the cross section of the hose 200. Note that the hose restraining groove 22 does not necessarily have to be provided around the entire circumference of the hose restraining unit 20, but may also be provided at intervals around the circumference.

The restrictor body 21 has a support hole 23 that passes through the central axis of the cylindrical shape. As shown in Figure 4, the restrictor body 21 is supported by the outer periphery 12 of the guide rod 10 in this support hole 23 so that it can rotate and move axially.

As tension is applied to the hose 200 when it is wound around the winding portion 101, the outer surface of the hose 200 comes into close contact with the restricting portion main body 21 near the bottom of the hose restricting groove 22 in which the hose 200 is hung. The frictional force of the hose 200 acts stably on the hose restricting groove 22. Therefore, as the hose 200 is wound around the winding portion 101 and moves toward the winding portion 101, this frictional force causes the hose restricting portion 20 to rotate stably relative to the guide rod 10.

In the above explanation, the hose restraining unit 20 rotates relative to the guide rod 10 due to the frictional force of the hose 200 being wound around the winding unit 101, but this is not limited to this. In other words, the hose restraining unit 20 may be configured to rotate relative to the guide rod 10 when the hose 200 is wound. For example, the winding unit 101 and the hose restraining unit 20 may be connected via a power transmission means such as a belt or gear, so that when the winding unit 101 rotates, the hose restraining unit 20 rotates accordingly.

In the example shown in Figure 3, the slide 30 is formed as a roughly rectangular frame with a specified thickness. An attachment portion 38 is provided at the bottom of the slide 30 so as to protrude inward, and the engagement portion 31 is fitted into this attachment portion 38 to secure it in place.

At the top of the slide 30, an elastic body 35 is attached to an elastic body mounting portion 36 so as to protrude inward. While the elastic body 35 is shown as a compression coil spring in Figure 3, it is not limited to this and may be, for example, a leaf spring, rubber, sponge, etc.

An operating means insertion section 37, which is a semi-cylindrical recess provided horizontally on the upper side of the slide 30, is provided. A semi-cylindrical insertion section 47 provided on the operating means 40 is inserted into this operating means insertion section 37, thereby attaching the operating means 40 to the slide 30. The operating means 40 may be operable horizontally relative to the slide 30 in the direction shown in Figure 3.

The slide 30 is attached to the restrictor body 21 by being inserted so that the guided surfaces 33 on the left and right inner sides of the slide 30 (as shown in Figure 3) face the guide surfaces 26 on both outer sides of the support hole 23 in the restrictor body 21. When inserted into the restrictor body 21, the slide 30 is able to slide up and down relative to the restrictor body 21.

When the slide 30 with the operating means 40 attached is assembled into the restrictor body 21, the lid 50 is fixed to the restrictor body 21 by fitting the mounting hole 56 of the lid 50 into the lid mounting portion 28 of the restrictor body 21. In this state, the lid 50 prevents the operating means 40 from coming off the slide 30.

In the hose restrictor 20, the end of the elastic body 35 of the slide 30 opposite the elastic body mounting portion 36 abuts against the elastic body receiving portion 27 of the restrictor main body 21, and the slide 30 is pressed upward and held in this upper position. Figure 4 shows the slide 30 held in this upper position, with the engaging portion 31 fixed to the slide 30 in an engaging position where it engages with the spiral groove 11 of the guide rod 10. Then, as the slide 30 is pressed upward by the elastic body 35, the tip of the engaging portion 31 abuts near the bottom of the spiral groove 11, holding the engaging portion 31 in the engaged position. In this way, the elastic body 35, engaging portion 31, spiral groove 11, etc. form a holding means that holds the engaging portion 31 in the engaged position.

The engagement position of the engaging portion 31 is not limited to a configuration in which the tip of the engaging portion 31 is held in contact with the bottom of the spiral groove 11. For example, the slide 30 may be pressed upward by the elastic body 35, so that the portion other than the engaging portion 31 contacts a stopper (not shown).

Figure 6 is a side view of the hose restraint portion 20 of the hose reel 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figures 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views of the hose restraint portion 20 of the hose reel 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Using Figures 6, 7, and 8, we will explain the state in which the engagement portion 31 is in the release position where it is no longer engaged with the spiral groove 11.

When the operating mechanism 40 is pressed downward in the state shown in Figure 5, the slide 30 is pushed downward by the operating mechanism 40, resulting in the state shown in Figure 6. In Figure 5, the engaging portion 31 protrudes inside the hole 53 in the lid 50, which is the same size as or larger than the outer periphery 12 of the guide rod 10. However, in Figure 6, the engaging portion 31 has moved outside the hole 53 and is no longer visible. Furthermore, the shape of the lower portion of the engaging portion 31 visible through the window 57 in the lid 50 is different, so that it is possible to see from the outside whether the engaging portion 31 is in the engaged position or the released position, regardless of the rotational position of the hose restraint unit 20. Incidentally, the lid 50 may be provided with a recessed portion 55 that forms a space from the outer periphery to the inside, making it easier to press the operating mechanism 40 from the side. Furthermore, providing this recessed portion 55 makes it easier to see the position of the operating mechanism 40 from the side.

In the state shown in Figure 4, the engagement portion 31 of the slide 30 was in an engagement position where it fitted into the spiral groove 11 of the guide rod 10 and engaged with the spiral groove 11. On the other hand, in the state shown in Figure 7, the engagement portion 31 has moved below the spiral groove 11 of the guide rod 10 and is in a release position where it is no longer engaged with the spiral groove 11.

When the operating means 40 is moved horizontally inward (to the left in FIG. 7) in the state shown in FIG. 7, the latched portion 45, which is the upper surface of the tip of the operating means 40, comes into contact with the latching portion 25, which is a substantially horizontal surface provided on the regulating unit main body 21, as shown in FIG. 8. In this state, the slide 30, which receives an upward force from the elastic body 35, pushes the latched portion 45 of the operating means 40 upward, causing it to abut against the latching portion 25 and maintain this position. In other words, the latching portion 25 of the regulating unit main body 21, the latched portion 45 of the operating means 40, the elastic body 35, etc., form a retaining means that holds the engaging portion 31 in the released position.

In this way, by operating the operating means 40, the slide 30 moves relative to the restrictor body 21 between the upper position shown in FIG. 4 and the lower position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, causing the engaging portion 31 fixed to the slide 30 to move between an engaging position where it engages with the spiral groove 11 and a disengaging position where it is disengaged from the spiral groove 11. The hose restrictor 20 may also have a retaining means for retaining the engaging portion 31 in the engaged position and a retaining means for retaining the engaging portion 31 in the disengaged position. Note that the retaining means shown in FIGS. 4, 7, and 8 are examples and are not limited to these.

In addition, in Figure 8, when the engaging portion 31 is held in the release position by the holding means, if a finger is placed on the convex operating portion 43 on the operating means 40 and the operating means 40 is moved outward (to the right in Figure 8), the engaged portion 45 is released from the engaging portion 25, and an upward force is applied by the elastic body 35, causing the operating means 40 and slide 30 to move upward. Accordingly, the engaging portion 31 moves to the engaged position, and the engaged position is maintained. In this way, by simply operating the operating means 40, the engaging portion 31 can be moved between the engaged and released positions, and that state can be maintained.

In order to more stably maintain the released position, for example, a small upward protrusion may be provided at the tip of the engaged portion 45 of the operating means 40, and a small recess may be provided at the rear side of the engaging portion 25 of the regulating unit main body 21, so that the protrusion of the engaged portion 45 engages with the recess of the engaging portion 25. In this case, the engaged state is released by first slightly pushing the operating means 40 downward and then moving the operating means 40 outward (to the right in Figure 8). The operating means 40 then moves upward, and the engaging portion 31 moves to the engaged position, where it is maintained. Because it is necessary to push the operating means 40 downward slightly to release the engaged state, the released position is maintained more stably.

Next, we will explain the operation of the hose reel 1 when the engagement portion 31 is in the engaged position and when it is in the released position. The hose restraint portion 20 is supported on the guide rod 10 so that it can rotate and move axially.

When the engaging portion 31 is in the engaged position, as shown in FIG. 4, it fits into and engages with the spiral groove 11 of the guide rod 10. When the hose 200 is wound around the winding portion 101 in this state, the hose restraint portion 20 rotates relative to the guide rod 10 due to the hose 200 being wound around the winding portion 101. The engaging portion 31 provided on the hose restraint portion 20 similarly rotates due to the hose 200 being wound around the winding portion 101, engaging with the spiral groove 11 and moving axially along the spiral groove 11 while rotating. The hose restraint portion 20 moves axially in unison with the axial movement of the engaging portion 31. As the hose restraint portion 20 moves axially, the hose 200 hung on the hose restraint groove 22 is restricted from moving perpendicular (horizontally) to the axis of the hose 200 by the action of the hose restraint groove 22, and moves axially together with the hose restraint portion 20. In this way, the hose restricting portion 20 has an engaging portion 31 that engages with the spiral groove 11 and moves axially along the spiral groove 11 as the hose 200 is wound around the winding portion 101.

When the handle 102 is turned clockwise in FIG. 1, the retraction portion 101 rotates in the direction of arrow K in FIG. 2, and the hose 200 is retracted onto the retraction portion 101. The hose 200, which has not yet been retracted onto the retraction portion 101, moves in the direction of arrow L. The hose 200, moving in the direction of arrow L, is engaged with the hose restraining groove 22 of the hose restraining portion 20, which receives friction from the hose 200, causing the hose restraining portion 20 to rotate in the direction of arrow M. This rotation causes the engaging portion 31 to engage with the spiral groove 11 and move axially along the spiral groove 11 while rotating, and the hose restraining portion 20 moves integrally with the engaging portion 31 in the axial direction of arrow N. As the hose restraining portion 20 moves axially, the hose 200, which is engaged in the hose restraining groove 22, moves axially due to the action of the hose restraining groove 22.

In this way, when the handle 102 is turned clockwise to wind the hose 200 onto the winding portion 101, the hose restricting portion 20 moves axially, and as a result, the hose 200 moves axially.

By doing this, when the hose 200 is wound onto the winding section 101, the hose 200 moves sequentially in the axial direction at a predetermined pitch, allowing the hose 200 to be wound onto the winding section 101 in an evenly aligned state without bias.

When the engaging portion 31 is in the engaged position, it fits into and engages with the spiral groove 11 of the guide rod 10. In this state, the hose restraining portion 20 moves axially only when it rotates relative to the guide rod 10, with the engaging portion 31 engaging with the spiral groove 11. Therefore, even if the hose 200 swings laterally (perpendicular to the axis of the hose 200) and receives a force in the axial direction of the guide rod 10 from the hose 200, the hose restraining portion 20 will not move axially when it is not rotating. In this way, the hose reel 1 according to this embodiment reliably suppresses and regulates the swing of the hose 200, allowing the hose 200 to be wound up in an even, uniform alignment.

When winding the hose 200 onto the winding section 101, the holding means holds the engaging section 31 in the engaged position, allowing the hose 200 to be wound up evenly and in an evenly aligned manner, allowing for continuous winding operations.

When the engagement portion 31 is in the release position, it does not fit into or engage with the spiral groove 11 of the guide rod 10, and is free to move relative to the spiral groove 11. Therefore, the hose restricting portion 20 can freely rotate relative to the guide rod 10 and can also freely move in the axial direction.

When pulling out the hose 200 wound around the winding portion 101, it is desirable to set the engagement portion 31 to the release position. In this state, there is no resistance from the hose restricting portion 20, so the hose 200 can be pulled out smoothly and easily without causing the hose reel 1 to tip over when pulling out the hose 200.

Furthermore, if the engagement portion 31 is in the released position, even if dirt or other contaminants get inside, such as between the guide rod 10 and the hose restraint portion 20, they can be washed away with water by manually moving the hose restraint portion 20 left and right.

The holding means holds the engagement portion 31 in the released position, allowing for smooth and continuous operations such as pulling out the hose 200 and cleaning the guide rod 10 and hose restraint portion 20.

Next, we will explain the pitch of the spiral groove 11, which is the distance traveled in the axial direction per rotation. It is desirable that the spiral groove 11 have a constant axial distance (pitch). By doing so, the hose restricting unit 20 moves a constant distance in the axial direction as it rotates due to the hose 200 being wound up. Therefore, if the hose 200 is formed with the same thickness throughout, the hose 200 will be wound up more evenly by the winding unit 101 without any unevenness.

In the winding unit 101 that winds up the hose 200, the diameter of the winding surface that winds up the hose 200 is D, and in the hose restraining groove 22 of the hose restraining unit 20, the diameter of the bottom where the hose 200 hangs and contacts the outer surface of the hose 200 is d. Then, when the winding unit 101 rotates once, the hose restraining unit 20, which rotates due to the hose 200 being wound around the winding unit 101, rotates D/d times.

When the winding section 101 rotates once, the hose 200 to be wound is wound adjacent to the hose 200 that has already been wound, thereby wasting no space and allowing the hose to be wound in a more aligned state.

To achieve this, it is desirable that the hose restraint unit 20 move axially a distance equal to or greater than the thickness (outer diameter) of the hose 200 for each rotation of the winding unit 101, i.e., for each D/d rotation of the hose restraint unit 20. Therefore, it is desirable that the pitch of the spiral groove 11, which is the distance the spiral groove 11 moves axially in one rotation, be equal to or greater than the thickness (outer diameter) of the hose 200 divided by D/d (rotations).

However, if the pitch of the spiral groove 11 is too large, large gaps will form between the wound hoses 200. Therefore, the pitch of the spiral groove 11 is preferably equal to or less than the distance obtained by dividing twice the thickness of the hose 200 by D/d (rotations), and more preferably equal to or less than the distance obtained by dividing 1.5 times the thickness of the hose 200 by D/d (rotations).

As described above, the hose reel 1 according to this embodiment can reliably regulate the vibration of the hose 200 and reel in the hose 200 evenly without bias.

The present invention has been described above based on specific embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and may be modified or improved as appropriate.

As such, the present invention is not limited to specific embodiments, and appropriate modifications and improvements are also included within the technical scope of the present invention, which will be clear to those skilled in the art from the claims.

1 Hose reel 10 Guide rod 11 Spiral groove 12 Outer periphery 20 Hose regulating portion 21 Regulating portion main body 22 Hose regulating groove 23 Support hole 25 Locking portion 26 Guide surface 27 Elastic body receiving portion 28 Lid mounting portion 30 Slide 31 Engagement portion 33 Guided surface 35 Elastic body 36 Elastic body mounting portion 37 Operation means insertion portion 38 Mounting portion 40 Operation means 43 Operation portion 45 Locked portion 47 Insertion portion 50 Lid 53 Hole 55 Recessed portion 56 Mounting hole 57 Window 100 Housing 101 Winding portion 102 Handle 105 Support 106 Side plate 107 Side plate 200 Hose

Claims (5)

A hose reel for winding up a hose,
Housing and
a winding section that is rotatably provided on the housing and winds up the hose;
a hose restricting portion on which the hose is hung before being wound on the winding portion, and which restricts movement of the hose in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the hose;
a guide rod that supports the hose restricting portion so as to be rotatable and axially movable, and that has a spiral groove formed on an outer periphery thereof,
The hose regulation portion is
an operating means for maintaining or releasing the engagement state of the guide rod in the spiral groove;
The hose reel further includes an engagement portion that engages with the spiral groove and moves axially along the spiral groove as the hose is wound on the winding portion. The hose regulating portion has an operating means that moves between an engagement position where the engagement portion engages with the spiral groove and a release position where the engagement portion is released from the spiral groove.
2. The hose reel of claim 1. The hose restricting portion has a retaining means for retaining the engaging portion in the engaged position.
3. The hose reel according to claim 2. The hose restricting portion has a retaining means for retaining the engaging portion in the released position.
A hose reel according to claim 2 or claim 3. The spiral groove has a constant axial advance distance per rotation.
A hose reel according to any one of claims 1 to 4.