Title: Mouse cable rewind apparatus
Abstract: The invention relates to a mouse cable rewind apparatus having an upper cover, a protection disc, an upper winding disc, a lower winding disc, a cable, a support plate and a lower cover. The upper winding disc and the lower winding disc are attached to each other and disposed within a receiving groove of the upper cover that is connected with the lower cover. A cable head cap of the lower cover is opened to take out the cable head for rapidly extending the cable at a certain length while the cable is rapidly rewound as well by use of a spring and a regulating member. Moreover, a rewinding device is available for attenuating the winding and pulling force on the cable end that is spot-welded on a circuit board and for preventing the strands inside of the conventional mouse cable from being subject to break due to the oxidation of the cable sheathing and the frequent and rapid pull of the cable.
Patent Number: 6,988,687 Issued on 01/24/2006 to Huang
| Inventors:
|
Huang; Chien-Pin (7F, #15, Lane 222, Tun Hua N. Rd., Taipei, TW)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
726663 |
| Filed:
|
December 4, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Feb 27, 2003[TW] | 92203095 U |
| Current U.S. Class: |
242/385; 242/379; 345/163 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
B65H 75/48 (20060101); G09G 5/08 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
242/3784,379,385,385.2
191/122.R,124
345/157,162-165,167
361/600,683,686
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 5655143 | Aug., 1997 | Alpert et al.
| |
| 5670989 | Sep., 1997 | Owen.
| |
| 6088021 | Jul., 2000 | Yong.
| |
| 6304249 | Oct., 2001 | Derocher et al.
| |
| 6392635 | May., 2002 | Snyder.
| |
| 6421044 | Jul., 2002 | Murphy.
| |
| 6738046 | May., 2004 | Chung.
| |
| 2003/0184521 | Oct., 2003 | Sugita.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 5-303469 | Nov., 1993 | JP.
| |
| 8-30386 | Feb., 1996 | JP.
| |
| 10-222300 | Aug., 1998 | JP.
| |
| 2001-67181 | Mar., 2001 | JP.
| |
| 2001/-310502 | Nov., 2001 | JP.
| |
| 2004/-272868 | Sep., 2004 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Rivera; William A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Troxell Law Office, PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A mouse cable rewind apparatus comprising:
a) an upper cover formed in concave oval shape and having at its rear side a
receiving groove with a single opening, a shaft socket being disposed at the center
of the receiving groove, an engaging groove being formed at the opening of the
receiving groove while a tube-shaped regulating seat is slightly spaced apart from
the engaging slot, the rear semicircular wall of the regulating seat extending
upwards, thereby forming two counteracting parts at its both sides, respectively,
an upright post being disposed at the center of the semicircular wall of the regulating
seat so as to allow the attachment of a regulating member with its regulating tube
to the regulating seat, the regulating member is a hook body and having two resilient
pieces disposed on both sides of the basis of the regulating tube, the center of
the regulating member being bored with an oval tooth hole having two raised insertion
hooks at both sides thereof, an engaging protrusion extending forwards from the
front part of the regulating member;
b) a support plate having a rotating shaft standing uprightly at the center thereof,
a laying plate being raised at a predetermined height from one side of the support
plate and converging in radial direction into a semicircular end, the laying plate
having a positioning post at the center thereof so as to allow the attachment of
a tooth seat to the laying plate and further having a regulating hole near the
positioning post, a laying base with a semicircular spring post being raised at
a higher place than the laying plate, the tooth seat being formed as a cylindrical
body and having six evenly spaced lower blade teeth on which three evenly spaced
upper taper teeth lie, the tooth seat being bored with a tooth seat hole at the
center of the bottom thereof;
c) an upper winding disc having an upper protrusion ring concentrically positioned
on the surface thereof, a spring hole being formed in the wall of the upper protrusion
ring, the flat surface of the upper winding disc being bored with a shaft hole
within the upper protrusion ring, the upper winding disc further having two opposing
engaging grooves at the rim of the flat surface thereof, an insertion protrusion
being positioned on the reverse side of the upper winding disc and near the shaft
hole of the flat surface so that a spring with its hook end is able to be hooked
into the spring hole and, after being wound around the upper protrusion ring, the
remaining spring is fitted over the spring post of the support plate;
d) a lower winding disc having a round tube extending upwardly from the center
of a flat surface thereof, the round tube having a shaft hole that is extended
into the flat surface a semicircular protrusion with an insertion hole at the center
thereof being fitted at the rim of the round tube, the lower winding disc further
having a lower protrusion ring and a cable inserting gap on the back side thereof,
a cable clamping groove being formed within the lower protrusion ring; and
e) a lower cover attached to the upper cover for creating an isolation room;
whereby the upper winding disc with its shaft hole is attached downwardly onto
the round tube of the lower winding disc so as to allow the insertion of the insertion
protrusion of the upper winding disc into the insertion hole of the semicircular
protrusion, thereby fixing the upper and lower winding discs in place; thereafter,
a signal cable extends through the cable inserting gap of the lower winding disc
over a certain length with one end fixed on the semicircular protrusion of the
lower winding disc for winding around the round tube and the semicircular protrusion
and then being spot-welded to a circuit board and with the other end clamped into
the cable clamping groove for winding around the lower protrusion ring so that
the assembly of the upper and lower winding discs is then mounted on the rotating
shaft of the support plate; meanwhile, both inserting hooks of the regulating member
of the upper cover are engaged just into the upper taper teeth of the tooth seat
so that a convenient use is achieved by means of the resilience of the spring and
the regulation between the regulating member and the tooth seat.
2. The mouse cable rewind apparatus of claim 1 wherein a protection disc is fitted
between the upper winding disc and includes a shaft hole at the center thereof
for mounting the protection disc onto the rotating shaft of the support plate and
wherein the protection disc lies on the upper winding disc for preventing its components
from scatteration.
3. The mouse cable rewind apparatus of claim 1 wherein an end stop is located
at the place where the semicircular wall of the regulating seat leads into the
opening, and wherein, at the same side of the end stop, a partition is provided
in the front part of the upper cover, and wherein the partition is separated from
the end stop by an engaging slot, and wherein an elongated groove is formed between
the partition and the side wall of the upper cover, and wherein two engaging pieces
are insertable into the engaging slots, respectively, for receiving the cable head.
4. The mouse cable rewind apparatus of claim 1 wherein a sleeve is so constructed
that it can be mounted between the spring post and the spring for reducing the
wearing action on the spring.
5. The mouse cable rewind apparatus of claim 1, wherein a plurality of evenly
spaced engagement pieces are extended from the outer rim of the support plate for
engaging into the engaging groove of the upper cover in place.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mouse cable rewind apparatus, and more particularly,
to a device for attenuating the winding and pulling force on the cable end spot-welded
on a circuit board and for preventing the strands inside of the mouse cable from
being subject to break due to the oxidation of the cable sheathing and the frequent
and rapid pull of the cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in the FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional mouse cable rewind apparatus includes
a shaft
100, a spring
200, an engaging member
300, a cable
rewind disc
400, a top cover
500 and a bottom cover
600. The
shaft
100 is positioned at the front side of the bottom cover
600.
The spring
200 is mounted on the shaft
100. The cable
401
is wound onto the cable rewind disc
400. Moreover, one end of the cable
401 is downwardly pulled for being spot-welded on a circuit board. Thereafter,
the cable rewind disc
400 is fixed on the spring
200. The cable rewind
disc
400 is rewindable with respect to the spring
200 due to the
resilience of the spring
200. An engaging piece
402 is disposed on
the bottom surface of the cable rewind disc
400. The engaging member
300
is fixed on the bottom cover
600. The engaging member
300 is engaged
into an indentation
4021 of the engaging piece
402 in position. Moreover,
the mouse is covered with the top cover
500, and the assembly of the mouse
is completed.
In use, the cable
401 is pulled out of the mouse at a desired length and
engaged in position. In rewinding the cable
401, the engaging member
300
is disengaged from the indentation
4021 and the cable
401 is rewound
into the mouse by use of the resilience of the spring
200.
However, the strands inside of the conventional mouse cable is subject to
break due to the oxidation of the cable sheathing and the frequent and rapid pull-out
action of the cable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In light of the demerits of the prior art, the invention provides a mouse cable
rewind apparatus that aims to ameliorate at least some of the disadvantages of
the prior art or to provide a useful alternative.
A primary objective of the invention is to provide a mouse cable rewind apparatus
an upper cover, a protection disc, an upper winding disc, a lower winding disc,
a cable, a support plate and a lower cover. The upper winding disc and the lower
winding disc are attached to each other and disposed within a receiving groove
of the upper cover that is connected with the lower cover. A cable head cap of
the lower cover is opened to take out the cable head for rapidly extending the
cable at a certain length while the cable is rapidly rewound as well by use of
a spring and a regulating member. Moreover, a rewinding device is available for
attenuating the winding and pulling force on the cable end spot-welded on a circuit
board and for preventing the strands inside of the conventional mouse cable from
being subject to break due to the oxidation of the cable sheathing and the frequent
and rapid pull of the cable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention will become apparent
from the following description and its accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a conventional mouse cable rewind apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a sectional bottom view of the conventional mouse cable rewind apparatus;
FIG. 3 is an exploded top view of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of the tooth seat of the invention;
FIG. 4 is an exploded bottom view of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the assembly of the winding portion and the regulating
portion of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 7A is a first schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing that the cable is unwound;
FIG. 7B is a second schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing that the cable is unwound;
FIG. 7C is a third schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing that the cable is unwound;
FIG. 7D is a first schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing that the cable is rewound;
FIG. 7E is a second schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing that the cable is rewound;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 9A is a first schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing how the pulling force on the cable is counteracted;
FIG. 9B is a second schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing how the pulling force on the cable is counteracted;
FIG. 9C is a third schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing how the pulling force on the cable is counteracted; and
FIG. 9D is a fourth schematic drawing of the mouse cable rewind apparatus of
the invention, showing how the pulling force on the cable is counteracted.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
First of all, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the mouse cable rewind apparatus
in accordance with the invention includes an upper cover
1, a protection
disc
2, an upper winding disc
3, a lower winding disc
4, a
cable
5, a support plate
6 and a lower cover
7. The upper
cover
1, as shown in FIG. 5, is formed in concave oval shape and includes
at its rear side a receiving groove
11 with a single opening. Besides, a
shaft socket
111 is disposed at the center of the receiving groove
11.
An engaging groove
16 is formed at the opening of the receiving groove
11
while a tube-shaped regulating seat
12 is slightly spaced apart from the
engaging slot
16. The rear semicircular wall of the regulating seat
12
extends upwards and forms two counteracting parts
122,
123 at its
both sides, respectively. In addition, an upright post
121 is disposed at
a center that is enclosed by the semicircular wall of the regulating seat
12.
An end stop
13 is located at the place where the semicircular wall of the
regulating seat
12 leads into the opening. At the same side of the end stop
13, a partition
14 is provided in the front part of the upper cover
1. The partition
14 is separated from the end stop
13 by an
engaging slot
15. Meanwhile, an elongated groove
141 is formed between
the partition
14 and the side wall of the upper cover
1. Two engaging
pieces
64,
22 are insertable into the engaging slots
15,
16,
respectively, for receiving the cable head
51 of the cable
5.
The regulating member
17 is a hook body in an irregular shape having a
regulating tube
171 at its rear end. Two resilient pieces
172,
173
are disposed on both sides of the basis of the regulating tube
171. Besides,
the center of the regulating member
17 is bored with an oval tooth hole
174 having two raised insertion hooks
1741,
1742 at both sides
thereof. Moreover, an engaging protrusion
175 is extended from the front
part of the regulating member
17.
The protection disc
2 is a flat piece in an oval shape with a shaft hole
21 at the center thereof. An engaging piece
22 is extended from one
side of the protection disc
2.
The upper winding disc
3 includes an upper protrusion ring
32 concentrically
positioned on the surface
33. A spring hole
321 is formed in the
wall of the upper protrusion ring
32. The flat surface
33 is bored
with a shaft hole
332 within the upper protrusion ring
32. Moreover,
two corresponding engaging grooves
331 are formed at the rim of the flat
surface
33. An insertion protrusion
34 is positioned on the reverse
side of the upper winding disc
3 and near the shaft hole
332 of the
flat surface
33.
The lower winding disc
4 includes a round tube
42 having a slightly
smaller diameter than the upper protrusion ring
32 and extending upwardly
from the center of a flat surface
41 thereof into the shaft hole
332.
A semicircular protrusion
43 with an insertion hole
431 at the center
thereof is mounted at the rim of the round tube
42. Moreover, the lower
winding disc
4 includes a lower protrusion ring
45 and a cable inserting
gap
44 on the back side thereof. In addition, a cable clamping groove
451
is formed within the lower protrusion ring
45.
In assembly of the upper winding disc
3 with the lower winding disc
4,
the upper protrusion ring
32 of the upper winding disc
3 is mounted
on the round tube
42 of the lower winding disc
4 while the insertion
protrusion
34 of the upper winding disc
3 is inserted into the insertion
hole
431 of the lower winding disc
4. A spring
35 is realized
as a coil spring having a hook end
351 for insertion into the spring hole
321. The cable
5 includes a cable head
51. The support plate
6 is roughly a round flat plate and includes a rotating shaft
61
standing uprightly at the center thereof. A laying plate
62 is raised and
extended from one side of the support plate
6. The laying plate
62
converges in radial direction into a semicircular end. Moreover, the laying plate
62 is provided with a positioning post
621 near the center thereof
and a regulating hole
622 somewhere in the laying plate
62. A laying
base
63 is raised at one side of the laying plate
62, and the bottom
thereof is connected with the support plate
6. A semicircular spring post
631 is disposed on the laying base
63. Moreover, a plurality of evenly
spaced engagement pieces
64 are arranged at the outer rim of the support
plate
6. A sleeve
65 is so constructed that it can be mounted just
on the spring post
631 for operating the spring
35 and reducing the
wearing action. The tooth seat
66 is a cylindrical body and includes six
evenly spaced lower blade teeth
661 on which three upper taper teeth
6611
lie. Meanwhile, the tooth seat
66 is bored with a tooth seat hole
662
at the center of the bottom thereof. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower cover
7
is roughly in oval shape and includes at the same side corresponding to the elongated
groove
141 a cable head cap
71 rotatably connected by a pivot
72
to the side thereof for closing the cable head
51 within the mouse.
With reference to FIGS. 3,
4,
5,
6 and
8, the assembly
of the upper winding disc
3 and the lower winding disc
4 are shown.
On the one hand, one end of the cable
5 passes upwardly through the cable
inserting gap
44 of the lower winding disc
4. After the cable
5
is pulled out at a certain length, this portion of the cable
5 is fixed
on the semicircular protrusion
43 and wound around the round tube
42
and the semicircular protrusion
43. Then, this cable end is spot-welded
on a circuit board. The other portion of the cable
5 is clamped within the
cable clamping groove
451 and wound around the lower protrusion ring
45
that is then mounted on the rotating shaft
61 of the support plate
6.
On the other hand, the hook end
351 of the spring
35 is hooked in
the spring hole
321. After the spring
35 is wound around the upper
protrusion ring
32 for a few loops, the rest of the spring
35 is
mounted on the spring post
631. By use of the created resilient force on
the support plate
6, the sleeve
65 is mounted on the spring post
631 for preventing from scrapes caused by too large friction between the
spring
35 and the spring post
631. Thereupon, the tooth seat
66
with the tooth seat hole
662 is mounted on the positioning post
621
of the support plate
6. Meanwhile, the insertion hooks
1741,
1742
of the regulating member
17 are meshed with the upper taper teeth
6611
of the tooth seat
66. Moreover, the protection disc
2 is mounted
on the rotating shaft
61 of the support plate
6 and so adjusted that
all components are not scattered away due to the vibration caused by external forces.
Then, the regulating tube
171 of the regulating member
17 is mounted
on the upright post
121 of the regulating seat
12 while the engagement
pieces
64,
22 are engaged into the engaging slots
15,
16
of the upper cover
1. In addition, they are aligned with the tooth hole
174 and the tooth seat
66 for achieving the adjusting effect. At
last, they are attached to the lower cover
7 by clamping forces.
In use, the cable head cap
71 of the lower cover
7 is opened to
remove the cable head
51. While the cable head
51 is pulled out,
the cable
5 is rapidly unwound by means that the assembled upper and lower
winding disc
3,
4 rotated on the rotating shaft
61. Moreover,
by use of the restoring force of the spring
35 and by means of the engaging
adjustment of the tooth seat
66 and the tooth hole
174, the cable
5 is rapidly rewound. Consequently, the cable
5 is freely rewindable
and unwindable.
In unwinding the cable
5, as shown in FIGS. 3A,
7A,
7B and
7C, the upper and lower winding disc
3,
4 rotate on the rotating
shaft
61. Meanwhile, the engaging protrusion
175 is driven out of
the engaging grooves
331. As the pulling force is greater than the restoring
force of the resilient pieces
172,
173, the cable
5 can be
continuously unwound at a desired length. After that, the pulling force disappears
and the resilient piece
172 springs back for engaging into the engaging
groove
331. In rewinding the cable
5, as shown in FIGS. 7D and 7E,
you need only to move the cable
5 to and fro with little effort for disengaging
it from the engaging grooves
331. In addition, the cable
5 is rewound
by the restoring force of the spring
35. In rewinding and unwinding the
cable
5, the movement of the tooth seat
66 and the regulating member
17 is controlled by engaging the lower blade teeth
661 and the upper
taper tooth
6611 into different tooth holes
174. In unwinding the
cable
5, the regulating tube
171 rotates on the upright post
121
for compressing the insertion hook
1741 within the tooth hole
174
against the lower blade teeth
661. Then, it rotates on the positioning post
621 for a third of a circle to engage into the gap between the lower blade
teeth
661 and the upper taper teeth
6611. At that time, the insertion
hook
1742 is able to contact with the lower blade tooth
661. In rewinding
the cable
5, the insertion hook
1742 is pressed against the lower
blade tooth
661, and it rotates on the positioning post
621 for a
third of a circle to engage into the gap between the lower blade teeth
661
and the upper taper tooth
6611. In this way, the regulating member
17
can be regulated by the tooth seat
66 for setting the upper and lower winding
disc
3,
4 in operation.
As shown in FIGS. 9A,
9B,
9C and
9D, the cable
5
is
wound around the semicircular protrusion
43 and the round tube
42
for one circle first. We assume that the ratio of its external diameter to that
of the lower protrusion ring
45 is 1:2. Before the cable
5 is unwound,
it is wound around the lower protrusion ring
45. Moreover, the cable
5
has a section thickness of α. The section thickness α will be reduced
to α/2 by unwinding the cable
5. In this way, the cable
5 wound
around the semicircular protrusion
43 and the round tube
42 is gradually
loosened. Assume α/2=b. When the cable
5 is continuously unwound to
have a section thickness smaller than b, the cable
5 wound around the semicircular
protrusion
43 and the round tube
42 will be gradually rewound in
opposite direction. When the cable
5 is completely unwound, the section
thickness will be reduced to 0 (that is d). Therefore, the end portion of the cable
5 can undergo an effective and repeated rotating and winding action for
counteracting the pulling force on the cable end and the circuit board during the
rapid rewinding action. So, the fact that the strands inside of the conventional
mouse cable is subject to break due to the oxidation of the cable sheathing and
the frequent and rapid pull-out of the cable can be avoided.
Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of the invention
can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly,
to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed
and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
*
