The present invention relates to cable winders, more particularly to a cable winder using the spring force of a spiral spring to pull back a signal transmission cable automatically. The cable winder further includes a clamping part and a spiral rail for retaining the cable by sections, whereby the cable winder will retain the length of the cable better. Further, the cable winder has only one cable (whose two terminals respectively connected to two connectors), thereby removing the problem of deteriorating electric contact in a conventional two-cable winder after long-term frictional erosion that result in signal distortions and noises.
A cable winder connecting a USB (Universal Series Bus) connector and an earphone module of the prior art usually uses two independent signal transmission cables respectively for the USB (Universal Series Bus) connector and the earphone module. The signal transmission goes through a fixed circuit board for the USB (Universal Series Bus) connector and a rotary circuit board for the earphone module; the circuit boards are electrically connected and may be rotated against each other. The configuration is disadvantage in that the electric connection may wear out by long-term frictional contact, which may result in signal distortions and noises.
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Base on the above disadvantage of electric contact erosion and the spirit of easy portability, the present invention is an improvement from the conventional cable winders.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cable winder wherein a signal transmission cable is wound around a rotary mount that has a spiral spring for automatically pulling back the transmission cable, whereby the operation of the cable will be smooth.
The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a cable winder wherein a clamping part and a spiral rail are provided so that the cable will slide along the rail and stop after being pulled out a fixed distance when the clamping part is engaged with a retaining slot. Therefore, the transmission cable can be retained section by section.
The third objective of the present invention is to provided a cable winder wherein two connectors respective for the USB (Universal Series Bus) connector and the output device (such as an earphone) are linked directly, thereby preventing signal distortions and noises due to electric contact erosion.
To achieve above object, the present invention provides a cable winder, which comprises an upper shell provided with retaining slots and retaining columns on an inner wall thereon; a lower shell covering a lower half of said cable winder, said lower shell having a cable outlet and a central shaft extending upright on an inner wall thereon; a clamping part retained by said retaining slots of said upper shell; a rail mount provided with a spiral rail with a retaining slot therein, one end of said clamping part being slidably embedded in said spiral rail, said retaining slot of said spiral rail stopping said clamping part when said clamping part slides into said retaining slot; a rotary tray having a central through hole of passing said shaft of said lower shell, an upper receptacle and a lower receptacle; a spiral spring mounted within said upper receptacle of said rotary tray, a middle point of said spiral spring being fixed by a notch on said shaft of said lower shell, whereby said spiral spring will provide a restoring force against the movement of said rotary tray; and a signal transmission cable, a first section of said cable being wound several times around said shaft within an inner part of said lower receptacle of said rotary tray and being fixed by a retaining column, whereby a first terminal will be extended outside said lower shell along said shaft, a second section of said cable being wound several times in an opposite direction to said first section around said shaft within an outer part of said lower receptacle of said lower shell, a second terminal of said second section being extended out of said lower shell through said cable outlet, said first and second terminals being capable of being installed with a connector; whereby said rotary tray, together with said spiral spring and said signal transmission cable, will be retained between said upper and said lower shells, and whereby said first section of said cable in said inner part of said lower receptacle will be loosened when said second section of said cable in said outer part is pull out of said lower receptacle and said first section of said cable in said inner part of said lower receptacle will be tightened when said second section of said cable in said outer part is retracted into said lower receptacle, and whereby a section of said cable pulled out of said lower shell will maintain a fixed length due to said clamping part being retained within said retaining slot in said spiral rail on said rail mount after said clamping part slides over a fixed distance.
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.
Referring to
Thereby, the rotary tray 6, together with the spiral spring 5 and the signal transmission cable 7, will be retained between the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 8. The first section of the cable 7 in the inner part of the lower receptacle 62 will be loosened when the second section of the cable 7 in said outer part is pull out of the lower shell 8 and the first section of the cable 7 in the inner part of the lower receptacle 62 will be tightened when the second section of the cable 7 in the outer part is retracted into the lower shell 8. A section of the cable 7 pulled out of the lower shell 8 will maintain a fixed length due to the clamping part 3 being retained within the retaining slot 411 in the spiral rail 41 on the rail mount 4 after the clamping part 3 slides over a fixed distance.
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The present invention is thus described, and it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6416355 | Liao | Jul 2002 | B1 |
6461191 | Chung | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6733328 | Lin et al. | May 2004 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080064262 A1 | Mar 2008 | US |