RETRACTABLE APPARATUS

Abstract

A retractable apparatus includes a housing unit, a rotating unit and a retractable unit. The housing unit is formed with a housing teeth set therein. The rotating unit is disposed in and rotatable relative the housing unit. An end portion of the rotating unit is formed with a shaft teeth set engaging the housing teeth set. The shaft teeth set and the housing teeth set cooperatively prevent the rotating unit from rotating relative to the housing unit in a first turning direction. The shaft teeth set cooperates with the housing teeth set to allow the rotating unit to rotate in a second turning direction opposite to the first turning direction relative to the housing unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 111147391, filed on Dec. 9, 2022.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a belt barrier for inhibiting a person from moving across or to guide the person, more particularly to a retractable apparatus.

BACKGROUND

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional retractable belt barrier including a base 11, and a retractable apparatus 12 mounted on the base 11.

The retractable apparatus 12 includes a housing unit 121 mounted to a top end of the base 11, a rotating unit 122 rotatable relative to the housing unit 121 and disposed within the housing unit 121, a retractable unit 123 wound around the rotating unit 122 and inserted into the housing unit 121, and an elastic unit 124 assembled between the rotating unit 122 and the housing unit 121.

When the retractable unit 123 is pulled out by a user, the rotating unit 122 is driven to rotate, and the elastic unit 124 is pulled, so that the elastic unit 124 deforms and stores elastic force. When the user releases the retractable unit 123, the elastic unit 124 releases the elastic force and drives the rotating unit 122 to rotate, after which the extended portion of the retractable unit 123 that protrudes out of the housing unit 121 is retracted back into the rotating unit 122 again.

The retractable unit 123 of the retractable apparatus 12 of the conventional retractable belt barrier can be retracted conveniently and automatically. However, since the retractable apparatus 12 itself lacks the design of maintaining the protruding length of the retractable unit 123 from the housing unit 121, the user just needs to release his hand to retract the retractable unit 123 of this retractable apparatus 12. In this way, when the user unintentionally releases the retractable unit 123, the user may be struck by the retractable unit 123 that is retracted automatically.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a retractable apparatus that can alleviate the drawback of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, a retractable apparatus includes a housing unit, a rotating unit and a retractable unit. The housing unit is formed with a housing teeth set therein. The rotating unit is disposed in and rotatable relative the housing unit. An end portion of the rotating unit is formed with a shaft teeth set engaging the housing teeth set. The shaft teeth set and the housing teeth set cooperatively prevent the rotating unit from rotating relative to the housing unit in a first turning direction. The shaft teeth set cooperates with the housing teeth set to allow the rotating unit to rotate in a second turning direction opposite to the first turning direction relative to the housing unit. A portion of the retractable unit is assembled and wound on the rotating unit. Another portion of the retractable unit protrudes out of the housing unit, and is able to be pulled so as to lengthen an extent of the retractable unit out of the housing unit, and to drive the rotating unit to rotate in the second turning direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment(s) with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that various features may not be drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a conventional retractable belt barrier.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a retractable apparatus of the conventional retractable belt barrier.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of an embodiment of the retractable apparatus according to the present disclosure being used with a base device of a retractable belt barrier.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary assembled sectional view, illustrating a rotating unit of the embodiment in a first state.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary exploded sectional view, illustrating structure of a housing teeth set of a cover body and a shaft teeth set of the rotating unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary assembled sectional view, illustrating the rotating unit in a second state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.

It should be noted herein that for clarity of description, spatially relative terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “on,” “above,” “over,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” and the like may be used throughout the disclosure while making reference to the features as illustrated in the drawings. The features may be oriented differently (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, an embodiment of the retractable apparatus of this disclosure is adapted to be disposed on a base device 21 of a retractable belt barrier 2, as shown in FIG. 3, and includes a housing unit 3 adapted to be disposed on the base device 21, a rotating unit 4 rotatably disposed in the housing unit 3, a resilient unit 5 assembled between the housing unit 3 and the rotating unit 4, a retractable unit 6 assembled on the rotating unit 4 and partially protruding out of the housing unit 3, and a switching unit 7 mounted on the housing unit 3.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the housing unit 3 includes a housing body 31, and a cover body 32 fixed to a top end of the housing body 31 by screws.

The housing body 31 includes a top housing portion 33 that has a cylindrical shape and that accommodates the rotating unit 4, the resilient unit 5 and the retractable unit 6, a bottom housing portion 34 that is also cylindrical and that extends downwardly from a bottom end of the top housing portion 33, and a plurality of connecting portions 35 that are angularly spaced apart from each other and that extend radially and outwardly from an outer periphery of the top housing portion 33.

The top housing portion 33 is cylindrical, and defines an axial direction (D1) and a radial direction (D2). A lateral side of the top housing portion 33 is formed with a first insertion slot 331 for extension of the retractable unit 6 therethrough, and another lateral side of the top housing portion 33 is formed with a second insertion slot 332 for insertion of the resilient unit 5 therein. The bottom housing portion 34 has a width in the radial direction (D2) smaller than that of the top housing portion 33. The connecting portions 35 are used for detachable engagement of retractable units of other retractable apparatus similar to that of this embodiment.

The cover body 32 is formed with a housing teeth set 36 at one side thereof facing the housing body 31, and a cover hole 37 vertically extending through and surrounded by the housing teeth set 36.

The housing teeth set 36 is located on an inner top side in the housing unit 3 and includes a plurality of tooth structures 361 that are annularly arranged.

Each of the tooth structures 361 includes a straight tooth surface 362 that extends in the axial direction (D1), and an inclined tooth surface 363 that extends obliquely. Specifically, the inclined tooth surface 363 of each of the tooth structures 361 extends away from the rotating unit 4 in a first turning direction (T1) from an end of the straight tooth surface 362 which is proximate to the rotating unit 4.

The rotating unit 4 is disposed in the housing body 31, and includes a rotating shaft 41, and two ring units 42 spaced apart from each other in a top-bottom direction and extending radially and outwardly from the rotating shaft 41. A top portion of the rotating shaft 41 abuts against the housing teeth set 36 of the cover body 32, and a bottom portion of the rotating shaft 41 is inserted into the bottom housing portion 34 of the housing body 31.

The rotating shaft 41 includes a top shaft portion 43 located above an upper one of the ring units 42, a bottom shaft portion 44 located below a lower one of the ring units 42 and inserted into the bottom housing portion 34, and a middle shaft portion 45 located between the top and bottom shaft portions 43, 44.

The top shaft portion 43 is formed with a shaft teeth set 46 engaging the housing teeth set 36 of the cover body 32, and an assembly slot 47 extending radially through an outer surrounding surface thereof.

The shaft teeth set 46 includes a plurality of tooth structures 461. Each of the tooth structures 461 includes a straight tooth surface 462 that extends in the axial direction (D1), and an inclined tooth surface 463. The inclined tooth surfaces 463 of each of the tooth structures 461 extends from one end of the straight tooth surface 462 distal from the cover body 32 of the housing unit 3 in the first turning direction (T1) and toward the cover body 32.

The straight tooth surfaces 462 of the shaft teeth set 46 can respectively engage the straight tooth surfaces 362 of the housing teeth set 36, thereby cooperatively preventing rotation of the rotating unit 4 relative to the housing unit 3 from rotating in the first turning direction T1. The inclined tooth surfaces 463 of the shaft teeth set 46 respectively abut against the inclined tooth surfaces 363 of the housing teeth set 36 and cooperate with the inclined tooth surface 363 to permit rotation of the rotating unit 4 relative to the housing unit 3 in a second turning direction (T2) opposite to the first turing direction (T1).

The middle shaft portion 45 is located in the top housing portion 33 of the housing body 31 and permits the retractable unit 6 to be assembled and wound thereon. Since the structure of the middle shaft portion 45 for engaging the retractable unit 6 is well-understood in the art, the description thereof is omitted herein.

The upper one of the ring units 42 is located between the top shaft portion 43 and the middle shaft portion 45 for supporting the resilient unit 5, so as to prevent the resilient unit 5 from sagging and interfering with the retractable extension of the retractable unit 6. The lower one of the ring units 42 is located between the bottom shaft portion 44 and the middle shaft portion 45 so as to cooperate with the upper one of the ring units 42 to confine the retractable unit 6 with the middle shaft portion 45.

The resilient unit 5 is a spiral spring, and is disposed on and supported by the upper one of the ring units 42. A radially-inner end of the resilient unit 5 is inserted into the assembly slot 47 of the top shaft portion 43, and a radially-outer end of the resilient unit 5 is inserted into the second insertion slot 332 of the top housing portion 33 of the housing body 31.

The retractable unit 6 includes a retractable member 61, and an engaging member 62 and an operating member 63 that are respectively disposed on two opposite ends of the retractable member 61.

In this embodiment, the retractable member 61 is a strip. A portion of the retractable member 61 is wound around the middle shaft portion 45 of the rotating shaft 41, and is located between the ring units 42, and the other portion of the retractable member 61 extends through the first insertion slot 331 of the top housing portion 33 of the housing body 31 (please refer to FIG. 3).

The engaging member 62 is engaged with the middle shaft portion 45 of the rotating shaft 41 so as to interlink the retractable member 61 and the rotating shaft 41. The operating member 63 is disposed outside of the top housing portion 33 of the housing body 31 (see auxiliary FIG. 3) and is for being pulled by a user, so as to allow the user to pull out the retractable member 61 from the middle shaft portion 45 through the first insertion slot 331 of the housing body 31, thereby extending an extent of the retractable member 61 protruding out of the top housing portion 33.

The switching unit 7 includes a biasing member 71 disposed in the bottom housing portion 34 of the housing body 31, and a pushing member 72 inserted in the cover hole 37 of the cover body 32.

The biasing member 71 is pressed between the bottom housing portion 34 and the bottom shaft portion 44 of the rotating shaft 41, so as to provide an elastic force to push the rotating shaft 41 upwardly against the cover body 32 in the axial direction (D1), so that the shaft teeth set 46 of the rotating shaft 41 engages the housing teeth set 36 of the cover body 32.

The pushing member 72 includes a rod body portion 721 (see FIG. 5) inserted in the cover hole 37 and protruding upwardly out of the cover body 32, and a head block portion 722 connected to a bottom end of the rod body portion 721 and abutting the shaft teeth set 46 of the rotating shaft 41.

Referring to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the rod body portion 721 of the pushing member 72 protrudes outwardly from the cover body 32 of the housing unit 3 so as to allow the user to depress, thereby driving the rotating unit 4 to switch between a first state as shown in FIG. 5 and a second state as shown in FIG. 7.

In the first state, the shaft teeth set 46 engages the housing teeth set 36. When the user operates the operating member 63 to pull the retractable member 61 out of the top housing portion 33 of the housing body 31, the inclined tooth surface 363 and the inclined tooth surfaces 463 cooperate with each other to allow the retractable member 61 to drive the rotating shaft 41 to rotate in the second turning direction (T2) through the engaging member 62 so as to lengthen the extent of the retractable member 61 protruding out of the top housing portion 33 and pull the resilient unit 5 to deform, so that the resilient unit 5 stores the elastic force for driving the rotating shaft 41 to rotate in the first turning direction (T1).

When the user draws out the retractable member 61 to an extent that meets the requirement and then releases their hand, under the cooperation of the straight tooth surfaces 362 and the straight tooth surfaces 462, the rotating shaft 41 is limited by the cover body 32 to be unrotatable in the first turning direction (T1), so that even if the resilient unit 5 stores the elastic force that can drive the rotating shaft 41 to rotate in the first turning direction (T1), the rotating shaft 41 will not rotate in the first turning direction (T1). Similarly, even if the user accidentally releases his hand during operation, the rotating shaft 41 in the first state will not rotate in the first turning direction (T1), so that this embodiment has the effect of maintaining an extent of the retractable member 61 protruding out of the top housing portion 33, and has the effect that the retractable unit 6 would not hurt the user when the operating member 63 is accidentally released.

When the retractable belt barrier 2 is finished being used, and when it is desired to retract the retractable member 61 of this embodiment into the housing body 31, the pushing member 72 of the switching unit 7 may be depressed. The pushing member 72 is moved downward relative to the cover body 32 upon depression of the rod body portion 721 of the pushing member 72, and pushes the rotating shaft 41 downwardly, so as to compress the biasing member 71 of the switching unit 7, and to switch the rotating unit 4 to the second state.

When the rotating unit 4 is switched to the second state, the shaft teeth set 46 and the housing teeth set 36 are spaced apart and no longer engaged. At this time, since the resilient unit 5 is no longer restricted by the shaft teeth set 46 and the housing teeth set 36, the resilient unit 5 that has the elastic force capable of driving the rotating shaft 41 to rotate in the first turning direction (T1) can release the elastic force to drive the rotating shaft 41 to rotate in the first turning direction (T1), thereby allowing the retractable member 61 to be wound back onto the rotating shaft 41 again.

When the retractable member 61 has been fully retracted into the rotating shaft 41, the user only needs to release the pushing member 72, after which the biasing member 71 pressed by the rotating shaft 41 can release the elastic force, and push the rotating shaft 41 upwardly, so that the shaft teeth set 46 of the rotating shaft 41 again engages the housing teeth set 36 of the cover body 32, and moves the rotating unit 4 back to the first state.

In summary, the effect of the retractable apparatus of the present disclosure lies in: in the first state, the housing teeth set 36 and the shaft teeth set 46 can cooperate with each other to allow the rotating unit 4 to rotate in only the second turning direction (T1) when the retractable unit 6 is pulled out of the housing unit 3; and in the second state, the resilient unit 5 is able to drive the rotating unit 4 to rotate in the first turning direction (T1). As such, when the user pulls out the retractable unit 6 to sufficient extent or accidentally releases his hand, the present disclosure has the effect of maintaining the extent and not accidentally retracting back, and when pressing the pushing member 72 of the switching unit 7, there is the effect of allowing the retractable member 61 to be automatically rolled back onto the rotating shaft 41.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects; such does not mean that every one of these features needs to be practiced with the presence of all the other features. In other words, in any described embodiment, when implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect implementation of another one or more features or specific details, said one or more features may be singled out and practiced alone without said another one or more features or specific details. It should be further noted that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is(are) considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A retractable apparatus comprising: a housing unit formed with a housing teeth set therein;a rotating unit disposed in and rotatable relative said housing unit, an end portion of said rotating unit being formed with a shaft teeth set engaging said housing teeth set, said shaft teeth set and said housing teeth set cooperatively preventing said rotating unit from rotating relative to said housing unit in a first turning direction, said shaft teeth set cooperating with said housing teeth set to allow said rotating unit to rotate in a second turning direction opposite to said first turning direction relative to said housing unit; anda retractable unit, a portion of said retractable unit being assembled and wound on said rotating unit, another portion of said retractable unit protruding out of said housing unit, and being able to be pulled so as to lengthen an extent of said retractable unit out of said housing unit, and to drive said rotating unit to rotate in the second turning direction.

2. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a resilient unit assembled between said housing unit and said rotating unit, and a switching unit, said switching unit including a biasing member disposed between said housing unit and the other end of said rotating unit opposite to said shaft teeth set, and a pushing member extending through said housing teeth set and abutting against said shaft teeth set, said pushing member protruding out of said housing unit, and being depressable to switch said rotating unit between a first state and a second state, in the first state, said shaft teeth set engaging said housing teeth set, and said rotating unit being rotatable only in the second turning direction, in the second state, said shaft teeth set being disengaged from said housing teeth set, and allowing said resilient unit to drive said rotating unit to rotate in the first turning direction.

3. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said housing unit comprises a housing body, and a cover body covering said housing body, said housing body comprising a top housing portion receiving said rotating unit, said retractable unit and said resilient unit, and a bottom housing portion extending downwardly from said top housing portion, said bottom housing portion being for disposition of said biasing member of said switching unit, said cover body being formed with said housing teeth set.

4. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said rotating unit comprises a rotating shaft abutting between said housing teeth set of said cover body and said biasing member of said switching unit, said rotating shaft comprising a top shaft portion formed with said shaft teeth set, a bottom shaft portion inserted into said bottom housing portion of said housing body and abutting against said biasing member, and a middle shaft portion located in said top housing portion of said housing body and permitting said retractable unit to be assembled and wound thereon.

5. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said rotating unit further comprises a ring unit extending radially and outwardly from said rotating shaft to form a ring, said ring unit being located between said top and middle shaft portions, said resilient unit being a spiral spring disposed on said ring unit, and having one end connected to said top shaft portion and the other end connected to said top housing portion of said housing body.

6. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said rotating unit further comprises an additional ring unit extending radially outwardly from said rotating shaft to form a ring, and located between said bottom shaft portion and said middle shaft portion.

7. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said retractable unit comprises a retractable member, and an engaging member and an operating member respectively disposed on two opposite ends of said retractable member, said retractable member being wound around said middle shaft portion of said rotating shaft, said engaging member being engaged with said middle shaft portion of said rotating shaft so as to interlink said retractable member and said rotating shaft, said operating member being disposed outside of said housing body, and being operable for pulling said retractable member out of said top housing portion of said housing body from said middle shaft portion.

8. The retractable apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing teeth set includes a plurality of tooth structures, each of said tooth structures of said housing teeth set including a straight tooth surface that extends in an axial direction, and an inclined tooth surface that extends from an end of said straight tooth surface proximate to said rotating unit in said first turning direction and away from said rotating unit, said shaft teeth set including a plurality of tooth structures, each of said tooth structures of said shaft teeth set including a straight tooth surface that abuts against said straight tooth surface of a respective one of said tooth structures of said housing teeth set, and an inclined tooth surface that abuts against said inclined tooth surface of another one of said tooth structures of said housing teeth set.