Hitco, Inc.

David C Falstrup

A retracting tensioning mechanism for dispensing an elongated member such as a length of yarn wound on a carrier tube in a creel utilizes a rotatably mounted disk coupled to the carrier tube and having a plurality of outwardly extending, spaced-apart elements in the form of pegs disposed in a circular array about the outer periphery thereof. An elongated lever which is at least partly disposed within the circular array of pegs is rotatably mounted about a pivot axis offset from and generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the disk and the carrier tube and has an elongated tongue extending outwardly from the pivot axis and into contact with the pegs. A force-biasing arrangement which can comprise a suspended weight, a tension spring or a torsion spring biases the elongated lever about the pivot axis so as to tend to rotate the elongated tongue and the peg which the tongue engages in a direction tending to wind the yarn on the carrier tube, causing the yarn to retract under tension when the yarn is relatively slack. When the yarn is being pulled so as to unwind it from the carrier tube, the elongated tongue of the lever rotates with and then bears against the pegs as necessary so as to maintain a desired amount of tension in the yarn as the yarn is unwound from the carrier tube.

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Manhattan Beach, CA, United States of America

David C Falstrup