The Stanley Works

Frank G Czerwinski

Edward C Rutty

Donald Robert Gavini

Henderik Van Zelderen

A top reading power return rule has a shock-absorbing rib adjacent the spool, to prevent kinking upon retraction of the blade. The rib is positioned so as to be normally out of contact with the blade, but to intercept the blade when engagement of the hook member upon the casing causes it to abruptly stop and snap inwardly. The rib functions by decreasing the deflection of the taut blade about the small roller closest to the spool; excessive deflection is also avoided by providing a contact surface portion on the rib that is of relatively large area.

Spring coilable top reading rule with improved guide structure for

A power returnable coilable rule employs a cartridge having a hub rotatably seated and trapped in apertures in the end walls of the spool. The hub has a multiplicity of tabs at each of its ends which interlock with bosses on the inside surfaces of the outer casing end walls so as to prevent relative rotation thereof. The power spring is attached at its inner end to the hub and at its outer end to the inner end of the coiled measuring blade. Prior to assembly in the rule casing, a retainer clip secures the blade and spring in predetermined condition on the spool. This clip has an arm overlying a spool end wall with means adjacent its inner end interengaged with the tabs of the hub, and a flange at its outer end which depends along the outer coil of the blade and interengages with the tape hook so that the opposing forces on its ends produced by the coiled spring maintain the retainer clip in assembly.

Power returnable coilable rule cartridge and coil rule assembly

A mounting spool for the measuring blade and recoil spring of a coilable rule is designed to minimize blade friction and to absorb the shock of impact when the blade is retracted and abruptly stopped. The spool comprises a circular rim having a pair of upstanding side flanges for receiving the coiled measuring blade and a side wall portion formed on one side of the rim and adapted to rotatably support the spool on the center post. The recoil spring is received inside the rim with its inner end anchored to the center post and its free end extending through an opening formed in the rim for connection to the measuring blade. A slit is formed in the flange on the side of the rim opposite to the side wall portion which extends completely through the flange and joins the opening in the rim.

Coilable rule

A coilable rule having a replacement cartridge comprising a hub, a spool for winding the tape and a keeper for maintaining the cartridge in factory adjusted position until it is field-installed in the tape casing is disclosed. The spool has a single side flange journaled on a hollow hub which is non-rotatably mounted within the casing with the hub providing a second side flange to define an annular spring chamber with the hub flange spaced from the spool by an annular clearance to prevent frictional contact and provide a unit bearing construction for the spool so that the spool is self-aligning. The keeper is snap-fitted into one of a plurality of non-circular openings in the hub flange and a central post passing through the hollow hub fixes the distance between the sidewalls of the casing to provide an axial clearance with the hub to accommodate the axial movement thereof.

Growing community of inventors

East Berlin, CT, United States of America

Frank G Czerwinski