Apex Brands, Inc.

Vlad Patrangenaru

Jonathan Siebert Beckwith

Adam Baxter

Adam Day

Ian M Cobb

David Jonathan Byron

Timothy T McKenzie

Eric Dean Broadaway

David M Roberts

Cecil Mckinley Wilson

Brian Butler

Tobias McKay Bridges

Brendan Michael Walsh

Jimmy Shangyao Wei

Kevin Fitzpatrick

Kay Randolph Ligon

Tom Carson

Chad D Humphrey

Eric Broadway

A measuring tape device may include a housing having an aperture, a reel assembly defining an axis, a blade having a first end configured to extend from the housing through the aperture and a second end configured to be wound on the reel assembly, and a transverse aperture extending through the housing in a direction substantially parallel to the axis.

Measuring tape with transverse locating aperture

A blade for a measuring tape device may include a first end configured to extend from a housing of the measuring tape device through an aperture, a second end configured to be wound on a reel assembly within the housing, and a first cupped portion having a first amount of cupping over a selected portion of a longitudinal length of the blade. The first cupped portion may be defined by a curved portion extending from an apex of the curved portion toward lateral edges of the blade, and wings extending from each of the lateral edges toward the curved portion on each side of the apex. The curved portion includes a first radius proximate to the apex of the curved portion, and a second radius at a point spaced apart from the apex on both sides of the apex, the second radius being different than the first radius.

Measuring tape with improved standout

A measuring tape device may include a housing having an aperture, a reel assembly enclosed within the housing, and a blade having a first end configured to extend from the housing through the aperture and a second end configured to be wound on the reel assembly. The housing may include a first case half and a second case half. The reel assembly may be configured to alternately allow the blade to be withdrawn from the reel assembly through the aperture or received in the aperture onto the reel assembly. The first case half and the second case half may be joined together via threaded fasteners inserted into respective portions of screw bosses formed in corresponding portions of the first and second case halves. Mating features may be provided on the first and second case halves to facilitate joining the first and second case halves. At least some of the mating features may be longer than others of the mating features, or a diameter of the screw bosses is about 1.5 time to about 2.5 times larger than a diameter of the threaded fasteners.

Measuring tape with improved case durability

A measuring tape device may include a housing having an aperture, a reel assembly defining an axis, a blade having a first end configured to extend from the housing through the aperture and a second end configured to be wound on the reel assembly, a locking assembly configured to alternately allow and prevent winding of the blade onto the reel assembly based on a position of the locking assembly, and a guard assembly comprising guard members extending on opposing lateral sides of the locking assembly to protect the locking assembly from impact.

Measuring tape with lock button guard

A measuring tape device may include a housing having an aperture, a reel assembly, a blade having a first end configured to extend from the housing through the aperture and a second end configured to be wound on the reel assembly, and an end hook disposed at the first end of the blade. The end hook may have a front face that faces away from the aperture and a rear face that faces toward the aperture. A high friction surface including grains may be disposed over at least a portion of a surface of the rear face.

Measuring tape with end hook having a high friction surface treatment

A method of producing a measuring tape may include providing a tape measure blade having a first end configured to extend from a housing and a second end configured to be wound on a reel assembly, defining a first non-critical region from the first end to a start of a critical region, defining a second non-critical region from the second end to an end of the critical region, and modifying a mass per unit length of a portion of the blade such that a mass per unit length of the first and second non-critical regions is less than a mass per unit length of the critical region.

Measuring tape with variable mass along tape length

Measuring tape

Tape measure

Growing community of inventors

Ellicott City, MD, United States of America

Vlad Patrangenaru