The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 16, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 27, 1996
Imack Collins, Shreveport, LA (US);
Robert T Cline, Bethany, LA (US);
Lloyd H Tuggle, Shreveport, LA (US);
WCI Outdoor Products, Inc., Cleveland, OH (US);
Abstract
A 'bump-feed' type line head (108) and replaceable spool (116) for a flexible line trimmer are specially adapted for removing and mounting the spool in a single manual movement to the line head to facilitate spool and line replacement. The line head includes a 'U' shaped retention spring (118) mounted within a hub in the line head on with the spool is journalled. The spring includes knob-shaped sections (122) protruding through the hub, beneath the spool, for retaining the spool on the hub without interfering with a bump-feed indexing means. Pulling the spool from or pushing the spool onto the hub tends to deflect the knobs inwardly, allowing axially movement of the spool on the hub. The compression force of the spring is set to be sufficient to retain the spool on the hub during normal operation but not to withstand force manually applied in an axial direction to the reel. The spool includes an integrally formed reel (116) and an integrally formed button (130) connected in a single movement to the bottom of the reel using undercut surfaces (136)(138), forming a cavity having a radius sufficient to accommodate extension of the knobs beneath the spool.