Micro-type communication wire winder

[0002] The present invention relates to a micro-type communication wire winder which has a simple structure and can be produced easily and conveniently. A desired length of a communication wire can be pulled from the winder then fixed. The communication wire may thus be maintained neatly, without being in tension.

[0003] With the current prevalence of computers, modems, telephones, facsimile machines, and the like, communication wires are required to connect different devices. In order to prevent the communication wire from being too long or too short, various wire winders have been developed for winding such communication wires. The basic structure of known wire winders includes a housing, a rotary disk, a spiral screen, and a communication wire. The spiral screen pulls the rotary disk so that the communication wire wound around the rotary disk is biased by a restoring force. Since the communication wire must connect with two communication devices, the connection and conduction structure of the communication wire in the wire winder has many different designs. For example, a plurality of concentric and unequal diameter conductive rings are disposed on the rotary disk, while a plurality of conductive elastic pieces or steel balls are arranged on another rotary disc so that even during rotation, electric connection is maintained. These prior art designs require many components and a complicated structure which makes assembly more difficult, and makes it more likely that components will be arranged ineffectively. Moreover, since the spiral spring is often not arranged properly, the volume of the wound wire may be increased, heightening inconvenience in use and storage. Also, after the communication wire is pulled out from the prior art wire winder, it will be in tension due to the elastic force of the spiral spring and thus a proper length of the wire may not be left unwound. This proves quite troublesome to a user. Therefore, there is a need for a micro-type communication wire winder which addresses such prior art defects.

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a micro-type communication wire winder. The wire winder has a simple structure and can be produced easily and conveniently. A desired length of a communication wire can be pulled out and fixed at that length. A communication wire is maintained in a simple untensioned configuration.

[0005] In order to achieve the aforesaid object, a micro-type communication wire winder is disclosed. A rotary disk is pivotally installed in a receiving groove of a housing, and one surface thereof is installed with an axle bushing and an outer circular cover with slots for fixing and winding a communication wire. Another surface is installed with a ring protrusion for receiving and engaging a spiral spring or receiving the spiral spring in a cavity adjacent to the rotary disk so that the spiral ring can be wound around the protrusion. Thus, the communication wire is biased by a rewinding force. The rim of the rotary disk is further installed with a tilt buckling groove. A buckling piece at the side of the housing obliquely resists against the rim of the rotary disc. Therefore, as the communication wire is pulled out to a predetermined length, the rotary disk can be buckled in the buckling groove by the buckling piece so as to retain the predetermined length. As the buckling piece is pressed, the rotary disc is released and rewound.

[0006] The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.

[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] FIG. 3 is a lateral perspective view of the rotary disk structure in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] FIG. 4 is another lateral perspective view of a positioning disk in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] FIG. 5A shows a plan structure in which the communication wire is rewound so that the rotary disk is buckled by the buckling piece.

[0012] FIG. 5B shows a plan structure in the first embodiment of the present invention in which the buckling piece is pressed so that the rotary disk is released for rewinding the wire.

[0013] FIG. 6 shows an application in which an embodiment of the present invention is utilized with a notebook computer.

[0014] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a surface of the rotary disk in the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 10 is a structural plan view showing the second embodiment of the present invention in which a first half housing is removed.

[0018] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the assembled and exploded views of one preferred embodiment of the micro-type communication wire winder according to the present invention are illustrated. The communication wire winder includes a housing 1, a buckling piece 2, a rotary disk 3, a communication wire 4, and a spiral spring 5.

[0019] The housing 1 is formed by combining a first half housing 10 and a second half housing 11 to form a receiving groove 12 therebetween. The housing has two wire outlets 120. The lateral side thereof is installed with a groove 121 for receiving a communication adapter 13 which is positioned by a protrusion 122. The first half housing 10 has formed thereon a pivotal axle 101 having two lateral wings 100. A side portion of the first half housing 10 is formed with a via hole 102 and a pivotal rod 103. The buckling piece 2 engages the pivotal rod 103 through a pivotal cover 20 for rotation. The buckling piece 2 further has a press portion 21 that may be pressed by the user which extends through the via hole 102 (the press portion 21 may slightly protrude from the surface of the housing 1, or alternatively, a groove may be formed in the via hole 102 so that it will not protrude out of the surface of the housing, but remains sufficiently accessible to be pressed).

[0020] An elastic portion 22 extends inward to a stopper 104 formed on the first half housing 10 with respect to the press portion 21 for elastically restoring the press portion 21. A top buckle 23 capable of inserting into the receiving groove 12 and driving with the press portion 21 is installed at the pivotal cover 20 of the press portion 21.

[0021] A pivotal cover 110 capable of covering the pivotal axle 101 of the first half hosing 10 is installed at the center of the receiving groove of the second half housing 11. Slits 111 capable of being engaged by the lateral wings 100 are installed at two opposite sides of the pivotal cover 110.

[0022] The center of the rotary disk 3 is installed with a pivotal hole 30 into which the pivotal cover 110 pivotally inserts. As shown in FIG. 3, the axle bushing 31 extends from a first surface of the disk about the pivotal hole 30 toward the first half housing 10. An outer ring cover 33 with spaced slots 330 is formed about the axle bushing 31. A circular slit 32 is defined between the axle bushing 31 and the outer ring cover 33. Therefore, the communication wire 4 may be engaged with the slots 330 and the slit 32 so as to be fixed and wound around the outer ring cover 33, with each terminal plug 40 of the wire protruding out from a wire outlet 120, as shown in FIG. 1, 5A, and 5B.

[0023] A second surface of the rotary disk 3 is installed with a ring protrusion 36. At a predetermined portion of the ring protrusion 360 are formed a plurality of elastic hooks 361 defined by a plurality of parallel slots 360. Two flanges 362 are installed at two sides of each elastic hook 361.

[0024] The spiral spring 5 is hooked to the slit 111 of the pivotal cover 110 by the inner hooking end 50 and is fixed by the engagement of lateral wings 100, while the outer hooking end 51 is hooked to the hook piece 35 preinstalled at an inner side of the ring protrusion 36 of the rotary disk 3 for pulling the rotary disk 3.

[0025] A plurality of buckling grooves 520 formed in a positioning disk 52 (as shown in FIG. 4) are buckled by the elastic hooks 361. The positioning disk 52 is formed with an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the ring protrusion 36. The positioning disk 52 serves to capture the spiral spring so that it remains received in the ring protrusion 36, thus permitting the communication wire 4 of the rotary disk 3 to be rewound at any time.

[0026] When the rotary disk 3 is pivotally installed on the pivotal cover 110, the top buckle 23 of the buckling piece 2 elastically bears against the rim of the rotary disk 3 by the elastic force of the elastic portion 22. The outer periphery of the rotary disk 3 is further installed with at least one tilt buckling groove 34. Referring to FIG. 5A, when the communication wire 4 is pulled out so that the rotary disk 3 rotates clockwise relative to the orientation shown in the figure, it can rotate freely. However, once the communication wire 4 is released, the rotary disk 3 rotates counterclockwise relative to the orientation shown in FIG. 5A. The top buckle 23 is thus biased to engage the buckling groove 34 so as to confine the rotary disk to rotation in only a single direction. Therefore, the pulled communication wire 4 is fixed at an exposed length. If the wire is desired to be rewound again, the user need only press the press portion 21, as shown in FIG. 5B. The top buckle 23 will then release from the buckling groove 34, and the rotary disk 3 is free to rewind the communication wire more rapidly.

[0027] By the aforesaid simple structure and precise space arrangement, a wire winder which functions to wind a communication wire 4 while permitting it to be pulled out as desired can be assembled easily and conveniently. Moreover, the size of the whole wire winder is reduced for use and storage. The wire winder can be used with any communication device.

[0028] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary application, wherein a wire winder of the present invention is utilized with a notebook computer 6. As shown, a plug 40 of a communication wire 4 may be inserted into a computer mainframe, while another plug 40 may be inserted into a receptacle of a phone wire. The communication wire 4 will not be wound improperly even if it is extended to a very long length, nor will problems be induced by the elasticity of winding.

[0029] Furthermore, in the aforesaid embodiment and structure, in order that the spiral spring 5 may be received in the rotary disk 3 offset from its axis of rotation, corresponding changes in structure are required in the housing 1 and rotary disk 3. FIGS. 7 and 8 accordingly show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the spiral spring 5 is received in a cavity 14 formed at a position offset from the center of the rotary disk 3. It is necessary to form only one hook groove on the ring protrusion 36 (see FIG. 9). It is only necessary to hook the outer hooking end 51 of the spiral spring 5 to a hooking groove 363. Thus, as the rotary disk 3 rotates, the spiral spring will be wound around the ring protrusion 36, as shown in FIG. 10. Manufacturing and assembly may thus be simplified.

[0030] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.