Cord retriever

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a structural innovation of a cord retriever, a structural design for multiple-step control of pulling a length of a cord, applicable to winding and retrieving control of cords in various electronic products, and computer and communication appliances.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] With the advancement of modern-day technology, the structures of computer, electric appliances, and communication equipment have been seeking improvement to satisfy market demand. Among them, the retrieval of cords in various appliances has always causes trouble to most users. To address that shortcoming, manufacturers have designed various types of cord retrieving devices for the purpose of retrieving cords and controlling the length of use of cords.

[0005] With the abovementioned cord retrievers, two ends of the cord are pulled out directly by hand for ready use. But the length so pulled is only in one step. In other words, the entire length of the cord shall be pulled out completely before the pulled length is fixed for use. To retrieve the cord, the user has to pull on two ends of the cord before releasing it, and then the cord will be automatically retrieved. However, its retrieving force would be too powerful, and the end of the cord would swing violently because of too fast cord retrieving speed, which may cause injury to the user's hand.

[0006] There is another type of cord retriever designed in multiple steps of pulled cord length. Though that design enables multiple steps of cord length to be stopped, but it is unable to stop the cord at a length required by the user, nor will it make fine adjustment of the length. Furthermore, the pulling operation in cord retrieving process is more sophisticated and unsure, so it requires multiple pulling operations to completely retrieve the cord.

[0007] To seek possible solution to the above shortcoming, the present inventor has been dedicated to repeated experiments and research and has finally come up with the present invention with its sophisticated structural design to enhance better convenience and applicability of cord retriever.

[0008] For better understanding of the structure, performance, objectives, approach and spirit of the present invention, please refer to the following drawings and detailed description of preferred embodiment.

[0009] The present invention is a structural innovation of a cord retriever, a structural design for multiple-step control of pulling length of a cord, to achieve the purpose of making adjustment of a cord length as required by the user and smooth retrieving thereof.

[0010] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the cord retriever in the invention. As shown, the cord retriever comprises: a casing 20, having at a middle part thereof a recessed part 201a and a recessed track 201b; a mobile top unit 30, having a recessed opening 30a at one end thereof and a jutted unit 30b at another end thereof; a bow-like spring unit 40; a shaft unit 50, having a carrier plate 501 with a round recessed part 501a, a shaft post 501b at a center thereof, and a track hole 502 at a lower part of the shaft post 501b; a turning disc 60, its outer margin having a plurality of sectioned openings to accommodate insertion by a cord unit 70, its center having a spring groove 601 and a shaft hole 601a to accommodate insertion by a winding spring 8, having a mobile track groove 602 on the bottom side of the turning disc 60, with an insertion of a partitioning ring plate 603, wherein the cord unit is wound on the outside margin of the turning disc 60; and an upper cover 10.

[0011] Wherein (referring to FIGS. 2 and 3) the mobile track groove 602 on the bottom of the turning disc 60 has an inside track groove 602a. One side of the inside track groove 602a has a positioning track groove 602b, another side thereof has an outlet 602c communicating with an outside ring track 602d. Provided near the outlet 602c is a movable inside shifting arm 80 and an outside shifting arm 81, the inside shifting arm 80 being pressed against the inside track groove 602a, and the outside shifting arm being pressed against the outlet 602c, the inside shifting arm 80 and the outside shifting arm 81 being in the shape of a flexible arched arm.

[0012] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the recessed part 201a of the casing 20 and a recessed track 201b are respectively accommodated in a mobile top unit 30 and a bow-like spring unit 40, wherein, the spring unit 40 is pressing against a side of the recessed part 201a of the casing 20. The middle part of the spring unit 40 is hooked to the recessed opening 30a of the mobile top unit 30, and further fastened thereon by a shaft unit 50. The track hole 502 at a lower part of the shaft post 501b provides a space for reciprocal movement of the jutted unit 30b of the mobile top unit 30. Then, a shaft hole 61a of the turning disc 60 inserted with the cord unit 70 is inserted with the shaft post 501b of the shaft unit 50, and the winding spring 8 is inserted in the spring groove 601 of the turning disc 60. The middle end of the winding spring 8 is inserted in the shaft post 501b of the shaft unit 50. The end of the winding spring 8 is inserted to the turning disc 60, and then the upper cover 10 is covered to form a cord retriever.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile top unit 30 moves between the recessed track 201b of the casing 20 and the shaft hole 502 of a carrier plate 501. Movement of the mobile top unit 30 is activated by rotating and pressing force from the mobile track groove 602 of the turning disc 60 or from a flexible anti-tension from the spring unit 40.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 5, manual pulling (referring also to FIG. 1) of the cord unit 70 from two sides of the cord retriever will drive the turning disc 60 to rotate, while the jutted unit 30b of the mobile top unit 30 of the mobile track groove 602 on bottom side of the turning disc 60 is rotated and pressed by the mobile track groove 602 out of the outlet 602c, pushing the outside shifting arm 81 to form an opening and enters the outside ring track 602d, then it is positioned by the positioning track groove 602b, to pull out a stretch of cord unit 70 for use, wherein, the jutted unit 30b of the mobile top unit 30 is located in the positioning track groove 602b to prevent retrieving of the cord unit 70 by an anti-tension force of the winding spring 8 inside the spring groove 601 of the turning disc 60 driving the turning disc 60 to rotate. After repeating the above, the user can pull out a required length of the cord unit 70 in multiple steps.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 6, the user can retrieve the cord unit 70 into the cord retriever by slightly pulling the cord unit 70 outward to drive the turning disc 60, when the jutted unit 30b of the mobile top unit 30 will escape the positioning track groove 602b and enters the inside track grove 602a. At this stage, the user releases the cord unit 70 (referring to FIG. 1), so the turning disc 60 is forced by the anti-tension force of the winding spring 8 inside thereof to continue pulling back the cord unit 70. The jutted unit 30b of the mobile top unit 30 then moves to the inner track groove 602a and continues to press on the inside shifting arm 80 to form and push through an opening, thereby forming a slight obstruction to prevent high cord retrieving speed that results in uncontrollable slashing of the cord unit 70 and injury to the user's hand.

[0022] As described above, the present invention is capable of achieving the anticipated objectives, and the structure disclosed in the present invention has not yet been used in public. Having satisfied the requirements of applicability and novelty, this application is duly filed.

[0023] Various modifications and alterations of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. It should be understood that this invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth above.