Flat Reel Line Handling with Integrated Locking and Tensioning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing line-handling devices are cumbersome, complex, and costly due to their design, making them difficult to handle and transport, and often lack effective locking mechanisms and attachment elements for suspending lines efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A line-handling device with a substantially flat, rotatable reel, a line-guiding part, a locking mechanism, and an attachment element for a tautening device, allowing for efficient winding, locking, and suspension of lines between anchoring points, while maintaining a compact and flat shape for easy transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a round reel is used in the line-handling device, then the device can wind and store line effectively, but the device becomes large and difficult to transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the traditional round reel into a flat reel, changing the spatial dimension from cylindrical to planar. This dimensional change allows the reel to maintain adequate line storage capacity while significantly reducing the device's overall volume and improving portability. The flat reel achieves this by distributing the line winding across a larger surface area in two dimensions rather than relying on rotational depth in three dimensions.
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to prevent line payout, then the device can secure the line, but the device becomes more complex and time-consuming to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the locking mechanism directly into the reel structure itself, merging the locking function with the reel's basic components. The reel includes a locking surface that engages with a corresponding locking element, creating a unified structure rather than adding a separate, complex locking assembly. This integration maintains reliable line securing capability while minimizing additional complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism is designed to be self-actuating through the reel's rotation and positioning. As the reel rotates to wind or payout line, the locking surface automatically engages or disengages with the locking element based on the reel's position, eliminating the need for separate manual locking operations and reducing operational complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a line guide and attachment element are integrated into the reel, then the device can suspend line independently, but the reel structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the reel to perform multiple functions: it winds and stores line, provides a locking mechanism for securing the line, includes a line guide for proper line routing, and incorporates an attachment element for suspending the line. By integrating these diverse functions into a single reel component, the device achieves independent suspension capability without requiring separate specialized components for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The line guide and attachment element are merged directly into the reel structure, combining previously separate components into a unified design. The line guide is formed as an integral part of the reel that directs line onto the winding surface, while the attachment element is incorporated into the reel's structure to provide suspension points. This merging reduces the number of separate parts while maintaining all necessary functions.
Data Source
AI summary
A line-handling device is for letting out, winding up and locking a line. The line-handling device has: a first handle; a substantially flat reel which is rotatable relative to the first handle; a line-guiding part which is fixed relative to the first handle; a locking mechanism for locking the reel in a non-rotatable position; and an attachment element for a tautening device, the reel being displaceable relative to the first handle parallel to the rotational axis of the reel. A line-handling system is for suspending a line between two anchoring points and a method is for suspending a line between two anchoring points.