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US 11,761,744 B2Granted
Tape measure with reinforced tape blade and/or tear reducing hook configuration
AssigneeMilwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
InventorsAbhijeet A. Khangar, Jacob Feuerstein
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tape measure including a reinforced or coated tape measure blade is provided. The coating is thicker than the metal inner layer of the tape blade. The coating provides a reinforced tape blade such that elongate tape blade may have a pinch load threshold of greater than 50 lbs. and/or a pinch height at break of less than 1.5 mm. A hook assembly may also provide for reduced stress at the end of the tape blade.
Claims20
A tape measure comprising:
- a housing:
- a reel rotatably mounted within the housing;
- an elongate blade wound around the reel, the elongate blade comprising:
- an elongate metal core having an upper surface, a lower surface and a first thickness, T1, measured between the upper surface and the lower surface;
- an upper polymer layer coupled to the upper surface of the elongate metal core, the upper polymer layer having a second thickness, T2
- a lower polymer layer coupled to the lower surface of the elongate metal core, the lower polymer layer having a third thickness, T3;
- and
- a series of measurement markings;
- wherein T2+T3≥T1;
- and
- a retraction mechanism coupled to the reel and configured to drive rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel;
- wherein T2 and T3 are average thicknesses measured along lengths of each of the upper and lower polymer layers.
9 more elements
A tape measure comprising:
- a housing:
- a reel rotatably mounted within the housing;
- an elongate blade wound around the reel comprising:
- an elongate metal core having an upper surface, a lower surface and a metal thickness measured between the upper surface and the lower surface;
- a polymer coating contiguously surrounding the elongate metal core when viewed in cross-section and extending lengthwise for at least 6 ft. along a length of the elongate metal core, the polymer coating having a polymer coating thickness;
- and
- a series of measurement markings;
- wherein the polymer coating thickness is greater than the metal thickness;
- and
- a retraction mechanism coupled to the reel and configured to drive rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel;
- wherein the polymer coating thickness is an average total thickness of the polymer coating measured averaged along a length of the polymer coating.
8 more elements
A tape measure comprising:
- a housing:
- a reel rotatably mounted within the housing;
- an elongate blade wound around the reel comprising:
- an elongate metal core having an upper surface, a lower surface and a metal thickness measured between the upper surface and the lower surface;
- a polymer layer coupled to the elongate metal core and extending lengthwise for at least 6 ft. along a length of the elongate metal core, the polymer layer has a polymer thickness;
- and
- a series of measurement markings;
- wherein the elongate blade has a pinch load threshold of greater than 50 lbs;
- and
- a retraction mechanism coupled to the reel and configured to drive rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.