Flexible hose take-up assembly

A flexible hose take-up assembly for use in paying out and automatically retracting an elongate flexible fluid dispensing hose reciprocably supported on said take-up assembly between a first stored position and a range of second paid out fluid dispensing positions, said take-up assembly comprising:

• an elongate tubular cabinet, said cabinet being open at one end;
• a generally water-tight chamber defined within said housing, said chamber being in communication with the open end of said cabinet and being filled with a predetermined amount of a damping liquid;
• at least one counterweight stationed in a home position within said chamber, said at least one counterweight being at least partially immersed in said damping liquid in said home position;
• and
• means, supported on said cabinet and engaged with the fluid dispensing hose, for permitting the movement of said at least one counterweight in a first direction away from said home position within said chamber in response to the movement of the flexible hose from its stored position into one of its fluid dispensing positions, and for permitting the gravitational movement of said at least one counterweight in a second direction back to said home position in response to the release of the fluid dispensing hose from its fluid dispensing position;
• wherein said damping liquid dampens the movement of said at least one counterweight in said second direction within said chamber as the fluid dispensing hose is retracted toward its stored position on said assembly;
• whereby the rate of speed at which the fluid dispensing hose is retracted to its stored position is controlled by the damped movement of said at least one counterweight in said second direction as said at least one counterweight moves at least partially through the damping fluid held within said chamber.

A method of controlling the rate of speed at which a flexible fluid dispensing hose supported on a flexible hose take-up assembly is automatically retracted into a stored position on said assembly from any one of a range of paid out fluid dispensing positions, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) at least partially immersing at least one counterweight within a generally water-tight chamber in a home position, said water-tight chamber being defined within a cabinet formed as a part of said take-up assembly, said chamber being filled with a predetermined amount of a damping liquid;
• (b) moving said at least one counterweight in a first direction away from said home position within said chamber in response to the movement of the flexible hose from its stored position into one of its fluid dispensing positions;
• (c) gravitationally moving said at least one counterweight in a second direction within said chamber in response to the release of the fluid dispensing hose from one of its fluid dispensing positions;
• (d) damping the movement of said at least one counterweight within said chamber toward said home position with said damping liquid;
• (e) retracting the fluid dispensing hose toward its stored position on said assembly in response to the movement of said at least one counterweight toward said home position;
• and
• (f) controlling the rate of speed at which the fluid dispensing hose is retracted into its stored position in response to damping the movement of said at least one counterweight within said chamber.