TAPE MEASURE WITH SLIDING TAPE GRIP ELEMENT

摘要

A manually wound tape measure includes a housing with a mouth, with the flexible tape extending through the mouth. A resilient grip element is slidably mounted on the tape for movement relative thereto. The grip element includes an internal passage through which the tape extends and is resiliently deformabl e between an uncompressed state and a compressed state. The exterior of the gr ip element may be tapered. Manually powered retraction of the tape into the housing causes the grip element to be urged into the mouth portion of the housing su ch that the grip element is, by interaction with the housing, deformed against and compressively grips the tape. The tape measure may include a manually powere d retraction mechanism having a drive ratio of greater than 1:1. The tape measure is manually changeable from a deployed configuration to a retracted configurati on wherein the grip element deforms against and compressively grips the tape.