摘要 |
A reeling device includes a housing having multiple chambers within which are respectively mounted, for rotation in unison, main and secondary reels. Preferably the main and secondary reels include a common hub member that is formed with a hole extending therethrough from the main reel to the secondary reel. A single length of cable is wound upon the two reels with a first end portion of the cable being coiled upon the main reel, an intermediate portion thereof extending through the hole formed in the common hub member and a second end portion of the cable being coiled about the secondary reel. The second end portion of the cable is substantially shorter than the first end portion and includes an end that is fixed to the housing. With this arrangement, as the first portion of the cable is fully unwound from the main reel, the second portion of the cable is simultaneously unwound from and then rewound onto the secondary reel such that a compact reeling device is provided without the use of slip rings and with a minimal amount of cable being required. The reeling device further includes a drive system for controlling the rate of deployment and automatic retraction of the cable. |