Retractable fence assembly

Abstract

A retractable fence assembly has an upright container that houses a coil of fencing material, preferably in the form of a foraminous web of synthetic resinous material. The web is wound up on a core within the container that is in turn rotatable upon a normally stationary spindle, there being a full-length helical return spring that circumscribes the spindle and operably interconnects the core and the spindle. Thus, as the fencing is pulled out of the container through a dispensing slot in the sidewall of the container, the return spring becomes progressively loaded with a return biasing force that maintains tension on the web and facilitates wind up and restorage of the web when usage is complete. A handle at the outer free end of the web facilitates withdrawal and return of the web and is also provided with a releasable locking clip to permit the web to be doubled back onto itself into the shape of a loop to form an enclosure. The assembly may be used in a wide variety of situations, including attachment to a work vehicle for use as temporary barricades or enclosures around work sites.

1 . A retractable fence assembly comprising: 
 a spindle;    an elongated, hollow core encircling said spindle and rotatable relative thereto about the axis of the spindle;    a web of fencing material wound around said core in mutually overlapping, concentrically disposed layers,    said web having an outer free end and an inner end anchored to the core;    a return spring operably connected between the spindle and the core and adapted to exert a progressively increasing return biasing force against the core as the web is unwound from the core by rotating the core relative to the spindle in a web-dispensing direction; and    a container that houses said spindle, core, web, and return spring,    said container having an outlet through which the free end of the web may pass as the web is dispensed from the core,    said spindle being anchored to said container such that the container holds the spindle stationary relative to the core as the web is being unwound from the core whereby to progressively increase the biasing force in the return spring.    
     
     
         2 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said container including a sidewall defining an internal chamber of the container and an end cap closing one end of the chamber,    said end cap being coupled with said spindle in a manner to prevent rotation of the spindle with the core when the web is being unwound from the core.    
     
     
         3 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 2 , 
 said end cap being releasably secured to the sidewall.    
     
     
         4 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 3 , 
 said sidewall having an end edge,    said end cap including an annular lip portion overlying said edge of the sidewall and a reduced diameter portion projecting into the chamber defined by said sidewall,    said reduced diameter portion having a socket receiving the proximal end of said spindle,    said socket and said proximal end of the spindle being so configured as to prevention rotation of the spindle relative to the end cap.    
     
     
         5 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 4 , 
 said end cap being rotatable relative to the sidewall when the end cap is released from the sidewall whereby to permit rotation of the spindle relative to the core for adjusting the biasing force in the return spring.    
     
     
         6 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said outer end of the web having a handle to facilitate withdrawal of the web from the housing,    said handle being so dimensioned relative to the outlet in the container as to prevent the handle from being drawn into the container by the return spring.    
     
     
         7 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 6 , 
 said handle having a fastener associated therewith that is operable to permit the handle to be releasably fastened to the web when the web is formed into a closed loop whereby to retain the web in the loop.    
     
     
         8 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 7 , 
 said web being foraminous presenting a multiplicity of apertures and a multiplicity of intersecting filaments that define the apertures,    said fastener comprising a projection on the handle adapted to be inserted into a selected aperture and engaged with a proximal filament.    
     
     
         9 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 8 , 
 said projection being inherently resilient and yieldably biased into engagement with the handle for clamping a filament of the web against the handle.    
     
     
         10 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , said web being foraminous.  
     
     
         11 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said web being constructed from a foraminous sheet of synthetic resinous material.    
     
     
         12 . A retractable fence assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , 
 said assembly being mounted on a self-propelled vehicle.