CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority on the basis of provisional application No. 62/565206, filed on September 29, 2017, and incorporates by reference the entire

disclosure of the provisional application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to a quilling tool, i.e., a device for facilitating the formation of coils of paper from elongate paper strips .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] "Quilling" is a paper craft, primarily for children, in which coils are formed from elongated strips of paper. The paper can be held in a coiled condition by the use of a glue, and multiple coils can be connected to one another to form various kinds of decorative articles .

[0004] Conventionally, quilling has been carried out by using a rod with a longitudinal slot. An end portion of an elongated strip of paper is inserted into the slot and the rod is twisted manually until the coil is formed. The strip is then maintained in the coiled condition by the application of a quantity of glue to the interior of the outermost turn of the coil. The process of manual twisting is cumbersome and somewhat discouraging and boring to some children. Because the paper strip tends to expand, both radially and axially, if not carefully held, it is especially difficult for a child to maintain the strip in a spiral configuration while twisting the rod.

[0005] There has been a need for a quilling tool that is easier to use, that can form paper coils more quickly and efficiently, and that avoids accidental radial and axial expansion of the coil.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The quilling tool in accordance with the

invention comprises a body having a substantially planar external surface which serves as a supporting table for a coil of paper to be formed by the quilling tool. A spindle in the form of a shaft extends perpendicularly along an axis of elongation outward from the planar external surface of the tool . The spindle is mounted in the body for rotation about its axis of elongation. The shaft of the spindle has a slot that extends longitudinally in the direction of the axis of elongation of the spindle. The purpose of the slot is to receive an end portion of an elongated strip of paper. A motor or a manually operable wheel is provided for rotating the spindle about its axis of elongation in order to wind the strip of paper about the spindle to form a coil.

[0007] The quilling tool includes a paper holder having a paper-engaging face for engaging an outermost winding of a coil of paper produced by rotation of the spindle while an end portion of the elongated strip of paper is engaged with the slot. A spring is provided to urge the paper holder in a direction causing its face to press against the outermost winding of the coil of paper. [0008] In a preferred embodiment, the paper holder includes an overhanging part extending from its paper- engaging face toward the spindle and spaced from the planar external surface of the tool body. This overhanging part is engageable with edges of the outermost winding of the paper coil and at least one winding adjacent the outermost winding, for maintaining the coil in engagement with the planar external surface of the tool body.

[0009] In one embodiment an electric motor is arranged to rotate the spindle about the spindle's axis of

elongation. In another embodiment, a manually rotatable wheel is arranged to rotate the spindle about the spindle's axis of elongation. Preferably, gearing is provided to transmit rotational motion from the wheel to the spindle.

[0010] The paper holder can be linearly movable in a direction toward and away from the spindle. Alternatively, the paper holder can be in the form of an arm pivoted on the tool body for swinging movement about a pivot axis spaced from, but parallel to, the axis of elongation of the spindle. In this case, the arm extends along the external surface, the face for engaging an outermost winding of a coil of paper is situated at a location remote from the pivot axis, and the spring urges the arm in a pivoting direction about the pivot axis to press the paper-engaging face against the outermost winding of the coil of paper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a quilling tool in accordance with the invention, in which the spindle is rotatable manually; [0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view illustrating the movement of the quilling tool;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a torsion spring for urging the paper holding arm in a direction such that its paper-engaging face presses against an outer winding of a coil of paper wound on the spindle;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the quilling tool of FIG. 1, showing the manually operable wheel for rotating the spindle;

[0015] FIG. 5 a front elevational view of the quilling tool of FIG. 1;

[0016] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the quilling tool of FIG. 1;

[0017] FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the inside of the quilling tool of FIG. 1, showing the gearing, and the mounting of the torsion spring;

[0018] FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the quilling tool of FIG. 1, showing the bottom cover in place;

[0019] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a quilling tool in accordance with the invention, in which the spindle is rotatable by an electric motor;

[0020] FIG. 10 is a rear elevational view of the

embodiment shown in FIG. 9;

[0021] FIG. 11 is a front elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9;

[0022] FIG. 12 is a right side elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9;

[0023] FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9;

[0024] FIG. 14 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9; [0025] FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 9, showing a tension spring for urging the paper holder linearly toward the spindle, with the tension spring in its relaxed condition; and

[0026] FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 15, but showing the tension spring in its extended condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the manually driven

embodiment of the quilling tool comprises a body 20 having a substantially planar top surface 22, the border of which is approximately circular. A spindle 24, which is in the form of a circular shaft, extends upward from surface 22 through an opening in the central part thereof . The spindle has a longitudinal slot 26 for receiving an end portion of a narrow elongated strip of paper (not shown) . The slot 26 can have an open end at the tip of the spindle or, alternatively, can have a closed end. The slot, however, should extend upward from a location either below or at the level of the top surface 22 of the body 20.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, circular markings with reference numbers are provided on the top surface 22, and are preferably formed as engravings in the process of molding the body 20. These markings and reference numbers allow the user to control the size of the coiled product by referring to reference numbers in printed instructions.

[0029] A paper holder 30, provided on the top surface 22 of the quilling tool body, is in the form of an arm fixed adjacent one end 32 to a rotatable shaft (not shown in FIG. 1) that extends through an opening in the surface 22 into the interior of the body, where a torsion spring 34 (FIGs. 3 and 7) urges the shaft in a pivoting direction such that its opposite end 36 approaches the spindle 24 as seen in FIG. 2. As shown in FIGs. 1 and 2, the paper holder includes a paper-engaging face 38 adjacent its end 36, and an overhanging part 40, which extends from the top of face 38 in a direction toward the spindle (when the face is separated from the spindle) .

[0030] The spindle 24 is driven through gears 42 and 44 (FIG. 7) by an externally accessible, manually rotatable, wheel 46 (FIGs. 1, 4, 5 and 6). A bottom plate 45 (FIG. 8) is secured by screws 47 to enclose the interior of the body where the gears and the torsion spring are located.

[0031] In the operation of the quilling tool shown in FIGs. 1-8, the user inserts an end portion of an elongated strip of paper through the slot 26 in spindle 24 and manually rotates wheel 46 (as shown in FIG. 4) in the counterclockwise direction. The strip should extend past the slot by an amount exceeding one half the circumference of the spindle, and preferably by a greater amount, so that a portion of the paper strip approaching the spindle begins to overlap a portion of the strip that extends past the slot as the spindle rotates. Frictional contact between these two portions of the paper strip will maintain the engagement of the strip with the slot. Engagement of the paper strip with the spindle will then be assisted by the pressure exerted by the paper-engaging face 38 on the outermost winding of the coil of paper as the coil is wound .

[0032] The height of the overhanging part 40 of the paper holder above top surface 22 of the body 20 should be slightly greater than the width of the paper strip. As the paper strip is being wound about the spindle, the face 38 will remain in engagement with the outermost winding of the coil of paper and will be pushed away from the spindle by the expansion of the coil as more windings are added. The overhanging part 40 of the paper holder is engageable with the outermost winding and one or more adjacent inner windings, maintaining the coil in engagement with the top surface 22 of the body and preventing axial expansion of the coil. When the coil of paper has reached the desired size, it can be removed from the quilling tool by manually pushing the paper holder away from the spindle so that the overhanging part 40 clears the paper coil.

[0033] In the motorized embodiment shown in FIGs . 9-16, the body 48 has a substantially planar external top surface 50 with a generally circular border, and a centrally located slotted spindle 52 extending perpendicular to surface 50. In this embodiment, the paper holder 54 moves linearly in a radial direction relative to the spindle 52. The paper holder is slidable in a guide passage, and is urged in this radial direction toward the spindle by a tension spring 56 (FIGs. 15 and 16), located inside the body 48. FIG. 15 shows the tension spring in its most relaxed condition, i.e., its condition when the paper holder 54 is fully extended toward the spindle. FIG. 15 shows the tension spring 56 in an extended condition, i.e., a condition when the paper holder 54 is retracted into its guide slot.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 10, an overhanging part 58 of the paper holder extends toward the spindle from the paper engaging face 60. A concave, thumb- or finger-actuated surface 62, formed on the upper part of the paper holder 54 near its paper-engaging end, enables the user to push the paper holder against the force exerted by the tension spring so that the overhanging part 58 clears the paper coil, allowing the coil to be removed from the device.

[0035] The spindle is rotated by a battery-operated electric motor 63, shown in FIGs . 15 and 16 through

suitable reduction gearing (not shown) contained in the motor housing. A manually operable push-button 64 is provided to switch electric current from the battery to the motor in order to operate the motor.

[0036] When using the motorized quilling tool, the user passes an elongated strip of paper through a paper guide slot 66 (FIGs. 9 and 13) formed in the body 48 of the tool and engages the end of the paper strip with the slot in the spindle 52. Then, by pressing the push-button 64, the user can activate the motor, causing the spindle to rotate and wind the paper strip onto the spindle, forming the coil. The paper holder remains in engagement with the outermost winding of the coil and moves radially outward away from the spindle as the diameter of the coil increases. The overhanging part 58 prevents the outermost winding and adjacent windings from moving away from surface 50, thereby maintaining the windings of the coil in overlapping

relationship and preventing axial expansion of the coil as the coil is being wound.

[0037] Various modifications can be made to the

embodiments described. For example, while the embodiment having a manually rotatable spindle utilizes a pivoted paper holding arm, and the motorized embodiment has a linearly guided paper holder, it is possible to use a pivoted paper holding arm in the motorized embodiment and to use a linearly moving paper holder in the manually driven embodiment. Other modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the following claims .