Portable holder for ribbon-like material

Claim 1

Portable apparatus for holding and dispensing a coiled strip of ribbon-like material, with the initial radius of a full coil having a given size which is substantially larger than the width of said coiled material, comprising: (a) a pair of parallel rods rigidly connected at the first ends thereof, with the length of said rods being substantially longer than the radius of a full coil of the strip of ribbon-like material, and the separation of the pair of rods being only slightly greater than the width of the ribbon-like material, such that the rods serve to restrain the sides of the coil of material against movement in an axial direction; (b) an arm pivotably connected to the pair of parallel rods at a point intermediate the length of said arm and relatively near one end thereof, so as to divide the arm into longer and shorter portions, with the arm being mounted between the pair of rods, and the pivot location on said pair of rods being relatively near their rigidly connected ends, and the longer portion of the arm being curved inwardly to the extent that its distal end lies near the periphery of a coil of the ribbon-like material when said coil is mounted in the apparatus, and the distal end of said longer portion of the pivoted arm defining an arc as the material is progressively removed from the coil at the periphery thereof, and the length of said longer arm portion is such as to cause said arc to extend approximately through the center of the coiled material; (c) means for releasably and rotatably holding a coil of ribbon-like material between the two parallel rods, with said means including a rigid core having a diameter of at least two inches and being so thin as to permit the parallel rods to bear directly against the sides of the coiled material, and further including a removable fastener for holding the rigid core between the second ends of the two parallel rods, such that the apparatus may be rotated about any axis and turned through any angle without causing the coil of ribbon-like material to fall out of the apparatus; (d) a spring mounted for biasing the arm toward general longitudinal alignment with the two parallel rods; and (e) a generally U-shaped foot secured to the dital end of the longer portion of the pivoted arm, with the open part of the foot being oriented inwardly toward the rods, and the gap between the two legs of the U-shaped foot being just slightly wider than the width of the coiled material, such that the U-shaped foot can both encompass and bear radially against a peripheral portion of the coil of ribbon-like material which is held between the two parallel rods, and the length of the two legs of the U-shaped foot being substantially less than the radius of the rigid core, whereby interference between the two rods and a projecting leg of the U-shaped foot is precluded, and the base of said foot will therefore press radially against the periphery of the coiled material until the very last increment of said material is dispensed from the apparatus.