Passive Mechanism for Maintaining Tension at a Spool to Within a Given Window

During any winding or unwinding action, a tether may experience unexpected changes in tension. For example, the load being wound could become stuck and stop moving, causing the tension in the line to suddenly become extremely high. Alternatively, the load could slip, causing a lack of tension, or slack, in the line. Both of these scenarios can be harmful to neatly winding a spool in a tightly packed pattern. Excessive tension can cause one layer of line to become lodged in a layer below it and jammed. Too low of tension can cause the line on the spool to partially unravel and cause disorganized spooling. A novel mechanism utilizes the tension in the line and springs to hold a pulley between friction pads and a ratcheting mechanism to keep the tension at the spool within a particular window.