Tape measure with reinforced tape blade

1. A tape measure comprising:

a housing;

a reel rotatably mounted within the housing;

an elongate blade wound around the reel, the elongate blade comprising:

an elongate metal core comprising:

an upper surface;

a lower surface;

a first thickness, T 1 , measured between the upper surface and the lower surface;

a first edge surface; and

a second edge surface opposite the first edge surface;

an upper reinforcement layer coupled to and covering at least a portion of the upper surface of the elongate metal core, the upper reinforcement layer having a second thickness, T 2 ;

a lower reinforcement layer coupled to and covering at least a portion of the lower surface of the elongate metal core, the lower reinforcement layer having a third thickness, T 3 ; and

a series of measurement markings;

wherein the first edge surface and the second edge surface of the elongate metal core are uncovered;

wherein the elongate blade has a pinch load threshold of greater than 30 lbs; and

a retraction mechanism coupled to the reel and configured to driving rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel.

2. Tape measure of claim 1 , wherein T 2 +T 3 is between 1.5×T 1 and 3.5×T 1 .

3. The tape measure of claim 2 , wherein T 1 is between 0.1 mm and 0.13 mm, and T 2 +T 3 is between 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm.

4. The tape measure of claim 1 , wherein T 2 and T 3 are the maximum thickness of the upper and lower reinforcement layers.

5. The tape measure of claim 1 , wherein the elongate blade has a pinch load threshold of less than 50 lbs.

6. The tape measure of claim 1 , wherein the elongate blade has a pinch load threshold of less than 35 lbs.

7. The tape measure of claim 1 , wherein the retraction mechanism comprises a spring coupled to the reel such that when the elongate blade is unwound from the reel to extend from the housing the spring stores energy and the spring releases energy driving rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel.

8. A tape measure comprising:

a housing;

a reel rotatably mounted within the housing;

an elongate blade wound around the reel, the elongate blade comprising:

an elongate metal core comprising:

an upper surface;

a lower surface; and

a first thickness measured between the upper surface and the lower surface;

a polymer reinforcement layer coupled to at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the elongate metal core, the polymer reinforcement layer having a polymer reinforcement layer thickness;

a series of measurement markings; and

a total elongate blade thickness is defined as the combination of the first thickness and the polymer reinforcement layer thickness, wherein a ratio of the total elongate blade thickness to the first thickness is greater than or equal to 2; and

a retraction mechanism coupled to the reel and configured to driving rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel.

9. The tape measure of claim 8 , wherein the ratio of the total elongate blade thickness to the first thickness is between 2.5 and 4.

10. The tape measure of claim 8 , wherein the total elongate blade thickness is between 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm.

11. The tape measure of claim 8 , wherein the polymer reinforcement layer comprises an upper portion coupled to the upper surface of the elongate blade and a lower portion coupled to the lower surface of the elongate blade.

12. The tape measure of claim 11 , wherein the upper portion of the polymer reinforcement layer extends along at least 6 ft. of a length of the elongate metal core, and wherein the lower portion of the polymer reinforcement layer extends along at least 6 ft. of the length of the elongate metal core.

13. The tape measure of claim 11 , wherein the upper portion of the polymer reinforcement layer and the lower portion of the polymer reinforcement layer extend along an entire length of the elongate metal core.

14. The tape measure of claim 8 , wherein the polymer reinforcement layer is formed from a sheet of polymer material and bonded to at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the elongate metal core by an adhesive material.

15. The tape measure of claim 14 , wherein the sheet of polymer material is formed from a thermoplastic material and the adhesive material is at least one of an acrylic adhesive and a polyester thermoset adhesive.

16. A tape measure comprising:

a housing;

a reel rotatably mounted within the housing;

an elongate blade wound around the reel comprising:

an elongate metal core having an upper surface, a lower surface and a metal thickness measured between the upper surface and the lower surface;

a polymer reinforcement layer coupled to at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the elongate metal core and extending contiguously lengthwise along a length of the elongate metal core, the polymer reinforcement layer having a polymer reinforcement layer thickness;

an ink layer located between the elongate metal core and the polymer reinforcement layer, the ink layer forming a series of measurement markings;

wherein the elongate blade has a pinch load threshold of greater than 30 lbs and of less than 50 lbs;

a retraction mechanism coupled to the reel and configured to driving rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel; and

a hook assembly coupled to an outer end of the elongate blade.

17. The tape measure of claim 16 , wherein the polymer reinforcement layer thickness is greater than the metal thickness.

18. The tape measure of claim 16 , wherein the length of the elongate metal core is at least 6 ft.

19. The tape measure of claim 16 , wherein the polymer reinforcement layer thickness is an average thickness averaged along the length of the polymer reinforcement layer.

20. The tape measure of claim 16 , wherein the retraction mechanism comprises two or more spiral springs coupled to the reel such that when the elongate blade is unwound from the reel to extend from the housing the spiral springs store energy and the spiral springs release energy driving rewinding of the elongate blade on to the reel.