Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~2~
PORTABLE POWER DRIVEN WINCH
Backg~ound of the Invention
The pre~ent invention relates to power driven
winches, and particularly to a light, portable winch
driven by a small internal combu~tion engine.
It is well known to provide winches driven by
electric motor3 powered by the electrical system of
motor vehicle~, and to have ~uch winches equipped with
mechanical devices for ensuring that cable i3 wound
Rmoothly on the spool of such a winch. Such previously-
known winches, however, have not been particularly u~e-
ful in situations ~uch as handling of small 1098 and
similar obiects which might be encountered by people
cutting firewood in area~ not ea~ily reach~d by motor
vehicles, and in moving objects which are not ea~ily
moved by hand but are not 90 heavy as to require the use
of large powered equipment. While some winche~ of the
size of a ~qmall wheelbarrow have been previously avail-
able, even ~uch a winch i8 unsuitably large for use insome remote locations.
Provision should be made in a winch, even a
~mall portable winch, for ensuring that cable can be
wound smoothly upon the spool of the winch, in order to
avoid burying turns of wire within previously wrapped
turn~ of wire on the winch spool, because such burying
of cable within previou~ly wound turns may reYult in
damage to the cable which would weaken it, making it
un~afe for future use.
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A winch need~ an ea~ily operable brake to help
hold a load at a de~ired height when the motor i~ not
actually winding cable inward, and it should be poR~ible
to lower a load a~ well aA rai~e it, for a powered winch
to be mo t practical.
Recently, winche~ have been made available
which are adapted for being driven by a chainqaw engine~
Such adaptations, however, have lacked certain desirable
feature~, ~uch as the ability to control both inhauling
operation and lowering of a load conveniently. Addi-
tionally, in ~ituationq where a ~mall portable winch may
be needed, as in hauling wood a~ it i8 being cut into
firewood, it would be extremely inconvenient to have to
use a chainsaw motor to drive quch a winch, ~ince that
u~e would make the chainsaw unavailable. Furthermoret
while some chain~aws are equipped with brake~ to stop
rotation of the qaw chain when the throttle i9 relea~ed,
~uch a brake i~ not particularly well adapted to holding
a load suspended by a winch driven by the chainsaw
engine. A chainsaw i9 designed, finally, to be balanced
when equipped with the normal chainsaw bar and chain,
and mounting of an adapted winch to be driven by ~uch a
chain~aw'q engine does not result in a balanced, easily
handled power-driven winch.
What is needed therefore, is an improved
power-driven portable winch which i~ light, well
balanced, and includes for the ~ake of ~afety, a brake
which can be used for controllably allowing cable to be
unwound, control devices for the brake and to control
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the speed of operation of the winch, and provision for
smoothly winding cable upon the cable spool or drum in
order to avoid damage to the cable and avoid difficulty
in unwinding the cable~
Summary of the Invention
The present invention overcomes some of the
shortcoming3 of the prior art and provides a lightweight,
powerful, and easily portable power driven winch which
is safe and easy to operate. In ~ccordance with the
pre~ent invention a small, lightweight gaqoline engine
is attached on one side of a reduction gear housing,
while a cable spool is mounted on a frame extending from
the other side of the reduction gearcase. Within the
reduction gear housing a centrifugal clutch controls
application of the engine' power to drive the winch
spool to wind cable upon the spool. A positively
engaging clutch permits the reduction gear set to be
disconnected from a sprocket drive shaft, allowing the
cable spool to free-wheel so that cable may be unwound
from it. An easily adjustable brake is provided to
control rotation of the winch spool both while the posi-
tive clutch i~ engaged and while it i8 disengaged, so
that the winch may be uAed to controllably lower a load
with the engine running but the centrifugal clutch dis-
engaged. A bridle consisting of a pair of equal arms
joined to a Ringle anchor line is attached to ears pro-
vided on opposite end~ of the frame portion of the winch,
so that the winch spool's axis of rotation normally
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remainc perpendicular to the direction toward which the
cable is extending. The operator can exert qlight
~idewards pres~ure to control the angle between the
cable and the spool preci~ely to smoothly wrap the cable
on the spool so that the cable will not bend excessively
and be weakened by the cable as a result of eneven
winding.
It is a principal feature of the present
invention that it includes an adjustable lever-operated
brake for controlling the rotation of the spool on which
cable i~ wound.
It is another important feature of the present
invention that it includes both a positive engagement
clutch permitting the cable spool to be connected po~i-
tively ol di~connected from a reduction gear ~et, and a
centrifugally operated clutch which connects the engine
of the winch to the input side of the reduction gear 3et
when the engine is operated at or above a predetermined
speed .
It is a further feature of the present inven-
tion that it includes a bridle arrangement and a pair of
handles attached to the reduction gear houslng of the
winch to enable an operator of the winch to control
wrapping of the cable on the winch ~pool in such a way
as to avoid damage to the cable.
It is a principal feature of the preqent
invention that it provides a winch which is smaller,
lighter and yet as powerful and capable aq previously
available portable winches.
~s~
It is another feature of the present invention
that it provides a power-driven winch which is simpler
to operate than previously available power-driven
winches.
The foregoing and other objectives, features
and advantages of the pre~ent invention will be more
readily understood upon consideration of the following
detailed description of the inven~ion taken in conjunc-
tion with the accompanying drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable
winch embodying the pre~ent invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially cut-away left end eleva-
tional view of the winch shown in FIG. 1, without its
engine.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the reduction
qear as~emby and a portion of the gearcase of the winch
shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 i~ a detail view taken from the right
end and showinq the adjuqtable brake mechanism of the
winch qhown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 i~ a sectional view of a portion of the
brake mechani~m shown in FIG. 4, taken along line 5-5.
FIG. 6 is a per3pective view from the left
front, showing the portable winch of FIG. 1 in use.
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65~7
Detailed Description of the Drawin~s
Referring now to the drawings in FIG. 1, an
exemplary portable winch 10 is seen to include a small
gasoline engine 12 attached to a reduction gear housing
or caqe 14. Mounted on the reduction gear housing 14
are a pair of handles, an upper handle 16, which extends
horizontally above the engine 12, and a rear handle 18,
which extends horizontally rearward from the gearcase
14. Preferably, the engine 12 is a light-weight, two-
cycle gasoline engine such a3 the Model TC200 or TC300
engines manufactured by the Tecumseh Products Co. of
Grafton, Wisconqin, which develop, respectively, 1.6 and
2.4 horsepower.
A frame 20 supports a cable spool 22 in appro-
priate bearings, and a cable 24 is wound upon the spool22. The frame 20 includes a downwardly-extending foot
26 located at the righthand or outer end of the frame,
and a similar foot 26 (FIG. 2) is pro~ided on the reduc-
tion gear housing 44, to support the winch 10 on the
ground in an upright attitude. In one embodiment of
the winch 10, the entire winch is about 16 inches long,
including the engine 12, gearcase 14 and frame 20, and
weighs only 21 pound3.
The cable 24 extends generally perpendicularly
away from the spool 22 in the direction in which tension
is to be applied, pas~ing between a pair of horizontal
parallel guide bars 28 which are located one above the
other. Ample room i3 provided between the guide bars 28
for the cable to pa~s between them without binding, yet
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there are clo~e enough together to provide some ~traight-
ening and guiding effect, with the 3pace between the
guide bars 28 being located at approximately the height
at which the cable 24 i~ tangent to the top of the spool
22 or cable wound thereon. A flange 30 (FIG. 6) i~
located at the outer end of the spool 22, while a
sprocket 32 which drive~ the qpool, a3 will be explained
presently, act3 as a flange on the inner end of the
~pool 22, the end which iq closer to the engine 12.
A pair of ears 34 extend rearwardly from the
frame 20 at the height of the central axi~ of the spool
22, and a bridle having a pair of legs 36 and 38 is
attached to the winc~ 10 by fa3tening the leg 36 to one
of the ear~ 34 and the leg 38 to the other of the ears
15 34 by a shackle or other suitable fa3tener. The legs 36
and 38 are fastened together preferably by a 3waged
fa~tener and an anchor line 40 extends further, to be
attached to a suitable anchor during operation of the
winch 10.
Referring now also to FIG. 2, a throttle
control lever 42 i9 mounted pivotably on a pivot pin
such as the screw 44 extending into the gearcase 14,
parallel with the upper handle 16. A finger contact bar
46 extend~ parallel with the upper handle 16 and is
located a slight distance, for example 1-1/2 inches,
below the upper handle 16, where it may be gra~ped by
the left index finger of a per30n operating the winch
10. A crank arm 48 extends downwardly from the screw
44, and the core of a flexible throttle control cable 50
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55~
i~ connected with the crank arm 48, ~o that raising the
finger contact bar 46 toward the upper handle 16 pullq
the core of the cable 50 and opens the throttle of the
engine 12 to increase it~ operatinq speed. A ~prinq
(not shown) i~ associated with the cable 50 to urge the
control lever 42 in a clockwi~e direction as ~een in
FIG. 2, thus ordinarily clo~inq the throttle of the
engine 12 to a predetermined minimum openinq which pref-
erably will allow the enqine to run at idle speed. The
location of the finqer contact bar 45 below the upper
handle 16 protect~ the throttle control lever and finger
contact bar 46 from lnadvertently being moved, a~ by
contact with brush or branches while the winch lO i~
beinq carried in wooded areas. Nevertheles3, the finger
contact bar 46 is conveniently within reach of the
fingers of the operator'~ left hand ~o that the operator
can ea~ily control the ~peed of the engine 12 during
operation of the winch lO.
As may be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the engine 12
i~ connected through a centrifugal clutch having a
clutch cup 52 located rotatably on a shaft mounted in
the gearcase 14, with a drive pinion 54 attached to the
output, or right, side of the clutch cup 52. The dr~ve
pinion 54 engages the larger gear 56 of a gear cluster
whose smaller gear 58 is, in turn, meshed with a final
driven gear 60 mounted rotatably on a final drive
sprocket shaft 62. A ~tationary half 64 of a positive
drive clutch is fixedly attached to the final driven
gear 60, and a positive drive clutch sliding half 66 is
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slidably mounted on the drive ~procket shaft 62 so that
it is ~lidable axially along the drive qprocket shaft
62. A key 68 i~ mounted in a ~lot in the ~haft 62 and
extends within a keyway within the clutch sliding half
66. A qroove 70 is machined preferably diametrically
across the stationary half 64 of the positive drive
clutch, and corresponding dog~ 72 are provided on a
mating face of the sliding half 66.
An annular groove 74 i~ provided in the cir-
cumferential qurface of the sliding half 66, and a
slider fork 76 has a pair of arms matingly engaged in
the annular groove 74 to control it~ position axially
along the final drive sprocket shaft 60. The slider
fork 76 is carried on an axially movable clutch
operating rod 78 which extends parallel with the drive
shaft 60 and to the outside of the gearcase 14 through
an opening provided therefore in the gearcase 14. A
helical spring 80 is disposed about the clutch operating
rod 78, biasing it away from the engine 12 and thus by
means of the slider fork 76 urging the ~liding half 66
of the po~itive drive clutch along the final drive
sprocket shaft 62, bringing the lug~ 72 into engagement
with the groove 70 of the stationary half 64 of the
positive drive clutch, so that the sprocket shaft 62
will be driven by the final driven gear 60. A shift
lever 82 iq pivotably attached to an outer end of the
clutch operating rod 78 by a pivot pin 84 which i~
located further from an inner end 86 of the shift lever
82 than from an inner side 88 of the shift lever 82.
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S~6:97
The inner end 86 and the inner side 88 both include
generally planar surface~ which can lie flat against the
outside of the gearcase 14. Thus, when the shift lever
82 is moved to extend outward and to be generally par-
allel with the clutch operating rod 78, the inner end 86goe~ to lie flat against the outer ~urface of the gear-
case 14, and the slider fork 76 is moved leftward by the
clutch operating rod 78, sliding along the final drive
~procket shaft 62 and di~engaging the dogs 72 from the
groove 70 so that the sprocket ~haft 62 may rotate
freely within the hub of the final driven gear 60. When
the lever 82 i~ turned so that the inner ~ide 88 is ad-
jacent the out~ide of the gearcase 14 the spring 80
urges the clutch operating rod 78 and fork 76 toward the
fixed half 64, thus moving the sliding half 66 of the
clutch and urging the lugs 72 toward the groove 70, 90
that the positive drive clutch will become engaged as
soon as the clutch halves have rotated relative to one
another to the proper position of alignment. In either
position of the lever 82, the spring 80, acting on the
clutch operating rod 78, holds the lever 82 against the
outside of the gearcase 14, preventing accidental engage-
ment or disengagement of the po~itive drive clutch.
Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, a sprocket 90 is
mounted on the sprocket shaft 62. A roller chain 92 is
fitted around the sprocket 90 and the sprocket 32 50
that rotation of the ~pocket shaft 62 drives the spool
22 and vice versa. A brake drum 94 is also fixedly
mounted on the ~procket shaft 62. A strap 96 of metal,
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to which a brake lining 98 i~ bonded, is attached pivot-
ably by one end to a brake anchor pi.n 100 extendin~
from the gearcase 14. The other end of the strap 96
carries a threaded rod 102 attached fixedly thereto as
by welding~ The threaded rod 102 extends through a hole
provided through a crosspin 104 carried pivotably in a
pair of arms 106 of a brake application lever 108, which
is pivotably mounted on a pivot pin liO extending out-
ward from the gearcase 14. A brake adjustment nut 112
includes a knurled knob at its upper end and is thread-
edly fastened on the threaded rod 102 to ride against
the crosspin 104, so that downward movement of the brake
appli.cation lever 108 applies tension on the brake strap
96, pressing the brake lining 98 against the outer sur-
face of the brake drum 94. The brake application lever108, a~ may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, is located con-
veniently adjacent to the rearwardly extending handle
18, where it may be operated conveniently by the thumb
or a finger of the right hand of a person u3ing the
winch 10.
Preferably, the brake lining material i~
similar to the brake lining material.manufactured by
Scan-Pac, of Menomonee Falls, Wiscon3in, under the
designation 230AF.* This lining material i~ free from
asbestos for the sake of safety in operating the brake.
It i3 preferably bonded to the strap by an adhesive such
a~ Pla 3 tiloc 605-4,* a high-temperature brake lining
adhesive available from the B. F. Goodrich Company of
Akron, Ohio.
* trade-marks
.
~2Ç~
In operation, the anchorline 40, connected to
the bridle including the legs 36 and 38, i~ attached to
a fixed object, while an end of the cable 24 i9 attached
by conventional means to an object which i~ to be moved
using the winch 10. This i~ accompli3hed by first
moving the shift le~er 82 to the outwardly extending
position disengaging the positive drive clutch dog~ 72
from the groove 70, so that the spool 22 is free to
rotate under the torque applied by pulling the cable 24.
Pulling the cable 24 from the spool 22 thuq does not
involve any ri~k of accidental engagement of the centri-
fugal clutch which might cauqe injury by an unwanted
tightening of the cable 24 while 30meone is ~anipulating
it. Once the cable 24 has been attached to an object to
be moved, the shift lever 82 i3 rotated to its position
in which its inner side 88 is parallel with and in con-
tact with the outer surface of the reduction gearcase
14~ 80 that the spring 80 urges the ~lider fork 76
inward to engage the positive drive clutch dog3 72 in
the groove 70 when they are aligned with one another
upon first rotation of the sprocket ~haft 62 relative to
the final driven gear 60. With the engine 12 operating
at idle speed, the finger contact bar 46 of the throttle
control lever 42 i9 squeezed upwardly toward the upper
handle 16, opening the throttle of the engine 12 and
increasing its speed until the centrifugal clutch
attached to the crank shaft of the engine 12 engage~ the
centrifugal clutch cup 52. This in turn rotates the
attached drive pinion 54 which is meshed with the larger
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gear 56, in turn driving the ~maller gear 58 attached to
the larger gear 56, so that the smaller qear 58 drives
the final driven gear 60, rotating it until the dogs 72
engage the groove 700 The sliding half 66 then rotates
the sprocket drive shaft 62, thereby driving the ~pool
22, winding the cable 24 upon the spool 22.
Ordinarily, the bridle legs 36 and 38 maintain
the spool 22 oriented perpendicular to the line of pull
of the anchor line 40, and ordinarily this re~ults in
the axis of rotation of the spool 22 al80 being approx-
imately perpendicular to the cable 24, if the winch is
supported by the handles 16 and 18 with ten~ion in the
cable 24 and the anchorline 40. By qimply applying a
~light amount of ~idewards pre~ure, u~ing the handles
16 and 18, the winch 10 can be moved sidewards to the
appropriate position to cau~e the cable 24 to wrap
itself neatly upon the spool 22, with each additional
turn of cable lying neatly along side the previous turn
on the ~pool 22 to form smooth layers of cable turns
lying closely along~ide one another along the entire
length of the spool 22, so as to avoid subqequent turns
of cable from burying themselves in previou~ly wound
layer~ of cable on the spool 22. It is important to
avoid burying the cable, since such burying may result
in damaging the cable, weakening or breaking individual
strands of wire within the cable and thus making the
cable more likely to break under application of intended
loads.
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Preferably, the combination of the power of
the motor 12, the amount of reduction of ~peed of the
shafts and accompanying amplification of torque are
chosen ~Q that the centrifugal clutch will ~lip before
application of torque sufficient to break the cable 24
or the bridle, and before loadinq the engine 12 beyond
its designed output torque. For example, the overall
speed ratio between the engine 12 and the ~pool 20 may
be 85-l/3 to l.
When handling a su3pended load, the brake may
be applied by pressing the brake application lever 108
downward with the thumb of the right hand to tighten the
~trap 96, thus forcing the brake lining 98 against the
surface of the brake drum 94 to cause ~ufficient fric-
tion to resi~t the torque applied to the brake drum 94
by attempted rotation of the spool 22, tran~mitted
through the chain 92 and sprocket 90. The brake can
thu~ be used to ~uspend a load, or by manipulating the
amount of pres~ure applied on the brake application
lever 108 the brake may be u~ed to controlably lower
~uch a load, with the throttle control lever released to
permit the engine 12 to run at idle speed, thus dis-
engaging the centrifugal clutch to permit the spool 22
to rotate in a direction unwinding the cable 24.
The terms and expre~sions which have been
employed in the foregoing specification are used therein
as terms of description and not of limitat~on, and there
i~ no intention, in the uqe of such terms and expres-
sions, of excluding equivalent~ of the features shown
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and de~cribed or portion3 thereo~, it being recognized
that the scope of the invention is defined and limited
only by the claims which follow.
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