NZ284073A - Windlass with rope wound only once - Google Patents

Description

New Zealand No. 284073 International No. PCT/EP95/01338 TO BE ENTERED AFTER ACCEPTANCE AND PUBLICATION Priority dates: 19.04.1994; Complete Specification Filed: 04.04.1995 Classification:^ B66D1/74 Publication date: 28 July 1998 Journal No.: 1430 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Title of Invention: Windlass Name, address and nationality of applicant(s) as in international application form: HASE, ANKE, a German citizen of Ginsterweg 8, D-22880 Wedel/holstein, Germany 1 28 4 0 7: WINCHES The invention relates to a device for gripping and tensioning ropes, cables and lines, particularly in sheet-winches, hoisting winches or windlasses, in tackles or pulley blocks by means of permanently or operationally interconnected coniform discs which can be actuated by motor or by hand via a crank or a tackle line and which exhibit surface contours producing sufficient retention force with only a single loop of the means of traction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Such a device is known from DE 26 02 629 C3 and DE 25 52 436 C2. In these winch embodiments the traction means, namely the ropes, cables or lines, are gripped by self-induced friction between coniform discs or by arrest of the traction means, in order to ensure sufficient frictional force even with high loads if necessary, with a multiple winding round the drum as in DE 27 40 090 C2.

Other devices for retaining, drawing in or letting out cables of infinite or average length without winding the rope onto a drum are known wherein means are provided to enable pulling the rope in both directions irrespective of its length. For this, a roller with a groove is provided in which, through self-actuation, the rope is gripped by movable cheeks, with the result that it becomes possible to draw in or let out any length of the 20 rope. However, these cheeks make rapid looping of the tensioning means difficult, and moreover the forces applied by one cheek are not always sufficient to arrest the rope adequately in the tensioning device. As a result of the relatively large tractive forces acting on the tensioning means the cheek is also subject to large pulling forces.

Furthermore, all profile designs known so far have the disadvantage that they are based 25 on the principle of friction and do not grip reliably with a single loop, making additional loops to increase friction necessary which in turn unfavourably increases the overall height of the winch as is the case in DE 27 40 090 C2, or they effect considerable scuffing on the rope surface as in the profiles described in DE-GM 75 00 571.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1998 RECEIVED 284 0 7 3 The objective of the present invention is to improve the device stated at the beginning to such an extent that a reliable clamping effect of the coniform discs is attained by a rope laid over in a single loop without resulting in an abrasive or destructive effect on the rope even with loads of 10 kN or more, that looping of the traction means is made possible 5 with only one hand and in a locking manner without danger of overrun so that for the subsequent manual tensioning by means of a crank or tackle line, both hands can be used, that releasing (slackening) can take place quickly and with one hand, that hauling and slackening under heavy loads is made possible by means of a force augmenting screw thread, and that weight and overall height can be reduced considerably (up to 10 around 50%).

These objectives are addressed by the features characterized in claim 1.

The design according to the invention is such that the profiles of the coniform discs are so fashioned that the retention force is primarily produced by clamping and not by frictional tightening as in the embodiments known so far. Here, the surface contours are 15 designed such that a longitudinal deformation of the lines and thus a volume swelling takes place through the conical inwardly narrowing waves when the lines make contact. By displacement of the upper to the lower wave profile the overall volume swelling of the line is forced into the trough of the wave opposite. According to the invention the wave is so designed that the flank of the profile in the direction of pull is steeper than in the 20 runoff direction in order to prevent pulling the rope through. On the other hand, the steepness of the pulling wave flank and the rounding of the wave crests is fashioned in such a way that no notch effect occurs to damage the rope or its sheathing. In this way, a substantial improvement of the clamping action is achieved without wear destroying the rope. Webbing and ribbing are also to be understood as waves.

In order to augment the clamping action by an inwardly disposed component, the profile may be set in curved or straight lines in the pull direction.

An arm, a peg or a roller for securing the loop, is fitted with its longitudinal axis parallel to the rotational axis of the drum on the base on which the rope drum or the coniform discs are rotatably arranged, and advantageously prevents an unintentional pull on the 30 loose end of the traction means (line or sheet) whereby the traction means would be pulled out of the clamping groove. Further, this guide peg or roller serves to fix a minimal winding round the drum or the groove of the coniform discs. 9976VCS.498 intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1993 RECEIVED 28 4 0 7 3 According to the invention this roller is to be arranged on a spring held lever moveable in the radial direction.

It may also be meaningful to arrange this peg, spring mounted in the rotative pull direction, in the looping direction in order to achieve maximal possible looping on the 5 one hand, and on the other hand to minimize the looping by resetting the peg against the spring pressure and thus make the release (slackening) of the traction means possible.

If a guide-deflector, also parallel to the rotational axis, is attached to the base then so-called over-runners which occur if the free or loose end of the line is pulled under the 10 hauling (tensioned) line and thus pinched in, can be effectively prevented. The peg or roller and the guide-deflector are preferably positioned at around the same distance from the longitudinal drum axis. They may also be combined in a single element.

According to a further embodiment of the invention the guide-deflector possesses a finger or wedge-shaped arm projecting into the wedge-shaped groove between the 15 coniform discs but at a distance from them.

The distance to the trough of the groove should correspond to a maximum of the thickness of the rope or cable to be tensioned. Precautions are taken in this way against a multiple looping of the drum and dangerous over-runners are thus prevented.

The device is moreover equipped with a step-down gear and a preceding conical disk 20 braking mechanism and with a ratchet clutch which can be deactivated for direct drive of the rope drum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings; wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to the invention with an inserted 25 rope, Fig. 1a. is a view from the pull direction of the rope, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device according to Fig. 1, 9976VCS.49S intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1998 RECEIVED 284073 Fig. 3, 3a and 3b are three different views with alternative profile designs of an upper and lower coniform disc with staggered contouring, Figs. 4a to 4c are three different views of a lower coniform disc with alternative contour 5 designs, Fig. 5 is a simple diagrammatic representation of a further contour design, Figs. 6a to 6c are diagrammatic sectional representations of the contour shaping at points P1, P2 and P3 in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a sectional representation of a further embodiment form of the device, Fig. 8 is a detailed representation of Fig. 7, Figs. 9 to 12 are sectional representations along the lines of intersection A-A, B-B and C-C in Fig. 7, and Fig. 13 is two views of an application according to the invention which show a long tackle block of a main sheet block and tackle with a clamping roller 201 15 according to the invention and a spring mounted looping pin 202.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The winch 100 represented in Fig. 1 is generally known from DE26 02 629C3. On a base 10 a rotatable drum 11 is known which comprises of two coniform discs 111, 112 rotatable on bearings, and into the groove of which a rope 110 can be laid. The drum 11 20 possesses a drive head 12 with a recess 13 into which a ratchet crank not shown in the drawing can be inserted.

If the ratchet crank is turned in the direction of the arrow 14, the drum is moved with it by means of carrier elements provided for the purpose, and during which the drum is blocked in the opposite rotational direction. Preferably, a ratchet mechanism can be 25 used which, depending on crank rotation, frees the desired direction but blocks the opposite direction on letting go of the crank, and vice versa.

Mounted on the base 10 parallel to the rotational axis of the drum 11 and at a short distance from the wedge-shaped groove of the coniform discs are 9976VCS .498 dNTTOTWdllWFYaOFFICE of n.z. 0 9 APR 1993 ^ RECEIVED | 284 0 7 3 peg 15 as well as a guide-deflector 16. The latter possesses a wedge-shaped protuberance 17 projecting into the wedge-shaped groove 18 between the coniform discs 111 and 112 but at a distance from the wedge-shaped groove trough 18a. The distance should be less than the thickness of the rope or cable 110 to be tensioned.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the drum 11 comprises an upper coniform disc 111 and a lower coniform disc 112 centered by a sieeve 113 which enables adjustment to different rope diameters by changes in its height, and which are joined by screws 19, and are arranged rotatable relative to the base 10. The rotatable bearings are known according to the state of the art so that no further details need be gone into on the subject. In Fig. 10 2, the looping pin (peg) 15 is shown offset in the plane of the drawing for illustration purposes.

The upper coniform disc 111 shown in Figs. 3a and 3b possesses straight-line or curved contours consisting of radially arranged waves on its inner side 111a. The pitch t of these corresponds to about a half to a full rope thickness, and their contours are 15 staggered by Vz t pitch relative to the lower coniform disc 112.

The contour crests are directed inwardly as in 111a, c, d in such a way that the pitches of the upper relative to those of the lower are staggered by a Vz pitch relative to each other. The angle alpha of the coniform disc contours can be adapted to the type of rope.

Four screws 19 pass through drill holes 20 in the sleeve 113 and are screwed into 20 correspondingly tapped pocket drillings 22 for fastening purposes.

The lower coniform disc 112 shown in Figs. 4a-c possesses drill holes 23 through which the screws 19 pass, as well as a central bore 24 corresponding to a bore 25 in the upper coniform disc 111, for accommodating the drive head 12 or a sleeve shaft to ensure the rotatability of the drum 11 relative to the base 10.

The contours 112a, c, d of the lower coniform disc match 111a, c, d with regard to the profile run and orientation of the contours under the condition that they are negatively correlated for bilaterally effective winches. This means that the contours located on the lower of two discs 111 and 112 set on top of each other exhibit an anti-clockwise progression and the contours of those located on the upper disc clockwise. Guidance of the rope relative to the trough of the groove 18a in the rotational direction is ensured on the one hand by the contouring 111a, c or 112a, c, whereas the rep^$§L^)ffiMiW0EI?l'¥ OFFICE OF N.z. 0 9 APR 1998 9976VCS.498 RECEIVED 284 C 7 3 the opposite side increases the frictional effect of the inserted traction means. The pull direction is designated here by Z. The groove trough 18a is formed by a cylindrical sleeve which centers both coniform discs and by means of which the distance adjustment for different rope sizes is effected.

The contouring shown in Figs. 5 and 6a-c is intended to show that the retention force of the coniform disks is effected by a positively engaging profile which is so designed that on the one hand it generates the required retention, and on the other hand, that the ropes, cables or lines are not worn-out, or braided sheathing overstressed or torn.

The design of the contours is such as can be particularly recognized from Figs. 6a 10 through 6c. The trough radius R of the drum contours in the circle of contact with the rope, cable or line corresponds to the radius of the rope, cable or line and is equivalent to or smaller than this. The crest radius r of the contour on the contact diameter is greater than 1.5 mm and less than 3 mm (1 5 mm < r < 3 mm).

The angle of the contour set against the pull direction is from 35° to 45°, depending on 15 the application, and the center line M of the contour runs through the center of the drum or is tangent to a circle of diameter d which is smaller than the outside diameter D of the drum.

In the most preferred form the contours of the upper coniform disc are arranged in the opposite i.e. mirror image direction to the contours of the lower coniform disc.

It is intended that the height H of the contours be at least 2 mm and maximally 3 mm, and that the flank angle alpha of the contour in the pull direction be steeper than on the opposite side (flank angle beta) of the contour. The upper surface of the contour is provided with a case hardened layer to reduce wear.

In Figs. 7 through 12, the winch 200 is represented as a further embodiment. A bearing 25 flange 32 is bolted onto a base 31. A lever 26 is radially loaded by a spring 28 mounted on a bearing 29 in the base 31. The lever 26 is provided with a roller 27 mounted on bearings, and a finger-shaped protuberance 30. The design is such that the roller 27 can deviate from the looping direction by pulling on the issuing line and the loop so far diminished that the cable , rope or line can slide off over the profile. A lower part 33 of 30 the drum is rotatably supported on the base 31, and is connected the drum by means of screws 35. With a locally rotating crank tf 9976VCS.498 e drive of Ifie'winch 0 9 APR 1998 RECEIVED 1 28 4 0 7 3 drum can be coupled directly with the drum via the crank socket 36 and the drum ratchets 37 (Section A-A). In this process the locking ring brake which comprises a brake conical surface 36a, a locking brake ring 39 and gear shaft 38 opens such that the ratchets 40 (Section B-B) can grip, but the locking brake ring 39 can rotate freely. The 5 gear ratchets 42 cannot grip and the gear shaft 36 turns freely in the central pinion 43. The planet set of gears driven by the drum gearing 33a and comprising a central pinion 43, intermediate wheels 44 and planet wheels 45, overhauls the direct coupling and simply turns freely. If the pulling load in the rope increases to such an extent that the 1:1 drive is no longer sufficient and the crank movement is discontinued, then the drum (33 10 and 34) is pulled back so far by the pulling rope until the gear ratchets 42 take effect in the central pinion 43. The central pinion 43 is coupled to the gear shaft 38 which now screws into the crank socket 36 (driven threaded sleeve) with its left-hand thread 38a, clamping the locking brake ring 39 and carrying it through with left-hand rotation until the ratchets 40 take hold in the locking brake ring 39. The winch is blocked by this and the 15 pulling force restrained. If the actuation crank and thus the crank socket is rotated to the left, then the ratchets 37 cannot take effect, the left-hand thread of the crank socket 36 clamps the locking brake ring 39 against the thread of the drive shaft, the ratchets 40 of which skip over on further anti-clockwise rotation, the ratchets 42 take effect such that the planet gearing can start working, and the rope drum 33 is rotated further via its 20 internal gearing 33a in a clockwise direction in reduced drive with increased force.

A switching disc 46 with a readily gripped knurled profile 46a and a detent pin 47 rests on bearings in the upper part of the drum. Press fitted into the switching disc is a switch ring 48 with latching grooves 48a and ratchet windows 48b. In the drum upper part 34 is located a detent pocket 49 which restricts the switching operation of the switching disc 25 46 via the detent pin 47. Also located in a pocket 50 machined in the upper part of the drum is a ball latching element 51 which locks into the latching grooves 48a of the latch ring 48 and holds the switching disc in the set position.

The object of the switching disc is to lift the ratchets 37 out of their effective position by anti-clockwise rotation and thus induce operation only with a reduced gear ratio, in this 30 way, because of the coniform disc braking mechanism described, forwards and backwards operation of the winch is made possible which permits finely adjusted tensioning (hauling) and releasing (slackening) of the lines. Here, the tensioning of the lines takes place in the manner described above. On easing in artLiateri operation the switching disc 46 is first of all turned anti-clockwise until the detent p 9976VCS.49S hWaSWSBH0™' 0 9 APR I998 RECEIVED 2 8 4 073 by means of which the ratchets 37 are deprived of their function by the switch ring 48. The drum is braked in the manner described above. If a slackening is now to be performed, the drive crank is rotated in a clockwise direction by means of which the brake is deactivated by canceling the clamping between crank socket and drive shaft 38 5 and the locking brake ring 39 released.

In Fig. 13 in order to illustrate an application of the invention a long tackle block 200 is shown as a side view and a section. Here the clamping roller is labeled 201 and the looping pin 202. The looping pin 202 is mounted on a spring loaded mounting (shown by chain lines in Fig. 13) which is biased in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 13. By 10 pulling on an issuing cable, rope or line (shown issuing to the left in Fig. 13), the looping pin 202 can be moved against a biasing force of the spring in a direction opposite to the looping direction (opposite to the direction of the arrow in Fig. 13), so that the loop is reduced to the extent that the cable, rope or line can slide off over the profile of the clamping roller 201. intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1998 9976VCS .498 RECEIVED

Claims (25)

-9- 284 0 7 What is claimed is:

1. Device for gripping and tensioning ropes, cables and lines, particularly as sheet-winches, hoisting winches or windlasses, in tackles or pulley blocks by means of permanently or operationally interconnected upper and lower coniform discs which constitute a drum and which can be actuated by motor or by hand via a crank or a tackle line and which exhibit surface contours producing sufficient retention force with only a single loop of the means of traction, characterized in that the surface contours comprise inwardly directed radial waves shaped as straight lines or curves whereby a retention force of the coniform discs on the rope, the cable or the line is effected by a positively engaging profile which generates the necessary retention force, and that the ropes, cables or lines are not worn-out, or braided sheathing overstressed or torn.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a trough radius of the drum contours on the contact diameter with the ropes, cables or lines is equivalent to the radius of these or smaller thar; this.

3. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a flank angle of the contour set against the pull direction is from 35° to 45° depending on the application case.

4. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a flank angle (beta) of the contour on an output side is irom 35° to 45°.

5. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a center line of the contour runs through the center of the drum or is tangential to a circle of the drum.

6. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 5, 9976VCS .498 intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1998 RECEIVED -10- 284 0 73 characterized in that the contours of the upper coniform disc are arranged in the opposite i.e. mirror image direction of the contours of the lower.

7. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a height of the contours is at least 2 mm and maximally 3 mm.

8. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a surface of the contours is provided with a case hardened layer to reduce wear.

9. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a wave profile of the upper disc is staggered by Vfe a pitch relative to the wave profile of the lower disc.

10. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that contouring of the upper coniform disc is modeled in the opposite direction to the contouring of the lower coniform disc.

11. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 10, characterized in that adjustment of the clamping effect on the means of traction is implemented by changing the height of a sleeve disposed between the upper and lower discs.

12. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 11, characterized in that at a distance from the drum formed by the coniform discs and with a parallel longitudinal axis is arranged an arm, a peg or a spring loaded roller.

13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the roller is rotatatively spring loaded in the looping direction. 9976VCS.498 intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1998 RECEIVED -11- 28407 3

14. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 13, characterized in that at a distance from the drum formed by the coniform discs and with a parallel longitudinal axis is provided a guide-deflector.

15. Device according to claim 14 when dependant from claims 12 or 13 characterized in that the guide-deflector is arranged near to the peg or the roller, preferably at approximately the same distance from the drum longitudinal axis.

16. Device according to claim 15, characterized in that the guide-deflector and peg form a unit.

17. Device according to any of the claims 14 to 16, characterized in that the guide deflector exhibits a wedge-shaped or finger-shaped protuberance projecting into a wedge-shaped groove between the coniform discs but at a distance from these.

18. Device according to claim 17, characterized in that the distance to a trough of the groove maximally corresponds to the thickness of the cable or rope to be tensioned.

19. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 12, characterized in that outside the coniform discs a radially spring loaded lever is mounted on bearings in the base.

20. Device according to claim 19, characterized in that located on the lever is a roller mounted on bearings.

21. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 20, characterized in that 9976VCS.498 intellectual property office of n.z. 0 9 APR 1998 RECEIVED -12- 284073 outside the coniform discs is arranged a spring loaded axis on bearings eccentric to the center of the winch, and which is so designed that a roller running on it can deviate from the looping direction by pulling on the issuing line and the loop so far diminished that cable, rope or line can slide off over the profile.

22. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 21, characterized in that a gear coupling consists of a driven threaded sleeve, a locking ring and a clamp spindle, in which the threaded sleeve and the clamp spindle bear a left-hand thread for a clockwise-driven winch and vice versa.

23. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 22, characterized in that a clamp ring as a locking brake ring in clamped condition only allows one rotational direction.

24. Device according to any of the claims 1 to 23 characterized in that ratchets for the direct drive of the drum can be switched on by a switching disk.

25. Device for gripping and tensioning ropes, cables and lines, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. END of claims James U Piper ! Attorneys Fort HASE, Anke intellectual prof OF N.Z, 9976VCS.498 o 9 APR I998 RECEIVED