US1253541A - Winch mechanism for raising and lowering life-boats. - Google Patents

Description

E. L. Ni. SIVAHD. WINCH wlEcl-mmsm ron msm@ AND Low/Emma UFE BOATS. APPLICA'ON FILED MAR. l5 i915. ypg D Mtentel Jan. 15, P318.

2 SHEETS-SHEET ll E. L. IVI. SIVARD.

WINCH MECHANISIVI FOR RAISING AIIID LOWERING LIFE BOATS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15| 1915. L, mem@ m. I5, m8.

2 SHEETS-SHELL 2.

EINAR L. M. SVARD, OF AMITYVLLE, NEW 'tl WINCH MECHANSM FOE-/ RAISING AND LUWERNG LIFE-BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application :tiled March l5, 1915.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EINAR L. M. SWARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Amityville, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Winch Mechanism for Raising and Lowering Life- Boats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in winch mechanism for raising and lowering lifeboats.

By the use of my invention I am enabled quickly and with great facility, and without affecting the operative readiness or preparedness either of the lowering means or the manually-operable hoisting1 means, t0 hitch up to and make use of a steam winch or other rope-reeling power-driven device to hoist a lifeboat and furthermore am enabled, either in lowering or in raising a lifeboat, readily and quickly and at any desired point during the hoisting or lowering operation, to brake and retain stationary either one of the falls which are secured at opposite ends of the lifeboat, thus permitting the adjustment of the length of the falls secured to either end of the lifeboat, and enabling such lifeboat to be hoisted or lowered, or deposited either at the checks or in the water on an even keel or in a true horizontal position.

I will now describe my preferred embodiment of the invention and then point out the novel features in claims.

ln the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying my invention;

F ig. 2 is a top or plan view of the device illustrated in F ig. l, the lower portion of the mechanism being omitted for the purpose of clearness;

F ig. 3 is a sectional View of the brake drum and pawl mechanism therefor taken on the line A--A of Fig. 2; and

Fig. fl is a section on the line B-B of Fig. -1.

Referring now to these drawings, which illustrate al preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 indicates a drum-shaft suitably mounted in a supporting frame 12 which may be secured to' the ,deck of a vessel in any suitable manner, are drums .in-`

"fatented allan.. l5, littlt.,

Serial No. 14,532.

dependentlv mounted on said shaft to rotate freely thereon and carry ropes 26--262L wound on said drums in the same direction and Vadapted to be secured to the opposite ends of a lifeboat and to coperate with davits or like devices in the raising and lowering thereof. 3-3a indicate spur gears which are respectively xed in relation to the drums :9J-2a and may respectively, if desired, be formed integrally with said drums.

T he 4spur gears SL45 respectively mesh with pinions ibn, loose on the shaft 5, and mounted independent of each other. These pinions il-iln respectively have fixed in relation thereto or integrally cast therewith spur gears G-Gt and ratchet wheels 7--7a. A brake drum 8 also loose on the shaft 5 has an independent connection with each of the ratchet-wheels preferably by means of pawls 9h92* pivoted on opposite sides of the brake-drum and engaging indeiendently with the respective ratchet wheels rmi, said pawls being normally retained in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheels 7-7a by flat springs Yl0 or other suitable devices.

From the above it will be apparent that l: provide two independently mounted rope drums each of which is operatively and independently connected b v means of separate pawls and ratchet wheels with a common brake-drum 8 and this brake-drum may by any suitable mechanism be so controlled as to retain both the rope-drums in normally locked cr stationary position. As shown, l provide for this purpose, a brake band lll operatively connected to an actuating lever 15 which normally retains the brake band frictionally locked and in stationary position by means of a helical spring 1G connected to the lever at one end and to the frame 12 at the other end, a turn-buckle 1Ga preferably being inserted to regulate the tension of the spring 16. Obviously a lifting of lever 15 against the restraining action of the spring 16 or other suitable device will disengage the brake band from the brake drum and permit the same to rotate for the purpose of unreeling the ropes :2G-26a to lower a lifeboat or the like, and furthermore the releasing by the hand of the operator of the lever 15 will cause the immediate application of the brake to stop the unreeling and consequent lowering of the boat.

it is, however, frequently necessary or desrable t0 adjust the length of the falls one end or Vthe other of the boat, as for example when the ship is down by the head or the stern and it is desired to deposit the boat in the water on an even or level keel, or when under certain other conditions, it is desired to deposit the boat with the bow higher than the stern. F or this purpose, I provide a separate stop independent of the braking mechanism for each of the rope drums, so that either one of the said drums may, without affecting the action of the other, be locked against rotation. To accomplish this end, and to permit the drums to remain under the control of a common instantly-applicable brake drum, I provide means whereby the movements in one direction of the ratchet wheels 7 7 and connected mechanisms, which include the rope drums, are respectively independently or separately controlled by pawls 11-111 which are formed on the ends of levers 13-13 and which, as shown, are pivoted respectively at 11b and 11c to extensions 11d-11e respectively of the supporting frame 12. The respective levers 13--13a are provided with suitable operating handles and are normally retained in inoperative position or out of engagement with the respective ratchet-wheels 7-722 It is obvious that either one or the other of said pawls may be readily and quickly thrown into or out of engagement with its respective ratchet wheel for the purpose of stopping or locking independently of the brake drum the ratchet wheel and connected mechanisms which it is adapted to engage.

In order to provide my improved winch mechanism with means for readily and quickly bitching up the rope drums Vto a steam or electric winch without in any way affecting the preparedness or readiness of the lowering means or hand-operating devices and also to permit adjustment of the falls during hoisting, I provide what I shall term a driving drum 19 also loose on the shaft 1, preferably mounted outside the frame 12 carrying a rope 27 normally retained in reelcd up posltion on the drum and preferably terminating in an eye 28 which may be fastened to the drum in Vany suitable manner as by lashing to a cleat. Said drum 19 is operatively connected or geared with the rope drums 2-2-. Preferably said drum 19 has fixed in relation thereto or cast integrally therewith a. spur gear E20 which meshes with a pinion 21 which may be fast on the shaft 22, and if desired may be keyed thereto tohave sliding sidewise movement in order to permit the throwing of the same into and out of mesh with the gear 20. Also keyed to the shaft 22 and movable or sliding sidewise thereon are pinions 23-23 which respectively are adapted to be thrown into and out of mesh with the respective drum gears 3-3a by means of coupling levers 24--21-a, pivoted on the frame intermediate their ends as at 24h- 24% and having handles 21e-2LP at one of their ends and their other ends pivoted as at 24g 24J* to coupling boxes SO-SO formed integrallywith the respective pinions 2323 It will be seen, therefore, that I have provided means for permitting the driving of both rope drums QMQ simultaneously through the driving drum 19 and'for disengaging either one of said drums which when so disengaged will be controlled by and held stationary by the brake drum and that in this way the falls on said drums may be adjusted during hoisting. Y

The opposite ends of the shaft are also preferably fitted. with handles. Q5-25 to permit quick manual rotation of the drums for the purpose of recovering the falls in case power is not available and it is desired to employ the same for lowering a second boat. Gf course one or both of the actuating handles 25-25a may be employed to reel up the rope 27 on drum 19 after a boat has been hoisted thereby to place the device in readiness for the hoisting` of anotherboat.

F or this purpose the coupling levers may be moved to disengage the pinionsQS-ZBa from the spur gears 3-3 so as not to affect the rope-drums 2--2f In the arrai'igement here shown it is de sirable that the pinions 23-23@ should be disengaged from the gears 3MB respectively to permit independent locking by the pawls 11--113t of the rope drums 2 2 respectively and I thereforel preferably pron vide an interlocking engagement between the levers 13-131of the pawls 11-11a on the one hand and the coupling levers 9A-21a of the pinions on the other hand, whereby the actuation of the respective pawlV levers to their stopping positions will in the respective movements of such levers engage and preferably shift or throw out automatically lthe pinion actuated by the coupling lever so engage-d. cure such interlocking engagement by providing on the pinion coupling levers Qsl-QlaV projections 29-29" which respectively project into the path of movement of the levers 13--13a so that when `either lever is moved into operative pcsitionit will first engage the projectionlon the coupling le ver and move. the pinion out of engage ment with the spur gear with which it is meshed. For example, if the handle of the lever 13a be engaged and moved upwardly it will first strike the projection 29l and cause the coupling lever 24R to move the pinion 23 out of engagement with the spur gear 3a.

Inorder to hoist the lifeboats by hand, I provide pinions 16--16 fixed on short shafts 17-17i` mounted in the Vframe 12 and extending withont the same, which shafts are respectively ,fitted with handles 1&-182

I preferably proM tassen i described.

T he operation of the device is as follows:

To hoist the boat cranks 18-18l may be manipulated if desired, but with a large lifeboat this is an extremely slow process and under many conditions, such as during rescue Work at sea, is so slow that it may endanger life. Power for hoisting is, therefore, desirable. Owing to the cost and to some extent the added Weight of special electric motors and like devices for supplying power, it is desirable to employ for hoisting purposes the usual Winches, such as the cargo Winches, at present on board a ship, and I therefore preferably hitch up my driving drum to any such winch by .carrying the rope 27 therefrom over snitable snatclrbloclrs and fair-leads to such a steam or electric Winch, the eye 28 of said rope 27 being used for the purpose of attaching the same to a suitable rope adapted to be actuated. hy the Winch. Obviously When the Winch is operate-d the rope 27 will be unreeled from the drum 19, the boat falls Will be reeled up on the drums Z--Qfn and the boat will be hoisted.

Furthermore, the brake drum 8 will be in its normally locked or frictionally-gripping position during the hoisting of the boat so as to insure perfect safety daring this operation. In vievv of this normally locked condition of the brake drum it will be seen that either of the two rope drums may be safely disengaged from the action of the driving drum by actuation of either of the coupling levers 24e-24 and so soon as disengaged will remain stationary, thus permitting any adjustment to compensate for stretching of the falls, uneven ceiling of the rope or the like.

l/Vhen it is desired to lower a boat the coupling` levers should he shifted to disen gage the pinions 23-23a and the brake lever l5 raised whereupon both falls. which as above stated are positively controlled by the same brake drum, will be paid out at the same rate of speed. In order to stop the paying out of rope from both drums the brake lever is simply released bv the operator whereupon the spring will cause the brake to become operative and the drums will be automatically stopped. It is freauently, however, necessary or advisable toY pay out more rope on one drum than on the other in order to adjust the falls and in such event, for example, the lever 13 may be actu ated to engage the paivl 1l to the ratchet Wheel 7, in Which case the motion of the drum 2 Will be stopped While the drum 2a will continue to pay out the opposite fall. When the lifeboat has reached the desired position the lever 13 may be moved back to disengage the paivl ll and both falls will bo again paid out at the same rate of speed. Ubviously the paivl lla' will stop the drum 2, if desired, upon similar actuation. .ln case, however, the operator neglects to shift the coupling levers before starting to lower, the lowering operation may be continued Without interference until it desired to adjust by the actuation of the stopping pavvl levers. Such actuation will, because of the interengagement of these levers with the coupling levers, automatically shift the latter to permit adjustment. lt will, of course, be understood that the only effect of a fail.- ure to disengage one or the .other of the coupling levers will be to couple the rope drums together and thus prevent independent adjustment, the drums, however, always remaining under the control of the bralredrum.

Assuming that it is desired to handle more than one lifeboat by a single set of davits, it may be necessary to recover the tackles quickly after launching the first boat and as power may not be available in case of accident provision must be made for doing this worlr by hand, and for this purpose I provide on the opposite ends of shaft 22 handles Q-Qa.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. l/Vinch mechanism for raising and lowering lifeboats embodying therein tivo rope drums, ropes on said drums adapted to be connected at opposite ends of the lifeboat, a common braking mechanism for both' drums and means for independently eng-ag mg each rope drum to stop paying out of rope therefrom.

2. idf-inch mechanism for raising and j lowering lifeboats embodying therein two rope drums, a brake drum operatively con nected with and controlling said rope drums, controlling means for locking the brake drum against movement and permitting releasing thereof to permit the simultaneous unreeling of rope from both drums and means for locking either one of said drums against rotation independently of the other.

3. llllinch mechanism for raising and lowering lifeboats embodying therein tivo rope drums, a brake drum operatively connected with and controlling` said rope drums, controlling means for locking the brake drum against movement and permitting ree leasing thereof to permit the simultaneous unreeling of rope `from both drums, means for locking either one of said drums against rotation independently of the other. means for driving the rope drums to hoist the lifeboat and means for engaging or disengaging one of said drums with the driving means.

4. `Winch mechanism for raising and lowering lifeboats comprising tivo rope drums, ropes on said drums adapted to be Cil connected at opposite ends of the liieboat, a common brake drum for said two rope drums, means embodying separate ratchet wheels and pawls normally retained in engagement therewith for operatively and independently' connecting said rope drums with said brake drum, means for releasing the brake drum to permit simultaneous unreeling of rope on both drums and a pair of independently operable pawls normally retained in inoperative positions and adapted respectively to be moved to engage said ratchet wheels respectively to permit independent stopping of either one of the rope drums during lowering oi.' the boat.

5. Winch mechanism for raising and lowering lifeboats comprising two rope drums, ropes on said drums adapted to be connected at opposite ends of the lifeboat, a common brake drum for said two rope drums, means embodying separate ratchet wheels and pawls normally retained in engagement therewith for operatively and independently connecting said rope drums with said brake drum, means -for releasing the brake drum to permit simultaneous unreeling of rope on both drums, levers pivoted to the frame and a pair of independently operable pawls mounted on the ends oi said levers, said pawls being normally retained in disengaged positions and operating handles for swinging the respective pawls into engagement with the respective ratchet wheels to independently lock either one of the rope drums against movement, whereby the length of the falls at either end of a lifeboat may be adjusted during the lowering of the boat.

G. Winch mechanism embodying therein two rope drums, a separate rope on each ofV said rope drums, said ropes being wound up in a connnon direction and adapted to be attached to opposite ends oit a lifeboat, a driving drum having a rope thereon wound up in a direction opposite to the ropes on said two drums, the said driving-drum rope being normally retained on said drum in wound up position, whereby the unreeling of the normally wound up rope on the driving drum will cause the reeling up of 'the rope on the two rope drums first mentioned, a common braking mechanism 'for both drums and means for causing one of said drums to be1 driven or braked independently of the ot ier.

7. -Winch mechanism embodying therein two rope drums mounted independently of each other, ropes thereon wound up in a common direction and adapted to be attached to opposite ends of a lifeboat, braking means for both drums, a driving drum operatively connected with said rope drums and having rope thereon wound up in a direction opposite to the said twodrums, the said rope being normally retained on said drum in wound up position, whereby the un reeling ot' the normally wound up rope on the driving drum will cause the reeling up of the rope on the two drums first mentioned and means for independently engaging and disengaging either one of said two rope drums with the driving drum to adjust theV falls at. either end of the boat during hoisting. Y

8. Winch vmechanism for raising and lowering liteboats embodying thereintwo rope drums, ropes on said drums adapted to be connected at opposite ends of a lifeboat, a common braking mechanism for controlling both drums sinniltaneously, an independent lowering stop for each drum, levers for moving each stop into and out of operative position, driving means for said rope drums, independent coupling levers for engaging and disengaging the driving means tothe respective rope drums and interengaging means between vthe stop controlling levers and the coupling levers.

9. finch mechanism for raising and loweing lifeboats embodying therein Vtwo rope drums, ropes on said drums adapted to be connected at opposite ends of a lifeboat, a common braking mechanism for controlling both drums simultaneously, an independent lowering stop for each drum, levers for moving each stop into and out oi' operative position, driving means for said rope drums, independent coupling levers for engaging and disengaging the driving means to the respective rope drums and a projection on Y said coupling levers projecting into the path Yot' movement of the stop levers.

In witness whereof, l havesigned my name to the foregoing specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EINAR L. M. SIVARD Witnesses: Y.

HELEN V. HOLMES, FREDERICK P. RANDOLPH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

Images