US2283784A - Tag-line reel - Google Patents

Description

May 19, 1942. n.0. BILLINGS TAGLINE REEL Filed Jan. 21, 1941- Patented May 19, 1942 UNJTE D. STAT lgif}11,\1`"1 Y Y r ,2,283,784

. TAG-LINE. REEL Roy o. 'Bini/nge, Milwakee, wis. d Aepeatiqa .targuer/y 21, 19471,'seria1Na. 375,211 d sclaimls. (0141441.46)

This invention relates toI improvements in tagline reels. J

In the use of cranesifor the raising or lowering of buckets, magnets or the like, 4the'lai'terfhave a tendency torotate or swing. This result'sin a twisting., f the Qpgretiheqcablea whereby proper operation of the device is hindered.

lines for preventing such swinging'l action ot vthe buckets or magnetsvcarried bythe crane. A

common arrangement was the use of a counter"-k weight attached tothe inner end of the tagline in an endeavor to maintaina proper tension on thetagline. It has been found, however;V that aV cable and sheaves. It has also been proposed to d utilize a tensioned reelA on which the cable is wound. While this type of device will function properly with relatively small buckets or like objects, when aj large bucket or the like is employed it is impossible, without the use of a very largejexpensive spring, to apply suicient tension to prevent undesired swinging of the bucket.

With the above in mind it is a general object of the present invention to provide a tagline con.- trol of the tensioned reel type wherein a relatively small spring of a practical size may be employed, together with means cooperating therewith for automatically maintaining a proper tension regardless ofl the size ofthe bucket or device depended from the crane boom.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described wherein` means are provided for automatically applying greater resistance than that exerted by a tension spring while a tagline is being paid out, and for automatically relieving this additional resistance when the tagline is being retrieved, thereby eliminating any interference whatsoever with the operation of a coiled spring in rorating the tagline reel'in a retrieving direction.

A further object of the invention isV to provide an improved tagline reel construction which utilizes a minimum number of parts and which may be arranged in a very compact assembly.

A further object of the invention is tor pro-y vide a tagline reel construction of the character described having a brake for resisting or placing a drag on the rotating reel shaft, together with manually adjustable means for varying the pres-v sure or drag of the`V brake. y

` A' further weer of the. were is to pre vide a brake equipped tagline reelin. which the directinofi'ctation 'ofthe reel' and shaftf'is effective to 4cause automatic 'application andlref lease'f the brakef `A"`fu`rther object of. the invention isj to profvide a tagline reel utilizing'a relativelyflarg bearing and a lrniniinun-1, number o'fj"sheavesV With the'above'I-and'otherlobjects'in view, the invention Vconsists of. 'the` irnproved tagline reelv and its, parts and c`o'nibiriationsY asf'set forthin' the iaimsand 'au equivalents' thereof.

yIn the accompanying 'd'ralwing"in whichl the same 'reference f haractefsindicate' the same parts lall ofthe views' V4Fig. `1V is'a: side the improvedftagline reel. mechanism;`

Fig.'2`.is "a transverse sectional view taken on line 2 2. of Fig. Landon a larger scal`e;'

Fig. l3"is an end viewof the 'tagline' reel'and associated' "niecha'nismjV `Fi'g'. `4"is atransv'er'se sectional view taken on line '-Vl'fFig `1.; and Y" Fig. 5V is a fragmentary'viewofa crane boom and. suspended bucket. with vthefcalciles 'andftagline re'elfdevic'e attached thereto', s'aidview being.

on ya smaller scale."

lReferring now more particularly to the drawing itvwill appear that the inventionis shown as being applied to the boom 8o'f a; 'crane having abucket!! is Yadjustabl'y and movably suspended' from the outerend of the bloom '8; in'a manner to eiect raisingrhv and lowering movement oflA thev bucket, by an operatingv cable I0 attached to the bucket and passing over a 'sheave' Il at] the outer end ofthe boom.

e een@ lessenaar for, thi-purpose of invention is to provide venting the bucket from swinging or turning during operation thereof. One end of the tagline I2 is attached to a lug on the bucket while the other end portion of the tagline passes between guide pulleys I3 carried by a bracket plate I5. It will be observed that a reel I6 is mounted adjacent the guide pulleys I3. The other end of the tagline I2 is made fast to a portion of the reel I6, in any suitable manner, and turning movements of the reel are adapted to wind or unwind the tagline relative to the grooved periphery of the reel.

The reel I6 is mounted fast on one end portion of a revoluble shaft I1 and this shaft is journalled in suitable bearings I8 and I9. Both of the bearings I8 and I9 project from opposite end portions of a channel iron supporting member 20. The bearing I8 has a depending portion I8 which floats between spaced portions 36 and 31 and is pivotal on a pin 38. With this arrangement, when there is strain on the shaft I1 due to spring tension, the bearing I8 may pivot slightly to cause automatic alinement. The bearing I9, furthermore, is fast with a plate 2|, which plate extends adjacent the inner face of the reel I6 and carries the pulley supporting plate I by means of arms 22. 'I'he channel iron supporting member which carries the reel and associated mechanism is mounted on an intermediate or lower portion of a crane boom 8 in the position shown in Fig. 5. The mounting is accomplished .in any convenient manner as by the use of U-bolts which embrace portions of the member 20 and engage transverse struts on the boom.

A coiled spring 23 surrounds the reel shaft I1. One end of the coiled spring is anchored to a lug 24 on a side portion of the bearing I9. The other end of the coiled spring is made fast to a lug 25 on the opposite side of the shaft I1. It will be obvious from the description thus far that as the tagline I2 is paid out and unwoundfrom the reel I6, the reel and shaft I1 will turn in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 and due to the anchorage of the opposite ends of the spring 23 the same will be wound up and put under tension. The spring 23, when under tension, normally urges winding of the tagline on the reel and is effective in maintaining tautness in the tagline. However, this arrangement of itself is not suicient under all conditions to prevent swinging and twisting of the bucket 9. In the present invention the tensioning effect of the spring is augmented by a novel friction brake mechanism adapted to operate on the reel shaft With particular reference to Figs. l and 2 it will be observed that there is mounted fast on the end of the shaft I1 opposite the reel I6, a brake drum 26. This brake drum is surrounded by a strip of flexible brake band 21, formed of any material suitable for the purpose. The brake band 21 is interposed between peripheries of the drum 26 and a substantially O-shaped brake shoe 28. One end of the brake shoe 28 is fixed to av projection 29 on the supporting channel member 20. The other end portion of the brake shoe 28 is flanged outwardly as at 30 and is apertured to receive the shank of an adjusting bolt 3|. The upper portion of the shank of the bolt 3| carries a coiled spring 32 which is confined between'the brake shoe flange 3U and an upper washer 33. The upper end portion of the bolt 3| has threaded thereon nuts 34 which, whengturned downwardly, further compress thespring 32 and cause the same to exert additional pressure on the flange of the brake shoe, whereby the brake shoe 28 exerts more of a drag or pressure on the brake band 21. The lower end of the bolt 3| is anchored in a :flange 35 also supported on the channel iron member 20.

In the operation of the improved tagline reel, when the bucket 9 or other device is lowered, the tagline I2 will pay out and the reel I6 and shaft I1 will turn in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2. This action will cause the coiled spring 23 on the shaft I1 to wind up as was heretofore mentioned. This turning movement of the shaft I1 is in a direction to cause the brake band 21 and the brake shoe 28 to compress or bind against the drum 26 and the spring 32 on the bolt 3| is of sufficient strength to exert pressure against the flanged end 30 of the shoe 28 to additionally compress the brake'shoe and brake band against the brake drum. The braking mechanism, therefore, exerts a very decided drag on the shaft I1 in addition to the tension exerted by the shaft spring 23. 'Ihe action of the brake in acting on the shaft is automatic and is occasioned by the direction of rotation of the shaft, it being obvious that when the shaft is being turned in a direction to pay out the tagline, the drag or braking effect on the shaft will be imposed and this will absolutely prevent slack in the main extent of the tagline and 'will hold the bucket or other mechanism 8 against swaying, swinging, and twisting.

When the cable I0 is operated to raise the bucket 9 the tagline I2 will feed in and wind on the reel VI6 which is automatically turned in the proper winding direction by operation of the shaft 4of the reel. It may also be stated that the expansive or unwrapping force of the brake shoe 28 is greater, under the latter conditions, than the tension exerted by the spring 32. Also, the

` condition of the spring 32 may at any time be 50' adjusted by tightening or loosening the nuts 34. From the foregoing description it will appear that the improved tagline reel mechanism is such that the tagline, when being paid out, is under constant restraint and tautness to an extent which will prevent the bucket from undesirably swinging or twisting. The braking arrangement materially augments the shaft spring 23 and is automatic in its operation by placing a desired braking effect and restraint on the shaft in one direction of movement of the shaft, and by releasing said restraint or braking action during the other direction of movement of the shaft. The device is furthermore of simple and novel construction, utilizes a minimum number of parts and is well adapted for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A tagline reel assembly, comprising an elongated rigid supporting member, bearings at opposite ends of said supporting member, a revoluble shaft having opposite end portions journalled in said bearings, a tension spring coiled about an intermediate portion of the shaft, means securing one end of said spring to one of said bearings, means securing the other end of said spring to a remote portion of the shaft, a tagline reel fast on the shaft adjacent said bearing, a hanger rigidly fixed to said bearing and to said supporting member, tagline guide members mounted on said hanger, a friction brake mounted on another portion of the shaft, and means adjustably anchoring portions of said brake directly to said rigid supporting member.

2. In a crane structure, a boom, a material handling bucket or the like movablysuspended from said boom, a supporting member connected to said crane structure, a shaft journaled in said supporting member, a reel rigidly carried by said shaft, a tagline having its inner end connected to said reel and having its outer end connected to the bucket or the like to restrain swinging movement of the latter, tension spring means coiled about said shaft and cooperable therewith to normally urge winding of the tagline on the reel, and friction brake means cooperable with said shaft, including a band operable automatically in response to rotation of the shaft in a direction to pay out the tagline to impose friction which supplements the resistance of the spring, and said band being automatically releasable in response to rotation of the shaft in a reverse direction.

3. In a crane structure in combination, a boom, a material handling bucket or the like movably suspended from said boom, a supporting member connected to said crane structure, a reel rotatably mounted on said supporting member, a tagline having its inner end connected to said reel and having its outer end connected to the bucket or the like to restrain swinging movement of the latter, tension spring means cooperable with the reel to normally urge winding of the tagline thereon, and friction brake means cooperable with the reel and including a band operable automatically in response to rotation of the reel in a direction to pay out the tagline to impose friction which supplements the resistance of the spring, and said band being automatically releasable in response to rotation of the reel in a reverse direction.

4. In a reel construction for use with a tagline attached to a material handling bucket or the like, a support, spaced bearings carried by said support, a shaft journaled in said bearings, a tagline reel rotatable with said shaft, and a spring coiled about said shaft and operatively connected with the shaft and supportso as to be wound up when the shaft and reel are rotated in a direction to pay out the tagline, one of said shaft bearings being supported for pivotal movement about an axis which extends at right angles to the axis of the reel shaft whereby the bearing will maintain automatic alinement 0f the shaft when the latter is subjected to strains caused by spring tension.

5. A tagline reel assembly comprising, elongated rigid supporting member, bearings at lopposite ends of said supporting member, a revoluble shaft extending above and in the same direction as said supporting member and having opposite end portions journaled in said bearings, a tagline reel fast on one end portion of said shaft, a friction brake mounted on another portion of said shaft, and means adjustably anchoring portions of said brake directly to the rigid supporting member.

ROY O. BILLINGS.

Images