US3165297A

US3165297A - Hoisting and pulling apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3165297A
Application number: US175451A
Authority: US
Inventors: Iii Parke H Thompson; William S Waeckerle
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-02-26
Filing date: 1962-02-26
Publication date: 1965-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 1982-01-12

Description

Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, EI'AL 3,1

HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 YIIIIIIIIIIIA- Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, ETAL 3,165,297

HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, ETAL HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26 1962 Jan. 12, 1965 Filed Feb. 26, 1962 FIG].

FIGS.

P. H. THOMPSON Ill, ET AL HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, ETAL 3,165,297

HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26, 1962 FIGQ.

United States Patent 3,165,297 HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS Parke H. Thompson lII, St. Louis County, Charles Eliot Miltenberger, St. Louis, and William S. Waeckerle, Florissant, M0., assignors to Parke H. Thompson H, St. Louis County, Mo. Filed Feb. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 175,451 2 Claims. (Cl. 254-486) This invention relates to hoisting and pulling apparatus, and with regard to certain more specific features, to portable capstan type hoists and the like.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a light, eflicient, compact and portable capstan type of hoist and puller having a wide variety of use such as (but without limitation) elevating and lowering loads on towers and through manholes, transformers on poles, sails on boats, pulling cables through passages and the like; and the provision of. apparatus of the class described which is very safe and convenient to operate in a wide variety of circumstances. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter. t The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and

arrangements of part which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter described, and the scope of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which several of.

various possible embodiments of the invention are illustrated,

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an application of the invention to a transformer hoisting operation in connection with a pole;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the control switch shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an axial section of parts of a motor-driven capstan assembly shown in FIG. 1, parts being broken away;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a hoist unit including means for fastening it to a pole;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are detail sections taken on lines 5-5, 66 and 77, respectively, of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a modification; and

FIG. 9 is a view showing control features applicable to the FIG. 8 modification.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawlngs. I

While, as above suggested, the invention has a wide variety of applications, an important one is in the electrical industry in which a large variety of difiicult problems concerning safety and flexibility of application arise in the lifting and lowering of loads such as transformers on poles. Danger and lackof flexibility have heretofore been concomitants of hoisting operations performed by poorly controllable hoists usually supported on the re pair trucks or the like at substantial distances from the lifting location. According to the present invention,,the

dangers are minimized and close control is obtained of the load being handledor the pulling operation which is being performed.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown at P a pole, to the upper end of which it may be desired to elevate a transformer T for attachment to a pole bracket (not shown). This operation requires the use of tackle, including a conventional gin pole G, a rope, and appropriate tackle-forming pulley mean L. The simplest tackle arrangement for the rope R is shown, it being understood that additional pulleys .for a multi- Patented Jan. 12, 1965 ice 1 ple-loop tackle arrangement may be employed, as known in the art. The rope R is cinched by several turns around a capstan 1, from whence it passes to the hands H of an operator 0. The drive for capstan 1 is illustrated in FIG. 3. 'This comprises a driving motor M and a speed reducer S, these being formed in a small 'cylindrical housing connected with a cup-shaped flange unit F in which is a ratcheting one-way brake C. The motor M has a casing part 3 containing its field member 5 and to which is bolted an end bell 7 for the commutator parts 9 of its armature 11 (see also FIG. 4). The bolts for holding the end bell 7 are shown at 13. Extending from the armature 11 is a stub shaft 15 (FIG. 3) on which is a radial fan 17, located within a peripheral row of ventilating openings 19. The power line or control cable for the motor is shown at 21. The motor is preferably of the small, high-speed, 110 or 120 volt, universal type rated, for example, at 2 HP. at 12,000 rpm. The high-speed variety is preferred, in order to minimize its size for a given torque. The outside diameter of the motor is, for example, 4 inches.

The housing of the speed reducer S consists of three

rings

23, 25 and 27 held together and attached to the flange unit F by means of draw bolts 29. These rings hold in place three internal annular orbit gears 31, 33 and 35 of a planetary transmission adapted to form a drive between the motor M and the capstan 1. The bolts 29 pass through openings in the gears 31, 33 and 35. This transmission comprises a sun gear 37, attached to the stub shaft 15 by pin 39, one end of the gear being carried in a bearing 41 in ring 23. The sun gear 37 centrally meshes with a group of planetary gears 43, rotatable on pins 45, the latter being carried in a planetary gear cage or arm member 47. Arm member 47 is supported in bearings 49, carried in ring 23 and 25, and is keyed as shown at 51 to a second sun gear 53; Sun gear 53 in turn meshes centrally with a group of planetary gears 55, rotatably mounted on pins 57 carried in a second plane planetary gear cage or arm member 59. Member 59 is supported in bearings 61 located in

rings

25 and 27. Planetary arm 59 is keyed as shown at 63 to a third sun gear 65 which meshes centrally with a group of planetary gears 67, rotatably. mounted on pins 69 carried in a third planetary gear cage or'arm member 71. Arm member 71, as indicated by 73, is keyed to a driven shaft 75. Shaft is supported in bearings 77 carried in the cup-shaped portion 79 of the flange unit F. The shaft 75 rotrudes from the member F where it is keyed, as shown at 81, to the capstan 1. For economy, all of the planetary gears 43, 55 and 67 are preferably identical; and the orbit gears 31, 33 and 35 are preferably identical.

When the motor M is excited, the drive to capstan 1 is as follows:

Sun gear 37 drives the planet gears 43 so that they roll within the orbit gear 31 and turn arm member 47, producing a speed reduction to sun gear 53. Sun gear 53 drives the planet gears 55 which roll within the orbit gear 33 and turn arm 59, producing a speed reduction to sun gear 65. The sun gear 65 drives the planet gears 67 so that they roll within the orbit gear 35 and turn arm 71, producing a speed reduction to shaft 75. The total speed reduction between the motor M and the shaft 75 is the product of the three speed reductions above mentioned. Thus the speed reducer is of the compound coaxial planetary type, lending itself to a compact coaxial arrangement with the motor M, the assembly S, M extending from the flange F. The compactness of the arrangement is apparent from FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

The driving direction is shown by straight darts 83 in 'FIG. 3 and by the solid curved dart 85 in FIG. 1. For

safety, reverse rotation such as suggested by the dotted dart 87 in FIG. l'is to be prevented. This is effected by the one-way ratchet type brake C, which consists (FIG. 3)

of an outer race 89 fixed in the cup 79 of the flange unit F. The shaft 75 is provided with an integral cylindrical inner race 91. Rocking sprags 93 are located between the outer race 89 and the inner race 91, these being held in circular order by annular springs, diagrammatically drive. the capstan clockwise in the driving direction but reverse drive from the capstan 1 to the motor M is ime possible, because the sprags 93 lock shaft 95 to .theflange unit F in response to application of reverse torque. Thus under conditions in which the motor M is d'e-excited due to an open circuit, or perhaps burn-out, or possibly a failure in thetransmission S, the capstan 1 cannot turn backward, or anticlockwise. This safety feature allows the motor and transmission to be designed more compactly with a minimum so-calledfactor of safety, since any failures therein will not result in reverse rotation under reverse torque applied to the capstan 1.

at the bottom of. the pole P and an operator such as O standing at the switch W. The line 21' isconnectedto the supply'circuit A through the'switch W. The switch W is of the waterproof type, havinga flexible waterproof casing 99 sealed to the wires A and 21 andcontaining a normally open, pressure-closed switch 101. The switchoperating button is shown at 103. When the operator;

steps on the casing 99, button 103. is depressed "to close the switch 101. When the foot pressure is relieved, the switch reopens.

no footing;

' The assembly 1, F, S, M thus far described is supportedon a bracket formed by two'extending angled wing por-' tions forming an approximately V-shaped cradle structure adapted to engagev various sizes of poles at spaced'points. These wings are bolted to the flange F by bolts 107 (FIG. 4). One angled side or leg of the bracket includes handles 109 flanking the assembly S, M. The angled sides of the V-shaped bracket 105 are provided with channels 111, which are open at their outer ends 113 and tapered at their inner ends 115 where they are provided with anchors- 117 for flexible loop means-in the form of chains119 and 121, respectively (FIGS. 4 and At 123 is shown a quick-detachable chain clamp, consisting of integrally formed, crossed

tubular portions

125 and 127. An opening 129 through the tubular portion 125 is designed slidingly to receive the chain 121 and, as shown in FIG. 7, is provided with an endwise notch,

The switch W may also be hand-open ,7 ated if need be, as for example when an operator is perched on some structural member or the like providing maybe drawn into the tubular. member 127, assuming that a link of the free end of the chain 121 has been located in the notch 131 of-tubular. member 125. This tightens or squeezes the chains around a pole such as P, thus holding or squeezing the bracket 105 in place.- In FIG. 4 a comparatively small pole isshown in solid lines. The broken linesillustrate application to a pole of larger diameter, which would require'adj'ustment as notch 131 for 1 a greater length of the chain 121 extendingfrom member 125. On one of the legs of the bracket105 are located pole gouging'points 149. Itis preferable that these be placed in one leg only, rather than in'both legs of the bracket 105, since a better gouging effect is thus. obtained for a given pull on chains 119' and 121. i

into which one link of thefree-end portion of the chain may be fitted to anchor it (see FIG. 7). The other tubular portion 127 is provided with a square opening which across its corners accepts chain links '(FIGS. 4 and 6).

It also accepts the square. end 133 of a draw screw 135g This square end 133 is slotted, as shown at 137,'and is provided with pin 139, permanently passing through an In FIG. 8 (wherein like numerals-designate likeparts) is shown another form of the invention in which, instead of the motor M, a high-speed gasoline engine E is attached to thespeedreducer S.- In this case the crankshaft 151 speeds the clutch is open and disconnectsfthe engine E from the speed reducer S. :At a higher'desired engine (one at which it has a favorable torque output) the clutch.

153- closes and forms a driving. connection.

' In order to control the engineE,.the apparatus shown in FIG. 9 is employed. In this figure, numeral 155 indicates the engine air intake, under control of the throttle .valve 157, which is rotary ona pivot pin 159. Attached to the pin 'is a lever 161,-adapted to be snapped into either of two-different extreme positions by means of :an overcentering' spring 163 anchored at one 'end to a gudgeon-165 on-lever 161' and at the otherend into an eye 167. Extreme positions of the lever-161 are determined by adjustablefidle, and run, stop

screws

169 and 171, respectively. Adjacent the lever 161 is the end portion o-fa push-pull wire 173 on-which are spaced collars 175 and 177. The push pull wire 173 pases through a flexible tube or. control cable'179. The latter extends to a housing 181. This housing is flexible and encloses a mechanism. consisting of a" toggle link 183 pivotally affixed at 185 and having a knee pivot connection -187 with asecond toggle link 189. Link 189 has a bottom end pin 191, to which the push-pull wire 173'is held by a set screw 195. The pin 191 slides in slots,,one of-wh-ich-is shown at 197. g V

' The pin 1851and'SlOtS 197'are inflanges 198 of a channel member 200 located in the housing 181 Only one slot 197 in one flange 200 appears in FIG.9,-the others being duplicates as will be obvious. The toggle (FIG. 9). is held inbroken position by atension spring 199, attached to lin-ksf183 and 189 at points 201 and 2 03, respectively. The upper end of the link 189 carriesa pivoted member 205, forming a connection with a shoe 207.

The spring 199 normally'holds the toggle1183, 189 in broken position, thus forcing the push-pull wire 173 to push the collar 177 against level 161, which snaps against the stop 169 and sets the throttle valve 157 to the idle position. Whenthe operator steps onthe flexible housing 181, the toggle is flattened, thus pulling the push-pull wire 173 so that collar 175 pushes lever'161 toward throttleopen or run position aaginst stop 17 1. The spring 163 snaps the lever 161 after overcentering, so that-the lever 161 is then firmly held against the running stop screw 171; By thisrneans the speed of the engine will'becontrolled between idling speed (clutcl1-153 open) and running speed (clutch 153 closed). It will be understood that the cable 179 and its connected push-pull wire are of such length that the foot control device, generally indexed'B,

can be operated at a safe distance frompole P, as in the case of switch W'. 7

Operation is as follows, referring to the for'm of the invention shown in FIG. 1: a I 7 Assume that a load (transformer T) rests 'on the ground and that a hitch has been made to it by the'rope R. The

.5 free end of the rope is then wrapped around the capstan 1, as shown, in the same direction as the motor rotation, employing several loops to function in due course as a cinch. Then the operator walks with the rope to the switch W and steps on the latter. This starts the motor M. Without tension in the rope there not be enough friction to cause any cinching or consequent lifting action. By pulling on the rope with, say, a six-pound pull, there will be enough friction at its loops around the capstan to act as a cinch and to cause the turning capstan to wind rope so as to lift the load. To continue any lifting action, the operator draws in and maintains thenecessary pull on the rope as it pays off from the capstan. The direction of rotation for lifting is shown by the solid dart 85 and the manual pull force by the arrow 86.

When the operator wishes to terminate lifting action he takes his foot off the switch .W, thus de-energizing the motor. But he maintains his light pull on the rope. Then the load causes the rope to tend to force the capstan 1 in the direction of the dotted dart 87, but rotation cannot occur because of the self-locking nature of the oneway brake C. The cinching action of the rope'on the locked capstan under the operators light pull prevents the load from dropping. Hence the load is suspended as long as the light six-pound or so tension is maintained on the rope by the operator 0. Should he desire to allow the load to descend,, as by inching it down to a desired position in a socket or for bolting or the like, he simply reduces the pull on the rope to reduce the cinching friction at the loops around the capstan 1. The rate of descent can be accurately controlled, be it of an inching nature or more rapid, depending upon the force of the operators pull. It is even possible to permit the load to inch downward while the motor is running, by reducing the pull on the rope R; but this is not the preferred method for allowing its descent. Thus it will be seen that the invention is adapted for fine control of lifting and lowering operations.

Another feature of the invention is its safety. For example, should anything (pin, key or gear) break in the speed reducer S, the load will not drop because of the braking hold on the capstan 1 by the fixed unit F afforded by the one-way brake C. It is noteworthy that the danger of complete failure of a one-way brake such as C, which usually involves a completely safe number of sprags such as 93, is remote. It is not diflicu-lt to provide an extra margin of safety in the key 81 because of the length of the connection available between the capstan 1 and the shaft 75. On the other hand, there is a greater potentiality of failure in compactly arranged motor and speed reducer parts, but this can have no dangerous effect because of the safety feature above described. Thus the motor and the speed reducer S, which would ordinarily need to be made of bulky size for safety, are brought down to a size for portability and any reduced factor of safety resulting from such design is prevented from having any dangerous results because no reverse-acting torque can ever reach the speed reducer S or the motor. Heretofore, winches, capstans and the like have been driven from such bulky motor and transmis sion equipment that they could not be made portable enough for use with pole-clamping equipment (such as shown in FIG. 4). Formerly such equipment was carried on the trucks and required much more complicated tackle arrangements between the distant truck and the load.

Operation of the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 will be clear from that above given in connection with the form of the invention in FIGS. 1-7.

While a motor and a gasoline engine have been illustrated as prime movers, other power sources may also be employed such as air or hydraulic motors, provided the device is to be used in locations where compressed air or hydraulic lines are available to supply the motive fluid. For pole line work the motor drive is best because of the availability of electricity. The engine drive provides greatest independence from power systems.

' A special feature of the capstan 1 is that it is composed of a light metallic or other material. If aluminum, magnesium or like metal is employed, it is provided with a hard anodic oxide surface such as obtained by so-called anodizing or hard-coating, the hard anodic surface being developed to the order of three mils or so thickness. This not only provides a hard abrasion-proof surface, but constitutes an additional safety feature. Ropes that are cinched around metallic capstans often abrade metallic particles from the caprstans, which embed in and on the rope to form a contaminating coating. Since this makes the rope electrically conductive it becomes dangerous in pole line operations. The hard anodic oxide surface in the first place is quite abrasion-proof, and even if some particles were to gather in or on the rope they are not ahazard, being nonconductive. If desired, the plastic nonconductive surface may be applied to the capstan .surface, or the entire capstan body may be so composed, with the exception of its hub for keying.

The coaxial arrangement of the motor M, speed reducer S and capstan 1 is advantageous from the viewpoint of compactness. pound planetary form of the reducer which lends itself to such a coaxial arrangement. Moreover, the end of cylindrically formed planetary speed reducer and one-way brake C are conveniently coaxially contained in the cupshaped flange unit F. In addition, the skirt portion 209 of the capstan 1 coaxially surrounding the unit F, furthers compactness and considerably shortens the over-all dimensions of the device.

The portable assembly as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 may be reversed in position (end-for-end) from that shown, and it may also be mounted with the capstan extending upward or downward. Hence the assembly will serve in a large variety of locations which, with other apparatus, would be difficult to accomplish. It will also be appreciated that by suitably modifying the bracket holding parts, they can be hitched to many different objects, such as, for example, manhole ladders and the like for drawing cable through underground passages.

By the term compound planetary speed reducer is meant herein one in which planetary components are connected in a coaxial series. A planetary component is defined as one having an input sun gear, a stationary orbit gear, a planetary arm member connected to an output member, and at least one planet gear carried by the planetary arm member and meshed inwardly with the sun gear and outwardly with the orbit gear.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. Compact portable load hoisting and pulling apparatus comprising a support, a shaft rotatable in the support around an axis, a capstan carried by said shaft, a selflocking one-way ratchet type brake operated between said shaft and the support, a bracket on said support, said bracket being of cradle form adapted for cradling contact with poles and of a configuration adapted when the bracket is on a pole to place said axis in a nonintersecting position with respect to the pole center line and at a substantially right angle thereto, whereby the capstan extends nonradially from one side of the pole, a speed reducer having a housing containing torque input and output members at opposite ends thereof, said housing being connected to said support at its output end, said torque output member being connected with said shaft, the input end of said speed reducer being free of the sup- This is made possible by the comspeed reducer, said motor having a rotatable shaft connected iw'rthsaid torque input member of the'speed reducer, saidcapstan shaft, motor shaft and-torque input and output members being coaxial.

2. Compact portable load hoisting and pulling apparatus comprising a bracket, means adapted to effect quick attachment and detachment of the bracket to and from poles or the like, a support carried by the bracket, 21 capstan rotatably mounted upon said support, a planetary type'speed'reducer having a casing carried by said support, said casing having at its ends rotary torque input and output drive members respectively, said torque'output member being connected With the capstan, the output end of the casing of the speed reducer being attached to said support and its input end extending free of the support and bracket, an electric motor having a drive connection With said torque input member and having aoasing carried onthe free input end of the casing of the speed reducer and supported thereby independently of the support and the bracket, the axes of rotation of the I motor, the capstan and both of said drive members being coaxial, and a self-locking one-Way ratchet type brake operative between the capstan andsaid-support adapted in the absence of driving torque to the capstan automatically and substantially; instantaneouslylo prevent rotation of sa-id capst'anin a direction opposite to said load driving direction.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 927,200 Wick July 6, 1909' 1,397,937 Spencer f Nov.'2 2, 1921' 1 ,935,975 Donandt Z Nov. 21, 1933 1,955,127 Heintz Apr. 17,1934 2,218,821 Jennings et a1. Oct; 22,1940 2,584,883 Karsch' L Feb. 5, 1952 2,714,434 Peterson Aug. '2, 1955 2,773,239 Parker Dec. 4, 1956 2,833,384 Wilson May 6, 1958 2,908,183 Di Giovanni f Oct. 13, 1959 FOREIGN, PATENTS 6,493- Great Britain of 19 08 520,089 Great Britain Apr. 15, 1940 1,032,813, 1953

Claims

1. COMPACT PORTABLE LOAD HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS COMPRISING A SUPPORT, A SHAFT ROTATABLE IN THE SUPPORT AROUND AN AXIS, A CAPSTAN CARRIED BY SAID SHAFT, A SELFLOCKING ONE-WAY RATCHET TYPE BRAKE OPERATED BETWEEN SAID SHAFT AND THE SUPPORT, A BRACKET ON SAID SUPPORT, SAID BRACKET BEING OF CRADLE FORM ADAPTED FOR CRADLING CONTACT WITH POLES AND OF A CONFIGURATION ADAPTED WHEN THE BRACKET IS ON A POLE TO PLACE SAID AXIS IN A NONINTERSECTING POSITION WITH RESPECT TO THE POLE CENTER LINE AND AT A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, WHEREBY THE CAPSTAN EXTENDS NONRADIALLY FROM ONE SIDE OF THE POLE, A SPEED REDUCER HAVING A HOUSING CONTAINING TORQUE INPUT AND OUTPUT MEMBERS AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, SAID HOUSING BEING CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORT AT ITS OUTPUT END, SAID TORQUE OUTPUT MEMBER BEING CONNECTED WITH SAID SHAFT, THE INPUT END OF SAID SPEED REDUCER BEING FREE OF THE SUPPORT, AN ELECTRIC MOTOR ATTACHED TO SAID FREE END OF THE SPEED REDUCER, SAID MOTOR HAVING A ROTATABLE SHAFT CONNECTED WITH SAID TORQUE INPTU MEMBER OF THE SPEED REDUCER, SAID CAPSTAN SHAFT, MOTOR SHAFT AND TORQUE INPUT AND OUTPUT MEMBERS BEING COAXIAL.