US3309064A - Winch mechanism with dual drive - Google Patents

Description

March 14, 1967 w. MULLER ET AL 3,309,064

WINCH MECHANISM WITH DUAL DRIVE Filed Dec. 18, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS LF MULLER N J \N N GENE W. KULESH w REGlNALD S. LANIER H ll 5 o my M Li United States Patent Ofifice 3,399,064 Patented Mar. 14, 1967 The present invention relates to a lightweight, remote controlled winch unit and more particularly to a new and improved winch unit which employs flat hoisting cable wound upon a replaceable tape reel assembly.

An increased reliance upon helicopters for military operations has created a need for a lightweight hoisting mechanism for raising and lowering cargo or other objects to and from the helicopter. Presently utilized hoisting mechanisms employ a standard drum type winch wherein the round cable is laid on in single or double rows. Each of the revolving drum units has associated therewith a level-wind mechanism for properly placing and spacing the cable on the drum. The level-wind mechanisms are important for purposes of precluding backlash and other malfunctioning which occur when the cable is inappropriately laid upon the drum. Great difficulty has been found in developing a level-wind mecha nism which is sufliciently and accurately synchronized with the rotating drum, the ditficulty in synchronism occurring by reason of the variation in drum diameter as the line or cable is paid in or paid out. As is readily seen, the mechanisms heretofore discussed are of large size and weight and therefore incompatible with the helicopter structure and dynamics wherein pay load and space are of high importance. In addition, the heretofore discussed hoisting apparatus is extremely complex with the attendant high possibility of fouling when paying out the cable from the winch and consists of a large number of parts operating at a high rpm. rate with the concomitant result of shorter operating life and high maintenance rate.

The general purpose of this invention is to provide a hoisting apparatus which embraces all of the advantages of similarly employed prior art devices and possesses none of the aforedescribed disadvantages. To attain this, the present invention contemplates a unique lightweight, remote controlled winch unit which uses flat cable wound upon a replaceable tape reel assembly which results in an extremely compact structure. These advantages are obtained with the use of a minimum of parts and a minimum of complex operating mechanisms.

An object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight hoisting apparatus for use with helicopters in raising or lowering cargo or other loads.

Another object is to provide a remote controlled winch unit consisting of few parts andoperating at a low revolution per minute rate to thereby assure longer operating life, trouble-free performance and a minimum of maintenance.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a small, lightweight winch unit compatible with helicopter operations, operable under no-load conditions and free from the occurrence of backlash.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight helicopter rescue Winch mechanism which precludes fouling of the winch mechanism when paying out a belt or cable from the winch.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a lightweight winch mechanism wherein the hoisting cable or belt is easily and quickly replaceable when so required.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 illustrates one view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the hoisting 1 system.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4 for a general description of the hoisting mechanism of the present invention there is shown a winch unit generally noted at 10 including a housing assembly 11, and a hydraulic motor 12 associated therewith. Hydraulic motor 12, a commercial type known and used in the art, is a linear fluid displacement device particularly utilized for high torque applications with the direction of rotation being reversible instantly without backlash. The hydraulic motor 12 and an associated motor shaft 13 are utilized to drive, through speed reductors schematically represented at 14, a spline shaft 15 which is more clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The actuation and directional control of the hydraulic motor 12 is accomplished through a standard commercial electric servo valve assembly generally indicated at 16 and located on the hydraulic motor 12. This servo valve assembly 16 is interconnected electrically to a remote control unit 17 located in either or both the cockpit or cargo areas of the helicopter. The remote control unit 17 is powered by the aircrafts 28 volt D.C. electric power supply source. In addition, the hydraulic motor 12 is apppropriately interconnected through the servo valve assembly 16 to an appropriate supply of hydraulic power such as the 1200 p.s.i. hydraulic power supply source 18 of the helicopter.

A brake housing 19 contains a band-type brake assembly 20 for the shaft 13 which is normally in a spring loaded or braked condition until fluid pressure in the brake cylinder 21 reaches and exceeds a preset and predetermined amount necessary to counteract the force of a spring 22 contained therein for releasing brake band 23 from drum 23a. A solenoid valve assembly 24 having electrical connection with the control unit 17 connects the brake cylinder 21 to either the pressure line 18a or the return line 18b of the hydraulic supply 18.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the housing assembly 11 comprising a center housing 11a having the hydraulic motor 12 associated therewith. Contained within the center housing 11a and behind the plate 11b as viewed in FIG. 2 is the above-mentioned speed reduction gearing represented generally at 14. Spur gear 14a secured to the motor shaft 13 drives the splined shaft 15 through the pinion gear 14b and spur gear secured to the shaft 15.

Appropriate gears noted at 25 and 26 are interposed between spur gear 14c and spur gear 27, the latter gear being affixed to driving shaft 28. Also secured to shaft 28 is a drive gear 29. An overrun or unidirectional clutch 36 of conventional design is associated with the shaft 28 and interposed between the spur gear 27 and the drive gear 29 to operate the gear 29 in only one direction, that being in the payout direction discussed below. Drive gear 29 operatively engages spur gear 31 which is rigidly secured to rotatable shaft 34 appropriately journaled within housing 11a. A transverse driving pin 35 is rigidly secured to the end of shaft 34 for driving a milk-off roller 60 to be discussed below with reference to FIG. 3.

3 j Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a reel housing generally indicated at which when joined by fastener 41 to the center housing 11a forms an enclosure for reel assembly 45. Fastener 41 may be of any conventional nature which elfects a quick separation of the reel housing 40 and the center housing 11a to enable removal of the reel assembly 45 from the enclosure.

Reel assembly '45 includes a pair of reelplates 46 and 47 interconnected and spaced apart by compound hub elements 50 and 51 about which a flat cable is wound. This cable 55 is constructed of woven or braided stainless steel wire and coated with polyurethane. The reel end of the cable 55 is wound about the inner hub 51 and is then passed through an aperture 52 formed in the outer hub 50. The outer hub 50 then serves as the base about which the remaining cable is wound. The cable portion wound about the inner hub 51 is held in position by a springpressed retainer 53 interposed between the cable 55 and the inner hub 50. The interior portion of inner hub 51 I utilizes a milk-off roller rotatable about ashaft 61 fixed to the reel housing 40. Roller, 60 is faced with rubber or other appropriate material at 6811 to insure suflicient frictional engagement with the fiat, cable 55 when the roller engages-the same. The transverse side face 60b of roller 60 is formed with a plurality of outwardly extending finger portions 62 having slots 63 formed therebetween for receiving the driving pin 35 which provides a unidirectional driving force to the milk-off roller 60. The direction of rotation would be clockwise as viewed in FIG. 3.

Adjacent the milk-offroller 60 is a spring-loaded roller assembly generally noted at 65 for maintaining the flat cable in an abutting condition with the face 60a of the roller 60. Assembly 65 includes a roller 66rotatably secured to a pair of plates 67, only one of whichis shown, which in turn is pivotally secured through pin 68 to the reel housing 40: Roller assembly 65 is spring urged to the position shown in FIG. 3 to insure positive engagement of the 'cable 55 with the milk-off roller 61. It should be noted that when a load is applied to the fiat cable 55, the lateral force of the cable arising from the tendency thereof to assume a straight line will urge the roller assembly 65 against the spring and out of engagement with the roller 60.

In order topreclude, the cable from being destroyed by the "chafing action of the cable against the side edges of the exit aperture 70 in the reel housing 40, a pair of spaced siderollers 71 and 72 constructed of a thick, hard durometer rubber-like material are rotatably afiixed to block 73 whichin turn is rigidly secured to the reel housing 40. Additionally, a pair of steel rollers 76 and 77 are rotatably journaled and housed within a collar member 80 which is welded or otherwise secured to the reel housing 40. Whereas the resilient rollers 71 and 72 engage the side edges of the fiat cable 55, rollers 76 and 77 engage and guide the broad sides of the cable 55.

The free end of the cable 55 is joined by an eye plate 81 to a rescue hook generally noted at 82, the hook being of any convenient and appropriate design. Also, the winch unit 10 'may be provided with brackets such as shown at 83 for mounting the same on the helicopter.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a remote control unit 17 is shown interconnected through switch 85 to an appropriate DC. voltage supply from the helicopter or other appropriate source. A potentiometer 86 included within unit 17 provides the variable electrical power for operating the servo motors 87which in turn mechanically control a servo valve 88 of the servo valve assembly 16. Valve 88 in turn controls the direction and extent of fluid power supplied from the hydraulic supply 18 to the hydraulic motor 12. The output shaft 13 from the hydraulic motor 12 is further controlled by a braking system generally indicated at 20 which isself-energized when the hydraulic system pressure drops a predetermined amount below normal operating pressure. Thebrake is normallyspring loaded by spring 22 until the fluid pressure in the brake cylinder 21 reaches and exceeds a predetermined force and counteracts the spring force .thereby'releasing the brake. A solenoid valve 99 connects the brake cylinder 21 to either the. pressure line 18a or the'return line 18b of the system. In case of hydraulic power failure, the pressure in the system drops, motor torque drops and the brake spring 22 actuates the brake. The solenoid 89 of assembly 24 is electrically connected to the source of DC. power through the switch 85 and is so arranged that in case of electrical power failure, the valve SSreturnsto null, the winch stops, the solenoid valve 90 turns OE and connects the brake cylinder to the return line to bleed'the cylinder and the brake is actuated.

In operation, when theoperator actuates the potentiometer 86, the servo motor-87 will actuate the valve 88 in a direction determined by the direction in which the potentiometer 86 is moved. The hydraulic fiuid supply 18 supplies the power to operate the, hydraulic motor 12 which in turn rotates shaft 13 and through the gearreduction mechanism 14 operates the reel 45 and milk-off roller 60. The fluid supply is also fed through valve 90 to the brake cylinder, 21' for disengaging the brake when.

the fluid pressure is at the operating pressure. This pressure is applied to the cylinder when the solenoid 89 is actuated by switch 85, the solenoid connecting the cylinder to the pressure line 18a.

When the potentiometer 86 is moved to the down position, the milk-01f roller 60 and reelassembly 45 will rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3, withthe roller 60 being arranged through the gear assembly to rotate at a speed sufiicient-to provide a continuous frictionalipulling force to the fiat cable irrespective of the positionof the cable on the reel. By' reason of this arrangement, bunching or fouling of the cable within the reel housing 40 isprecluded. Under the condition wherein the milk-off roller 60 is attempting. to payout the cable at a greater speed than the reel speed would permit, a Slipping condition will be effectuated with no deleterious effect.

When the potentiometer 86 is roated to the up position the hydraulic motor 12 causes the reel assembly 45 to rotate in a counterclockwisedirection as viewed in In this direction the clutch 30 is disengaged FIG. 3. and the milk-off roller 60 is free running.

It will be understoodthat various changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangement of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, maybe made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A winch mechanism comprising:

a first open-ended housing,

a second mutually abutting open-ended housing substantially identical to said first housing and forming an enclosed container when placed in the abutting position, said second housing having an exit aperture formed thereon,

fastening means associated with said housings for releasably joining the same,

hydraulic motor means secured to said first housing and having a motor shaft extending within said first housing, 7

brake means secured to said first housing and operatively engaging said motor shaft,

a reel shaft rotatably securedto said first housing,

gear reduction means operatively engaging said motor shaft and said reel shaft,

a drive shaft journaled for rotation within said first housing and having driving means secured thereto,

gear train means operatively engaging said reel shaft and said drive shaft,

a reel unit for receiving a flat cable journaled for rotation within said second housing, said reel unit including a drive socket for operatively receiving said reel shaft,

roller means journaled for rotation within said second housing between said reel unit and said exit aperture for abutting engagement with the cable as the same passes through said exit aperture, said roller having means thereon for receiving said driving means,

and spring-biased means pivotally connected to said second housing for urging the cable into engagement with said roller means.

2. The winch mechanism of claim 1 wherein said gear train means includes a unidirectional clutch for rotating said drive shaft only in one direction.

3. The winch mechanism of claim 1 wherein said roller means is faced with rubber.

4. The winch mechanism of claim 1 wherein said driving means includes a transverse pin fixed to said drive shaft,

and said receiving means on said roller includes a series of outwardly projecting fingers having spaces therebetween for receiving said pin.

5. A winch mechanism comprising:

a base;

a bi-directional, variable speed hydraulic motor fixed to said base;

a first drive shaft axially extending from said base and operatively connected to said motor;

a second drive shaft axially extending from said base, spaced from said first drive shaft, and operatively connected to said motor;

a cable hub connected to said base for relative rotation in cable pay-out and cable pay-in directions and formed to removably and drivingly engage the extended end of said first drive shaft for rotation therewith;

a flat cable with one end thereof fixed to said hub and spirally Wound about said hub upon itself;

a pair of cable-aligning means connected to said base, each means having a surface confronting the other and positioned normal to the axis of said hub and spaced from the other a distance substantially equal to the Width of said cable for receiving the spirally wound portion of said cable therebetween;

first roller means spaced from the wound portion of said cable and connected to said base for rotation relative thereto;

second roller means connected to said base for rotation and positioned relative to said first roller means to urge a point along the paid out portion of said cable into frictional engagement with the periphery of said first roller means;

connecting means operatively connected between said second drive shaft and said first roller means for driving said first rollermeans to ay out said cable when said cable hub is being rotated in the pay-out direction;

servo-actuated valve means operatively connected to said hydraulic motor to control the direction and speed of rotation of said hydraulic motor;

a selectively positionable potentiometer operatively connected to said servo-actuated valve means to actuate said valve means;

hydraulically-actuated braking means fixed to said base and arranged to prevent rotation of said hydraulic motor; and

solenoid-actuated valve means operatively connected to both said hydraulically-actuated braking means and said potentiometer for actuating said bracking means to allow rotation of said motor when said potentiometer is in an actuating position.

6. A winch mechanism according to claim 5 wherein:

said cable is constructed of braided wire coated with polyurethane; and

the cable-engaging periphery of said first roller means is coated with rubber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,768 11/1908 Shockley 254- 1,870,385 8/1932 Seaman et al. 254-168 X 1,937,607 12/1933 Terrill.

2,246,923 6/1941 Meunier 254-168 2,559,450 7/1951 Mayer 254-168 X 2,720,327 10/1955 Bain 254-168 X 2,862,673 12/1958 Smaltz 254,175.7 X 2,872,130 2/ 1959 Nordone. 2,975,767 3/1961 Liggett et al 91-459 X 3,033,171 5/1962 Englbrecht et al. 91459 3,227,420 1/1966 Scott 254175.7

References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,084,882 4/1963 Riley et al. 3,092,346 6/ 1963 Goodell et a1.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A WINCH MECHANISM COMPRISING: A FIRST OPEN-ENDED HOUSING, A SECOND MUTUALLY ABUTTING OPEN-ENDED HOUSING SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL TO SAID FIRST HOUSING AND FORMING AN ENCLOSED CONTAINER WHEN PLACED IN THE ABUTTING POSITION, SAID SECOND HOUSING HAVING AN EXIT APERTURE FORMED THEREON, FASTENING MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID HOUSINGS FOR RELEASABLY JOINING THE SAME, HYDRAULIC MOTOR MEANS SECURED TO SAID FIRST HOUSING AND HAVING A MOTOR SHAFT EXTENDING WITHIN SAID FIRST HOUSING, BRAKE MEANS SECURED TO SAID FIRST HOUSING AND OPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAID MOTOR SHAFT, A REEL SHAFT ROTATABLY SECURED TO SAID FIRST HOUSING, GEAR REDUCTION MEANS OPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAID MOTOR SHAFT AND SAID REEL SHAFT, A DRIVE SHAFT JOURNALED FOR ROTATION WITHIN SAID FIRST HOUSING AND HAVING DRIVING MEANS SECURED THERETO,

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