CA1265507A - Portable power driven winch - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure A small, light, portable winch having a small gasoline engine, a centrifugal clutch connecting the engine through reduction gears, sprockets, and a chain to a spool having a cable which can be wound on the spool. A positive clutch can be disengaged to permit cable to be withdrawn safely from the spool while the engine is running. A brake permits cable to be control-lably unwound from the spool under load. A two-legged bridle attached to the spool-supporting frame and handles on the winch facilitate smoothly spooling cable on the drum. A lever connected to a throttle control cable is conveniently located within reach from one of the handles, while the brake is controlled by a lever conveniently within reach from the other of the handles, and is adjustable.

Description

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PORTABLE POWER DRIVEN WINCH

Backg~ound of the Invention The pre~ent invention relates to power driven winches, and particularly to a light, portable winch driven by a small internal combu~tion engine.
It is well known to provide winches driven by electric motor3 powered by the electrical system of motor vehicle~, and to have ~uch winches equipped with mechanical devices for ensuring that cable i3 wound Rmoothly on the spool of such a winch. Such previously-known winches, however, have not been particularly u~e-ful in situations ~uch as handling of small 1098 and similar obiects which might be encountered by people cutting firewood in area~ not ea~ily reach~d by motor vehicles, and in moving objects which are not ea~ily moved by hand but are not 90 heavy as to require the use of large powered equipment. While some winche~ of the size of a ~qmall wheelbarrow have been previously avail-able, even ~uch a winch i8 unsuitably large for use insome remote locations.
Provision should be made in a winch, even a ~mall portable winch, for ensuring that cable can be wound smoothly upon the spool of the winch, in order to avoid burying turns of wire within previously wrapped turn~ of wire on the winch spool, because such burying of cable within previou~ly wound turns may reYult in damage to the cable which would weaken it, making it un~afe for future use.

~iS5~7 A winch need~ an ea~ily operable brake to help hold a load at a de~ired height when the motor i~ not actually winding cable inward, and it should be poR~ible to lower a load a~ well aA rai~e it, for a powered winch to be mo t practical.
Recently, winche~ have been made available which are adapted for being driven by a chainqaw engine~
Such adaptations, however, have lacked certain desirable feature~, ~uch as the ability to control both inhauling operation and lowering of a load conveniently. Addi-tionally, in ~ituationq where a ~mall portable winch may be needed, as in hauling wood a~ it i8 being cut into firewood, it would be extremely inconvenient to have to use a chainsaw motor to drive quch a winch, ~ince that u~e would make the chainsaw unavailable. Furthermoret while some chain~aws are equipped with brake~ to stop rotation of the qaw chain when the throttle i9 relea~ed, ~uch a brake i~ not particularly well adapted to holding a load suspended by a winch driven by the chainsaw engine. A chainsaw i9 designed, finally, to be balanced when equipped with the normal chainsaw bar and chain, and mounting of an adapted winch to be driven by ~uch a chain~aw'q engine does not result in a balanced, easily handled power-driven winch.
What is needed therefore, is an improved power-driven portable winch which i~ light, well balanced, and includes for the ~ake of ~afety, a brake which can be used for controllably allowing cable to be unwound, control devices for the brake and to control ~2~ 7 the speed of operation of the winch, and provision for smoothly winding cable upon the cable spool or drum in order to avoid damage to the cable and avoid difficulty in unwinding the cable~

Summary of the Invention The present invention overcomes some of the shortcoming3 of the prior art and provides a lightweight, powerful, and easily portable power driven winch which is safe and easy to operate. In ~ccordance with the pre~ent invention a small, lightweight gaqoline engine is attached on one side of a reduction gear housing, while a cable spool is mounted on a frame extending from the other side of the reduction gearcase. Within the reduction gear housing a centrifugal clutch controls application of the engine' power to drive the winch spool to wind cable upon the spool. A positively engaging clutch permits the reduction gear set to be disconnected from a sprocket drive shaft, allowing the cable spool to free-wheel so that cable may be unwound from it. An easily adjustable brake is provided to control rotation of the winch spool both while the posi-tive clutch i~ engaged and while it i8 disengaged, so that the winch may be uAed to controllably lower a load with the engine running but the centrifugal clutch dis-engaged. A bridle consisting of a pair of equal arms joined to a Ringle anchor line is attached to ears pro-vided on opposite end~ of the frame portion of the winch, so that the winch spool's axis of rotation normally ~26~S~'7 remainc perpendicular to the direction toward which the cable is extending. The operator can exert qlight ~idewards pres~ure to control the angle between the cable and the spool preci~ely to smoothly wrap the cable on the spool so that the cable will not bend excessively and be weakened by the cable as a result of eneven winding.
It is a principal feature of the present invention that it includes an adjustable lever-operated brake for controlling the rotation of the spool on which cable i~ wound.
It is another important feature of the present invention that it includes both a positive engagement clutch permitting the cable spool to be connected po~i-tively ol di~connected from a reduction gear ~et, and a centrifugally operated clutch which connects the engine of the winch to the input side of the reduction gear 3et when the engine is operated at or above a predetermined speed .
It is a further feature of the present inven-tion that it includes a bridle arrangement and a pair of handles attached to the reduction gear houslng of the winch to enable an operator of the winch to control wrapping of the cable on the winch ~pool in such a way as to avoid damage to the cable.
It is a principal feature of the preqent invention that it provides a winch which is smaller, lighter and yet as powerful and capable aq previously available portable winches.

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It is another feature of the present invention that it provides a power-driven winch which is simpler to operate than previously available power-driven winches.
The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the pre~ent invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the inven~ion taken in conjunc-tion with the accompanying drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable winch embodying the pre~ent invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially cut-away left end eleva-tional view of the winch shown in FIG. 1, without its engine.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the reduction qear as~emby and a portion of the gearcase of the winch shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 i~ a detail view taken from the right end and showinq the adjuqtable brake mechanism of the winch qhown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 i~ a sectional view of a portion of the brake mechani~m shown in FIG. 4, taken along line 5-5.
FIG. 6 is a per3pective view from the left front, showing the portable winch of FIG. 1 in use.

65~7 Detailed Description of the Drawin~s Referring now to the drawings in FIG. 1, an exemplary portable winch 10 is seen to include a small gasoline engine 12 attached to a reduction gear housing or caqe 14. Mounted on the reduction gear housing 14 are a pair of handles, an upper handle 16, which extends horizontally above the engine 12, and a rear handle 18, which extends horizontally rearward from the gearcase 14. Preferably, the engine 12 is a light-weight, two-cycle gasoline engine such a3 the Model TC200 or TC300 engines manufactured by the Tecumseh Products Co. of Grafton, Wisconqin, which develop, respectively, 1.6 and

2.4 horsepower.
A frame 20 supports a cable spool 22 in appro-priate bearings, and a cable 24 is wound upon the spool22. The frame 20 includes a downwardly-extending foot 26 located at the righthand or outer end of the frame, and a similar foot 26 (FIG. 2) is pro~ided on the reduc-tion gear housing 44, to support the winch 10 on the ground in an upright attitude. In one embodiment of the winch 10, the entire winch is about 16 inches long, including the engine 12, gearcase 14 and frame 20, and weighs only 21 pound3.
The cable 24 extends generally perpendicularly away from the spool 22 in the direction in which tension is to be applied, pas~ing between a pair of horizontal parallel guide bars 28 which are located one above the other. Ample room i3 provided between the guide bars 28 for the cable to pa~s between them without binding, yet ~2g~ 0~

there are clo~e enough together to provide some ~traight-ening and guiding effect, with the 3pace between the guide bars 28 being located at approximately the height at which the cable 24 i~ tangent to the top of the spool 22 or cable wound thereon. A flange 30 (FIG. 6) i~
located at the outer end of the spool 22, while a sprocket 32 which drive~ the qpool, a3 will be explained presently, act3 as a flange on the inner end of the ~pool 22, the end which iq closer to the engine 12.
A pair of ears 34 extend rearwardly from the frame 20 at the height of the central axi~ of the spool 22, and a bridle having a pair of legs 36 and 38 is attached to the winc~ 10 by fa3tening the leg 36 to one of the ear~ 34 and the leg 38 to the other of the ears 15 34 by a shackle or other suitable fa3tener. The legs 36 and 38 are fastened together preferably by a 3waged fa~tener and an anchor line 40 extends further, to be attached to a suitable anchor during operation of the winch 10.
Referring now also to FIG. 2, a throttle control lever 42 i9 mounted pivotably on a pivot pin such as the screw 44 extending into the gearcase 14, parallel with the upper handle 16. A finger contact bar 46 extend~ parallel with the upper handle 16 and is located a slight distance, for example 1-1/2 inches, below the upper handle 16, where it may be gra~ped by the left index finger of a per30n operating the winch 10. A crank arm 48 extends downwardly from the screw 44, and the core of a flexible throttle control cable 50 55~

i~ connected with the crank arm 48, ~o that raising the finger contact bar 46 toward the upper handle 16 pullq the core of the cable 50 and opens the throttle of the engine 12 to increase it~ operatinq speed. A ~prinq (not shown) i~ associated with the cable 50 to urge the control lever 42 in a clockwi~e direction as ~een in FIG. 2, thus ordinarily clo~inq the throttle of the engine 12 to a predetermined minimum openinq which pref-erably will allow the enqine to run at idle speed. The location of the finqer contact bar 45 below the upper handle 16 protect~ the throttle control lever and finger contact bar 46 from lnadvertently being moved, a~ by contact with brush or branches while the winch lO i~
beinq carried in wooded areas. Nevertheles3, the finger contact bar 46 is conveniently within reach of the fingers of the operator'~ left hand ~o that the operator can ea~ily control the ~peed of the engine 12 during operation of the winch lO.
As may be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the engine 12 i~ connected through a centrifugal clutch having a clutch cup 52 located rotatably on a shaft mounted in the gearcase 14, with a drive pinion 54 attached to the output, or right, side of the clutch cup 52. The dr~ve pinion 54 engages the larger gear 56 of a gear cluster whose smaller gear 58 is, in turn, meshed with a final driven gear 60 mounted rotatably on a final drive sprocket shaft 62. A ~tationary half 64 of a positive drive clutch is fixedly attached to the final driven gear 60, and a positive drive clutch sliding half 66 is ~iS50~

slidably mounted on the drive ~procket shaft 62 so that it is ~lidable axially along the drive qprocket shaft 62. A key 68 i~ mounted in a ~lot in the ~haft 62 and extends within a keyway within the clutch sliding half 66. A qroove 70 is machined preferably diametrically across the stationary half 64 of the positive drive clutch, and corresponding dog~ 72 are provided on a mating face of the sliding half 66.
An annular groove 74 i~ provided in the cir-cumferential qurface of the sliding half 66, and a slider fork 76 has a pair of arms matingly engaged in the annular groove 74 to control it~ position axially along the final drive sprocket shaft 60. The slider fork 76 is carried on an axially movable clutch operating rod 78 which extends parallel with the drive shaft 60 and to the outside of the gearcase 14 through an opening provided therefore in the gearcase 14. A
helical spring 80 is disposed about the clutch operating rod 78, biasing it away from the engine 12 and thus by means of the slider fork 76 urging the ~liding half 66 of the po~itive drive clutch along the final drive sprocket shaft 62, bringing the lug~ 72 into engagement with the groove 70 of the stationary half 64 of the positive drive clutch, so that the sprocket shaft 62 will be driven by the final driven gear 60. A shift lever 82 iq pivotably attached to an outer end of the clutch operating rod 78 by a pivot pin 84 which i~
located further from an inner end 86 of the shift lever 82 than from an inner side 88 of the shift lever 82.

_g_ S~6:97 The inner end 86 and the inner side 88 both include generally planar surface~ which can lie flat against the outside of the gearcase 14. Thus, when the shift lever 82 is moved to extend outward and to be generally par-allel with the clutch operating rod 78, the inner end 86goe~ to lie flat against the outer ~urface of the gear-case 14, and the slider fork 76 is moved leftward by the clutch operating rod 78, sliding along the final drive ~procket shaft 62 and di~engaging the dogs 72 from the groove 70 so that the sprocket ~haft 62 may rotate freely within the hub of the final driven gear 60. When the lever 82 i~ turned so that the inner ~ide 88 is ad-jacent the out~ide of the gearcase 14 the spring 80 urges the clutch operating rod 78 and fork 76 toward the fixed half 64, thus moving the sliding half 66 of the clutch and urging the lugs 72 toward the groove 70, 90 that the positive drive clutch will become engaged as soon as the clutch halves have rotated relative to one another to the proper position of alignment. In either position of the lever 82, the spring 80, acting on the clutch operating rod 78, holds the lever 82 against the outside of the gearcase 14, preventing accidental engage-ment or disengagement of the po~itive drive clutch.
Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, a sprocket 90 is mounted on the sprocket shaft 62. A roller chain 92 is fitted around the sprocket 90 and the sprocket 32 50 that rotation of the ~pocket shaft 62 drives the spool 22 and vice versa. A brake drum 94 is also fixedly mounted on the ~procket shaft 62. A strap 96 of metal, to which a brake lining 98 i~ bonded, is attached pivot-ably by one end to a brake anchor pi.n 100 extendin~
from the gearcase 14. The other end of the strap 96 carries a threaded rod 102 attached fixedly thereto as by welding~ The threaded rod 102 extends through a hole provided through a crosspin 104 carried pivotably in a pair of arms 106 of a brake application lever 108, which is pivotably mounted on a pivot pin liO extending out-ward from the gearcase 14. A brake adjustment nut 112 includes a knurled knob at its upper end and is thread-edly fastened on the threaded rod 102 to ride against the crosspin 104, so that downward movement of the brake appli.cation lever 108 applies tension on the brake strap 96, pressing the brake lining 98 against the outer sur-face of the brake drum 94. The brake application lever108, a~ may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, is located con-veniently adjacent to the rearwardly extending handle 18, where it may be operated conveniently by the thumb or a finger of the right hand of a person u3ing the winch 10.
Preferably, the brake lining material i~
similar to the brake lining material.manufactured by Scan-Pac, of Menomonee Falls, Wiscon3in, under the designation 230AF.* This lining material i~ free from asbestos for the sake of safety in operating the brake.
It i3 preferably bonded to the strap by an adhesive such a~ Pla 3 tiloc 605-4,* a high-temperature brake lining adhesive available from the B. F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio.
* trade-marks .

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In operation, the anchorline 40, connected to the bridle including the legs 36 and 38, i~ attached to a fixed object, while an end of the cable 24 i9 attached by conventional means to an object which i~ to be moved using the winch 10. This i~ accompli3hed by first moving the shift le~er 82 to the outwardly extending position disengaging the positive drive clutch dog~ 72 from the groove 70, so that the spool 22 is free to rotate under the torque applied by pulling the cable 24.
Pulling the cable 24 from the spool 22 thuq does not involve any ri~k of accidental engagement of the centri-fugal clutch which might cauqe injury by an unwanted tightening of the cable 24 while 30meone is ~anipulating it. Once the cable 24 has been attached to an object to be moved, the shift lever 82 i3 rotated to its position in which its inner side 88 is parallel with and in con-tact with the outer surface of the reduction gearcase 14~ 80 that the spring 80 urges the ~lider fork 76 inward to engage the positive drive clutch dog3 72 in the groove 70 when they are aligned with one another upon first rotation of the sprocket ~haft 62 relative to the final driven gear 60. With the engine 12 operating at idle speed, the finger contact bar 46 of the throttle control lever 42 i9 squeezed upwardly toward the upper handle 16, opening the throttle of the engine 12 and increasing its speed until the centrifugal clutch attached to the crank shaft of the engine 12 engage~ the centrifugal clutch cup 52. This in turn rotates the attached drive pinion 54 which is meshed with the larger i5~Q7 gear 56, in turn driving the ~maller gear 58 attached to the larger gear 56, so that the smaller qear 58 drives the final driven gear 60, rotating it until the dogs 72 engage the groove 700 The sliding half 66 then rotates the sprocket drive shaft 62, thereby driving the ~pool 22, winding the cable 24 upon the spool 22.
Ordinarily, the bridle legs 36 and 38 maintain the spool 22 oriented perpendicular to the line of pull of the anchor line 40, and ordinarily this re~ults in the axis of rotation of the spool 22 al80 being approx-imately perpendicular to the cable 24, if the winch is supported by the handles 16 and 18 with ten~ion in the cable 24 and the anchorline 40. By qimply applying a ~light amount of ~idewards pre~ure, u~ing the handles 16 and 18, the winch 10 can be moved sidewards to the appropriate position to cau~e the cable 24 to wrap itself neatly upon the spool 22, with each additional turn of cable lying neatly along side the previous turn on the ~pool 22 to form smooth layers of cable turns lying closely along~ide one another along the entire length of the spool 22, so as to avoid subqequent turns of cable from burying themselves in previou~ly wound layer~ of cable on the spool 22. It is important to avoid burying the cable, since such burying may result in damaging the cable, weakening or breaking individual strands of wire within the cable and thus making the cable more likely to break under application of intended loads.

Preferably, the combination of the power of the motor 12, the amount of reduction of ~peed of the shafts and accompanying amplification of torque are chosen ~Q that the centrifugal clutch will ~lip before application of torque sufficient to break the cable 24 or the bridle, and before loadinq the engine 12 beyond its designed output torque. For example, the overall speed ratio between the engine 12 and the ~pool 20 may be 85-l/3 to l.
When handling a su3pended load, the brake may be applied by pressing the brake application lever 108 downward with the thumb of the right hand to tighten the ~trap 96, thus forcing the brake lining 98 against the surface of the brake drum 94 to cause ~ufficient fric-tion to resi~t the torque applied to the brake drum 94 by attempted rotation of the spool 22, tran~mitted through the chain 92 and sprocket 90. The brake can thu~ be used to ~uspend a load, or by manipulating the amount of pres~ure applied on the brake application lever 108 the brake may be u~ed to controlably lower ~uch a load, with the throttle control lever released to permit the engine 12 to run at idle speed, thus dis-engaging the centrifugal clutch to permit the spool 22 to rotate in a direction unwinding the cable 24.
The terms and expre~sions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitat~on, and there i~ no intention, in the uqe of such terms and expres-sions, of excluding equivalent~ of the features shown ~5~7 and de~cribed or portion3 thereo~, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims (7)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege are claimed is defined as follows:

1. A portable winch, comprising:
(a) a gearcase having opposite first and second ends, opposite front and rear sides, and a final driven shaft extending from said first end;
(b) a spool-supporting frame extending from said first end;
(c) a spool carried on said frame and defining a spool axis of rotation extending directly toward said gearcase;
(d) an engine fixedly attached to said second end of said gearcase;
(e) a first winch-supporting handle extending from said second end of said gearcase and located above said engine and forward of and generally parallel with said spool axis of rotation;
(f) a second winch-supporting handle extend-ing generally perpendicular to and rear-wardly from said rear side of said gearcase;
(g) a throttle control lever mounted on said second end of said gearcase and rotatable about a throttle control lever axis extending substantially parallel with said first handle;

(h) a finger contact bar attached fixedly to said throttle control lever, extending generally parallel with and located below said first handle and spaced apart therefrom, but within reach of a hand holding said first handle, and moveable toward said first handle so as to rotate said throttle control lever about said throttle control lever axis;
(i) means connecting said throttle control lever to said engine for accelerating said engine in response to movement of said finger contact bar toward said first handle;
(j) a brake drum mounted on said final driven shaft;
(k) a brake band encircling said brake drum;
and (l) brake lever means pivotably mounted on said first end of said gearcase and extending rearwardly alongside said second handle, within reach of a finger of a hand while said hand holds said second handle, for selectively tightening said brake band about said brake drum.

2. The portable winch of claim 1 including means for adjusting said brake, wherein said brake lever means defines an aperture, said means for adjusting said brake including a threaded member attached fixedly to said brake band and extending from an end thereof and an adjustable nut threadedly attached to said threaded member, said threaded member passing through said aperture.

3. The portable winch of claim 1, including a Y-shaped bridle having a pair of legs and means located on said rear side of said gearcase and said spool supporting frame, respectively, for attaching the legs of said bridle to said winch, and further including a pair of cable spooling guide bars located on said front side of said spool-supporting frame and oriented generally parallel with said spool axis of rotation.

4. A portable winch, comprising:
(a) a gearcase having opposite first and second ends and front and rear sides;
(b) a spool-supporting frame extending from said first end;
(c) a spool carried on said frame and defining a spool axis of rotation extending directly toward said gearcase, (d) an engine fixedly attached to said second end of said gearcase;
(e) a first winch-supporting handle extending from said second end of said gearcase and located above said engine and forward of and generally parallel with said spool axis of rotation;

(f) a second winch-supporting handle extend-ing generally horizontally rearward from said rear side of said gearcase;
(g) a set of speed reduction gears including a final driven gear located in said gearcase:
(h) a positive engagement clutch for selec-tively connecting said reduction gears drivingly to said spool, said positive engagement clutch including a final driven shaft, a slidable member disposed axially slidably on said shaft and keyed thereto for rotation therewith, and mating means for coupling said slidable member to said final driven gear so as to prevent said slidable member from rotating with respect to said final driven gear;
(i) lever-operated means for controlling said positive engagement clutch, said lever-operated means including a lever located adjacent said second end of said gearcase;
(j) a throttle control lever mounted on said second end of said gearcase and rotatable about a throttle control lever axis extending substantially parallel with said first handle;

(k) a finger contact bar attached fixedly to said throttle control lever, extending generally parallel with and located below said first handle and spaced apart therefrom, but within reach of a hand holding said first handle, and moveable toward said first handle so as to rotate said throttle control lever about said throttle control lever axis;
(l) means convecting said throttle control lever to said engine for accelerating said engine in response to movement of said finger contact bar toward said first handle;
(m) a brake drum mounted on said final driven shaft;
(n) a brake band encircling said brake drum;
and (o) brake lever means pivotably mounted on said first end of said gearcase and extending rearwardly alongside said second handle, within reach of a finger of a hand while said hand holds said second handle, for selectively tightening said brake band about said brake drum.

5. The portable winch of claim 4, further comprising a centrifugal clutch for connecting said engine to said speed reduction gears.

6. The portable winch of claim 5, said centrifugal clutch being adjusted to transmit power from said engine to said reduction gearing when said engine operates above a predetermined minimum speed and to slip so as to limit the amount of torque applied to said speed reduction gears to a predetermined maximum amount.

7. The portable winch of claim 4 wherein said final driven gear is rotatably disposed about said final driven shaft of said positive engagement clutch and said lever-operated means for controlling said posi-tive engagement clutch includes:
(i) an axially slidable clutch operating rod located parallel with said final driven shaft and extending outwardly through a part of said gearcase;
(ii) a shifter fork fixedly mounted on said clutch operating rod within said gear-case, a circumferen tial groove being defined in said slidable member, and said shifter fork being engaged in said groove;
(iii) biasing means including a helical spring disposed about said clutch operating rod within said gear case for urging said slidable member toward a position of engagement in which said mating means couples said slidable member to said final driven gear; and (iv) bistable means for holding said lever-operated means selectively in a position retaining said positive engagement clutch in a disengaged position in which said mating means is disengaged, or an engaged position wherein said biasing means holds said slidable member in said position of engagement, said bistable means including a side and an end of said lever, said clutch operating rod being pivotably connected to said lever and said helical spring urging said lever toward an exterior surface of said gearcase, said lever being stable with either said side or said end lying against said exterior surface of said gearcase, and said positive engagement clutch being engaged when one of said end and said side is lying against said exterior surface and disengaged when the other of said end and said side is lying against said exterior surface.