EP0875483B1 - Winch apparatus - Google Patents
Winch apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0875483B1 EP0875483B1 EP19980303456 EP98303456A EP0875483B1 EP 0875483 B1 EP0875483 B1 EP 0875483B1 EP 19980303456 EP19980303456 EP 19980303456 EP 98303456 A EP98303456 A EP 98303456A EP 0875483 B1 EP0875483 B1 EP 0875483B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- vehicle
- winch
- pulley
- cable
- recovery
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66D—CAPSTANS; WINCHES; TACKLES, e.g. PULLEY BLOCKS; HOISTS
- B66D3/00—Portable or mobile lifting or hauling appliances
- B66D3/006—Power actuated devices operating on ropes, cables, or chains for hauling in a mainly horizontal direction
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66D—CAPSTANS; WINCHES; TACKLES, e.g. PULLEY BLOCKS; HOISTS
- B66D1/00—Rope, cable, or chain winding mechanisms; Capstans
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66D—CAPSTANS; WINCHES; TACKLES, e.g. PULLEY BLOCKS; HOISTS
- B66D1/00—Rope, cable, or chain winding mechanisms; Capstans
- B66D1/28—Other constructional details
- B66D1/36—Guiding, or otherwise ensuring winding in an orderly manner, of ropes, cables, or chains
Definitions
- This invention relates to winch apparatus. Particularly, but not exclusively, it relates to winch apparatus for use on a recovery vehicle.
- Recovery vehicles are used to recover broken down or accident damaged vehicles from the site of an incident. They generally comprise a winching means which is used to pull a vehicle onto a bed of the recovery vehicle for subsequent transportation.
- Figure 1 shows a typical conventional winching layout on a recovery truck.
- a winch 1 is mounted upon a bed 2 of a recovery truck such that its axis of rotation lies parallel to the axles of the truck.
- a winch cable 3 is wound around the winch and extends to the back of the bed where it may be used to attach to a vehicle 4 to be recovered.
- Motor vehicles generally have one or more towing eyes 5 to which the winch cable 3 is attached.
- the effect of the large variation in angle A is often that the cable tends to unevenly wind around the winch 1 and may bunch towards one or other edges of the winch roller or tend to snag.
- a cable is evenly wound upon a winch and this leads to the most efficient winding in and out and also minimises wear on the cables.
- the present invention arose in an attempt to provide an improved winching mechanism.
- a vehicle including a winching apparatus, the winching apparatus comprising: a winch mounted to a fixed point towards one side of the vehicle and a winch cable following a cable path; characterised in that, a first pulley mounted towards the other side of the vehicle and fixed at a point in the cable path between the winch and a second pulley, the second pulley being disposed spatially between the winch and the first pulley and being laterally movable relative to the vehicle.
- the winch is horizontally mounted such that its axis of rotation lies generally perpendicular to the axles of the vehicle.
- the cable path returns through approximately 180° around the first pulley.
- the second pulley may form part of a fairlead which is moveable sideways to selected positions.
- the second pulley is movable between a plurality of a laterally disposed positions across the vehicle, so that its position can be selected for maximum benefit in any situation.
- Winch apparatus may be used for loading or unloading any heavy, bulky or large objections into and/or out of vehicles and is not restricted to use with recovery vehicles.
- a winching system for use on a recovery vehicle comprises a winch 10 mounted upon the bed 11 of a recovery vehicle.
- the winch is driven by a motor (not shown) and may be controlled through an operating panel mounted on the recovery vehicle, or by a remote wander lead or by other means.
- the winch 10 is preferably mounted such that its rotation axis lies generally perpendicular to the axles of the vehicle. That is, it is angularly displaced by 90° compared to the prior art winch shown in Figure 1. This angle may vary, however.
- the winch is mounted as close as possible to one side 12 of the bed. Located close to the other side 13 of the bed is a fixed pulley 14. This is mounted so that the distance between it and the winch is as large as possible.
- a further pulley 15 is mounted upon a body 16 which is in turn slidable or otherwise moveable, upon a slide member 17 which is disposed generally parallel to the axles of the vehicle.
- a winch cable 18 is partially wound upon the winch 10 then across the bed and around pulley 14. After pulley 14, the cable returns to be passed around pulley 15 and through an opening 19 in member 16 (the fair lead). From here, the winch cable may be pulled out to the rear of the recovery bed for attaching to the vehicle to be recovered.
- the cable is pulled in and out from the winch as before but its fleet angle (that is the return angle at the winch 10) is constant since from the winch the cable is constrained to a fixed path between the winch and fixed pulley 14.
- the change in angle of the winch cable caused as a vehicle is pulled onto the bed is all taken up at fair lead 16 and pulley 15.
- the cable travels on a constant path between pulley 15 and fixed pulley 14 and then to the winch. This leads to a much improved and more stable winding of the cable onto the winch. The winding becomes much more even and snagging and wear on the cable are substantially reduced.
- Pulley 14 is of course free to rotate about its axis.
- the position of fairlead 16 be moveable sideways. This is achieved in the embodiment shown in Figure 2 by arranging for member 16, which bears the pulley 15, to be moveable sideways on a slide 17.
- the member 16 may be fixed at any of a plurality of positions with respect to member 17, by means of a pin 20 which is inserted through member 16 and into one of a plurality of holes 21 in member 17. Other ways of securing the member 16 onto the slide 17 may be used.
- the position of the fairlead may be infinitely adjustable, for example by using a clamping mechanism.
- the slide may in some embodiments be omitted and fairlead 16 mounted directly in a chosen one of a plurality of locations on the vehicle bed. The fairlead can then be positioned appropriately to winch in the damaged vehicle most effectively.
- the winch 10 may be provided with a freespool clutch mechanism, enabling the rope to be pulled off the drum quickly by an operator when required, instead of requiring it to be 'powered' off the drum.
- the winch mechanism may be used for other purposes than vehicle recovery, such as for manipulating bulky objects into or out of vehicles.
- the mechanism may then be mounted on other parts of a vehicle. For example, it may be mounted on the upper part of the rear (eg above the rear door) of a van or truck, to assist in manipulating bulky objects into or out of the van or truck.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Vehicle Cleaning, Maintenance, Repair, Refitting, And Outriggers (AREA)
- Lift-Guide Devices, And Elevator Ropes And Cables (AREA)
Description
- This invention relates to winch apparatus. Particularly, but not exclusively, it relates to winch apparatus for use on a recovery vehicle.
- Recovery vehicles are used to recover broken down or accident damaged vehicles from the site of an incident. They generally comprise a winching means which is used to pull a vehicle onto a bed of the recovery vehicle for subsequent transportation.
- Figure 1 shows a typical conventional winching layout on a recovery truck. A winch 1 is mounted upon a bed 2 of a recovery truck such that its axis of rotation lies parallel to the axles of the truck. A winch cable 3 is wound around the winch and extends to the back of the bed where it may be used to attach to a vehicle 4 to be recovered. Motor vehicles generally have one or
more towing eyes 5 to which the winch cable 3 is attached. - In most modern cars the towing eye tends to be off-set from the central longitudinal axis of the car. This is shown in Figure 1 where
eye 5 is mounted towards the left hand side of the car. Towing ropes or cable 3 is attached toeye 5 and the winch is then operated by a motor to pull the car in. As the car is pulled in, cable 3 wraps around winch 1. However, as the car is pulled in, sinceeye 5 is off-set from its centre, the angle of the winching cable 3 increases. This is illustrated by dashed lines 4a, which shows the resting position of the front of the car, and 3a which shows a final position and angle of winch cable 3. The effect of the large variation in angle A (known as the fleet angle) is often that the cable tends to unevenly wind around the winch 1 and may bunch towards one or other edges of the winch roller or tend to snag. Desirably, a cable is evenly wound upon a winch and this leads to the most efficient winding in and out and also minimises wear on the cables. - The present invention arose in an attempt to provide an improved winching mechanism.
- According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle including a winching apparatus, the winching apparatus comprising: a winch mounted to a fixed point towards one side of the vehicle and a winch cable following a cable path; characterised in that, a first pulley mounted towards the other side of the vehicle and fixed at a point in the cable path between the winch and a second pulley, the second pulley being disposed spatially between the winch and the first pulley and being laterally movable relative to the vehicle.
- Preferably, the winch is horizontally mounted such that its axis of rotation lies generally perpendicular to the axles of the vehicle.
- Preferably, the cable path returns through approximately 180° around the first pulley.
- The second pulley may form part of a fairlead which is moveable sideways to selected positions.
- Desirably, the second pulley is movable between a plurality of a laterally disposed positions across the vehicle, so that its position can be selected for maximum benefit in any situation.
- Winch apparatus according to the invention may be used for loading or unloading any heavy, bulky or large objections into and/or out of vehicles and is not restricted to use with recovery vehicles.
- Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 shows a typical known winching system; and
- Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a winching system according to the present invention.
-
- Referring to Figure 2, a winching system for use on a recovery vehicle comprises a
winch 10 mounted upon the bed 11 of a recovery vehicle. The winch is driven by a motor (not shown) and may be controlled through an operating panel mounted on the recovery vehicle, or by a remote wander lead or by other means. Thewinch 10 is preferably mounted such that its rotation axis lies generally perpendicular to the axles of the vehicle. That is, it is angularly displaced by 90° compared to the prior art winch shown in Figure 1. This angle may vary, however. The winch is mounted as close as possible to oneside 12 of the bed. Located close to theother side 13 of the bed is a fixed pulley 14. This is mounted so that the distance between it and the winch is as large as possible. Afurther pulley 15 is mounted upon abody 16 which is in turn slidable or otherwise moveable, upon aslide member 17 which is disposed generally parallel to the axles of the vehicle. - A
winch cable 18 is partially wound upon thewinch 10 then across the bed and around pulley 14. After pulley 14, the cable returns to be passed aroundpulley 15 and through an opening 19 in member 16 (the fair lead). From here, the winch cable may be pulled out to the rear of the recovery bed for attaching to the vehicle to be recovered. - In operation, the cable is pulled in and out from the winch as before but its fleet angle (that is the return angle at the winch 10) is constant since from the winch the cable is constrained to a fixed path between the winch and fixed pulley 14. The change in angle of the winch cable caused as a vehicle is pulled onto the bed is all taken up at
fair lead 16 andpulley 15. Afterpulley 15, the cable travels on a constant path betweenpulley 15 and fixed pulley 14 and then to the winch. This leads to a much improved and more stable winding of the cable onto the winch. The winding becomes much more even and snagging and wear on the cable are substantially reduced. Pulley 14 is of course free to rotate about its axis. - Badly damaged vehicles, particularly those with damaged suspensions, often have a tendency of crabbing, that is, pulling to one side as they are being winched onto a recovery vehicle. In order to accommodate this effect, it is preferable that the position of fairlead 16 be moveable sideways. This is achieved in the embodiment shown in Figure 2 by arranging for
member 16, which bears thepulley 15, to be moveable sideways on aslide 17. In one embodiment, themember 16 may be fixed at any of a plurality of positions with respect tomember 17, by means of apin 20 which is inserted throughmember 16 and into one of a plurality of holes 21 inmember 17. Other ways of securing themember 16 onto theslide 17 may be used. The position of the fairlead may be infinitely adjustable, for example by using a clamping mechanism. The slide may in some embodiments be omitted and fairlead 16 mounted directly in a chosen one of a plurality of locations on the vehicle bed. The fairlead can then be positioned appropriately to winch in the damaged vehicle most effectively. - The
winch 10 may be provided with a freespool clutch mechanism, enabling the rope to be pulled off the drum quickly by an operator when required, instead of requiring it to be 'powered' off the drum. - The winch mechanism may be used for other purposes than vehicle recovery, such as for manipulating bulky objects into or out of vehicles. The mechanism may then be mounted on other parts of a vehicle. For example, it may be mounted on the upper part of the rear (eg above the rear door) of a van or truck, to assist in manipulating bulky objects into or out of the van or truck.
Claims (8)
- A vehicle including a winching apparatus, the winching apparatus comprising:a winch (10) mounted to a fixed point towards one side (12) of the vehicle and a winch cable (18) following a cable path; characterised in that,a first pulley (14) mounted towards the other side (13) of the vehicle and fixed at a point in the cable path between the winch and a second pulley (15), the second pulley being disposed spatially between the winch and the first pulley and being laterally movable relative to the vehicle.
- A vehicle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the winching apparatus is mounted on a bed (11) of the vehicle.
- A vehicle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the winching apparatus is mounted on the upper part of the rear of the vehicle.
- A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the winch is horizontally mounted such that its axis of rotation lies generally perpendicular to the axles of the vehicle.
- A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the cable path returns through approximately 180° around the first pulley.
- A vehicle as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the second pulley is laterally movable with respect to the vehicle.
- A vehicle as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the second pulley is movable between a plurality of laterally disposed positions across the vehicle.
- A vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which is a recovery vehicle.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GBGB9708882.7A GB9708882D0 (en) | 1997-05-02 | 1997-05-02 | Winch apparatus |
GB9708882 | 1997-05-02 |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0875483A2 EP0875483A2 (en) | 1998-11-04 |
EP0875483A3 EP0875483A3 (en) | 1999-06-02 |
EP0875483B1 true EP0875483B1 (en) | 2003-07-30 |
Family
ID=10811662
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19980303456 Expired - Lifetime EP0875483B1 (en) | 1997-05-02 | 1998-05-01 | Winch apparatus |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0875483B1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE69816695T2 (en) |
GB (1) | GB9708882D0 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7392975B2 (en) | 2006-12-01 | 2008-07-01 | Miller Industries Towing Equipment Inc | Vehicle mounted winch assembly with powered sliding cable guide |
Families Citing this family (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE202013105182U1 (en) | 2012-11-26 | 2013-12-02 | Bernd Reichelt | Pulling device with winch |
US10029893B2 (en) | 2016-07-14 | 2018-07-24 | George Hancock | Winch system |
US11401136B2 (en) | 2018-07-13 | 2022-08-02 | Goodrich Corporation | Rescue hoist cable angle exceedance detection arrangement |
US11987480B2 (en) * | 2019-10-23 | 2024-05-21 | Kanister Industries Llc | Cable guide device |
Family Cites Families (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US1457947A (en) * | 1919-12-17 | 1923-06-05 | Packard Motor Car Co | Motor vehicle |
US2473628A (en) * | 1944-08-19 | 1949-06-21 | Motor Res Corp | Winding device or winch |
US4062461A (en) * | 1976-12-01 | 1977-12-13 | Vincent Herman C | Hay bale loader |
FR2474470A1 (en) * | 1980-01-25 | 1981-07-31 | Ppm Sa | Multidirectional lorry mounted winch - is behind cab and has three directional optional pulleys around which cable passes horizontally |
DE8525623U1 (en) * | 1985-09-09 | 1985-10-31 | Albersinger, Georg, 8200 Rosenheim | Vehicle transport trailer with a new type of winch arrangement |
US4946333A (en) * | 1989-06-15 | 1990-08-07 | Boatwright Derrell W | Assembly for moving and guiding a vehicle onto and off of a bed of a towing vehicle |
US5509639A (en) * | 1993-10-05 | 1996-04-23 | Ellis; Craig A. | Winch assemblies |
-
1997
- 1997-05-02 GB GBGB9708882.7A patent/GB9708882D0/en not_active Ceased
-
1998
- 1998-05-01 EP EP19980303456 patent/EP0875483B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1998-05-01 DE DE1998616695 patent/DE69816695T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7392975B2 (en) | 2006-12-01 | 2008-07-01 | Miller Industries Towing Equipment Inc | Vehicle mounted winch assembly with powered sliding cable guide |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP0875483A3 (en) | 1999-06-02 |
DE69816695T2 (en) | 2004-03-04 |
DE69816695D1 (en) | 2003-09-04 |
EP0875483A2 (en) | 1998-11-04 |
GB9708882D0 (en) | 1997-06-25 |
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