US2047494A - Means for handling life boats on board a vessel - Google Patents

Description

`July 14, 1936. A P SCHAT 2,047,494

MEANS FOR HANDLING LIFEBOATS ON BOARD lA VESSEL Filed Oct. 17,. 1934 Patented July 14, 1936 UNITED STATES MEANS FOR HANDLING LIFE BOATS ON BOARD Ane Pieter Schat,

A VE S SEL Utrecht, Netherlands Application October 17, 1934, Serial No. 748,726

4 Claims.

In order that a plurality of life boats may be handled by means of one common deck winch or the like, it has been suggested to wind both falls of a boat on individual drums or reels disposed side by side in a frame, each drum being provided with a gear rim meshing with a pinion on a central shaft provided with a brake drum. Said pinion also meshes with a gear wheel mounted on the shaft of an auxiliary drum mounted in said frame, a clutch being pro-vided whereby the auxiliary drum may be coupled with or uncoupled from its gear wheel. An eXtra rope wound on the auxiliary drum is adapted to be led to the warping end of a deck winch so that the boat can be hoisted if the clutch is thrown in, and lowered when the clutch is released, the descending movement being adapted to be controlled by means of the brake drum.

It has also been proposed to removably mount the said auxiliary drum with the rope wound thereon, so that one and the same auxiliary drum and rope may be successively used for cooperating with the fall drums of a plurality of boats.

The primary object of this invention is to simplify such an arrangement.

With this object in view, I utilize that portion of one of the boat falls which remains on its drum when the boat has been lowered to the Water level under normal conditions and which serves to allow the boat to be suitably launched from the high side'if the vessel has a considerable list. In accordance with my present invention, said length of fall is run out to the deck winch by means of which the boat is to. be hoisted, it being understood, of course, that the said fall should remain associated with its drum so as to rotate the same and thereby also revolve the drum of the second fall. Stated` in other language, the extra rope required in known installations is substituted, in accordance with my invention, by a part of one of the falls itself.

Since with this arrangement the first drum in fact acts as a warping end during the hoisting operation, it is desirable for the same to have at least a small portion thereof actually made in the shape of a warping end, as otherwise difculties would arise, which it is not necessary to mention here as they are well known to anyone skilled in the art. Owing, however, to the fact that during hoisting the number of turns, which the first fall takes on its drum, remains stationary so that the hoisting speed of said fall is invariable (assuming the deck winch to operate at a uniform speed), whereas the second fall is as a, rule wound in two layers on its drum so as to hoist the boat with stepwise increasing speed, it is advisable to so shape the warping end of the rst drum that its diameter at the point Where it is engaged by the fall coming from the top block is equal to the average diameter of 5 the turns in the successive layers of the second fall on its drum. Preferably, however, I provide for means whereby the operative engagement between the drums may be released and the second drum may be locked against rotation under l0 the influence of the pull of its fall.

My invention further relates to a special construction of centrifugal brake which is particularly suitable for use in connection with hoisting drums of the aforesaid type, but which may l5 also be applied to other rotary parts for paying out or guiding boat falls.

In order that my invention may be better understood, I refer to. the annexed drawing, in which:

Fig. l diagrammatically shows my novel means for hoisting a boat by means of a deck Winch,

Fig. 2 is partly a plan view, partly a hori- Zontal section of a rope reel adapted to take up both falls of a life boat, and

Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly a vertical section of another rope reel for the same purpose.

In Fig. 1, 4 is the rope reel comprising two drums 5 and B rigidly secured to a common shaft, whereas 'l is a deck winch having the usual warping end 8. As shown, a portion of drum 5 is also formed as a warping end 5a.

The boat, not shown, is suspended from two falls 9 and I0, adapted to be wound on the drums 5' and 6, respectively.

In accordance with the present invention, the fall 9 has such a length that, when the boat has been lowered to the water level, its hauling part, after taking a few turns about the warping end 5a, may be run to the warping end 8 of winch l. Thus, rotation oi the warping end 8 will obviously result in rotation of both drums 5, 6, whereby the boat is hoisted, provided always that sufcient manual pull be exerted on the free end of the fall.

For the reasons stated above, however, this arrangement does not allow both falls tobe hauled in at accurately equal speeds during the whole hoisting operation. This drawback may be obviatedy by using a rope reel as shown in Fig. 2. In accordance with this figure,` drums 5 and 6 are mounted side byv sidev in a rigid frame 4. Said drums are provided with gear rims Il and I2, respectively, adapted to mesh with a central pinion I3., whichV is loosely slidable on a stationary intermediate shaft I4. Said pinion I3 has an extended hub portion I5 integral with a centrifugal brake element I6 adapted for rotation within an open ended brake drum I1 secured to frame 4. Mounted in the centrifugal brake element I6 are the brake shoes 46 (only one shoe is shown in Fig. 2) to engage the inner peripheral wall of the brake drum I1 to retard rotation of the drum when the brake element is speedily rotated. The aggregate comprising pinion I3, hub portion I5 and centrifugal brake element I6 is locked against outward sliding movement by a collar I8 on a bolt I9, screwed into an axial bore hole of shaft I4 and provided with a square portion for receiving a hand wheel 20. A removable cover 2I, having a hole for the passage of bolt I9, serves for closing the brake drum I1.

The fiat inner wall of the brake drum I1 is provided with a lining 22 with which the centrifugal brake element I6 is adapted to engage when hand wheel 2G is turned in a direction as to cause the collar I8 to force said element to the left. However, by rotation of hand wheel in the opposite direction after cover 2| has been unlocked, bolt I9 with collar I8 may be removed from shaft I4, and pinion I3 with associate parts slid to the right to disengage the pinion from the gear rims II, I2.

Pivoted to the frame 4 is a ratchet pawl 23 adapted to cooperate with ratchet teeth on drum 6 in such a manner as to normally prevent said drum from rotating in a direction wherein its fall is paid out.

Provided that the falls of the life boat are Wound on drums 5, 6 and on the warping end of a deck winch in the manner as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1, and that pinion I3 meshes with both gear rims II, I2, it will be apparent that the boat can be hoisted in the same manner as described with reference to Fig. 1.

If, with this arrangement, the end of the boat which is suspended from fall 9 (on drum 5) should have been hoisted to the required height prior to the other end, all that is necessary is to slack away fall 9, whereby the latter will slip a little over drum 5 under the gravity pull of the boat, it being understood that the ratchet pawl 23 prevents both drums from rotation, so that fall I0 is not paid out. In the reverse case, that end of the boat which is suspended from fall I0 is secured to its davit head, for instance, by means of a chain as disclosed in my copending patent application No. 695,191, whereupon pinion I3 is slid out of mesh with rims II, I2 and fall 9 is hauled in to the required extent.

When a boat is lowered by means of a device as shown in Fig. 2, the ratchet pawl 23 should be held out of engagement with its ratchet teeth and the lowering speed is adapted to be controlled by means of the hand Wheel 20, which, when turned in the required direction, forces the centrifugal brake elements I6 axially against the lining 22, whereby the rotation of said element and of the pinion I3 is retarded or reduced to zero. As long as this axial brake is not applied, the centrifugal brake element I6, through the frictional engagement of the shoes 46 with the peripheral wall of the drum I1, prevents the rotary speed of pinion I3 from exceeding a predetermined maximum value.

While Fig. 2 shows a device wherein during the lowering of the boat the axially slidable centrifugal brake element always partakes in the rotation of the drum, Fig. 3 illustrates a device in which the said element is only caused to revolve if the axial brake is operated.

1n accordance with Fig. 3, the drum 24 is 'arranged for receiving both falls, the one on the left hand side portion and the other on the right hand side portion thereof. Said drum is rotatable about a stationary shaft 25 supported in brackets 26, 21, and it has an internal gear rim 28 in mesh with two diametrically opposed pinions 29, 30 mounted for rotation in a bracket 3l keyed to shaft 25 and prevented from axial movement to the right by a collar 32 on said shaft. Pinions 29, 3U are integral with gear wheels 33 and 34, respectivelyy which are in mesh with a gear rim on a sleeve 35, which is slidably and rotatably mounted on shaft 25. Rigidly secured to said sleeve are two suitably lined disks 36, 31, and loosely mounted on the sleeve is a centrifugal brake element 38 in which are mounted the brake shoes 38a. Said brake element is located intermediate the lined disk 31 and a second lined disk 39, which is slidably but non-rotatably mounted on sleeve and adapted, through a thrust ball bearing 40 and a sleeve 4I,

to be forced to the right by the hub portion of a handle 42 bearing against bracket 26 and having a threaded engagement with the shaft 25.

The centrifugal brake element 38 cooperates with a brake drum 43 secured to the left hand side wall 44 of drum 24. The shoes 38a mounted n' in the brake element 38 bear against the inner peripheral wall of the drum 43 to retard the rotation of the drum when outward thrust is imparted to the shoes.

If the boat suspended from the falls wound on drum 24 is to be lowered, lever 42 is moved in a direction for releasing the described braking device, so that drum 24 is free to rotate and the boat is free to descend. The rotating drum 24 then causes, through the planet wheels 29, 33 and 3U, 34, sleeve 35 to revolve at an increased speed, but since the brake disks 36, 31 and 39 are released, the centrifugal brake 38 remains idle. For controlling the lowering speed of the boat, lever 42 is moved in a direction for moving sleeve 4I to 4* the right, whereby brake disk 36 is forced against bracket 3l and sleeve 35 is braked, thereby braking drum 24. Moreover, the centrifugal brake 38 is clamped in between brake disks 31 and 39 so as to rotate at a gradually increasing speed and, through the engagement of the centrif ugally projected brake shoes 38a with drum 43, tends to still further reduce the rotary speed of drum 24. It is thus possible to reduce the speed of drum 24 to any desired extent.

If the boat has reached the water level, the lever 42 is moved in a direction to entirely release the axial brake 36 and also the centrifugal brake 38, so that the drum 24 is again entirely free to rotate and thus allows the falls to be freely paid out. Consequently, the boat can be readily released from the lower blocks of the tackles.

During hoisting of the boat, the brakes are released, so that the boat may be hoisted at any desired speed and the centrifugal brake remains inoperative.

As a matter of course, the manner in which the centrifugal brake it driven by the drum is immaterial as far as the present invention is concerned.

What I claim isz- 1. In an apparatus for hoisting a boat provided with falls at its opposite ends, the combination of the falls with drums to which the falls respectively lead, said drums being independently rotatable to wind the respective falls, a winch operable to wind a fall leading from one of the drums so that the winding of said fall by the winch imparts a winding to the drum from which said fall leads, and releasable coupling means for coupling the drums so that the winding imparted by the winch and associated fall to one of the drums is also imparted to the other drum by the coupling means.

2. In an apparatus for hoisting a boat, provided with falls at its opposite ends, the combination of a frame with drums for winding the respective falls mounted in the frame on parallel axes, a peripheral gear on each drum, a shaft mounted in the frame in parallel relation to the axes of the drums, a pinion slidable on the shaft and meshing with the peripheral gears, a brake mechanism including coacting friction elements with one of said elements fixed on the frame and the other of said elements extending from the slidable pinion, and means for regulating the mutual frictional contact of said coacting elements to control the braking effect of the pinion meshing with the annular gears of the drum.

3. In combination, a frame, an element for receiving a boat fall and rotatably mounted in said frame, a centrifugal brake member adapted for rotation about an axis, and also adapted for sliding movement along said axis, means for transmitting rotary motion from said element to said member, a braking surface associated with said frame, a second braking surface associated with the said element and adapted to be forced into engagement with the said first braking surface owing to sliding movement of said member, and manually operable means for imparting sliding movement to said member.

4. In combination, a frame, an element for receiving a boat fall and rotatably mounted in such frame, a shaft mounted in said frame, a part adapted for rotation about and for axial sliding movement along said shaft, means for transmitting rotary motion from said element to said part, a friction element secured to said part, a second I friction element adapted for sliding movement along said part but locked against rotation relative thereto, a centrifugal brake member mounted intermediate said friction elements and adapted for rotation about said part, a braking surface associated with said frame, a second braking surface associated with said part and adapted to be forced into engagement with said first braking surface owing to sliding movement of said part, and manually operable means for imparting sliding movement to said second friction element so as to force said member into engagement with said first friction element and thereby force the said braking surfaces into engagement with one another.

ANE PIETER SCHAT.

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