Winch

Claim 2

A winch comprising: a casing having a front compartment provided with a door and a rear compartment separated from a front compartment by a partition wall, a pair of rope driving pulleys located adjacent one another in said front compartment and having V-shaped periPheral grooves around which a rope may be located, with the door to said front compartment open, for passing said rope around the peripheral grooves of said pulleys in reverse directions, said casing being provided with openings, also accessible by opening of said door, for guiding the load side and drawn side of said rope whereby the rope leaving each pulley passes adjacent the periphery of the opposite pulley before leaving said casing via a said opening, each of said pulleys being provided with a gear unitary therewith wherein said gears are disposed in meshing relation to turn one of said pulleys in a first direction when the other of said pulleys is turned in a second direction, a gear reduction mechanism within said rear compartment provided with an output shaft rotated thereby extending into the said front compartment and having a pinion affixed thereto for engaging said gear unitary with one of said pulleys, and a prime mover attached to said casing for driving said gear reduction mechanism and for rotating said pulleys as a consequence thereof.

Claim 3

The winch according to claim 1 wherein said gear reduction mechanism is provided with a centrifugal brake, and wherein said prime mover is also provided with a brake normally functioning when said prime mover is not rotating said reduction gear mechanism.

Claim 4

The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the said output shaft of said gear reduction mechanism is provided with a manual brake mechanism.

Claim 5

The winch according to claim 1 wherein said gear reduction mechanism is provided with a shaft projecting outwardly therefrom adapted to receive a handle for manual operation of said winch.

Claim 6

The winch according to claim 1 further including a pressing roller urged against the periphery of the pulley from which the drawn side of the rope passes, and means for normally preventing said roller from leaving its position.

Claim 7

The winch according to claim 1 wherein each of said pulleys is provided with an additional V-shaped groove for engaging an additional rope in a similar manner.

Claim 8

A winch to hoist a scaffold or other similar load which comprises: a casing, a pair of V-grooved pulleys with same diameter fixed in said casing in a vertically adjacent relation to each other, a wire rope coming into and out of said casing vertically and passing around said pulleys by a single pass in a ''''Z'''' course, access means providing access for lateral movement of said rope into said casing and onto said pulleys, a gear train, a motor mounted on said casing to drive one of said pulleys clockwise and the other counterclockwise through said gear train, a frictional centrifugal brake coupled to said gear train, a control handle attachable to said gear train to drive said pulleys manually through a part of said gear train in case said motor fails to run to drive said pulleys, a hand brake attached to said gear train, and means to fix said casing to the load, one end of said rope being connected to a fixed point in space out of said casing and the other end of same being left free out of said casing, said rope passing around one of said pulleys clockwise and the other counterclockwise by a single pass so as to embrace substantially more than half of each pulley in a frictional relation to the V-groove thereof, pressing means pressing said rope against one of said pulleys so as to provide the rope with sufficient tension to support the load, said motor including brake means operable automatically when the motor is stopped.

Claim 9

A winch to hoist a scaffold or other similar load which comprises: a casing, a pair of V-grooved pulleys with same diameter fixed in said casing in a vertically adjacent relation to each other, a wire rope coming into and out of said casing vertically and passing around said pulleys by a single pass in a ''''Z'''' course, access means providing access for lateral movement of said rope into said casing and onto said pulleys, a gear train, a motor mounted on said casing to drive one of said pulleys clockwise and the other counterclockwise through said gear train, a frictional centrifugal brake coupled to said gear train, a control handle attachable to said gear train to drive said pulleys manually through a part of said gear train in case said motor fails to run to drive said pulleys, a hand brake attached to said gear train, and means to fix said casing to the load, one end of said rope being connected to a fixed point in space out of said casing and the other end of same being left free out of said casing, said rope passing around one of said pulleys clockwise and the other counterclockwise by a single pass so as to embrace substantially more than half of each pulley in a frictional relation to the V-groove thereof, pressing means pressing said rope against one of said pulleys so as to provide the rope with sufficient tension to support the load, said motor including brake means operable automatically when the motor is stopped.

Claim 10

A winch to hoist a scaffold or other similar load in accordance with claim 7 wherein said pressing means comprises a roller in contact with said rope at the point where said rope leaves said one pulley in the counter-load side naturally by its own gravity, a rod pivotally supported on an inner wall of said casing to support said roller thereon, spring means to urge said rod pivotally into a position tO hold said roller to exert the required compression to said rope at said contact point, and a plate pivotally supported on an inner wall of said casing to be in a position substantially near to said pressing roller oppositely to said counter-load side pulley thereby preventing said roller from getting out of said contact point during service and to be out of said position when desired for detachment of said roller from said contact point.

Claim 11

A winch to hoist a scaffold or other similar load in accordance with claim 7 wherein said access means comprises: a substantially large door to be opened freely in front of said casing, an opening indented from the front edge of a top part of said casing to guide said rope through, and an opening indented from the front edge of a bottom part of said casing to guide said rope through.

Claim 12

A winch to hoist a scaffold or other similar load in accordance with claim 7 wherein each of said pulleys is provided with a plurality of parallel V-grooves in independent relation with each other so as to permit a plurality of wire ropes to pass around said pulleys in a ''''Z'''' course by a single pass in parallel relation with each other.

Claim 13

In a winch, a pair of V-grooved pulleys, a gear casing, a gear train in the casing including a first input shaft extending out of one side of the casing, a second input shaft extending out of the other side of the casing, a motor coupled to the first input shaft, a hand crank attachable to the second shaft, means mounting one of the pulleys rotatably on said second input shaft at said other side of the casing, means mounting the other pulley rotatably at said other side of the casing, and output means coupling the gear train to the pulleys.

Claim 14

In a winch, a pair of V-grooved pulleys, a gear casing, a gear train in the casing including a first input shaft extending out of one side of the casing, a second input shaft extending out of the other side of the casing, a motor coupled to the first input shaft, a hand crank attachable to the second shaft, means mounting one of the pulleys rotatably on said second input shaft at said other side of the casing, means mounting the other pulley rotatably at said other side of the casing, and output means coupling the gear train to the pulleys.

Claim 15

In a winch, casing means having a pulley compartment, a V-grooved upper pulley, a grooved lower pulley, mounting means mounting the pulleys in the pulley compartment with the pulleys in the same plane and the upper pulley above the lower pulley, drive means for rotating the pulleys in opposite directions at the same peripheral speed, and a rope, the pulley compartment having an upper load opening therein through which the rope extends substantially vertically into the pulley compartment, past the upper pulley and into tangential engagement with the lower pulley, the pulley compartment also having a lower opening through which the rope extends out of the pulley compartment from the tangential engagement with the upper pulley, the rope extending substantially completely around the lower peripheral portion of the lower pulley, partially around the upper peripheral portion of the lower pulley, partially around the lower peripheral portion of the upper pulley and substantially completely around the upper peripheral portion of the upper pulley.

Claim 16

In a winch, casing means having a pulley compartment, a V-grooved upper pulley, a grooved lower pulley, mounting means mounting the pulleys in the pulley compartment with the pulleys in the same plane and the upper pulley above the lower pulley, drive means for rotating the pulleys in opposite directions at the same peripheral speed, and a rope, the pulley compartment having an upper load opening therein through which the rope extends substantially vertically into the pulley compartment, past the upper pulley and into tangential engagement with the lower pulley, the pulley compartment also having a lower opening through which the rope extends out of the pulley compartment from the tangential engagement with the upper pulley, the rope extending substantially completely around the lower peripheral portion of the lower pulley, partially around the upper peripheral portion of the lower pulley, partially around the lower peripheral portion of the upper pulley and substantially completely around the upper peripheral portion of the upper pulley.