Aircraft cargo winching system

Claim 1

A cargo towing cable or chain apparatus comprising; a main, endless cargo towing, drive cable or chain mounted for rotational, back-and-forth movement in a cargo compartment and adapted to be power driven; a plurality of releasably-engageable, cable or chain-attachment means positioned in evenly-spaced relation along said main, endless, drive cable or chain; first, intermediately-disposed cargo-towing means releasably interconnected between a cargo load to be towed into the cargo compartment and any selected one of the said cable or chainattachment means, and automatically operative on the initial rotational movement of said main, endless, drive cable or chain to move said cargo load into the cargo compartment; and second, quick-release, cargo towing means releasably mountable to the cable or chain attachment means of said main, drive cable or chain in engaged relation with, and thereby automatically operative to precisely move said on-board cargo load forward or aft to a storage position in the cargo compartment, on the subsequent rotational movement of said main, endless, drive cable or chain; each of said plurality of releasably-engageable, cable or chain-attachment means comprising a swaged ball element; and said first, intermediately-disposed cargo-towing means comprising an auxiliary cable or chain; said auxiliary cable or chain incorporating a hook member positioned on one end thereof and adapted for releasable attachment to the cargo to be loaded; and a combined swaged ball element-engaging and main cable or chainreceiving and supporting means positioned on the other end thereof for releasable attachment to any selected one of the said swaged ball elements, and for supporting said main cable or chain in correct position therein to ensure retention of the selected swaged ball element in said means.