Lifting implement

Claim 1

A lift comprising a base adapted to be secured to the floor of a van-type passenger vehicle adjacent the doorsill thereof, to the bed of a pickup truck adjacent the tail gate thereof, or to other suitable structure, a lifting platform, means for connecting said platform to said base, a pair of cable and pulley means, one for each side of the platform, interconnecting said base and said platform, each of said cable and pulley means including a cable having securement means fixedly attached thereto, and a winch secured to the base having a tapered winding drum for moving the platform via said cable and pulley means in a generally vertical plane between a lowered horizontal position in which the platform is below the level of the base, a raised horizontal position in which the platform is substantially at the level of the base so that a load may readily be moved horizontally on and off the platform, and a stowed position in which the platform is disposed vertically generally above the base, means for converting said winch having a tapered winding drum to a winch which simultaneously winds and unwinds said two cables of said cable and pulley means at substantially the same speed, said winch further including power operated means for rotating said winding drum, said conversion means comprising a sleeve having an outer cylindric surface and an inner tapered bore for reception of said tapered winding drum, said sleeve being split longitudinally to form sleeve halves which are adapted to be placed around the winding drum, means for releasably securing said sleeve halves together surrounding said winding drum, means for securing said sleeve to said winding drum for rotation therewith, and means adjacent each end of said sleeve for securement of a respective cable thereto comprising a recess at each end of one of said sleeve halves for reception of and engagement with said securement means secured to a respective cable, said recesses being so located relative to one another on said one sleeve half for forming a first layer of cable on said cylindric surface as said winding drum is rotated in one direction, said first layer being progressively wound from the ends of the sleeve inwardly toward the center thereof until said cables engage one another, and for further forming a second layer on the first layer, said second layer being progressively wound on said first layer from the center of the sleeve outwardly toward its ends.

Claim 3

The method of simultaneously winding first and second cables at substantially the same speed by a single power driven winch having a tapered winding drum comprising the steps of: securing a sleeve over said tapered winding drum, said sleeve having a tapered inner bore for reception of said tapered winding drum and an outer cylindric surface; securing one end of said first cable to one end of said sleeve and securing one end of said second cable to the opposite end of said sleeve; rotating the winding drum in a cable winding direction whereby both cables are simultaneously wound up onto the outer cylindric surface of said sleeve; progressively forming a first layer of each of said cables on the outer cylindric surface of the sleeve from the outer ends of sleeve in toward the center of the sleeve as the drum continues to rotate in said cable winding direction, said first and second cables engaging one another substantially at the center of said winding drum; and continuing to rotate said winding drum in said cable winding direction for progressively forming a second layer of each of said cables over its respective first layer with each of said second layers extending outwardly toward the ends of said winding drum.

Claim 4

The method of simultaneously winding first and second cables at substantially the same speed by a single power driven winch having a tapered winding drum comprising the steps of: securing a sleeve over said tapered winding drum, said sleeve having a tapered inner bore for reception of said tapered winding drum and an outer cylindric surface; securing one end of said first cable to one end of said sleeve and securing one end of said second cable to the opposite end of said sleeve; rotating the winding drum in a cable winding direction whereby both cables are simultaneously wound up onto the outer cylindric surface of said sleeve; progressively forming a first layer of each of said cables on the outer cylindric surface of the sleeve from the outer ends of sleeve in toward the center of the sleeve as the drum continues to rotate in said cable winding direction, said first and second cables engaging one another substantially at the center of said winding drum; and continuing to rotate said winding drum in said cable winding direction for progressively forming a second layer of each of said cables over its respective first layer with each of said second layers extending outwardly toward the ends of said winding drum.