Winch for vehicles
United States Patent 11 1 Strout et al. Apr. 8, 1975 [5 WINCH FOR VEHICLES 1.012.309 12/1911 Williamson .1 254/182 2, 9.42 4 D l&#39; 254 I87 R [75] Inventors: Thomas J. Strout, Santa Barbara; 66 7 2/195 owre Victor F. Hickey, Ventura. both of m Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assismm Examiner-James M. Slattery l73l Asslgnee: Enterpr&#39;ses&#39; Incorporated Armrnev. Agenl, or F irm-Pastoriza &amp; Kelly Ventura, Calif.  
  22 F1 d: A 27, 1973 l l 57 ABSTRACT [2]] App]. N0.: 391,560 I An electncally dr1ven wmch has a cable drum Wllh lts axis aligned generally vertically and a cable packing [52] Cl 254/1753; 254/l32 device biased against the outermost cable coils to prel] Int. Cl. 366d 5/04 vent h Cable from becoming entangled and kinked [58] Fleld of Search..... 254/l75.7. I70 I82, 187 R, while being rewound. The winch is structured for se- 254/187 B curement to a vehicle and includes a drive release that can be manipulated to disengage the cable drum and [56] References C&#39;led permit it to experience free spooling.  
  UNITED STATES PATENTS 1127.271 7/1906 Swenson 254/l82 7 Clams 3 Drawmg F&#39;gum as y 99 83 s 99 u 97 as 87 &#39;05 U O a 1 e l 4 I09 I20 11a 51 42 1 5 So wmcu FOR VEHICLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to winches and more specifically to winches mounted on vehicles such as four wheel drive trucks.  
  Basic winches are used in numerous situations to exert a pulling force. customarily to haul or hoist a load from one location to another. Automatic electrically operated winches are well known.  
  Automatic winches carried by vehicles should. under optimum circumstances, be compact for packaging in a relatively small space and also be conveniently mounted near the front or rear of the vehicle for easy access and efficient operation.  
  Most conventional automatic winches are customarily bulky, weighty and constructed for general use and so are not readily adaptable for mounting on a ve hicle. Conventional cable drums or spools for example. are oriented with their axes aligned horizontally and this creates space limitation problems.  
  Another significant drawback with conventional winches is that as the cable or line is being rewound on the cable drum. the coils of the cable often become knotted. kinked and entangled with one another. When this occurs. then the cable must either be totally replaced which is costly or at least straightened out. which is time consuming and annoying.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated, the winch of this invention is compact. easily operated and especially practical and efficient for use in connection with a vehicle.  
 In its broader structural aspects, the winch of this invention has a housing with a top part, a base part and attachment elements for connection to a vehicle. Mounted between the housing top and base parts is a cable drum constituted by a pair of flanges and an intermediate core whose axis is aligned generally vertically. A cable is wound on the drum which may be hooked or secured to some object prior to energizing the motor to exert a pulling force.  
  A drive spindle is operatively engaged with the cable drum. Drive means interconnects the power take-off shaft ofthe motor and the drive spindle. A drive release means is arranged to selectively disengage the drive spindle from the cable in order to allow free spooling by the cable drum.  
  A cable packer means is biased radially inwardly towards the drum core and into frictional engagement against the outermost coils of the cable. The cable packer means is coupled to the housing and is arranged to substantially evenly distribute the cable coils across the drum core as the cable is being rewound. In this manner. the cable coils will be maintained at an ap proximately constant depth and the problem of kinking and entangling in the cable will be prevented.  
  The cable packer means preferably includes a paddle pivotally coupled between the housing top and base parts and structurally arranged so that it progressively and intermittently moves toward and away from the drum core as the depth of cable is being caused to decreas and increase respectively. A lever pivotally coupled by an intermediate section between the housing top and base parts has one end attached to a spring and the other end biased in sliding engagement against the paddle to exert a constant force against the paddle.  
  The cable drum has a central bore of circular cross section. The bore periphery forms an annular recess and at least one locking notch. The drive spindle has a central passage and a longitudinally aligned slot extending entirely through the spindle wall.  
  The drive release means preferably includes a rod slidably positioned in the spindle central passage and the rod further carries a locking element. A handle may be manipulated in order to shift the rod within the spindle central passage and selectively position the locking element in either the annular recess or the locking notch. When the rod is shifted so that the locking element is positioned in the locking notch then the spindle and drum are drivingly engaged with one another. Conversely when the rod is shifted so that the locking element is positioned in the annular recess and hence allowed to free wheel then the spindle and drum are mutually disengaged for permitting the drum to experience a free spooling motion.  
  A front portion of the housing carries a guide frame in which is mounted a pair of vertically aligned and spaced rollers. The rollers are arranged in general alignment with the cable drum and define an access space through which the cable travels while being un wound from and rewound upon the cable drum.  
  The drive means may include a ring gear or spur gear aligned with and fixed to the drive spindle and a worm gear drivingly interengaged with the ring gear. Gear re duction means are provided to reduce the rotational speed of the drive spindle relative to the rotational speed of the power take-off shaft. The motor is a re versible and electrically operated motor that can be activated from within the vehicle by a remote control electrical switch.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The numerous benefits and unique aspects of the present invention will be fully understood when the following detailed description is studied in conjunction with the drawings in which:  
  FIG. I is a perspective view showing a winch con structed in accordance with this invention mounted to the front end of a four wheel drive vehicle; and.  
  FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view showing the basic components of a winch constructed in accordance with this invention; and,  
  FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken generally through the center of the cable drum, drive spindle and drive release device components of the winch.  
 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now primarily to FIG. 1 of the drawings. a winch I0 is shown situated in an operational environment. i.e., mounted to a front central section of a four wheel drive vehicle 11 having a bumper I2.  
  For ease in the installation of winch 10, a winch mounting kit is provided that includes a U-shaped cross bar I3 that generally spans across the winch 10, a pair of diagonally oriented support bars I5 secured to cross bar 13 and a mounting platform I4. The winch 10 has a general packaging frame or housing 16 which. in this embodiment, is shown secured to a depending mounting bracket 17 which is another part of the winch mounting kit.  
  A cable drum l8 aligned with its axis in a general vertical direction holds a pull cable 20 shown spirally vound around the cable drum 18. A front face of housng 16 mounts a guide frame 21 which defines an access :pace 22. A cable hook 23 attached to the free end of :able is shown partly retracted and projecting hrough the access space 22.  
  For purposes of illustration. the vehicle 11 may be a Bronco. a Toyota Land Cruiser. a Ford Pickup. a Jeep )l the like. The size, shape and construction of housing I6 is made to accommodate the available or selected nounting space of the particular vehicle. The winch nount shown in FIG. 1 may be for a Toyota Land Cruiser. while the winch mount shown with more detail n FIG. 2 may be for a Ford Bronco or a Jeep. The exact winch mount will vary depending upon a number )f factors dictated by the particular vehicle on which the winch 10 is to be mounted.  
  Referring now primarily to FIG. 2, a housing 24 has a skid plate 25 integrally formed with a bottom face 26, a front face 27 and an insert opening 28 through the front face 27. The skid plate 25 also is formed with a front face extension 29 and a rear face 30. Bolt open ings 32 are formed through front face 27 for accommodating bolts 33. In a similar manner, bolt openings 34 are formed in the upper region of front face 27 to accommodate 35. At various locations in the housing 24. attachment openings are formed to accommodate at tachment elements for rigidly securing the winch 10 to some suitable mounting surface of the vehicle and/or the winch mounting kit previously described. For example, the skid plate rear face has bolt openings for receiving bolts 37 which, in order to mount the winch 10 to some vehicle support surface. would extend through registering openings in the vehicle support sur face.  
  A cable drum 40 has an upper flange 41 and a lower flange 42 which are separated and interconnected by an intermediate core 43. A bore 44 is formed through the center of cable drum 40 whose axis A is aligned generally vertically. An upper portion of the periphery of bore 44 defines a pair of diametrically opposed lock ing notches 45 and 46 that shall subsequently be described in more detail.  
  Spirally wound about the core 43 of the cable drum 40 is a heavy duty. high tensile strength cable 50 with winds or coils 51 between the flanges 41 and 42. The free end 52 of cable 50 is connected to a claw or slip hook 53.  
  A front plate 54 structured for attachment on the in side of skid plate front face 27 is formed with an out&#39; wardly projecting guide frame 55 shaped for placement within the insert opening 28. The guide frame 55 rotatably mounts a pair of vertically aligned surfaces 56 and 57 which are spaced laterally apart to define a rela tively long and narrow access space 58. These surfaces 56 and 57 may be stationary and generally convex or rollers to assist in guiding the cable 50 back and forth. When the winch 10 is fully assembled for operation. the guide surfaces 56 and 57 will be arranged in general alignment with the cable drum 40 to facilitate passage of cable 50 through the access space 58 as the cable 50 is unwound from and rewound upon the core 43. A re cessed bearing 59 is provided on the inner wall of front plate 54 to journal a shaft in the gear train of the winch drive mechanism.  
  A base part 60 of the housing 24 includes an attach ment bar 61 having a series of bolt holes 62 arranged to register with bolt holes 32 for receiving the bolts 33.  
 A generally circular bearing plate 63 has a plurality of upwardly projecting thrust washers 64 upon which cable drum flange 42 rests. A central positioning ring 65 is provided to assist in centering and locating the cable drum 40.  
  A cable packer 67 operates in conjunction with the cable drum 40 to guide the coils 51 across the drum core 43 as the cable 50 is being wound up. The cable packer 67 has a paddle 68 fixed to a hinge 69 that is mounted on a pivot pin 70 whose opposing ends are journalled within housing base part 60 and a housing top part 83. An inner face 71 of the paddle 68 is constantly biased against the coils 51 of cable 50 and an outer or striking face 72 of paddle 68 is constantly frictionally engaged by a lever 74.  
  The lever 74 is integrally formed with a hinge 75 at an intermediate location between its ends and hinge 75 contains a pivot pin 76 likewise journaled within hous ing base part 60 and housing top part 83. The lever 74 is formed with a pusher arm 77 on one side of hinge 75 and the pusher arm is arranged in constant engagement, sometimes sliding engagement, with paddle 68. On the other or radially outward side of hinge 75 the lever 74 is formed with a connector arm 78 connected to a plurality of springs 79 having hooks or other attachment elements 80. In the arrangement of cable packer 67 shown the springs would be under compression so as to urge leber 74 against paddle 68. The opposite ends of the spring 79 are fixed to a stationary part of the winch 10. shown in the form of an anchoring post 81. If the anchoring post 81 were on the other side of lever 74, and still mounted to the housing 24. then the springs would be under tension to achieve the desired biasing effect.  
  The top part 83 of housing 24 has an attachment bar 84 formed with bolt holes 85 positioned to align with bolt holes 34 to receive the bolts 35. The housing top part 83 defines a circular gear chamber 86 and includes a removable cover 87 that together confine a ring gear 88. The ring gear 88 is interengaged with another component of the drive means, i.e.. a worm gear 89.  
  The drive means includes a gear reudction means 90 in the form of a plurality of gears shown that include a spur gear 91 fixed to the power take-off shaft 92 of an electrical motor 93.  
  Electrical motor 93 is a reversible motor which can be energized through an electrical wire 94 leading to a remote control point where a person may use a switch 95 to rotate the cable drum 40 in one direction, in the reverse direction or turn off the motor 93.  
  The housing top part 83 in addition includes a gear box 96 for some of the drive means gears and a cylindrical casing 97 that surrounds and protects the worm gear 89.  
  A drive release means is provided and includes a manually operated lever in the form of a crank 98 which is pivotally mounted on the top of removable cover 87. The lower end 99 of crank 98 rotatably mounts a swivel head 106 formed by the top of a rod 105.  
  Splined or otherwise fixed to the center of ring gear 88 is a drive spindle 100 having a lower concealed portion 101 that is positioned in the cable drum bore 44. A locking element in the form ofa locking key 107 car ried by the rod extends transversely through a pair of longitudinally directed slots 108 in the walls of the drive spindle 100, as best seen in FIG. 3.  
  Referring now specifically to FIG. 3, the drive spindle 100 has a pair of longitudinally aligned slots 108 and 109 formed through diametrically opposed portions of the side walls of spindle gear 100. The top section of spindle gear 100 is fixed by splines or the like to the center of ring gear 88 while a bottom and generally concealed portion 101 is journaled within a bearing 110 of the housing base part 60. A smooth central passage 111 extends from end to end through drive spindle 100.  
  Drum cable has a pair of locking notches and 46 formed in diametrically opposed portions of the periphery defined by the longitudinally extending bore 44. Disposed immediately beneath the pair of locking notches 45 and 46 is a ring shaped space or annulus 115 which fully surrounds the drive spindle 100 and rod 105. For purposes of illustration two layers of coils 51 of cable are shown pressed against one side ofthe cable drum core 43 by the paddle 68 associated with the cable packer mechanism.  
  The rod 105 carries a locking key 107 which extends transversely through the rod 105 and the diametrically opposed slots 108 and 109 in the drive spindle 100. The opposing ends of locking key 107 project radially outwardly by a sufficient distance to fit within either the locking notches 45 and 46 or the adjacent annulus 115. In FIG. 3 for purposes of illustration the opposing ends of locking key 107 are shown disposed within the locking notches 45 and 46.  
  The locking key 107 is oriented and fixed in place by a set screw 120 extending upwardly through the rod base end 118. A spring or biasing element 119 positioned within the lower part of drive spindle central passage 111 is arranged to bear against the rod base 118 and urge rod 105 normally upwardly to maintain the cable drum 40 and drive spindle 100 in their driving engagement position. This position is further indicated by the solid lines of the drive release means 98.  
  When the drive release means 98 is shifted to its phantom line position. then the rod 105 will be thrust downwardly causing the locking pin 107 to enter the annulus 115 thereby disengaging cable drum 40 from the drive spindle 100.  
  The cable drum 40 for example has 120 feet to 150 feet of 5/6-inch steel cable packed within the space between flanges 41 and 42. The tensile strength or pull rating of the cable 50 is at least 9,000 pounds. The motor 93 is a series wound. reversible. DC motor which transmits torque to the cable drum 40 through gear reduction units. The gear train is protected with lubrication contained for example in gear chamber 86, gear casing 97 and the general gear box 96.  
 OPERATION Keeping the above construction in mind. it can be understood how many of the previously described disadvantages of conventional vehicle winches are overcome or substantially eliminated by this invention.  
  The winch 10 may be used to exert a pulling force on some external object or device in order to move that object or device from one place to another. Alternatively, the winch 10 may be operated to exert a pulling force on the vehicle to which it is mounted in order to extricate the vehicle when it is stuck in mud or snow, for example. This could be done with the aid of external pulleys. guidelines and other conventional mechanical devices.  
  Assuming that the winch 10 is mounted satisfactorily to the front or rear central portion of a vehicle it is now ready for being operated as particular and varying needs arise. lfthe vehicle becomes stuck in mud of generally immobilized in a ravine or down an embankment. for example, the winch 10 may be quickly and effectively used to handle the predicament.  
  The drive release means 98 is shifted to thrust the locking key 107 into the annulus 115 so that the cable drum 40 will be capable of free spooling action. Under these conditions. the person may grasp slip hook 53 and freely pull the cable 50 through the guide surfaces 56 and 57 as the cable drum 40 freely rotates about its verticle axis A. When a sufficient length ofcable 50 has been drawn from the cable drum 40 and the slip hook 53 has been looped around some stationary object and hooked to itself or otherwise secured to the stationary object then the operator may manipulate the drive release means 98 to again drivingly engage the drive spindle 100 and the cable drum 40.  
  The switch is used to activate the motor 93 which in turn commences to drive the drive spindle through the gear train and gear reduction mechanism 90. As the force in cable 50 is caused to gradually and progressively pull the vehicle, the portion of cable 50 being simultaneously rewound on the cable drum 40 is being laid evenly by the cable packer means 67.  
  The constant biasing force of paddle 68 against the outermost cable coils 51 cause them to be laid flatly and evenly so they are incapable of becoming kinked or entangled with one another. The paddle 68 exerts a force radially inwardly towards the axis of the cable drum 43 with the result that the coils of the farthest radially outward layer are driven and distributed inwardly.  
  At any point the motor 93 associated with the winch 10 can be stopped by controlling the switch 95 and turning it to an OFF position.  
  From the foregoing it will be evident that the present invention has provided a winch in which all of the various advantages are fully realized.  
 What is claimed is:  
  l. A winch capable of being mounted to the front portion of a four-wheel drive vehicle, comprising:  
 a. a housing having a top part, a base part and attachment elements for connection to a vehicle;  
 b. a cable drum mounted for rotation between the housing top and base parts and having a pair of flanges with an intermediate core whose axis is aligned generally vertically the cable drum having a central bore of circular cross section, an annular recess formed in the bore periphery. and, a locking notch formed by the bore periphery adjacent the annular recess;  
 c. a cable wound on the drum;  
 d. a drive spindle operatively engaged with the cable drum and being formed with a central passage and a longitudinally aligned slot extending entirely through the spindle wall;  
 e. a motor with a power take-off shaft. connected to the housing;  
 f. drive means interconnecting the power take-off shaft and the drive spindle;  
 g. drive release means arranged to disengage the drive spindle from the cable drum and allow free spooling by the cable drum the drive release means including a broad slidably positioned in the spindle central passage. a locking element carried by the rod. and. a handle for manually shifting the rod within the spindle central passage to selectively position the locking element in either the annular recess or the locking notch;  
 h, a guide frame connected to a front portion of the housing;  
 i. a pair of vertically aligned surfaces within the guide frame and spaced to define an access space. the surfaces being arranged in general alignment with the cable drum to facilitate passage of the cable as it is travelling through the access space while being extended or rewound&#39;. and.  
 j. cable packer means including a paddle biased radially inwardly towards the drum core and into frictional engagement against the outermost coils of the cable. the paddle extending at least halfway between the drum flanges.  
 wherein the cable packer means and paddle are arranged to substantially evenly distribute the cable coils across the drum core as the cable is being rewound in order to maintain an approximately constant cable depth and prevent entangling and kinking in the cable.  
 wherein in addition when the rod is shifted so the locking element is positioned in the locking notch then the spindle and drum are drivingly engaged. and. when the rod is shifted so the locking element is positioned in the annular recess then the spindle and drum are disengaged for allowing free spooling motion by the drum.  
 2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the cable packer means includes:  
 a spring anchored by one end to a stationary part of the winch; and.  
 a lever pivotally coupled by an intermediate section between the housing top and base parts. one end of the lever being connected to the other end of said spring and the other end of the lever being biased in sliding engagement against the paddle to constantly force the paddle against the cable.  
 3. The structure according to claim 1 wherein:  
 a biasing element is positioned in a lower portion of the spindle central passage and arranged to urge the rod upwardly;  
 a pair of locking notches are formed in diametrically opposed sides of the bore periphery and are located above the annular recess;  
 a pair of slots extend through diametrically opposed walls of the spindle;  
 the locking element is a key extending transversely through the rod and entirely through the spindle slots. the ends of the key projecting outwardly for locking engagement with the pair of locking notches; and.  
 the handle is a crank pivotally connected by an intermediate section to the housing top part and an upper portion of the rod is rotatably coupled to the crank.  
 4. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the drive means includes:  
 a ring gear coaxially aligned with and fixed to the drive spindle;  
 a worm gear drivingly interengaged with the ring gear; and.  
 gear reduction means to reduce the rotational speed of the drive spindle relative to the rotational speed of the power take-off shaft.  
 5. The structure according to claim 4 wherein the housing top part includes;  
 a gear chamber and removable cover that generally surround and protect the ring gear; and.  
 a cylindrical casing that generally surrounds and protects the worm gear.  
 6. The structure according to claim 1 wherein:  
 the winch is mounted to the front part of a four-wheel drive vehicle;  
 the motor is a reversible and electrically operated motor; and.  
 a switch is provided for energizing the motor and causing the power take-off shaft to rotate in one direction and selectively in the opposite direction.  
 7. The structure according to claim 1 wherein;  
 the cable packer means includes a spring anchored by one end to a stationary part of the winch. and. a lever pivotally coupled by an intermediate section between the housing top and base parts one end of the lever being connected to the other end of said spring and the other end of the lever being biased in sliding engagement against the paddle to constantly force the paddle against the cable;  
 a biasing element is positioned in a lower portion of the single central passage and arranged to urge the rod upwardly;  
 a pair of locking notches are formed in diametrically opposed sides of the bore periphery and are lo cated above the annular recess;  
 a pair of slots extend through diametrically opposed walls of the spindle;  
 the locking element is a key extending transversely through the rod and entirely through the spindle slots. the ends of the key projecting outwardly for locking engagement with the pair of locking notches; and.  
 the handle is a crank pivotally connected by an intermediate section to the housing top part and an upper portion of the rod is rotatably coupled to the crank.