1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement on a vehicle with a rotatable crane, comprising a crane boom and associated hoist winch and rescue winch. Such vehicles are made in particular as rescue vehicles for civilian and military use, intended for rescuing vehicles--everything from lightweight automobiles to heavy tanks--which have driven off the road or become stuck in difficult terrain.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previously known rescue vehicles are built on heavy truck chassis with drive on four or more wheels, and they are provided with cranes and winches for hoisting and hauling, and as a rule they also have support feet to improve stability and to prevent the vehicle from sinking down into the ground or surface on which it stands when said surface has less supporting capacity than, e.g., a roadway.
On previously known rescue vehicles, a rescue winch is mounted on the vehicle with its axis of revolution ordinarily transverse of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. This means that the cable can be pulled straight out from the winch along the length of the vehicle without having to pass directional pulleys, guide rolls or the like. In such conditions the fixedly mounted winch will work satisfactorily. If, however, it is necessary to haul in a tank, for example, in a direction other than lengthwise along the rescue vehicle, the cable from the winch must be guided in several rather sharp bends in order to come into the desired direction for pulling. Such sharp bends produce great wear on the cable and increase friction so that the pulling power of the winch cannot be utilized fully. Furthermore, situations may also arise in which one wishes to run the cable from the rescue winch over the crane arm or boom of the rescue vehicle, and in such situations it will be necessary, assuming it is possible at all, to apply further sharp bends on the cable.