CA1140501A - Truck winch assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

"TRUCK WINCH ASSEMBLY"
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A frame assembly is secured within an open topped truck box and includes a pair of side frames and head rack at the front of said truck box. A lifting yoke is mounted on rollers between the side frames and when in the elevated or winching position, it can be rolled along the side frames from a forward position to a rearward position and vice versa and a winch assembly is mounted upon the lifting yoke for loading and unloading items upon or from the truck box.
Brake clamps are provided to lock the lifting yoke in posi-tion along the side frames. When not in use, the lifting yoke may be stored by pivoting the yoke forwardly until it lies upon the outer sides of the side frame whereupon it is detachably locked to the head rack. By routing the winch cable around pulleys on the yoke and on the side frame assem-bly, the winch can be used to partially elevate the lifting yoke from the stored position to adjacent the winching posi-tion and vice versa.

Description

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"TRUCK WINCH AssEMsLy"
BACXGRO~D OE THE INVENT_ON
This invention rela-tes to new and useful improve-ments in truck winch assemblies, particularly truck winch assemblies adapted for use in trucks with open topped boxes.
Attempts have been made to provide winching assem-blies for use with truck boxes in order to facilitate the loading and unloading of material or equipment and other items to and from the~ truck box and these usually incorporate over-head winch assemblies which are fixed in position and over-hang the rear of the truck box so that material upon the ground can be elevated. However, it then has to be swung manually into the truck box and vice versa when material is unloaded. Furthermore such devices take up considerable room and interfere with the normal storage capacity of the truc]c box.
Overhead crane assemblies upon rollers are also known but once again -these are permanently in the erected posi.tion, are relatively expensive and otherwise unsuited for incorporation in trucks, particularly light-duty trucks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a frame assembly which is easily attachable with-in a truck body and takes up very little room therein so that it does not interefere with the normal storage capacity of the truck box. The lifting yoke can be pivoted from a horizontal stored position whereupon i.t lies along the upper sides of the frame and across the front of the frame, to an elevated or lifting position whereupon it can be rolled forwardly or rearwardly relative to the truck box so tnat a winch assem-bly associated with the lifting yoke, can be used to not only lift material into and out of the box but to assist in moving it along the floor of the box.
One aspect of the invention consists of a truck winch assembly for use in a truck cargo area having a pair o~ side walls, a floor and a front wall, comprising a frame assembly attachable within said truck cargo area, said frame assembly comprising a pair of side frame components secured along the side walls of said truck cargo area, said side frame components further comprising longitudinally ex~ending rail members; a substantially U-shaped lifting yoke supported by said frame, said yoke comprising a pair of spaced apart elongated leg members and a transversely extending load support member bridging an end of each of the leg members;
mounting means for saîd yoke comprising a pair of yoke sup-ports spaced on the elongated leg members at points away from the load support member for supporting the yoke on said rail members, said yoke supports providing for pivotal move-ment of the yoke between a stored position in which the load support member is adjacent the front wall of the cargo area and an elevated load handling position in which the yoke is incli.ned away from the front wall, said yoke sup-~~.

ports providing for displacement of said yoke lengthwise along said rail members between positions in which the load sup?ort member of the yoke projects rearwardly of the cargo area to positions in which the load support member of the yoke is over the cargo area, the elongated leg members of said yoke having extensions projecting beneath and into the plane of said rail members, sa-id extensions being engage-able with the rail members when the yoke is moved to the elevated load handling position and serving to support tne yoke in the elevated load handling position and to restrict pivotal movement of the yoke beyond the elevated load hand-ling position.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which may be detachably locked in the horizontal stored position so that it is immovable relative to the truck body.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a device which may, if desired, utilize the winch ~o partailly elevate and lower the lifting yoke relative

2~ to the frame assembly.

A still further advantage of the present invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin describ-ed which is simple in construction~ economical in manufac-ture and otherwise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompany-ing drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a de-scription of the preferred typical embodiment of the prin-ciples of the present inven~ion, in which:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINCS
Figure 1 is a fragmentary isometric view of the frame assembly per se with part of the truck body shown in phantom.
Figure lA is an enlarged fragmentary exploded view of the pulley assembly of Figure 1.
Figure 2 is an isometric view of the lifting yoke per se.
Figure 3 is a fragmentary isometric view of the rear righthand side of the frame assembly showing a portion of the yoke assembly in the stored position.
Figure 4 i5 a view similar to Figure 3 but show-ing the yoke assembly in the winch position.
Figure 5 is a fragmentary isometric view of the front portion oE the frame showing the front portion of the 5~

yoke assembly in the locked position~
Figure 6 is a view similar -to Figure 5 but showing the lock in the released posltion.
Figure 7 is a fragmentary lsometric view showing one method of detachably attaching the cable to the lift yoke.
Figure 8 is a fragmentary isometric view showing the same cable detachably secured to a lifting hook.
Figure 9 is an exploded isometric view showing one of the upper roller assemblies, In the drawings like characters of reference indi-cate corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Proceeding therefore to describe the invention in detail, a part of a conventional truck box is shown in phan-tom and includes spaced and parallel side members 10, a sub-stantially horizontal floor 11 with wheel wells 12 adjacent the side panels, with the remainder of the truck (not illustra-ted) being conventional. It should be noted that the truck body is open topped, the purpose of which will hereina~ter be come apparent.
The invention includes a frame assembly collective-ly designated 13 and a yoke assembly collectively designated 14.
The frame assembly includes a pair of spaced and parallel, substantially vertical side frames collectively de-signated 15 and 16, together with a head rack collectively _ J_ designated 17. The lefthand side frame shown in Figure 1 in-cludes an upper, substantially horizontal rail 13, and a rear vertical support member 19 having a flange 20 at the lower end thereof by which it may be bolted to the truck floor 11. A
front vertical support member 21 extends downwardly from the front end of rail 18 and a flange 22 on the lower end thereof is bolted to flange 23 on one end of a front box mount 2~
which extends transversely across the front of the box and is secured thereto by means of bolts or the like extending through apertures 25 formed in the transverse member 24. Conventional nut and bolt assemblies connect flanges 22 and 23 together.
The head rack 17 includes vertical side members 26 and the transverse overspanning member 27 together with a lower transverse support member 28 and vertical members 29 extending between the members 27 and 28 for stiffening purposes and the head rack is preferably partially enclosed with expanded metal 30 or the like as shown in Figure 5.
Flange 31 is provided at the lower end of the side members 26 and is bolted to an upper flange 32 situated at the upper end of front vertical members 21 of the side frames 15.
The frame assembly 13 is therefore secured within the truck box against the inner walls of the sides and the inner wall of the front panel thus taking up very little room and not interfering with -the storage and transportation of bulky items and the like within the truck body.
It is of course easily detached, particularly the 5~D~

head rack 17, merely by disconnecting the head rack from the flanges 32~ This detachability is desirable particularly if the truck is to be used with a truck camper or cab -top or the like.
The lifting yoke collec-tively designated 14 comprises a pair of spaced and parallel side members 33 together with a winch support member 34 spanning the upper ends 35 of the side members 33 as clearly illustrated. ~ounting flanges 36 are secured to and ex-tend from one side of the lower portions 37 of the side members 33 upon which a conventional electric winch assembly 39 is situated. This winch assembly is shown in phantom in Figure 2 and includes a winch cable 40 extending Erom the winch spool 41 as will hereinafter be described.
~eans are provided to mount the lifting yoke 14 upon the upper rails 18 of -the side frames 13, said means taking the form of upper rollers 42 and lower rollers 43. The upper rollers 42 are journalled for rotation within the fork ends 44 of the portions 37 of the side members 33 and details of this mounting are shown in Figure 9~ The roller 42 takes the form of a spoo:L journalled for rotation upon a roller axle 45, and extension 46 of which engages an aperture 47 in the end 44 with the spool roller being situated within the fork 48 and a flange 49 is provided on the other end of the spindle or shaf-t 45. An electrical control receptacle 50 is in-ternally screw threaded as at 51 and includes pins 51A to receive convention-al electrical switch (not illustrated) normally supplied with the winch assembly 39. This receptacle 50 engages the cylin-drical leg portion 52 of the fork end 44 and is locked in posi-tion by means of screw threadea keeper pins 53 engaging throu~h apertures 54 in the wall of the cylindrical portion 52 and into screw threaded apertures 55 within the cylindrical casing of the portion 50 thus locking the assembly in position and mounting the roller 43 for rota-tion within -the ends 44.
The lower rollers are similar in configuration to the rollers 43 and are journalled for rotation upon spindles 56 secured and extending from the lower ends 57 of the flanges 36 as clearly shown.
When the lifting yoke is engaged upon the rails 18 of the side frames, the rollers 42 are above the upper sides or edges 18A of the rails and the rollers 43 are situated be-low the lower sides or edges 18B and this lifting yoke is movable from a horizontal, stored position shown partially in Figure 3 to an elevated or winch position shown partially in Figure 4 as will hereinafter be described.
To mount the yoke upon the rails, it is manually held in a substantially vertical position between the rails and manipulated sideways until the upper rollers 42 engage the upper sides of rails 18 and the lower rollers 43 engage the lower sides whereupon it may be tipped rearwardly to the posi-tion shown in Figure 4 in which position, the lifting yoke 14 inclines rearwardly relative to the truck body at an angle of approximately 70 or 80. However this angle can of course be varied as desired. When in this position it can be rolled forwardly and rearwardly along the rails 18 as desired so that the winch 39 for e~ample can hang over the rear of the truck body Eloor for picking up or lowering loads relative to the truck body orl it can be moved forwardly so that objects or material can be lowered onto the floor or lifted from the floor by means of the winch 39.
In this regard, stops 58 may be secured to the inner-surfaces 59 of the side rails 18 against which the rear cdges 60 of the flanges 36 may engage thus limiting the rearward movement of the lifting yoke when in the position illustrated in Figure 4.
Means are provided to detachably lock the lifting yoke in position anywhere along the lenght of the rails 18l said means taking the form of a lock assembly collectively de-signated 61. It consists of a lower jaw 62 and an upper jaw 63. The lower jaw includes the vertical wall portion 64 with an underlying jaw 55 engaging around the underside edge 18B
of the rail 18. The upper jaw includes a horizontal plate 65 with a downturned outer edge 66 engaging over the upper edge 18A of the rail 18.
A screw threaded clamp bolt 67 screw threadably en-gages a nut 68 secured to the ver-tical plate 62 of the lower jaw with the upper end of the bolt freely rotatlng within an aperture in the horizontal plate 65 of the upper jaw 63. This _9_ is xotated by means of crank. 69 and is adapted to clamp the -two jaws together around the member 18 so that they can be slid along the member without becoming detached therefrom but can be clamped in position if the crank 69 is tightened ~urther. A brake lock 70 extends upwardly from an offstanding lug 71 extending from nut 68 and this is engaged by a down-turned lug portion 72 formed on the flange 36 and offstanding therefrom adjacent the roller 43. When in the position shown in Figure 4, element 72 is engaged over element 70 so that when the crank 69 is not tightened fully, the brake assembly or lock assembly 61 is drawn along the rails 18 by means of the movement of the lifting yoke 14. However when it is de-sired to lock the lifting yoke in position upon the rails 18, crank 69 is tightened fully thus locking the assembly. When it is desired to move the lifting yoke from the winch position illustrated in Figure 4, to the horizontal stored position shown in Figure 3, the lifting yoke is disengaged from the brake or lock assemblies 61 whereupon it may be moved in the direction of axrow 73 (see Figure 4) and in effect pivoted relative to the rails 18 so that it takes up the position shown in Figure 3 with the side members 33 lying on top of the rails 18 and with the cross member 34 of the lifting yoke in the fully forward position against the head rake 17 as shown in fragmentary form, in Figure 5. Preferably the lock or clamp assemblies 61 are moved along the rails 18 to the position shown in Figure 1 whereupon they are clamped in pOSitiOIl with the side members 33 of the lifting yoke resting upon the upper surface of the horizontal plates 65 of these locking or clamping assemblies.
~ hen in the position shown i.n Figure 5, angled latches 74 secured to the upper side of the cross member 34 adjacent either end thereoE, engage over l.atch blocks 75 se-cured to the lower cross member 28 of the head rack 17 thus locating the lifting yoke relative to the head rack so tha-t an over center lock assembly collectively designated 76 may be detachably engaged with the lifting yoke to detachably lock it in the stored position.
This over center lock assembly 76 i.s shown in detail in Figures 5 and 6 and it will be noted that a la-tch receiving socket 77 is provided upon one side of the mounting plate 38 for the winch assembly 39. However other e~tensions from -the mounting plate 38 may be provided depending upon design param-eters.
The over center lock assembly includes an upper mounting block 78, an intermediate portion 79 pivotally secur ed to the portion 78 by means of pin 80, and an adjustable latch portion 81 pivotally secured to the lower end of the por-tion 79, by means of pivot pin 82.
Handle 83 is secured to the upper side portion 81 for manipulatin~ the latch assembly as will hereinafter be describ-ed.
The latch 81 takes the form of a screw threaded bolt 6)5gD~L

84 screw t.hreadably engageable within the upper portion 85 of the portion 81 so that the effective length can be adjusted and locked in position by means of lock nut 86~ Figure 6 shows the unlocked position in which the portlon 79 and 81 are angulated relative to the portion 78. With the lifting yoke in -the horizontal stored position, the assembly is manipulated so that the bolt head 87 engayes the socket 77 whereupon the handle is straightened thus snapping the over center lock as-sembly to the slightly over center position shown in Figure 5 thereby detachably locking the yoke in the stored position.
Moving the handle sideways to the .Left relative to Figure 5l unlocks the assembly so that it can be removed as shown in Figure 6.
Although the lifting yoke can be moved manually, nevertheless it is desirable that the winch assembly 39 be utilized to raise and lower the assembly. In this connection refexence should first be made to Figure 2 in which a pulley is journalled for rotation upon the upper side oE the winch mount 38, said pulley being designa-ted by reference character 88.
A further pulley 89 is journalled for rotation adja-cent the junction of the transverse member 34 with one of the side members 33 of the winch yoke and a pair of pulleys 90 and 91 are journalled upon pins 90A and 91A respectively extending from the fl.ange 36 of the lefthand yoke arm 33. These pins are situated almost directly opposite to the brake lugs 72.

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A pulley guard plate 92 is secured to the ends of pins 90~ and 91A in spaced relationship with the pulleys be-tween the guard plate 92 and the flange 36 and a cable hook 93 is situated upon the upper side of -this guard plate 92 and consists of a hooked portion 94 with a spaced apart hook 95 shown in detail in Figure 7. The aforementioned winch cable 40 is provided with a nut or other protuberance 96 upon the distal end thereof. When it is to be attached to a lifting hook collectively designated 97 and shown in Figure 8, this nut engages a slotted or bifurcated upper end portion 98 and is retained within socket 99 with a conventional hook assem-bly 100 depending therefrom as clearly shown. However when elevating or lowering the winch yoke assembly, the cable is detached from the lifting hook 97 and instead engaged around pulley 88, around pulley 89, under pulley 90 and over pulley 91A whereupon it engages around a further pulley 101 (see Figure 1) journalled upon a pin 102 extending from a support member 103 which in turn extends rearwardly from the front vertical support 19 of the lefthand frame component 13. A
guard plate 104 also engages the end of the spindle or pin 102 and a further pin 105 supports the plate in spaced apart re-lationship from the member 103. The aforementioned cable 40 extends around this pulley and then extends upwardly to be hooked in the hooked assembly 93 formed on the upper side of guard plate 92. With the lifting yoke in the horizontal stored position, the winch is activated to snug the cable ~hus pulling the lifting yoke against the front latch assembly 76 and pre-venting rattling from occurring~
However when it is desired to move the winch yoke to the winching position, the latch assembly 76 is disengaged whereupon the winch is wound in thus tightening the cable and due to the routing of the cable around pulleys 90 and 91, the upper end portion of the lifting yoke is elevated relative to the side rails 18, to an angle of approximately 70 to 80~.
It is then relatively easy to move the lifting yoke over center so that it takes up the position illustrated in Figure 4 with the rollers 42 and 43 automatically aligning themselves and engaging the upper and lower edges 18A and 18B respectively of the side rails 18 because of the flanged portions 36 are situated against the inner faces 59 of these side rails. When the elevating action commences from the position shown in Figure 3 towards the position shown in Figure 4, means are re~uiredto anchor the ends and to stop them moving rearwardly, said means taking the form of a roller guide assembly collec-tively designated 106 and secured to a support 107 depending downwardly from the side rail 18 on the righthand side of the truck body as shown in Figure 4. This consists of a pair of spaced and parallel guide members 108 secured to 107 by means of U-shaped brackets lO9 and having outwardly curved upper ; ends llO to guide the lower roller assembly 43 into and out of the guides. When in the lowered position shown in Figure

3, the first action of the tightening of cable 40 is to pivot 14~
the frame inasmuch as the relative position of the pulleys 90 and ~1 are moved towards one another. This enters the roller 43 into the vertically situated guides :L08 with the roller 43 moying downwardly towards the floor as the winch frame is elevated to its ma~imum position. When it is pushed over center manually, to the position shown in Figure 4, the roller leaves the upper end of the guides 108 as shown in Figure 4 thus permitting the winch yoke to be rolled along the rails 18 as hereinbefore described. When lowering the winch yoke from the winch position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in ~igure 3, it is first pushed over center in the direction of arrow 73 with the roller 43 entering the guide channel 106 whereupon the winch may be used to lower it to the horizontal position shown in Figure 3 whereupon -the roller 43 leaves the vertical guide channel 106.
Since various modifications can be made in my inven-tion as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely dif-ferent embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying speci-fication shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM AS MY INVENTION:
(1) A truck winch assembly for use in a truck cargo area having a pair of side walls, a floor and a front wall, comprising a) a frame assembly attachable within said truck cargo area, said frame assembly comprising a pair of side frame components secured along the side walls of said truck cargo area, said side frame components further comprising longitudinally extending rail members;
b) a substantially U-shaped lifting yoke support-ed by said frame, said yoke comprising a pair of spaced apart elongated leg members and a transversely extending load sup-port member bridging an end of each of the leg members;
c) mounting means or said yoke comprising a pair of yoke supports spaced on the elongated leg members at points away from the load support member for supporting the yoke on said rail members, said yoke supports providing for pivotal movement of the yoke between a stored position in which the load support member is adjacent the front wall of the cargo area and an elevated load handling position in which the yoke is inclined away from the front wall, said yoke supports providing for displacement of said yoke lengthwise along said rail members between positions in which the load support member of the yoke projects rearwardly of the cargo area to positions in which the load support member of the yoke is over the cargo area, the elongated leg members of said yoke having extensions projecting beneath and into the plane of said rail members, said extensions being engageable with the rail members when the yoke is moved to the elevat-ed load handling position and serving to support the yoke in the elevated load handling position and to restrict pivotal movement of the yoke beyond the elevated load handling posi-tion.
(2) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 1 wherein said yoke supports comprise a pair of rollers, said rollers being mounted adjacent to the ends of said leg mem-bers remote from the load support member, each roller being in engagement with the upper surface of one of said rail members, and wherein said extensions comprise a second pair of rollers, each roller of said second pair being displaced from the rollers of the first pair and being mounted beneath and in the plane of one of said rail members for interengage-ment with the rail members upon movement of the yoke to the elevating load lifting position.
(3) A truck winch assembly according to Claim l or 3 further comprising winch means including a winch assem-bly mounted on said lifting yoke.
(4) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 3, said winch assembly comprising a cable and means on the distal end of said cable for connection to said frame assembly for winching said lifting yoke from the stored position to-wards the load handling position and vice versa, said winch means further comprising at least one guide pulley for guid-ing said cable and being mounted on one of said leg exten-sions at a point axially displaced from a pivot axis pass-ing through the yoke supports, the distal end of said cable being connectable to the frame assembly at a point offset be-low the pivot axis whereby winching the cable in when the lifting yoke is in the stored position lifts said yoke towards the lifting position and winching said cable in when the yoke is in the lifting position winches the yoke towards the storage position.
(5) Apparatus according to Claim 2, further com-prising an upwardly open guide receptacle positioned inter-mediate the ends of one of said rail members for anchoring the yoke against sliding movement along said track as the yoke is pivoted from the storage to the elevated lifting position, said receptacle being positioned to receive a roller of said second pair as said roller pivots downwardly to thereby re-strain the yoke against movement lengthwise of the rail mem-bers, said roller serving as a pivot point for pivoting the yoke when the roller is within said upwardly open anchoring means for pivotal movement of the yoke from a forwardly in-clined position to a rearwardly inclined position in which the upper roller is in contact with its rail member, said lower roller thereafter moving out of said receptacle into contact with the bottom of its rail member, there being clearance between the receptacle and the adjacent rail mem-bers for sliding movement of the yoke lengthwise of the rail members when the roller is out of said receptacle.
(6) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 5 wherein said extensions further comprise guide flanges ex-tending in adjacent parallel relationship to the rail members for maintaining the yoke in planes substantially perpendi-cular to the rail members as the yoke is moved from the storage to the elevated load handling position.
(7) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 1 further including releasable locking means for locking said yoke in the storage position.
(8) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 1 further including locking means for detachably locking the yoke in position along the length of the rail members.
(9) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 8 wherein said last named locking means comprises a clamp, means connecting the clamp to said yoke, said clamp compris-ing a pair of jaws and a threaded member for moving the jaws into and out of clamping engagement with one of said rail members.
(10) A truck winch assembly according to Claim 9 wherein the means connecting the clamp to the yoke comprises a projecting member on one of said jaws and a downwardly facing recess on the yoke, the projecting member being adapt-ed to fit within said recess for movement along the rail members with the yoke when the clamp is out of clamping en-gagement with the rail member and to prevent movement of the yoke along the rail members when the clamp is in clamping engagement, said recess being movable out of engagement with the projecting member upon pivotal movement of the yoke so that the yoke is freed for pivotal motion independent of the clamp.