US1274549A - Winch. - Google Patents

Description

L. G. HOWLETT.

WINCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. 1918.

1,274,549. 'PateritedAug. 6,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- fi j WNYENTOR BY W ATTORNEY L. (T. HOWLETT.

WINCH.

APPLICATION FILYED MAR. I2. 1918.

1,274,549. PatentedAug. 6, 1918.. v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR ATTORNEY LEWIS e. HOWLETT, or nay crrv, mcnre an.

- wmcrr.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, LEWIS a citizen of the United States, residing at Bay. City, inthe.county of. Bay' and State 'useful Improvements in Winches; and I do hereby'declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. j

This invention relates to winches and 'pertains more particularly to an improved construction in a winch adapted to. be used on vehicles such as motor trucks. I

The objects, of the improvement are to provide a power-transmitting mechanism for a truck winch, adapted to transmit power. to the winding drum evenly and without binding or undue friction, even'though the frame of the winch and the su orts on which the main bearings are mounted be-- Qcome sprung out of alinement from any cause, such as sudden jerks due to slippage ofthe load, unevenness of the truck frame, or'warping orspringing of the truck frame; In 'wi'nches as ordinarily constructed, with cylindrical bearingsand rigid frames, to

which the power transmission is secured, 'awarplngbor twistlng of the winch frame ire-I sults in inding at the bearings or improper driving contact between the, drivingiworm and the worm wheel of the Winch, resulting mechanism I have provided the device herein described andclaimed and it 'is this device and the equivalents thereof which constitute my present invention. 5

. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 plied'to the frame o a motor truclnf I Fig.2 isa art longitudinal section on the line 22 of ig. 1.

Fig. 3 i'san enlarged I of Michigan, have invented certain new and in. unnecessary friction, reduction of power is a side view of in improved winch aptransverse section 4 Specification of Letters'latentl Patented Aug. 6,1918.

Application filed March 12, 1918. Serial m. 222,015.

pedestals l and 2 connected by cross beams or sleepers 3 and carrying the drum-shaft 4, upon which is mounted'the drum 5 and a suitable clutch mechanism 6, disengaged from the shaft 4. I i As previously stated, my present improvement I pertains more particularly to "the means for supporting the drum-shaft on the pedestals and the arrangement of the drivlng worm and worm wheel with relation to the shaft and frame, whereby the proper de' gree of flexibility is imparted to the driving mechanism tokeep the worm and worm wheel in proper relation to each other, even though the frame ofthetruck and its main m bearings become thrown out 'of ialinement.

My improvement comprises a pair of spherical journal boxes 7 and 8, .in which the shaft 4 revolves, the boxes-being mounted in spherical sockets in the pedestals 1 and 7 5 2 respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. One of I the journal boxes, as 7, is preferably formed integral with the housing 9 of the worm' wheel 10 which wheel is fixed to the shaft 4,

The lower part of the housing!) is formed a worm housingll, in which is mounted the worm 12-. vThe worm iscarried by a shaft 13 which is preferably driven by a means of a chain 14 and suitable'sprockets from the driving or' power shaft 15 of the truck. 7

"Since the housing '9 of the worm wheel 4 and the housing 11 of the worm are integral and both are supported "by the shaft 4, the housings wlth their contained worm and ,90

-worm wheel are capable. of moving with the shaft 4 independent f the frame of the winch should the frame become warped or its bearingsbe thrown out-of alinement, that is .to' say, the. proper relative positions of the worm' and worm wheel are maintained.- within the housings 9 and 11 regardless of distortion of the framejofthewinch. To

permit a proper .degree'of movement to the housings 9 and 11 with relation-to the frame and to prevent too great movement, I provide; on thecross beams 3, or on any equivalent part of the frame, stops 16 and 17 on the line of Fig; 2,the shaft." and worm wheel being removed, the worm being shown diagrammatically. .As is clea' 1y shown in adapted to be engaged the ends of the housing-11, as indicated in Fig, 3. The degree of permissiblemovementof the hous ings 11 may be regulated by meansiof shims 18,.0rtheir equivalents.

fIt a is evident that the required degree of movement produce th necessary 1'10 bility or What I term floating of the worm and worm gear, is slight, even though the distortion of the frame be considerable.

I have found in practice that the chain drive 14 is capable of suflicient movement to permitthe required shifting of the housing 11 and its worm 12. I

Although I do not desire to confine myself to the specific construction of the worm mounting in its housing 11, I have shown in Fig. 3 a preferred arrangement of the bearings and thrust mechanism as follows:

One end of the housing 11 is provided with a head 21 carrying a journal bearing 22. Ihe opposite head 23 carries a similar journal bearing 24: and astufling box and gland 25, to receive the shaft 13. At one endof the worm 12 is a loose washer 26 of brass or anti-friction metal and at the opposite end of the worm is a thrust bearing 27 adapted to takethe working thrust of the worm 12. Thus thrust is transmitted through the head 23 to the stop 16 when the winch is under load.

By the means above described I have produced a winch, the'pow'er-transmitting gear of which is not subject to distortion when the frame of the winch becomes distorted.

Moreover, the efficiency of the power transmission is maintained, even though the frame of the winch is thrown out of line,

either by the sudden slippage of a chain while hoisting the load, or by the sudden application of the-brake when a heavy load is being lowered.

Having thus described my invention what- I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In awinch, a frame, journal boxes "thereon adapted to slight oscillatory movemen a drum shaft revolubly mounted in sa1d boxes, a Worm Wheel fixed to said shaft, a worm, a worm housing supported by said shaft and capable of slight oscillatory moveing integral with said worm Wheel housing,

a worm revolubly mounted in said worm housing, a thrust bearing carried by said worm housing, a driving shaft, means for revolving said driving shaft, and stationary stops adapted to limit theoscillatory movement of said housings.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LEWIS G. HOWLETT.

Images