WO2011072654A1 - Winch and winch crank having lighting - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a winch (1) at least having a winch base (13), a winch drum (2), which comprises a lower winch drum section (3) and an upper winch drum section (4), and a winch head (5), wherein the winch base (13) is connected directly or indirectly to a boat (9), and wherein the winch drum (2) is rotatably connected to the winch base (13), and wherein the winch head (5) is arranged on the winch drum (2) with at least one lighting means (6). The invention further relates to a winch crank (20), comprising a crank arm (21) and an actuating handle (23), wherein the actuating handle (23) is rotatably supported on the crank arm (21) by means of a shaft. The shaft is formed by a hollow shaft (22), and a lighting means (24) is fastened in the cavity of the hollow shaft (22).

Description

 Winch and winch handle with lighting

The invention relates to a winch and a winch crank according to the preambles of the independent claims 1 and 12.

Sailboats or sailing yachts are equipped with winches, which make it possible to trim the sails and to safely absorb and control the forces in the pods and traps. This is generally done by turning the winches with the help of a winch handle.

The winches are known to have a base anchored to the boat with an axle (journals) on which a so-called winch drum is rotatably mounted.

Between the winch base and the winch drum is usually a planetary gear for power reduction and a freewheel hub, which blocks the winch in the pulling direction of the sheet or the case.

Transmission and freewheel hub of the winch are subject anyway maintenance investigations, which is why the drum can be removed relatively easily from the base.

The winches are a key feature of any sailboat and must function safely and operate in any situation. For operation, in turn, the above winch crank is necessary, without which the winch itself is not operable.

Even with winches with external drive by a hydraulic or electric motor, the winch handle to operate the winches in case of failure of the external drive is advantageous. Without a winch or a winch crank, a sailboat becomes almost unable to maneuver, which can lead to a capsize, breakdown or contact with correspondingly strong, unfavorable wind conditions. Especially when driving at night in the dark, a loss of the winch handle or a failure to locate the winch handle can have fatal consequences. In addition, the raised from the ship's upper deck winches pose a risk of tripping and injury to the boat crew, which is especially in the dark at night driving is not to be underestimated.

In particular, in harsh sea conditions it is therefore always stumbling and injuries to the winch, which can lead in harsh sea conditions and extreme slopes up to the loss of a crew member by "man overboard".

The winch handle is usually changed between the starboard side and port-side winch and also stored to avoid injury and stumbling when not in use in the cockpit. Especially in the dark, it may be due to carelessness that the winch handle goes overboard. This entails the above-described consequences of the inoperability of the winches. To avoid these problems when driving at night or when driving with reduced visibility (fog, storm, rain, etc.), it is important to keep the lighting on deck as low as possible, so that the pupils do not adapt to the brightness and in the dark lake environment can no longer be perceived, because the eyes are blinded.

An illumination of the entire cockpit is therefore not possible. Important instruments, such as compass, log, GPS, etc., are therefore dimly lit and can be read, but do not dazzle. Object of the present invention is therefore to propose a new winch and a new winch handle, which allow safe work on the winches with reduced or poor visibility. This object is achieved by the present invention according to the teaching of claim 1 and claim 12. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

According to the invention the object is achieved by a winch at least with a winch base, a winch drum, which comprises a lower winch drum section and a top winch drum section, and a winch head, wherein the winch base is directly or indirectly connected to a boat, and wherein the winch drum rotatable with the winch base is connected, and wherein the winch head is disposed on the winch drum, and wherein the winch has at least one light source. The winch drum can be made of, for example, two sections, but can also be made in one piece.

The winch head is designed in particular for the attachment of a winch crank and is arranged on the winch drum or at least partially arranged in the winch drum from the outside.

According to a preferred embodiment, the lighting means is arranged between the boat and the winch base, ie under the winch base, and / or the lighting means is arranged between the winch base and the lower winch drum section, and / or the lighting means is between the lower winch drum section and the upper winch drum section arranged, and / or the lighting means is disposed between the upper winch drum section and the winch head.

Most winches have such components and can be supplemented by the bulbs at positions described. Depending on the winch type, individual

Components of the winch for receiving the bulb to be adjusted. This adaptation can be done for example by milling or incorporation of receiving recesses.

In the arrangement of the light source between the boat and the winch base, the lamp is connected to the boat before the installation of the winch base and the winch base is then placed and fastened to the illuminant mounted on the boat. This variant can be realized, for example, without constructive modification of an existing winch. Likewise, the illuminant can be retrofitted to the mentioned positions or installed already during production of the sailboat.

By such arranged at the winch bulbs can be significantly increased safety on board at night driving or deteriorated visibility. The winch is generally clearly visible as a source of danger due to the light source.

According to a preferred embodiment, the winch between the winch drum and the winch head comprises a fixing device, wherein the lighting means is arranged between the winch drum and the fixing device and / or the light source is arranged between the fixing device and the winch head.

The fixing device may for example be designed as a self-clamping ring and have the supply and fixation of the case to be used to the task. The fixing device is usually mounted between winch drum and winch head - ie between winch drum and approach for a winch crank.

According to a preferred embodiment, the winch under the winch base comprises a winch base, wherein the lighting means between the boat and the winch base, that is located under the winch base, and / or the light source between the winch base and the winch base is arranged. According to a preferred embodiment, the luminous means has an active luminous means and a passive luminous means.

As a result, an indirect lighting can be realized, whereby a dazzling of the boat crew is excluded.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the active luminous means comprises at least one electroluminescent element. For example, EL film is suitable for this purpose. As a result, a particularly uniform luminous active light source can be formed.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the active illuminant comprises at least one light emitting diode. LEDs require little electrical energy and are easy to install due to their small size.

Both the electroluminescent element and the light emitting diode may be monochrome in monochrome, but may be multi-colored (e.g., RGB) to freely adjust the illumination color. By controlling the energy supply, the active light source can be influenced in its luminous intensity.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the passive illuminant is designed as a translucent, at least partially transparent body. The passive lamp is thereby durchstrahlbar and can diffuse the light generated by the active light source and thus produce a particularly favorable, non-glare, indirect lighting.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the passive lamp is formed of colored plastic. Plastic is flexibly variable in terms of its luminous properties, easy to work with and easy to manufacture. According to a further advantageous embodiment, the active light source is arranged on the passive light source and / or integrated into the plastic ring. As a result of the arrangement of the active illuminant on the passive illuminant, the passive illuminant is illuminated by the active illuminant. Thus, the passive illuminant lights up directly or indirectly, in other words in reflection or transmission.

It is possible to let the light beams of the active light source pass through the passive light source in transmission, as it is also possible to reflect the light rays of the active light source in reflection from the passive light source.

When integrating the active light source into the passive light source or the plastic ring, the passive light source or the plastic ring ensures diffusion of the light emitted by the active light source. In all variants, a non-glare, indirect lighting can be realized.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, a winch crank is connected to the winch drum, which can be configured according to the following description, wherein the winch crank comprises the lighting means.

According to the invention, the above object is further achieved by a winch crank with a crank arm and an actuating handle, wherein the actuating handle is rotatably supported by a shaft on the crank arm, and wherein the shaft is formed by a hollow shaft, and wherein secured in the cavity of the hollow shaft, a light source is.

As is known, a bearing with a bearing shaft is used in winch cranks for supporting the operating handle on the crank arm. This bearing shaft has always been designed as a massive solid shaft. According to the invention, a hollow shaft is used instead to fasten in the cavity of the hollow shaft, a light source. Thus, as a result, the light source is located within the handle in the cavity of the hollow shaft. The light source can be permanently installed within the hollow shaft, but can also be designed removable. As access to a permanently installed light source within the hollow shaft, for example, access through the cover of the operating handle is suitable. The energy can be supplied via batteries or via supply lines, which are routed via contact connections to the winch in the boat interior to the on-board power supply. This also allows charging the batteries of the bulb.

The light source is thus releasably connected to the winch crank. This ultimately lights up the winch handle and is better visible in poor visibility.

This offers particular advantages while the winch handle is mounted on the winch, for example to prevent injuries and tripping. When unassembled, for example, when the winch is in the cockpit or on a bench seat, the winch handle for the boat crew is also clearly visible. This can be a bumping and thus go overboard the winch handle be prevented. Finally, the winch handle can also be used as a lamp on the way to the winch on the foredeck. According to a further advantageous embodiment, the luminous means is aligned such that the light is emitted in the direction opposite to the actuating arm relative to the crank arm.

In the mounted on the winch condition so the winch crank downwards, which on the one hand prevents dazzling of the boat crew and on the other hand offers the advantage that the bulbs in the winch handle can be used as a reading lamp, for people sitting on a bench in the cockpit are located. In addition, a deflection can be provided at the light outlet of the winch crank. This deflection device can be fastened, for example, to the light source or to the hollow shaft. The deflection can be formed for example by a spherical reflector. This allows alignment of the light cone.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the lighting means is fixed by means of a clamping element in the cavity of the hollow shaft. This can prevent falling out of the bulb from the hollow shaft of the winch crank.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the luminous means comprises at least one light-emitting diode. Light-emitting diodes are particularly energy-efficient and can be flexibly arranged due to their small size.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the lighting means is formed by a flashlight. This allows a multi-functionality of the light source used. The flashlight, which is carried in many cases anyway, can be dismantled, for example, for a shore leave in the harbor. In addition, the bulb is easy to disassemble by using a flashlight for maintenance purposes.

Several embodiments of a winch and an embodiment of a winch crank are shown in the drawings and are explained below by way of example. It shows:

Figure 1 is an exploded view of a winch with lamp;

 Figure 2 shows a winch base and a winch drum in perspective

 View;

 Figure 3 is a boat-mounted winch base in cross-section;

Figure 4 is a patch on a winch base winch drum in a perspective view; Figure 5 shows a patch on a winch base winch drum in cross section;

 Figures 6a to 6d four other ways of building a winch with different arrangement options of the light source;

 Figure 7 is an exploded view of a winch crank with lighting; and

Figure 8 shows a cross section through a winch crank with lighting.

Figure 1 shows a winch (1) in exploded view. The winch drum (2) has a lower winch drum section (3) and an upper winch drum section (4). On the winch drum (2) a winch head (5) is arranged, which allows the approach of a winch crank.

Optionally, a fixing device (14) can be arranged between the winch drum (2) and the winch head (5), depending on the winch type, and has the task of fixing the case to be operated.

The lighting means (6) is designed here as a combination of active lighting means (7) and passive lighting means (8). The active light source (7) is designed in the form of a light cord made of wound EL foil (EL = electroluminescence) and the passive light source (8) is designed as a colored, transparent plastic ring. The wound EL foil produces a uniformly distributed light. It is possible to use a monochrome luminescent cord or to use a color-switchable luminescent cord.

For mounting on the sailboat (9), first shims (10) are placed on the sailboat (9) to space an annular plate (11). The spacing of the annular plate (11) through the washers (10) has the particular advantage that water can drain through the distance.

Next, the active light source (7), here the light string, through the recess in the sailboat (9), through the washer (10) and through a recess in the annular plate (11) out to be connected inside the boat to the electrical supply can. The light string then comes to rest on the annular plate. Alternatively, the power can also be supplied via a battery. Then the passive illuminant (8), here the colored, transparent plastic ring with a to the active light source (7) fitting groove is placed.

In other words, the light string comes to rest in the groove in the colored, transparent plastic ring.

Thus, the colored, transparent plastic ring is irradiated from the inside by the light string. This results in an indirect, non-dazzling illumination.

To relieve the power of the light bulb (6) flanged bushes (12) through the light bulb (6) are inserted therethrough. Then the winch base (13) is arranged and bolted through the cover laminate of the sailboat (9) by flanged bushes (12) and lighting means (6).

The plastic ring is frictionally mounted between the annular plate (11) and the winch base (13). In other words, a force input via the winch base on the flanged bushes on the annular plate (11) is passed.

Alternatively, the active illuminant (7) can also be inserted into the groove of the passive luminous means (8), then the annular plate (11) can be brought together as a cover with the passive illuminant (8), so that the entire unit can be handled as a preassembled component becomes. Annular plate (11) and passive lamp (8) then form a quasi housing around the active lamp (7) and are waterproof designed by gluing. To carry out the connection of the active light source (7), one of the fastening screws is hollow inside, whereby a power supply without additional drilling in the deck can be realized. Between winch base 13 and bulb 6 can also be optional depending on winch type still a winch base 15 order. FIG. 2 shows the winch base (13) mounted on the sailboat (9). Evident is the guided by an inside hollow screw light string as an active light source (7), as well as the kraftentlastete, colored, transparent plastic ring as a passive light source (8). Figure 3 shows the facts of Figure 2 in cross section.

FIG. 4 shows the winch drum (2) rotatably mounted on the winch base (13) which is not recognizable here. The passive light source (8) is arranged between the boat (9) and the winch base (13).

Figure 5 shows the facts of Figure 4 in cross section.

Figures 6a to 6d show four possible winch types with different arrangement options of the bulb 6. The winches shown can be driven manually and / or with third-party drive.

Figure 6a shows a standard winch without winch base. The light source is here between the boat 9 and winch drum 2 and between the winch drum 2 and 5 winch arranged.

Figure 6b shows a standard winch with winch base 15. The bulb is here between the boot 9 and winch base 15, between the winch base 15 and winch drum 2 and between the winch drum 2 and 5 winch head arranged. Figure 6c shows a self-locking winch without winch base. This winch moreover has a fixing device 14. The light source is here between the boat 9 and winch drum 2, between winch drum 2 and fixing device 14 (in the figure not visible) and between fixing device 14 and 5 winch head.

Figure 6d shows a self-locking winch with winch base 15. This winch also has a fixing device 14 on. The light source is here between boot 9 and winch base 15, between winch base 15 and winch drum 2, between winch drum 2 and fixing device 14 (not visible in the figure) and between fixing device 14 and 5 winch head. FIG. 7 shows a winch crank (20) in an exploded view. On the crank arm (21) is rotatably mounted on a bearing with a hollow shaft (22) an actuating handle (23).

In the hollow shaft (22) from below a lighting means (24) is arranged. The lighting means (24) is secured by a resilient clamping ring (25) from falling out of the hollow shaft (22).

The light source (24) is designed here as a flashlight, for example a mini-Maglite. So that a flashlamp can not be completely pushed into the hollow shaft, a spacer element may be provided in the interior of the hollow shaft, which at least partially fills the interior of the hollow shaft.

Figure 8 shows the facts of Figure 7 in cross section. The flashlight torch can be easily pulled out of the hollow shaft (22) especially for maintenance purposes, replacement of battery or LED.

The luminous means (24) is arranged such that the light is emitted in the direction A opposite the actuating handle (23) relative to the crank arm (21). Thus, the winch crank (20) can serve as a reading lamp, in particular in the mounted on the winch (1) state. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 winch

 2 winch drum

 3 lower winch drum section

 4 upper winch drum section

 5 winch head

 6 bulbs

 7 active bulbs

 8 passive bulbs

 9 sailboat

 10 washers

 11 annular plate

 12 bushing

 13 win base

 14 fixing device

 15 winch base

 20 winch crank

 21 crank arm

 22 hollow shaft

 23 operating handle

 24 bulbs

 25 clamping ring

Claims

Patent claims Winch (1) with at least a winch base (13), a winch drum (2), which includes a lower winch drum section (3) and an upper winch drum section (4), and a Winch head (5), wherein the winch base (13) is connected directly or indirectly to a boat (9), and wherein the winch drum (2) is rotatably connected to the winch base (1 3), and wherein the winch head (5) on the winch drum (2) is arranged, characterized by at least one lamp (6). Winch according to claim 1, characterized in that the light source (6) is arranged between the boat (9) and the winch base (1 3), i.e. under the winch base (1 3), and/or the light source (6) between the winch base (13) and the lower winch drum section (3) is arranged, and/or the lamp (6) between the lower winch drum section (3) and the upper winch drum section (4) is arranged, and / or the lamp (6) is arranged between the upper winch drum section (4) and the winch head (5). Winch according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the winch comprises a fixing device (14) between the winch drum (2) and the winch head (5), the lamp (6) being arranged between the winch drum (2) and the fixing device (14) and/or the lamp (6) between the fixing device (14 ) and winch head (5) is arranged. 4. Winch according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the winch under the winch base (13) comprises a winch base (1 5), the lamp (6) between the boat (9) and the winch base (1 5) , i.e. is arranged under the winch base ( 15 ), and / or the light source ( 6 ) is arranged between the winch base ( 1 5) and the winch base ( 13 ). 5. Winch according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lamp (6) has an active lamp (7) and a passive lamp (8). 6. Winch according to claim 5, characterized in that the active light source (7) comprises at least one element that lights up due to electroluminescence. 7. Winch according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the active light source (7) comprises at least one light-emitting diode. 8. Winch according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the passive light source (8) is designed as a translucent, at least partially transparent body. 9. Winch according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the passive light source (8) is made of colored plastic. 10. Winch according to one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the active lamp (7) is arranged on the passive lamp (8) and / or is integrated into the plastic ring. 1 1 . Winch according to one of claims 1 to 1 0, characterized in that a winch crank (20) is connected to the winch drum (2), the winch crank comprising the lighting means. 12. Winch crank (20) with a crank arm (21) and an operating handle (23), the operating handle (23) being rotatably mounted on the crank arm (21) by means of a shaft, characterized in that the shaft is formed by a hollow shaft (22). and a light source (24) is attached in the cavity of the hollow shaft (22). 13. Winch crank according to claim 12, characterized in that the lamp (24) is aligned such that the light is emitted in the direction (A) opposite the operating handle (23) relative to the crank arm (21). 14. Winch crank according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the lamp (24) is fixed in the cavity of the hollow shaft (22) by means of a clamping element (25). 1 5. Winch crank according to one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the lighting means (24) comprises at least one light-emitting diode. 16. Winch crank according to one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that the light source (24) is formed by a flashlight.