Winch with multi-position clutch mechanism
AssigneeWestin Automotive Products, Inc.
InventorsTimothy Frazier, Ron Dennis, Brent Nasset
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A winch including a drive motor, a cable drum, and a gear train assembly coupled to the drive motor and including a planetary gear set having a ring gear positioned in a gear train housing. The gear train housing including a radial clutch mount and an axial clutch mount. A clutch mechanism is selectively positionable at the radial clutch mount, in a first configuration, and the axial clutch mount, in a second configuration. The clutch mechanism is operable to selectively lock and unlock the ring gear to the gear train housing, thereby engaging and disengaging the cable drum from the gear train assembly.
Claims17
A winch, comprising:
- a cable drum;
- a drive motor;
- a gear train assembly coupled to the drive motor,
- a gear train housing including a radial clutch mount and an axial clutch mount;
- and
- a clutch mechanism operable to engage and disengage the cable drum from the gear train assembly, the clutch mechanism being selectively positionable at the radial clutch mount, in a first configuration and the axial clutch mount, in a second configuration.
A winch, comprising:
- a drive motor;
- a cable drum;
- a gear train housing including a radial clutch mount and an axial clutch mount;
- a gear train assembly coupled to the drive motor and including a planetary gear set having a ring gear positioned in the gear train housing;
- and
- a clutch mechanism selectively positionable at the radial clutch mount, in a first configuration and the axial clutch mount, in a second configuration, the clutch mechanism being operable to selectively lock and unlock the ring gear to the gear train housing, thereby engaging and disengaging the cable drum from the gear train assembly.
A winch, comprising:
- a drive motor;
- a cable drum;
- a gear train housing including a radial clutch mount and an axial clutch mount;
- a gear train assembly coupled to the drive motor and including a planetary gear set having a ring gear positioned in the gear train housing, wherein the ring gear includes one or more radial pockets formed in an outer circumference of the ring gear and one or more axial notches formed in an edge of the ring gear;
- and
- a clutch mechanism selectively positionable in the radial clutch mount, in a first configuration, and the axial clutch mount, in a second configuration, the clutch mechanism including a locking pin moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position for selectively engaging and disengaging the one or more radial pockets when the clutch mechanism is positioned in the radial clutch mount or the one or more axial notches when the clutch mechanism is positioned in the axial clutch mount, thereby engaging and disengaging the cable drum from the gear train assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.