US 4,229,131 AGranted

Tiedown winch

AssigneeMacLean-Fogg Company

InventorRichard E. Hague

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Abstract

A tiedown winch for securing a load such as an automobile to a transporting vehicle such as a railroad car includes a housing slidable in a track carried by the transporting vehicle. A chain for securing the load is wound on a drum journalled in the top and bottom walls of the housing for rotation around a vertical axis. The housing includes end walls, each of which is provided with an opening so that the chain can extend from the housing in either direction. The openings are arranged tangentially with respect to the drum and are located on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the housing so that rotation of the drum in a single direction can wind the chain along a direct path through either opening. A locking bolt substantially shorter than the width of the housing is carried by one end wall to engage the track for retaining the winch at a selected position along the track.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A vehicle tiedown winch for use in a tiedown system including a track structure having opposed tracks, at least one of which has spaced latching recesses, said tiedown winch comprising:

a housing;
a central chamber located between a pair of end portions of the housing;
top and bottom walls extending between said end portions;
a winch drum in said chamber mounted for rotation about an axis extending between said top and bottom walls;
a first of said end portions including a first passage extending outwardly from said chamber, said first passage being disposed to one side of the central longitudinal axis of the housing;
a transversely extending cavity in said first end portion disposed on the opposite side of said central longitudinal axis;
said first passage and said cavity both lying in the same horizontal plane;
a locking bolt slidable in said cavity between a retracted position and a locked position wherein said bolt extends transversely from said housing for engaging said latching recesses;
said bolt being substantially shorter than the width of said end wall structure.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.