Utility winch
AssigneeWarn Industries, Inc.
InventorStephen Ray Hodge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A utility winch having a single planet gear assembly that commonly engages adjacent ring gears, one ring gear fixed and the other rotatable. The planet gears of the planet assembly have inner and outer portions that rotate together and have different diameters and different numbers of teeth, one ring gear engaged with an inner portion and a second ring gear engaged with an outer portion of the planet gears. Said ring gears matched to the respective planet gear portions and having different numbers of teeth and different diameters as required to achieve involute engagement of the ring gears and planet gears whereby the rotatable gear is caused to rotate at a substantially reduced rate of rotation. Said rotatable ring gear is fixed to the winch reel for reduced rotation of the reel.
Claims7
A winch comprising:
- a winch motor, a drive shaft selectively and rotatably driven in alternate directions by the motor, a rotatable reel including a hub and a cable attached to the hub and wound onto and off of the hub upon rotation of the reel;
- a planet assembly connecting the drive shaft to the reel for selective rotation of the reel, said planet assembly including a first ring gear that is tendered non-rotatable, a sun gear driven by the drive shaft and planet portions engaging the sun gear and first ring gear;
- planet extensions fixed to and axially extended from said planet portions and not in engagement with the sun gear and the fixed ring gear;
- a second ring gear rotatable relative to said first ring gear and in engagement with said planet extensions and not in engagement with said planet portions, said reel secured to said second ring gear and rotatable with said second ring gear;
- said first and second ring gears having internal teeth, one of said ring gears having a greater number of teeth and defining a larger circumference and diameter than the teeth of the other ring gear, and said planet portions and planet extensions having external teeth, one of said planet portions and planet extensions having a greater number of teeth and defining a larger circumference and diameter than the teeth of the other of said planet portions and planet extensions, said one of said planet portions and planet extensions in engagement with said one of said ring gears and the other of said planets portions and planet extensions in engagement with the other of said ring gears whereby the common cycling of the planet portions and planet extensions about the first ring gear axis produces reduced rotation of the second ring gear and reel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.