Winch having internal clutch mechanism

In a winch having a housing, a rotating cylindrical winch drum mounted on the housing, a motor mounted to the housing and supplying torque at a motor shaft, and a reduction gear train including a primary planetary gear stage and a secondary planetary gear stage for sequentially transmitting torque from the motor shaft to the winch drum, the improvement comprising:

• one of the primary planetary gear stage and the secondary planetary gear stage including a carrier/clutch unit;
• the carrier/clutch unit including
• a frame rotatably mounted to the housing and having walls defining a cavity therein;
• at least one circumferentially-spaced planet gear rotatably mounted on the frame for simultaneously engaging a sun gear and an encircling ring gear;
• a selectively engagable clutch mounted within the cavity of the frame;
• an output member which, when the clutch is engaged, can receive useful torque from the frame and, when the clutch is disengaged, cannot receive useful torque from the frame;
• and
• a static brake assembly including an over-riding clutch and a multi-disc brake, the static brake assembly being operably connected to the motor shaft.

A winch comprising:

• a support housing;
• a winch drum rotatably mounted on said housing, the winch drum having a cylindrical cavity formed therein with an inner surface;
• a motor mounted to the support housing and providing torque at a motor shaft projecting therefrom;
• a primary sun gear connected to the motor shaft for receiving torque therefrom;
• a common internally toothed ring gear formed on the inner surface of the winch drum;
• a primary planet carrier positioned within the interior cavity of the winch drum, the primary planet carrier including
• a generally cylindrical housing having a radial wall and a circumferential wall extending axially away from the radial wall, the radial wall supporting a plurality of planet gears in radially meshed engagement with the primary sun gear and the common ring gear;
• a primary output shaft concentrically positioned at least partially within the interior cavity of the carrier housing;
• a clutch including
• a plurality of separator discs concentrically positioned around the primary output shaft within the interior cavity, the separator discs being rotationally locked with respect to the circumferential wall and free to rotate with respect to the output shaft;
• a plurality of friction discs concentrically positioned around the output shaft and interleaved between the separator discs, the friction discs being rotationally locked with respect to the output shaft and free to rotate with respect to the circumferential wall;
• wherein compressing the separator discs axially together frictionally engages the friction discs with the separator discs, allowing the transmission of torque between the carrier housing and the primary output shaft, whereas releasing the compression allows the separators to frictionally disengage the friction discs such that the carrier housing may rotate independently from the primary output shaft;
• a secondary sun gear positioned within the interior cavity and fixed to the primary output shaft;
• a secondary planet carrier positioned within the interior cavity of the winch drum, the secondary planet carrier supporting a plurality of planet gears in radially meshed engagement with the secondary sun gear and the common ring gear;
• and
• a secondary output shaft rotatably mounted in the housing and connected to the secondary planet carrier to rotate with the secondary planet carrier;
• and
• a static brake assembly including a over-riding clutch and a multi-disc brake, the static brake assembly being operably connected to the motor shaft.