Boat lift using one-way clutch
OwnerWilliam L. Sloneker, Mark D. Solvieinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A boat lift uses a one-way roller bearing in association with a friction disc clutch. A hand-wheel operator provides power input, though a motor may be substituted therefore. A gearing arrangement, a one-way roller bearing and friction clutch, a cable and cable reel for selectively providing tensile force, and a boat support such as a custom hull support or suitable adjustable or universal boat support round out the lift components. Novel couplings permit the handwheel to be rotated and translated axially.
Claims19
A manual boat winch hoist control mechanism, comprising:
- a handwheel with a central hub and a first threaded bore in said central hub;
- a housing having an interior providing environmental protection;
- a shaft having an outside threaded surface coupled at a first end to said first threaded bore, and having a friction engaging member, and passing from said housing interior to an exterior thereof;
- a friction thrust member located axially between said handwheel hub and said shaft friction engaging member providing a friction surface to frictionally engage said shaft friction engaging member, to thereby provide controllable slipping and locking up by change of pressure between said shaft friction engaging member and said friction thrust member;
- and
- a one-way roller clutch, fixed against motion relative to said housing and coupled to said friction thrust member, that provides radial support and limits rotation of said friction thrust member to a single rotary direction about a rotary axis.
A boat winch hoist control mechanism providing roller bearing rotation to raise said boat, and friction clutch slip to lower said boat, comprising:
- a motive power source for inducing rotation in a first direction about an axis and in a second direction of rotation opposed thereto;
- a friction thrust member;
- a rotary shaft having a friction drive member that is engageable with said friction thrust member to prevent relative movement therebetween;
- a one-way clutch coupled to said friction thrust member which permits said friction thrust member to rotate freely in a first shaft rotation direction and which prevents rotation of said friction thrust member in a direction opposed to said first shaft rotation direction;
- and
- a friction clutch actuator which engages said friction thrust member to said friction drive member responsive to relative rotary displacement between said motive power source and said rotary shaft in a first direction about an axis and which disengages said friction thrust member from said friction drive member responsive to relative rotary displacement between said motive power source and said rotary shaft in a second direction of rotation about said axis opposed to said first direction.
A method of raising and lowering a water craft using a one-way clutch to prevent unintentional lowering of a water craft and a friction clutch to enable intentional lowering of said water craft, comprising the steps of:
- applying a rotary force in a first direction to a hub, and thereby rotating said hub in a first direction;
- engaging a friction clutch responsive to said hub rotation in said first direction;
- winding a cable about a cable reel responsive to said rotating and engaging to thereby raise said water craft to a first elevation;
- discontinuing said applying of said rotary force to said hub;
- locking a one-way clutch responsive to said discontinuing, and thereby maintaining said raised water craft in said first elevation;
- establishing a rotary force in a second direction opposed to said first rotary force direction to said hub, and thereby rotating said hub in said second direction;
- disengaging said friction clutch responsive to said hub rotation in said second direction;
- and
- unwinding said cable from said cable reel responsive to said locking and disengaging.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.