Winch system

A winch system for controlling the elevation of an aerostats restrained by a cable the system comprising:

• a capstan arrangement configured for reducing the tension in a segment of a cable extending between an aerostats side and a drum side thereof;
• a spool drum configured for wrapping therearound a segment of the cable extending from said drum side of said capstan arrangement;
• a first drive mechanism configured to selectively activate said capstan arrangement in a released mode, in which the cable is let out towards the aerostats, and a pulling mode in which the cable is pulled in towards the spool drum;
• and,
• a second drive mechanism configured to rotate the spool drum in said released mode and in said pulling mode such that the segment of the cable extending from said drum side of said capstan arrangement is pulled in a counter direction to the direction of the tension exerted on the cable;
• wherein said capstan arrangement includes a dual capstan head having a first head and a second head each having a circumferential surface configured to allow winding the cable thereon, wherein said first head is mounted on a first shaft disposed in parallel with a second shaft on which said second head is mounted, and said first drive in said released mode is configured to rotate said first and second heads in a first direction such that the cable is pulled, and in said pulling mode is configured to rotate said first and second heads in a second direction such that the cable is released, and each of said first and second heads further includes side flanges defined on each edge of said circumferential surface and a roller disposed between said side flanges and configured to engage the cable wound over said circumferential surface, forcing thereby each binding of the cable into one of said guides, and said guiding member includes a main wheel and an auxiliary wheel mounted such that the cable extends between a circumferential surface of said main wheel and that of said auxiliary wheel.

A winch system for controlling the elevation of an aerostats restrained by a cable the system comprising:

• a capstan arrangement configured for reducing the tension in a segment of a cable extending between an aerostats side and a drum side thereof;
• a spool drum configured for wrapping therearound a semen of the cable extending from said drum side of said capstan arrangement;
• a first drive mechanism configured to selectively activate said capstan arrangement in a released mode, in which the cable is let out towards the aerostats, and a pulling mode in which the cable is pulled in towards the spool drum;
• and,
• a second drive mechanism configured to rotate the spool drum in said released mode and in said pulling mode such that the segment of the cable extending from said drum side of said capstan arrangement is pulled in a counter direction to the direction of the tension exerted on the cable;
• wherein in said released mode said second drive mechanism exerts counterforces on said spool drum such that rotation of said spool drum to release the cable is restrained, and said second drive mechanism is configured to operate in said released mode only in response to a drop of the tension in said segment below a predefined threshold.

A winch system fir controlling the elevation of an aerostats restrained by a cable the system comprising:

• a capstan arrangement configured for reducing the tension in a segment of a cable extending between an aerostats side and a drum side thereof;
• a spool drum configured for wrapping therearound a segment of the cable extending from said drum side of said capstan arrangement;
• a first drive mechanism configured to selectively activate said capstan arrangement in a released mode, in which the cable is let out towards the aerostats, and a pulling mode in which the cable is pulled in towards the spool drum;
• and,
• a second drive mechanism configured to rotate the spool drum in said released mode and in said pulling mode such that the segment of the cable extending from said drum side of said capstan arrangement is pulled in a counter direction to the direction of the tension exerted on the cable;
• wherein said capstan arrangement and said spool drum are mounted on a rotational mount configured to allow horizontal rotation.