Ships – Sail or control means therefor – Reefing and furling
Patent
1979-12-14
1982-09-21
Basinger, Sherman D.
Ships
Sail or control means therefor
Reefing and furling
74 30, 74812, 91218, 92136, 254276, 254299, B63H 910
Patent
active
043501095
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a winding arrangement, and has an important application to winding arrangements such as can be used on yachts or other sailing vessels to shorten foresail sheets.
BACKGROUND ART
Sailing techniques often require the rapid shortening of foresail sheets and, in this operation, as a foresail sheet is shortened, the resistance to further shortening is increased to such an extent that even very strong people are not always able to sheet the foresail in as far as they would like, even with the most up-to-date hand-operated, geared sheet winches.
One way of alleviating this problem is to provide each sheet winch with an electric motor which can be driven from an electric storage battery carried by the yacht. However, this involves the use of relatively expensive and heavy storage batteries, particularly if the electric motors are designed to absorb the large amounts of power necessary to rapidly shorten the foresail sheets subject to relatively high tension. In addition, the drain on the electric storage batteries presents a serious safety hazard in that electric storage batteries in yachts are normally provided for the operation of electronic apparatus such as radio telephone and navigation equipment which are vital in an emergency. It is for this reason that the yachtsmen are reluctant to run the risk of overloading their electric storage batteries.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide a hand-operated winch with which it is possible to avoid the physical drudgery involved in the use of conventional hand-operated sheet winches without having to rely on the expenditure of energy drawn from an electric storage battery.
The present invention comprises a winding arrangement suitable for sheeting in a sail of a sailing yacht, including a winch drum and a piston cylinder assembly having a double acting piston which is reciprocable within a cylinder. A double toothed rack member is coupled to the winch drum through unidirectional clutches and gear drives which mesh with opposing toothed surfaces on the rack member and are arranged to produce unidirectional rotation of the winch drum. A manually operated pump is arranged to supply fluid under pressure to the piston-cylinder assembly through supply pipes and a valve means which directs the fluid supplied by the pump to opposite ends of the cylinder alternately, thereby to reciprocate the piston and rotate the winch drum. This valve means is preferably a flow reversing valve operated by the rack member being in its furthest position in either direction. The winding arrangement may include more than one winch drum connected to each piston cylinder assembly. Thus, a winch drum may be located on either end of the piston cylinder assembly, both driven by double toothed rack members on each movement of the piston.
In the typical embodiment separate winding arrangements will be provided for the port and starboard sides of a yacht. Each piston cylinder assembly will be driven by a manually operable hydraulic pump. As a practical matter, the hydraulic pump will be located on the opposite side of the yacht from its associated winding arrangement. A hydraulic fluid sump may also be provided which can serve both port and starboard hydraulic pumps.
A pressurized hydraulic fluid vessel may be located between the hydraulic pump and the piston cylinder assembly. A control valve, operated manually or by an electrical switch, may be located between the pressurized fluid vessel and the piston cylinder assembly to permit the operation of the winding arrangement remotely and independently of the hydraulic pump. In this case a single pump may be used which, located centrally, can be used with both port and starboard assemblies.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a yacht equipped with four modified winding arrangements in accordance with the invention;
FIG.
REFERENCES:
patent: 549118 (1895-11-01), Faulkner
patent: 615194 (1898-11-01), Parkinson
patent: 2845902 (1958-08-01), Anderson
patent: 3411751 (1968-11-01), Pooley, Jr.
patent: 4013031 (1977-03-01), Viviano
Basinger Sherman D.
Olympic Power Winches Limited
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