Means For Retaining A Wound Cable On A Drum In A Taut Position And To Prevent Crisscrossing Of The Cable Winds

Abstract

Means for use in connection with a drum, reel or spool on which a cable has been wound, such as a winch and the like, which serves to maintain the wound cable in a taut position on the drum or reel to prevent slackening of the cable and to maintain the successive cable turns in their relative positions to prevent crisscrossing of the cable turns. The said means includes a flexible and stretchable member which maintains a constant pressure or stress on the wound cable around the drum or reel.

Description

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In winches and the like which utilize a cable wound around a drum, reel or spool, there is a tendency for the cable when it is slackened in its nonoperating condition to be loosely wound on the drum or reel and have a certain free play or looseness. When this occurs the successive cable turns on the drum or reel do not lie side by side or contiguous to each other and when the slack is taken up during the operation of the cable the cable turns crisscross and this is objectionable. The present invention eliminates this objectionable characteristic in that there is provided a retainer which fits around a portion of the drum or reel as well as the wound cable thereon which causes the cable at all times to tightly hug the drum and acts to crowd the cable turns to fit side by side in either left to right or right to left position as the cable is wound on the drum. Whenever the cable is slacked the retainer maintains a pressure on the wound cable and maintains the successive turns in their relative positions to avoid crisscrossing of the turns when the slack is taken up.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a conventional winch with the invention applied thereto.

FIG. 2 is a rear view taken from the left hand side of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view partly in cross section taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The winch generally indicated at 10 is of standard conventional construction and only that portion of the winch to which this invention is directly applicable will be described in detail.

The conventional winch has a housing 12 provided with a drum or reel 14 which is rotatably supported in the housing on a shaft 16. The housing has an enlarged opening 18 which is of generally rectangular shape and through which the cable 20 passes as it is wound and unwound on the drum. The cable 20, as can best be seen in FIG. 4, is wound around the drum or reel 14 with one end of the cable anchored to the drum and the opposite end of the cable passing outwardly through the opening 18 of the housing and suitably connected to a load in the proper manner as is conventional in connection with winches and the like.

The border edges of the housing adjacent the opening 18 are enlarged to form bosses 22. The drum or reel 14 has a continuous shallow groove 24 in which the cable turns of the cable seat. The other parts of the winch which are illustrated will not be described since they form no part of the invention and are conventional.

A flexible and elastic retainer generally indicated by the numeral 26 which may be a band of elastic resilient material such as rubber or plastic and which is stretchable and of a width substantially equal to the drum, is positioned around the drum as well as the wound cable on said drum to hug a portion of the drum and the wound cable. The opposite ends of the band 26 have ends 28 which fit and wrap around the border bosses 22 of the housing adjacent the opening 18. The opposite ends 28 of the band 26 are retained in a secured manner to said housing by means of snap-on spring clips 30, which is best shown in FIG. 3, which overlays the ends 28 of the band and secures them to the housing. The flexible stretchable band when secured in position snugly encircles approximately 180.degree. of the drum and the wound cable, as shown in FIG. 3.

As the cable winds around the drum, the stretchable band or cable retainer 26 will hug the drum and the wound cable thereon and any loose play of the slacked cable will be taken up, and the cable retainer 26 will act to crowd the cable turns to fit side by side or contiguous to each other in either left to right or right to left as successive layers of cable are wound on the drum. This will cause the wound cable to be properly aligned and will prevent the crisscrossing of the windings. When the cable is unwound from the drum the unwinding takes place in proper sequence. During the unwinding of the cable from the drum the retainer band 26 will be in engagement with the drum.

While the drum is shown with a continuous shallow groove for guiding the cable as it is wound on the drum, the cable retainer will be equally effective to attain the objectives of this invention with an ungrooved drum.

While the invention is described particularly in connection with a winch, it is not limited thereto as it has other uses, such as for example, in a fishing reel, and with other devices employing a drum and a cable.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Means for use with a rotatable drum having a cable wound around said drum, a support member for said drum, said support member having an opening for passage of the cable from the drum, said drum supported on a nonshiftable shaft and rotatably supported on said support member, said means comprising a flexible and stretchable band extending around and enveloping approximately one-half of the circumference of the drum and the circumference of the wound cable thereon to tightly engage and hug approximately one-half of the circumferential portion of the outer layers of said wound cable to take up the slack of the wound cable and maintain a pressure on the wound cable, with the opposite ends of the stretchable band extending forwardly of the portion of the stretchable band which circumferentially envelopes said wound cable and rigidly attached to the support member adjacent said opening, the flexiblity and stretchability of the band permitting the band to move toward and away from the opening to apply said pressure on the wound cable.

2. A structure of the character set forth in claim 1, in which the support member is a housing with the rotatable drum positioned within said housing.

3. A structure of the character set forth in claim 2, in which the opposite ends of the stretchable band are attached to the housing adjacent the opening thereof.

4. A structure of the character set forth in claim 3, in which the opposite ends of the stretchable band are secured to the housing by clips.

5. A structure of the character set forth in claim 1, which serves to retain the cable in a substantially taut position and which serves to crowd the cable turns to fit side-by-side as successive layers of cable are wound on the drum.

6. A structure of the character set forth in claim 1, in which the drum is part of a winch.