Patent ID: 7703751
Filing Date: 2010-04-27
Classification: B66D,F16D,F16H

Abstract:
1. A winch assembly comprising: a housing member; a drum rotatably coupled to said housing member; a drive shaft extending through said drum and into said housing member; a gear train located within said housing member and including a sun gear driven by rotation of said drive shaft, a planetary gear assembly, and a ring gear, said planetary gear assembly driven by said sun gear and including a planetary gear rotatably coupled to a carrier plate and engaged with an inner toothed surface of said ring gear; and an actuation mechanism including a locking member that is displaceable between first and second positions, said locking member rotationally fixing said ring gear relative to said housing member when in said first position, said ring gear being rotatable relative to said housing member when said locking member is in said second position, said actuation mechanism including a biasing member having a central body portion axially aligned with said drive shaft and a radially extending arm extending radially outward from said central body portion and engaged with said locking member to provide displacement between said first and second positions.