Abstract:
A mount for attaching a winch to a vehicle. The mount allows the winch to be rotated to face the cable anchor during use, thereby preventing improper spooling of the cable.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/614,300, filed Sep. 13, 2012. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This disclosure is directed to a device or an assembly that is a winch mount that can be attached to a vehicle, for example an all-terrain vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Vehicles often get stuck in the mud or sand during use and require an external moving force, such as towing or a winch, to become unstuck. 
     Often a vehicle will have a winch attached to the front or back of the vehicle. When the vehicle becomes stuck, the winch cable is unwound and attached to an anchor, such as a tree or large rock. The winch is then activated to retract the cable, thereby pulling the vehicle toward the anchor and out of the mud, sand, or other entrapping surface. 
     Ideally, the winch will directly face the anchor so that the winch cable will not spool improperly or bind when the winch is retracting the cable. However, anchor position and availability is a matter of luck, and often the best or only available anchor is not directly facing the winch. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide various embodiments of a vehicle winch mount that allows a mounted winch to pivot towards an anchor, or pivot toward another predetermined direction, during use, thereby allowing the cable to spool properly when the cable is retracted. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an embodiment of the invention in use. 
         FIG. 2  shows a top view of an embodiment with an attached winch. 
         FIG. 3  shows a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 2  without an attached winch. 
         FIG. 4  shows a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 2  without an attached winch. 
         FIG. 5  shows a top view of a second embodiment with an attached winch. 
         FIG. 6  shows a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5  without an attached winch. 
         FIG. 7  shows a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5  without an attached winch. 
         FIG. 8  shows a top cross-section view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5  without an attached winch. 
         FIG. 9  shows a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5  with an attached winch and a power connector. 
         FIG. 10  shows a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5  with a bumper cover and a winch. 
         FIG. 11  shows the bumper cover of  FIG. 10  without the winch. 
         FIG. 12  shows a top cross-section view of the bumper cover of  FIG. 10 . 
         FIG. 13  shows a top view of a third embodiment with base  210  partially removed. 
         FIG. 14  shows a side view of the third embodiment of  FIG. 13 , with base  210  partially removed. 
         FIG. 15  shows a side view of a fourth embodiment with base  310  partially removed. 
         FIG. 16  shows a top of view of the fourth embodiment with base  310  partially removed. 
         FIG. 17  shows a bottom view of the embodiment of  FIG. 15 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A manual embodiment of the winch mount is shown in  FIGS. 2, 3, and 4  generally at  20 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , pivot plate  28  rests flat on base plate  38 . Pin holes  24  run directly through base plate  38  and pivot plate  28 . Pivot plate front  44  and base plate front  56  are rounded to allow both fronts to remain parallel as pivot plate  28  rotates. 
     Pivot holding bolt  32  goes through the top of pivot bracket  36 , through pivot plate aperture  34 , and into the bottom of pivot bracket  36 /base plate  38 . Pivot holding bolt  32  is covered by pivot tube  52 . Pivot bracket  36  may include female threaded apertures where pivot holding bolt  32  intersects with pivot bracket  36  and base plate  38 , but pivot plate aperture  34  should not be threaded, in order to allow pivot plate  28  to move freely. Base plate  38  can be affixed to the front or back of an vehicle by, for example, allen bolts placed through topped holes  116 . 
     Winch  14 , for example a 12-volt DC winch, can include a cable  22 , a hook  26 , stabilizer bars  42 , a winch drum  40 , and a motor casing  50 . The underside of winch  14  is affixed to pivot plate  28  at countersunk bolt holes  110  with allen bolts  30 . Pivot plate  28  may pivot at pivot holding bolt  32 , thereby allowing winch  14  to pivot as well. When winch  14  is facing desired direction, a pin (not shown) may be dropped into one of the pin holes  24  at a point where said holes  24  of the pivot plate  28  and base/mount plate  38  are aligned. 
     Due to the placement of winch  14  in front of pivot holding bolt  32 , the natural tendency of pivot plate  28  is to turn toward the pulling force of the cable  22  such that the winch  14  will naturally face the direction of the anchor  10  when cable  22  is being spooled on the winch drum  40 . 
     Thus, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the winch  14  may directly face an anchor  10 , even when the vehicle  12  is not directly facing a useful anchor. Thus, the cable  22  is able to spool properly on the winch drum  40  and not bind during retraction of the cable  22 . 
     A motorized embodiment and its subparts thereof are shown in  FIGS. 4-9 . In this embodiment, pivot plate  66  and toothed wheel  64  are located in recess  78  in winch mount base  60 . Pivot plate  66  is affixed to toothed wheel  64 , by, for example, threaded apertures with allen bolts  74 . Pivot plate  66  covers toothed wheel  64  completely in order to prevent foreign objects from being lodged in toothed wheel  64 . Center pivot bolt  76  is threaded when contacting winch mount base  60  but is not threaded where contacting pivot plate  66  or toothed wheel  64 . Worm cylinder  62  is located in hollow cylinder  78  inside winch mount base  60 . Worm cylinder  62  interlocks with toothed wheel  64  such that toothed wheel  64  will rotate when worm cylinder  62  spins. 
     Worm gear motor casing  70  is affixed to winch mount base  60  at flange  68  with fasteners  72 , for example, allen bolts. The worm gear motor (not shown), which resides in worm gear motor casing  70 , is affixed to worm cylinder  62 . Worm gear motor (not shown) can be, for example, a standard 12-volt DC motor and is well known to those with ordinary skill in the art. 
     Winch  80  is affixed to pivot plate  66  with, for example, allen bolts  74 , thereby allowing winch  80  to rotate when worm gear motor is activated. If needed, winch  80  can rotate 360 degrees. 
     At least two wires inside power/signal cord  94  are electrically coupled to winch drum motor (not shown), for example a 12-volt DC motor, located in winch drum motor casing  90 . At least two additional wires in power/signal cord  94  are electrically coupled to worm gear motor (not shown). Power/signal cord coupler  96  is attached to, for example, the battery for the vehicle, as well as to a controller that can send current to the worm gear motor or to the winch drum motor. These types of battery and controller electrical couplings are common for winches installed on vehicles and are well-known and can be easily duplicated by those with ordinary skill in the art. Power/signal cord  94  is long enough to allow winch  80  to rotate without pulling power/signal cord  94  taut. 
     Another motorized embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 13 and 14 . The mount  200  includes a base  210  that consists of two horizontal portions  212 ,  214  held together by case bolts  216  where the bolts holes at  218  include female threads to receive the bolts  216 . Allowing access in this way to the middle of the base  210  allows access to the parts therein and thereby permits the remainder of base to be comprised of solid metal wherever generally possible, thereby adding to the stability of the embodiment. 
     Bolt holes  220  at the bottom of the base  210  are threaded to allow the base to attach to, for example, a bumper with bolts. 
     Motor  222  is affixed to base  210  by bolts  223  and is coupled to a worm gear shaft  224  which is part of a worm gear  226 , which is turn meshes with toothed wheel  228 . Worm gear  226  and worm gear shaft  224  are stabilized by a bearing arrangement at  230 . Motor  222  may include, for example, a gear reduction system in order to increase the torque potential of the device. Motor  222  may also include an internal locking mechanism to stabilize all moving parts when required. 
     Toothed wheel  228  is affixed in a relative fixed position to main shaft  232  by means that are obvious to those skilled in the art, for example, a key arrangement, welding, or being manufactured as a single piece. To add stability, shaft  232  includes two race and bearing arrangements,  234  and  236 , wherein the arrangements are encased within recesses  238 ,  240  in the solid metal of the base  210 . The shaft arrangement may be held in place by bolts  242  tightened into threaded recesses  244 . 
     Pivot plate  246  resides partially inside base  210  and rests upon inner race  248 , to which it is attached with bolts  250 . Pivot bearing set  252  rests between inner race  248  and outer race  254 . Pivot plate  246  is affixed in a relative fixed position to main shaft  232  by, for example, a key  254 . 
     Another motorized embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 15, 16, and 17 , with principles somewhat similar to the embodiment in  FIGS. 13 and 14  but using a planetary gear system. Similar to the prior embodiment, the mount  300  includes a base  310  that consists of two horizontal portions  312 ,  314  held together by case bolts  316  where the bolts holes at  318  include female threads to receive the bolts  316 . Allowing access in this way to the middle of the base  310  allows access to the parts therein and thereby permits the remainder of base to be comprised of solid metal wherever generally possible, thereby adding to the stability of the embodiment. 
     Bolt holes  320  at the bottom of the base  310  are threaded to allow the base to attach to, for example, a bumper with bolts. 
     Motor  322  is affixed to base  310  by bolts  323 . Motor  322  may include, for example, a gear reduction system in order to increase the torque potential of the device. 
     In this embodiment, sun gear  324  is affixed to main shaft  326  by means obvious to those skilled in the art, for example, a key system or welding. However, main shaft  326  is not affixed to pivot plate  328  but instead includes a bearing set  330  with a race  332  in the center of the pivot plate  328 , thereby allowing shaft  326  and pivot plate  328  to rotate at different speeds. Pivot plate resides partially in recess  270 . 
     Sun gear  324  meshes with four planet gears  332  which in turn each mesh with the same outer ring gear  334 , which is affixed to, or manufactured as a part of, inner race  348  and pivot plate  328 . Note in this embodiment pivot plate  328  is affixed to inner race  348  with bolts  356 . Each planet gear  332  is supported by a stand  336  that includes a bearing set  338  with an inner and outer race  340 ,  342 . Sun gear  324  and planet gears  332  are all surrounded by the solid metal base  310 . Pivot bearing set  352  rests between inner race  348  and outer race  354 . 
     To add stability, main shaft includes a bearing set  360  with an inner and outer race  362 ,  364 . 
     Modifications to the invention and embodiments described above are numerous and while the modifications may be novel and nonobvious, the means of their implementation will be obvious to those skilled in the art. By way of example only, the winch may include a fairlead  16  with trigger switches on each fairlead side  18  that will cause the winch position to self-correct when the cable  82  pushes against one of the trigger switches. The trigger switches would be electrically coupled to the worm gear motor such that the worm gear motor will activate in a certain direction when the cable  82  presses against and activates one of the switches, thereby rotating the winch to a centered position during unspooling or spooling of the cable. 
     As another modification example, the controller for the worm gear motor and/or the winch may be controlled by a smart phone application, a Bluetooth, or by a coded remote control device. 
     As another modification example, the worm cylinder  62  may include an externally accessible coupling for an allen key or other turning mechanism, such that worm cylinder  62  (and therefore pivot plate  66 ) may be turned manually if needed. 
     As another modification example, the winch mount base  60  can include LED lights that are electrically coupled to the power/signal cord  94 , for nighttime visibility and use. 
     As another modification example, a camera may be attached to the winch  80  such that a user could, for example, view through a smartphone application the progress of the spooling of the cable  82 , to determine, for example, whether the cable was at risk of unspooling completely or, for example, whether the cable was spooling properly, thereby allowing a user to keep a safe distance from the winch and taut cable while the winch was in use. 
     As another modification, as shown in  FIGS. 10-12 , the winch mount base  60  may attach to a larger bumper cover  120  at the bumper mount base  124 . Side flap  122  covers worm gear motor casing  70  and any power/signal cord coupler  96  at bumper mount base portion  126 . 
     Various changes, alternatives and modifications will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art following a reading of the foregoing specification. It is intended that any such changes, alternatives and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims be considered part of the present invention.