Swivel winch rotated via an actuator in response to pressure sensor data

A system and a method for a swivel winch are described for rotating a winch about an axis such that friction is reduced when letting out or pulling in a line. The swivel winch includes a fairlead with an orifice and sensors which sense the pressure from the cable and send the retrieved data to a controller which generates commands for an actuator, causing the swivel mount coupled to the winch to swivel in a direction that will relieve pressure.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of winches. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for a winch that swivels based on pressure data.

BACKGROUND

Winches are hauling or lifting devices, which pull in or let out a line. Winches function by winding or unwinding the line that is coiled around a rotating drum. A winch fairlead is commonly used to direct the line as it winds or unwinds along the drum. Typically, the line must be at a shallow angle to the fairlead in order to minimize friction between the line and the internal edges of the fairlead that surround the line. Thus, a problem arises if the line is connected to a load that is at a wide angle to the fairlead because friction between the line and the fairlead reduces the pulling capacity of the winch and shortens the life of the line (can cause the line to fray, for example).

SUMMARY

This invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art and, in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available systems and methods. Features and advantages of different embodiments of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

Consistent with the foregoing, a system and method for a swivel winch are disclosed.

A winch is described that includes a rotatable drum comprising a winch cable windably connected to the winch drum, and a removable vehicle winch frame with two end brackets. The winch comprises a winch motor, a gear assembly, and a swivel plate, a base plate, and a bearing.

A plurality of sensors are designed to detect pressure from the cable are placed on the fairlead, which guides the cable along the drum as it unwinds or winds on to or off of the drum. Because the cable passes through the orifice of the fairlead, placing a plurality of sensors on the portion of the fairlead that form the orifice allows for the cable to be in contact with the sensors.

The plurality of sensors may comprise two sensors, such that the sensors are placed on opposing sides of the orifice, in a first plane that is parallel with the drum axis, and wherein the swivel plate swivels in a second plane that is parallel with the drum axis.

The plurality of sensors may comprise two sensors, such that the two sensors are located on opposing sides of the orifice, in a third plane that is perpendicular with the drum axis, and wherein the swivel plate swivels in a fourth plane that is perpendicular with the drum axis. In this embodiment, the sensors might be placed at the upper and lower portions of the portion of the fairlead that forms an orifice, thus allowing the winch to tilt upwards or downwards in response to detected pressure from the sensors.

In another embodiment, the swivel winch comprises four sensors. Two of the four sensors are located on opposing sides of the orifice, in a first plane that is parallel with the drum axis and two of the four sensors are located on opposing sides of the orifice, in a third plane that is perpendicular with the drum axis.

The swivel winch is designed such that the swivel plate, bearing, and base plate permit the swivel winch to rotate about the plane parallel with the drum axis.

The controller of the winch receives data from the sensors as they detect pressure from the cables. The controller, upon receiving the data, will determine whether or not to generate a command for the actuator based on whether or not the data from the sensors indicates that a pressure threshold is passed. If the pressure threshold is passed, the controller generates a command and the actuator actuates the command, causing the swivel winch to swivel. The controller generates a command for a swivel position that minimizes the pressure data received from each of the plurality of sensors, and by determining an actuator position that will achieve the swivel position.

The controller may also generate the command by determining the command that will actuate the actuator to achieve the actuator position.

The actuator may be a motor, or another device that actuates.

The swivel winch allows for a user to override the controllers commands, in the event that a user prefers to determine the angle of the winch to the load.

The sensors and the portion of the fairlead that form the orifice are smooth such that friction is reduced when the cable is sliding through the orifice while winding or unwinding on or off of the drum.

The bearing may be plain bearing, rolling-element bearing, fluid bearing or magnetic bearing, and the sensors may be an absolute pressure sensor, a sealed pressure sensor, a differential pressure sensor.

In another embodiment, the swivel winch is attachable to vehicles, and thus may be used while attached to a vehicle or while unattached to a vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of the various embodiments disclosed herein. The embodiments disclosed herein can be manufactured without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In addition, in some cases, well-known structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more alternative embodiments.

Winches in their most basic form have been used for many years to help hoist or move objects. Winches can be used in a variety of settings. They are used on boats, on cars, in a building, in a theatre, on a construction site, indoors or outdoors. They are extremely useful because they help users to maneuver often large or heavy equipment or materials in such a way that would be extremely difficult to do manually.

Winches are used to pull in or let out tension on a rope. There exists a wide variety of winches comprised of different materials. One of the challenges associated with winches is that pulling capacity may be diminished when a load is not perpendicular to the drum. Typically, this challenge is addressed by using a fairlead that includes rollers to reduce the friction associated with off-angle loads (loads that result in the winch cable not being perpendicular with the winch drum, for example). However, even with a fairlead that includes rollers, the winch capacity for off-angle loads is reduced, and the pressure and friction of the fairlead may result in increased wear on the winch cable and/or the winch components.

Embodiments and methods disclosed herein may improve winch performance when the load is at a wide angle to the fairlead. The present devices, systems, and methods describe a winch that includes a swivel mechanism (e.g., swivel winch). As described herein, the swivel winch may swivel to orient itself in a way that minimizes or eliminates off-angle loads. In other words, the swivel winch may rotate towards a load that the swivel winch is pulling, such that there is less friction on the cable when being wound onto the drum. This allows for increased efficiency and increases the capacity of the winch to pull heavier items or loads.

Depending on the environment and scenario in which a winch is used, one of the common use cases for winches, for example, is for a winch to be placed on a vehicle (e.g., all-terrain vehicle (ATV), truck, utility vehicle, and the like). Typically, the winch is placed at the front (or back) of the vehicle. This placement may be ideal for some use cases. A vehicle, however, may or may not be able to be situated directly in the front or the back of the load to be pulled. Furthermore, the vehicle may or may not be able to be situated on the same level as the load to be pulled. When using the winch, it is most efficient when directly facing the load it is pulling because friction is reduced and efficiency is increased. Thus, it is beneficial for a winch to have the ability to tilt, rotate, and/or twist in order to face the load being pulled so that it is directly facing the load to be pulled.

It is appreciated, that pulling off-angle reduces the efficiency and ability of all winches. Pulling off-angle, however, may be particularly problematic for winches that include a winch-line-guide that directs the line to wind along the length of the rotatable drum to avoid bunching or catching the line on the rotatable drum. In one embodiment, a motor powers the drum to rotate about an axis within a frame. A fairlead of the winch-line-guide may be connected to and may simultaneously move along the length of one or more elongated rods, which extend longitudinally within the frame in substantially parallel relation to the drum axis. As the fairlead moves along the rods, the line passes through the fairlead such that the fairlead directs the line to wind uniformly around the drum. When pulling off-angle, however, the fairlead may, at times, be unable to move along the drum length due to the force of the load working against the movement direction of the fairlead. A winch-mount that changes the direction of the drum and fairlead may resolve this problem and allow the fairlead to smoothly move along the length of the drum.

In one embodiment the swivel winch may include sensors in proximity to the orifice on the fairlead which sense/detect pressure. When pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold, the swivel winch is instructed to swivel, tilt, and/or rotate in the direction that will most relieve the sensed pressure. Thus, sensors may be used to allow the fairlead to operate without decreasing efficiency.

In some embodiments, the mounting-plate (to which the winch is mounted, for example) may oscillate, rotate, balance, pivot, turn, tilt, teeter, vacillate, hover, hang, sway, and/or dither. The mounting-plate may be connected to the winch frame in some embodiments. The winch may include one or more spacers, insertions, and/or attachments between the rotatable drum and the mounting-plate. Some embodiments of the mounting-plate may include one or more protrusions, attachments, flanges, extensions, shelves, depressions, grooves and/or other surface discontinuities that interact with springs. In one embodiment, the mounting-plate may include one or more folds, bends, creases, and/or curvatures such that the degree to which the rotatable drum tilts is as much as 180° from rest. The mounting-plate may also rotate as much as 360° around the center pivot, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 1Adepicts a swivel winch100, according to one embodiment. The swivel winch100includes a winch frame101, two end brackets102, a swivel plate107, a base plate106, and an actuator109. A winch drum103is disposed within the frame101and between and the end brackets102. Attached to the winch drum103is a cable104which can wind and unwind on and off the drum103. The cable104may be configured such that it may unwind off the drum103from left to right, or from right to left, via the fairlead110through a small hole on the guide111, which prevents the cable104from tangling when winding on or off the drum103. The sensors105placed across from one another on the orifice111of the fairlead110, sense the amount of pressure from the cable104when it is being pulled on either side. A predetermined threshold, if exceeded, will cause the controller108to generate a command for the actuator109, in this embodiment a motor, which turns the swivel winch100.

The swivel winch100in this embodiment is on an ATV114. The swivel winch100can be mounted upon many different vehicles because it is detachable. A swivel winch100can fit an automobile, a tractor, a truck, a boat, a tank, an armored fighting vehicle, a military engineering vehicle, an ambulance, a train, a draisine, or a reconnaissance vehicle. This is extremely useful because a swivel winch100is designed to pull a large variety of things in a large variety of situations, and because the swivel winch100can attach to different vehicles, it becomes useful in many more situations. For example, a swivel winch100could attach to a truck and be used to pull a tree trunk out of the ground. It could be attached to an ATV114to pull an object stuck in mud out of the mud. A swivel winch100might also be attached to an automobile and then used to pull another automobile. A swivel winch100might also be attached to an automobile, ATV114, truck, or tractor to fell a tree, or to pull a boat out of water. The swivel winch100is removably attached to a vehicle so that it can be attached to any one vehicle, used, then removed, and attached to another vehicle for a different purpose. Additionally, the swivel winch100may be attached to a non-vehicle.

FIG. 1Billustrates a side view of a swivel winch100attached to an ATV114. The winch frame101is attached to a swivel plate106, which is attached to a base plate107. A bearing108permits the swivel plate106to rotate about the axis of the base plate, which allows the winch to face different directions.

FIG. 2depicts a swivel winch100with a winch frame101attached to a swivel plate107attached to a base plate106. The fairlead110is depicted by an end bracket102. Two sensors,105, are placed opposite one another in proximity to the orifice111of the fairlead110, which moves along guide rod201. This embodiment is advantageous because when a load is positioned at a wide angle relative to the swivel winch100, the cable104will pull against one of the sensors105. As the controller retrieves the sensor data105, it will generate a command for the actuator109to turn the swivel winch100.

FIG. 3is a cross-sectional view of the swivel winch100ofFIG. 1A, which shows the inner workings of the winch100. A winch motor300is disposed inside the drum103, and is attached to a gear assembly301and the winch drum103. When the winch motor300and the gear assembly301operate together the winch drum103rotates, to either wind or unwind the cable104. The drum103in many embodiments is shaped as a right circular cylinder; however, the drum103can be of any variety shapes including an elliptic cylinder, a parabolic cylinder, a hyperbolic cylinder, an oblique cylinder, a cuboid, a rounded cuboid, a triangular prism, and/or any of a variety of other shapes. In some embodiments, the drum103includes a plurality of helical grooves302to assist in uniformly winding the cable104onto the drum103. A winch controller108comprises software in communication with the motor, such that the controller108receives pressure information from the sensors105and generates commands for the actuator109to move the winch accordingly. As illustrated, the swivel winch100includes a battery303, which powers the actuator109, which may be a motor.

FIG. 4depicts a swivel winch100with two sensors105placed at the top and bottom of the orifice111or the fairlead110, which moves along guide rod201. With two sensors105positioned as such, the sensors105will be able to detect when the cable104is pulling against the top of the orifice111of the fairlead110, or when the cable104is pulling against the bottom of the orifice111of the fairlead110. This may occur when a load that a user desires to pull is positioned at a higher level or lower level than the winch is able to be positioned at. For example, if a user wishes to pull a boat out of water via a ramp, often times the ramp is at a slant and a swivel winch100would be higher than the boat. This would cause the cable104to pull down against the fairlead110. By positioning a sensor105at the bottom and top of the orifice111of the fairlead110, the controller108will sense when the cable104is applying pressure to the sensor and generate a command for the actuator109to rotate the swivel winch100downwards until the pressure is relieved.

FIG. 5illustrates a swivel winch100comprising four sensors105. This embodiment is advantageous because it relieves pressure whether it is applied to the top, bottom, or either side of the orifice111of the fairlead110, which moves along guide rod201. A swivel plate106is attached to a ball joint500which is coupled to the base plate107. The ball joint500allows the actuator to move the swivel plate106up, down, or from side to side.

FIG. 6depicts a fairlead110zoomed in for greater detail. The sensors105are depicted on the inside of the fairlead110. The sensors105may also be placed on the outside of the fairlead.

FIG. 7Adepicts a vehicle700as the load of a winch100. The vehicle700is positioned at a wide angle from the swivel winch100. Thus there is friction created from the cable104rubbing against the fairlead110, which is inefficient.

FIG. 7Bdepicts the vehicle700ofFIG. 7A, wherein in the swivel winch100has swiveled to directly face the vehicle700, using the systems and methods described herein.

FIG. 8Adepicts a vehicle800with a swivel winch100attached to the front. The vehicle800and the swivel winch100are placed above a load801. As such, the cable104is pulling downwards against the fairlead110, creating friction and reducing efficiency.

FIG. 8Bdepicts the vehicle800of image8A and the winch100pulling the load801. The sensors105have sensed increased pressure and the controller108has received this information and caused the swivel winch100to rotate downwards to relieve pressure and increase efficiency.

FIG. 9depicts a flow diagram of a method900for performing swiveling. The method900is performed by a winch, such as a swivel winch. In particular, the method900may be performed by a processor within the winch. Although the operations of method900are illustrated as being performed in a particular order, it is understood that the operations of method900maybe reordered without departing from the scope of the method.

At904, the pressure is compared to a threshold.

At906, if the pressure does not exceed the threshold, it is compared to the threshold again. If the pressure does exceed the threshold, at908, the actuator is instructed to swivel the winch.

The operations method900may be performed by a winch, programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like.

FIG. 10depicts an embodiment similar toFIG. 2with a broken out view showing an actuator1001, a spring1002, and a mechanical lock1003. The spring1002may be connected to the base plate106and the swivel plate107. The spring1002may bias the swivel plate107to a forward orientation with respect to the base plate106. The mechanical lock1003may be connected to the base plate106. The mechanical lock1003may selectively engage to prevent motion of the swivel plate107relative to the base plate106. The actuator1001may selectively engage the mechanical lock. The swivel winch100may include a controller1004that may control the actuator1001. The controller1004may control the actuator1001based on pressure data from the sensors105.

For example, a portion of the cable104may pass through the orifice111and may apply a pressure to one of the sensors105. The one of the sensors105may send pressure data to the controller1004. The controller1004may subsequently send a signal to the actuator1001to disengage the mechanical lock1003. The mechanical lock1003may disengage. Subsequently, the cable104may release the aforementioned pressure from the one of the sensors105. The one of the sensors105may send pressure data to the controller1004. The controller1004may subsequently send a signal to the actuator1001to engage the mechanical lock1003. The mechanical lock1003may engage.

The mechanical lock1003may prevent the swivel plate107from moving with respect to the base plate106, by any of a variety of means, including by applying a force which may generate a frictional force or moving a pin which interferes with motion of base the base plate106relative to the swivel plate107.

FIG. 11depicts a swivel winch100attached to a swivel plate107, wherein the swivel plate107is attached to a receiver hitch1103, comprised of a socket1101and a ball joint500. The receiver hitch1103is attached to the base plate106. In this embodiment, the swivel winch100may rotate or move in response to a load pulling the cable104in a direction which causes the cable104to apply pressure to a part of the fairlead110. The receiver hitch1103and the socket1101are configured such that there is friction1102between them. The friction1102holds the swivel winch100in place when the swivel winch100is not bearing a load, and when the vehicle is bouncing around, on a bumpy road for example, which could result in a swivel winch100also bouncing around. As such, the resistance and direction of the load provide the force to move the socket1101around the ball joint500to swivel the winch with respect to the receiver where the swivel mounts.