Abstract:
Disclosed is an apparatus for enclosing the free distal end of a flexible tensile member supporting an object. The flexible tensile member has a first portion in tension for suspending the object therefrom and a free end substantially perpendicular thereto with the object therebetween. The apparatus comprises a body having a passage sized to slidably receive the first portion of the flexible tensile member therein a bottom edge adapted to engage the object and a void for enclosing the free distal end of the flexible tensile member wherein the bottom edge is engaged with the object.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to cranes in general and in particular to a method and apparatus for protecting the free distal end of a crane hoist line. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Cranes lift objects by way of their hoist line. The distal end of a hoist line frequently has a hook, weighted ball or other object attached thereto. One conventional method of securing objects to the distal end of a hoist line is through the use of a socket and wedge assembly  12  as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . A socket and wedge assembly  12  is suspended from a wire rope  10  or cable. The wire rope  10  may also comprise any other known flexible tensile member. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the cable  10  has a first or load bearing portion  8  suspended from the crane (not shown) and a second portion  6  being a free distal end supporting a socket and wedge assembly  12  therebetween. 
         [0005]    The socket and wedge assembly  12  has a socket body  18  having a load end  14  and a top end  16 . The socket body  18  has an internal cavity  20  adapted to receive the wedge  26  and cable  10  therein. The cavity  20  extends between top and bottom openings,  22  and  24 , respectively. Such a connection is created by threading the cable  10  into a top opening  22  of the cavity  20 , looping it around the wedge  26 , and then pulling the free distal end  6  of the cable  10  back up into the socket again as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The wedge  26  may then be secured around the wire rope  10  by either pulling down on the socket body  18  or pushing the wedge upwardly into the cavity  20 . A clip  28  or other securing method may be then utilized to secure the free distal end  6  cable to either a top portion of the wedge or to the load bearing portion  8  of the cable  10 . 
         [0006]    Socket and wedge connections are common and popular in many applications as they are relatively quick and easy to install. Other similar connectors for a cable or wire rope are also common in which an object is secure to the a location proximate to the end of cable. In many of these methods, the cable will be doubled back upon itself after connection to the object as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0007]    Problems currently exist with the above conventional socket and wedge assembly as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Specifically, permitting the free distal end  6  of cable  10  to remain free permits it to encounter debris and other objects upon which the crane operator is manipulating. In particular, when a headache is suspended from the load end  14  of the socket and wedge assembly  12 , the free distal end  6  of the cable is prone to impacting objects upon which the crane operator is applying the headache ball. Such impacts are known to fray or otherwise damage then end of the cable which impedes connection and disconnection of a socket and wedge to the cable without requiring repairs to the cable which are time consuming and difficult. 
         [0008]    Additionally, the free distal end of the cable may be prone to catching on or damaging other structures as well as potentially injuring people who may come into inadvertent contact with the frayed end of the cable. Such catching on objects may also hang up the cable and caused a sudden deceleration to the crane cable, or shock load. 
         [0009]    Previous attempts, including tape, brazing, or seizing it with wire to protect the free end of the cable have not been satisfactory. Such attempts have been difficult and time consuming to apply and have not prevented the free end of the cable or other components of the cable and socket and wedge assembly from catching on other objects and people. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for enclosing the free distal end of a flexible tensile member supporting an object. The flexible tensile member has a first portion in tension for suspending the object therefrom and a free end substantially perpendicular thereto with the object therebetween. The apparatus comprises a body having a passage sized to slidably receive the first portion of the flexible tensile member therein, a bottom edge adapted to engage the object and a void for enclosing the free distal end of the flexible tensile member wherein the bottom edge is engaged with the object. 
         [0011]    The passage may be formed between a pair of opposed walls extending from the body. The pair of opposed walls may each include an end flange at a distal end thereof, the end flanges being oriented towards each other. The pair of opposed walls may be axially spaced apart from each other along the first portion of the flexible tension member. The pair of opposed walls may have a transverse gap therebetween. The gap corresponds substantially to a thickness of the flexible tension member. 
         [0012]    The void may comprise a bore through the body. The bore may extend from the bottom edge to an opposed top edge. The bore may be tapered from the bottom edge to the top edge. The bore may have a substantially constant thickness across a plane defined by the first and second portions of the flexible tensile member and a taper in a direction along the plane. 
         [0013]    The bottom edge may include a keeper for maintaining the bottom edge proximate to the object. The keeper may comprise a bore for receiving fastener extending under a portion of the object. The keeper may comprise a latch for engaging a portion of the object. 
         [0014]    The body may be formed of a material selected from the group consisting of metal or plastic. The flexible tension member may comprise a cable. 
         [0015]    Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view, 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  is a side elevation view of a socket and wedge of the prior art assembly suspended from a cable. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a partial cross-sectional view of the assembly of the socket and wedge of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a cable end protector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of the end protector of  FIG. 3  being applied to a load bearing portion of a crane cable above a socket and wedge assembly. 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a side elevation view of the end protector of  FIG. 3  applied to the load bearing portion of a crane cable above a wedge assembly. 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view of the end protector of  FIG. 3  applied to the load supporting end of a crane cable adjacent a socket and wedge assembly so as to enclose and protect the free distal end of the cable. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention for enclosing the distal end of a crane line, or end protector, is shown generally at  30 . The end protector  30  comprises a body extending between top and bottom ends,  32  and  34 , respectively. The end protector has a passage  36  extending along a passage axis  38  between the top and bottom ends  32  and  34  for receiving the first or load bearing portion  8  of the cable  10  and a void  80  therein for receiving the free distal end  6  of the crane cable  10 . 
         [0024]    The end protector  30  includes an edge surface  40  extending along one edge thereof between the top and bottom ends  32  and  34  and first and second side surfaces,  42  and  44 , respectively. The passage  36  is defined by first and second walls  50  and  60 , respectively extending from the edge surface  40 . As illustrated, the second wall  60  extends from the second side surface  44  and includes a first portion  62  substantially parallel to the second side surface  44  and a second portion  64  substantially perpendicular to the first portion  62  and substantially parallel to the edge surface  40 . Similarly, the first wall  50  comprises a first portion  52  extending substantially parallel to the first side surface  42  and a second portion  54  substantially perpendicular thereto. The first and second walls  50  and  60  cooperate with the edge surface  40  to retain the load carrying portion  8  of the crane cable  10  within the passage  36 . As illustrated, the first portions  52  and  62  of the first and second walls  50  and  60  are continuous with the second portions  54  and  64  along a continuous arc about the passage axis  38 . However, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the first and second portions may also be distinct from each other and will therefore form a segmented wall. In embodiments where the first and second portions are continuous, a distal edge  66  of the second portions may also extend back towards the edge surface  40 . In such embodiments, the curvature of the wall, such as illustrated with reference to the second wall  60  may exceed 90 degrees as measured from parallel to the second side surface  44 . In other embodiments having distinct first and second portions, the second portion may include a lip so as to assist in retaining the cable  10  within the passage  36 . 
         [0025]    The first wall  50  extends between top and bottom edges  56  and  58  and the second wall extends between top and bottom edges  68  and  70 . The first and second walls  50  and  60  are spaced apart so as to form a gap  72  between the bottom edge  58  of the first wall and the top edge  68  of the second wall. Accordingly, the first and second walls  50  and  60  are spaced apart along the axis  38  of the passage. The gap  72  may be transverse or substantially perpendicular to the axis  38  as illustrated although it will be appreciate that other orientations relative to the axis  38  may be utilized as well. The gap  72  has a width sufficient for the cable  10  to pass therethrough so as to locate the cable within the passage  36  as will be more fully described below. 
         [0026]    The first portions  52  and  62  of the first and second walls  50  and  60  cooperate to enclose the cable  10  within the passage  36 . As illustrated the first and second walls  50  and  60  are located on opposed sides of the passage  36  wherein the second portions  54  and  64  are oriented towards each other. 
         [0027]    The void  80  is sized and shaped to receive the free distal end  6  of the cable  10  as set out above. The void  80  is formed into the end protector  30  extending from the bottom end  34  thereof. As illustrated, the bottom end  34  may include a cavity  82  sized and shaped to receive a clip  28  as are known in the art therein. The void  80  extends from a bottom aperture  84  adjacent to the cavity  82  in a direction towards the top end  32  of the end protector  30 . With reference to  FIG. 6 , the void  80  may have extend through the end protector to the top end  32  thereof so as to have an top aperture  86  therein. It will also be appreciated that in some embodiments, the void  80  may be a blind bore having no top aperture. 
         [0028]    The void  80  is formed by a pair of spaced apart side walls  88  and first and second end walls  90  and  92 , respectively. The side walls have a constant distance between them and are oriented in a direction corresponding to the first and second side surfaces  42  and  44  of the end protector although a taper may be useful in some embodiments as well. The spacing between the side walls  88  may be selected to correspond to the thickness of the cable  10  with which the end protector  30  is to be used. The first and second end walls  90  and  92  may be substantially planar or may have a curvature or any other shape as will be appreciated. The first and second end walls  90  and  92  may be angularly oriented towards each other to form a taper angle, generally indicated at  94  in  FIG. 6 . The taper angle  94  may be selected so as to cause the free distal end  6  of the cable  10  to bear against the second end wall  92  when the body is placed thereover so as to assist in frictionally retaining the end protector  30  on the socket and wedge assembly  12 . 
         [0029]    The end protector  30  may optionally include a keeper  100  for retaining the end protector in contact with the socket and wedge assembly  12 . As illustrated in the attached Figures, the keeper  100  may comprise a tab  102  having a bore  104  therethrough sized to receive a cotter pin (not shown), or other suitable fastener. The bore  104  may be located such that a cotter pin passed therethrough engaged upon the underside of bolts of the clasp as are known in the art. Other keepers  100  may comprise a tab  106  extending from the bottom end  34  of the end protector  30  parallel to the second wall  60 . The bracing tab  106  is locatable to an opposite side of the socket and wedge assembly so as to prevent the second wall from rotating out of contact with the cable  10 . The bracing tab  106  may be located adjacent to the passage  36  or distally therefrom. 
         [0030]    In operation, a user may locate the gap  70  of the end protector about a load bearing portion  8  of a cable above a socket and wedge assembly as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Thereafter, the end protector  30  may be rotated in a direction indicated generally at  110  to bring the first and second walls  50  and  60  into contact with the load bearing portion  8  and thereby to locate the passage  36  around the load bearing portion. The end protector  30  may then be moved in a generally downward direction indicated generally at  112  so as to locate the free distal end  6  of the cable within the void  80  as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0031]    While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.