Patent Publication Number: US-6712338-B2

Title: Tahoe rescue tool—rescue hoist

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     I claim the priority of provisional application No. 60/194,087 filed on Apr. 3, 2000. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention broadly relates to rescue hoists. 
     2. Prior Art 
     A rescue hoist is a tool for winding in a rope to pull or raise people to safety. Ordinary capstan hoists require that the angle at which a rope attached to the load leaves the capstan drum must be exactly ninety degrees or the rope is likely to slip off the capstan causing a loss of control of the load being lowered or lifted. This can result in injury or death of rescue personnel and victims. To overcome this safety hazard, a pulley or lead block is attached to a solid object between the capstan and the load that the rope is passed through to assure that the rope always leaves the capstan drum at a constant ninety degree angle. This also requires an exact placement of the hoist relative to the load that is to be raised or lowered. As a result, capstan hoists are seldom used as rescue hoists because of inherent dangers if the hoist is not positioned and set up perfectly, and setting up a capstan hoist properly is generally too time consuming to be practical. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present rescue hoist is comprised of a receiver tube attached to a mounting bracket. The receiver tube is for attaching to a motor vehicle. A motor is fixedly attached to the mounting bracket. A gear head is attached to the motor. A capstan is attached to the gear head. A rotatable plate is attached to the mounting bracket, and is rotatable relative to the mounting bracket about the axis of the capstan. A lead block with rollers is attached to the rotatable plate adjacent the capstan. A rope is wound around the capstan. A control end of the rope is gripped by an operator, and a load end of the rope is attached to a load, such as a person in distress. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present rescue hoist with a rotatable plate in a first position. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof with the rotatable plate in a second position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A preferred embodiment of the present rescue hoist is shown in FIG.  1 . It is comprised of a receiver tube  10  attached to a mounting bracket  11 . Receiver tube  10  is for attaching to a receive-type tow hitch on a motor vehicle (not shown). A motor  12  is attached to a gear head  13 . A flange  14  on gear head  13  is attached to mounting bracket  11 . Motor  12  may be electric or hydraulic. A capstan  15  is attached to an output shaft (not shown) of gear head  13 . A rotatable plate  16  is attached to mounting bracket  11 , and is freely rotatable relative to mounting bracket  11  about an axis of capstan  15 . A lead block  17  with rollers  18  is attached to rotatable plate  16  adjacent capstan  15 . A rope  19  is wound around capstan  15 . A control portion  20  of rope  19  is gripped by an operator, and a load portion  21  of rope  19  is attached to a load (not shown), such as a person in distress or debris to be lifted from a collapsed building. Load portion  21  of rope  19  is positioned through lead block  17  between rollers  18 , and is movable in a direction parallel to an axis of capstan  15  as shown by the arrows. 
     In FIG. 2, rotatable plate  16  is freely rotatable relative to mounting bracket  11  about the axis of capstan  15 , as shown by the arrows, to align lead block  17  with the direction of load portion  21  of rope  19 . 
     Although the foregoing description is specific, it should not be considered as a limitation on the scope of the invention, but only as an example of the preferred embodiment. Many variations are possible within the teachings of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, not by the examples given.