Patent Publication Number: US-6908073-B1

Title: Hand winch having a removable sway handle

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to hand winch and/or capstan and more particularly to a hand winch having a removable sway handle. 
   A hand winch is useful to drag a car, a boat, a heavy machine and/or to bind the timbers.  FIG. 1  shows a prior art hand winch  10  which comprises a winding drum  11  for winding the cable  12 , a plurality of single direction ratchet teeth  13  on a lateral side, a sway handle  14  having a check pawl  141  which checks the ratchet teeth upon the operation of the sway handle  14 , a main hook  15  and a subordinate hook  16  respectively connected with two ends of the cable  12 . In operation, the main hook  15  hooks a rope which is supposedly fastened on a post and the subordinate hook  16  hooks another rope which is supposedly fastened on a heavy machine. Then press the check pawl  141  downward to engage with one of the ratchet teeth  13  and sways the sway handle  14  to and fro so as to gradually move the machine step by step. However, this type of the hand winch  10  has a large volume, especially its long sway handle  14  occupies a large space causing difficulty to pack for transportation. 
   SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   The present invention has a main object to provide a hand winch having a removable sway handle which is readily assembled and/or disassembled in order to reduce the volume of hand winch for a convenient and economic packing on transportation. 
   Accordingly, the hand winch of the present invention comprises generally a main body, a winding drum rotatably secured is the main body by main axis, a plurality of single direction ratchet teeth on one side of the drum, a tongs shaped removable sway handle pivoted to the main body having a check pawl engageable with the ratchet teeth to operate the winding drum. The sway handle has a concave in the end of each of prong of the tongs made engageable with the axis, a pair of movable plates respectively disposed on the outside of the prongs each having positioning hole respectively sleeved on the caps of a pair of elastic members inside the prongs and a check slot engaged with the concaves of the prongs. So that the elastic members fixed the movable plates which are unable to rotate but their check slots close the concaves of the prongs to pivotally connect the sway handle onto the main axis without breakaway. When press the elastic members to disengage with positioning hole of the movable plates which can be rotate that the check slots are now longer closed the concaves of prongs. Therefore, enables the sway handle to remove from the main body. 
   The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description there of when read in conjunction with the attached drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a hand winch according to a prior art, 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view to show a hand winch of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a removable sway handle of the present invention, 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the assembly of the hand winch according to the present invention, 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view indicating the pivotal connection of the sway handle with the main axis, 
       FIG. 6  is a side view of the hand winch of the present invention, 
       FIG. 7  is a side view of the sway handle connected with the main axis, 
       FIG. 8  is a top sectional view of  FIG. 7 , and 
       FIG. 9  is a side view indicating that the sway handle is removable from the main axis. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   With reference to the drawings and initiated from  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the hand winch  20  of the present invention comprises a main body  21 , a main axis  22  having a winding drum thereon for winding a cable  23  and plurality of ratchet teeth  221  of single direction on a lateral side, a tongs shaped sway handle  24  removable pivoted to the main axis  22 . The sway handle has a check pawl  241  pivoted to a transverse rod engageable within the teeth  221  and operated by a lever  242  which is positioned under the check pawl  241  and connected to an inner side of a prong of the sway handle  24  by a spring, a U-shaped concave  243  in the front end of each of the prongs of the sway handle  24 , a small hole  245  above the concaves  243 , a circular through hole  244  and a screw hole  246  spacedly formed above the small holes  245 . A pair elastic members  27  each having an elastic plate  271 , a cap  272  including an opening  2721  in inner side respectively engaged within the circular through holes  244  from the inner side of the prongs of the sway handle  24 , a screw hole  273  engaged with the screw holes  246  of the sway handle  24  and secured by the screws  274 . A pair of movable plates  28  each has a check slot  283  in front end engaged with the concaves  243 , a positioning hole  284  adjacent rear end engaged with the caps  272  of the elastic members  27  and a through hole  282  in central portion engaged with the small holes  245  respectively secured by a pair rivets  281  on outside of the prongs of the sway handle  24 . So that the sway handle  24  is rotatably secured to the main axis  22  of the main body  21  due to that the check slots  283  of the movable plates  28  blocks the concaves  243  of the sway handle  24  (as show in  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7 ). A subordinate hook  25  secures to one end of the main body  21  and a main hook  26  connects to the other end of the main body  21  via the cable  23  which has distal portion surrounding a pulley  261  the secured to a transverse bar  262  of the main body  21 . 
   In operation, hook the subordinate hook  25  to a rope of a post and the main hook  26  to a rope of a heavy working object, then pull the lever  242  up to have the check pawl  241  engaged within the ratchet teeth and then sway the sway handle to and fro to rotate the winding drum of the main axis  22 , the working object be therefore gradually moved in. Because of that the concaves  243  is blocked by the front end of the movable plates  28 , the sway handle is tightly secured to the main axis  22  without breakaway. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9  of the drawings, if press the caps  272  of the elastic members  27  inward, the positioning hole of the movable plates are disengaged with the caps  272  to enable the movable plates  28  to rotate freely on the rivets  281  and not to block the concaves  243 . So that the sway handle is readily removed from the main axis  22 . 
   The hand winch  20  of the present invention is featured on the removable sway handle  24  which is provided not only easy to assemble but also readily to disassemble from the main body  21 . So that it saves great deal of space to pack for transportation. There novelty and progression are patentably over the prior art. 
   Note that the specification relating to the above embodiment should be construed as an exemplary rather than as a limitative of the present invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by a person of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope there of as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.