Patent ID: 7537199

Claim:
A ratchet pulley device for a rope or cord, said device comprising: a rotatable sheave; a housing within which said sheave is rotatably mounted, said housing having an opening for ingress of a rope or cord into said housing and around said sheave and an opening for egress thereof from said housing, a curved guiding surface in said housing closely fitting around the exterior of said sheave from said ingress opening and extending at least approximately one-half of the circumference of said sheave in the direction of rotation thereof; a releasable ratchet mechanism which, when engaged, permits rotation of said sheave in one direction but not the other, and which, when released, permits free rotation of said sheave; and a loading-disk mounted on the exterior of said housing in rotational communication with said sheave, thereby allowing a user to load a rope or cord onto said sheave by the rotation of said loading-disk.