Patent ID: 8251351

Claim:
A traction winch for a cable or the like, said winch comprising: a winch frame; at least two sheave assemblies each having at least a first sheave and a second sheave, each sheave having a single circumferential friction surface for the cable; at least two rotatable driveshafts, journalled in the winch frame in a side-by-side arrangement, each drive shaft being associated with a sheave assembly; at least one motor for driving the driveshafts; and a differential gear assembly being provided between each driveshaft and sheave assembly so as to allow for different rotational speeds of the sheaves during operation of the traction winch due to cable elongation, wherein the differential gear assembly is formed by a ring gear and a central gear and at least one planetary gear being arranged between the ring gear and the central gear and meshing therewith, wherein the first sheave is integral with the ring gear, and the second sheave is integral with the central gear.