US537730A - John c - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. G. STEVENS.

ROPE WINDING APPARATUS. No. 537,730. PatentedApr. 16 1895.

ZZ77/6J66J" jiwemr:

' Jaim/ 6. Slew/532,5.

JOHN C. STEVENS, OF HARTFORD,

ATENT FFIQE.

CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE CASKET LOWERING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ROPE WlNDlNG APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,730, dated April 16, 1895.

Application filed July 14,1894.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, 1n the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rope-Winding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rope-winding apparatus, and has special reference to that class of apparatus known as hoists, or apparatus in which a rope, carrying a weight at the free end thereof, is first wound upon a drum and subsequently unwound and allowed to become loose, or sag, by releasing the weight at the free end'thereof.

The object of my present invention is, to provide, in connection with a rope-winding drum, means for automatically guiding the rope during the operation of winding or unwinding, and to so construct and organize the parts of the winding apparatus, as a whole, that the succeeding coils of rope will be wound upon the drum with the utmostprecision and with uniform velocity, and whereby the succeeding coils of the rope will also be wound contiguous to and in planes parallel with each other.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a plan View of a portion of a rope-winding apparatusembodyingmypresentimprovements, said figure showing a rope partially wound upon the Winding-drum of said apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the winding apparatus, taken in .line aot, Fig. 1, looking toward the left hand in said figure, a portion of the rope-carrying guide being shown in side elevation.

Like characters designate like parts in all of the figures.

In the preferred embodiment thereof, herein shown and described, my improved ropewinding apparatus consists in part, and in combination with a revoluble rope-winding drum, ofarope-guide (shown herein as springheld) supported for sliding movement at one side of and in parallelism with the rope-carrying face of the drum, and having a ropeguiding portion, (shown herein as'the upper end thereof) normally in contact with the Serial No. 517,542. (No model.)

tion of the guide, when in its normal position positively holds in contact with the drum (as by means of the walls of its ropereceiving guide-way) that portion of the rope carried in the guide-way of such rope-guiding portion or end of the guide and lying between said por tion or end of the guide and the adjacent face of the drum, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

The frame-work, which may be of any suitable construction and organization for carrying the several operative details of the apparatus, is designated in a general way by B, and is herein shown as consisting of the base 2, having the upright 3, at one side thereof, a bracket 4, for carrying an idle-wheel, and a set of remotely-disposed brackets 5 and 5, for supporting the winding drum, which brackets will usually be secured to the frame-work B by bolts or lag-screws in a well-known manner.

A drum-shaft is shown, at S, as journaled in bearings, 6 and 6', formed upon these brackets, and will be driven from any suitable source of power (not shown); and mounted upon said shaft, preferably intermediate of the brackets 5 and 5, and adapted to rotate with said shaft, is shown a rope-winding drum B. This drum will usually be of the ordinary, cylindrical type, having the usual, annular flanges, as S, at opposite ends thereof, and preferably provided with elongated hubs, 9, at its opposite ends, to provide a long bearing for the drumdriving shaft.

A rope-guide is shown, at G, as shiftably supported, at one side of the drum D, and is formed with a passage-way or guide-way, as 10, preferably at the upper end thereof and tangentially disposed relatively to the peripheral line of the drum, one end of said guide- Way normally having its walls contiguous to the rope-carrying face of the drum, this upper end of the guide being also approximately in vertical alignment with the axis of the drum. Theguide-way 10is, ofconrse, adapted for receiving and guiding the rope, designated by R, during the winding and the unwinding thereof.

The ropegnide is shown herein as preferably in the form of a curved arm, the curve of the inner face of said arm corresponding with that of the periphery of the drum. This arm is shown as carried at its lower end upon a supporting rod, 12, which rod is shown supported at its opposite ends for sliding movement, in parallelism with the axis of the drum, in bearings formed in the brackets 5 and 5'. The rope-guide will usually be located between the drum D and the upright 3 of the frame-work, the guide-way 10 being formed in the under side of the upper end thereof and substantially tangentially disposed relatively to the periphery of the drum. The rope-guide is also shown as normally held against the rope coiled upon .the drum, during both the winding and the unwinding of the rope, bya retracting-device, shown herein as a spiral spring, 14, surrounding the rod 12, and bearing at its outer end against the abutment or stop 15 upon said rod, and at its inner end against the outer face of the bracket 5. This retracting-device, or spring, acts to retract the rod and the rope-guide, and also the rope carried by said rope-guide, and to draw them toward one end of the drum (shown herein as the right-hand end) so that the guide will be spring-held against, and maintained constantly in engagement with, the coil next adjacent to that carried by the guide.

In practice, the rope R will usually be secured to the drum contiguous to one of the flanges 8, and the opposite end of the rope will extend around the drum and throughthe guideway 10 in the rope-guide G, whence it preferably passes over an idle-wheel, 16, carried by a shaft, 16, journaled in the arms of the bracket 4 and in parallelism with the axis of the drum, this end of the rope being connected with the body to be hoisted or lowered.

During the operation of winding the rope upon the drum assuming that the first coil, c, has not been wound, the rope-guide will be held by the spring 14 contiguous to the flange 8, (to which the rope is secured) and the rope carried by said guide will be in position for forming the coil e. Upon the rotation of the drum in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3, this first coil will be wound, after which the rope, when it arrives at a point adjacent to the starting point of the coil e,will, together with the guide, be carried sidewise, and the second coil,f, will be wound upon the drum and in contact with the first coil, the tension exerted upon the rope-guide insuring a close contact between the successive coils, and at the same time preventing relative overriding of the coils. This operation, it will be obvious, will be reversed when unwinding the rope from the drum 1); so that the guide constitutes a winding-off, as well as a windingon, guide and, hence, not only positions the coils during the winding of the same upon the drum, but is also itself positioned by the coil next adjacent to that carried by said guide, during both the winding and the unwinding of the rope.

In practice, the guide-way 10, formed in the upper end of the guide G, will be of considerable length, so that the outer end 17 thereof will be substantially in alignment with, or slightly over-reach, a vertical line drawn through the axis of the drum. This also provides a long bearing for the rope, and better adapts the same for straightening out any kinks or bends in said rope as the same passes through the guide-way.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In an apparatus of the class specified, the combination with a revoluble rope-winding drum, of a spring-held rope-guide supported for sliding movement at one side and in parallelism with the rope-carrying face of the drum and having its rope-guiding portion normally in contact with the rope-carrying face of the drum whereby said rope-guiding portion is normally maintained constantlyin engagement with the coil next adjacent to that carried by the guide and said guide also having arope-carryingguide-way in the drumengaging side of its rope-guiding portion whereby the rope-guiding portion of said guide when in its normal position positively holds in contact with the drum that portion of the rope carried by the rope-guiding portion of the guide and lying between said portion of the guide and the adjacent face of the drum, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the class specified, the combination with a revoluble rope-winding drum; of a rod supported for sliding movement in suitable brackets adjacent to said drum a shiftable rope-guide mounted upon said rod and carried at one side of the axis of the drum and normally in contact with said drum, said guide having a ropecarrying guide-way in the drum-engaging side of the' tact with the drum that portion of the rope carried by the guide and lying between said guide and the adjacent face of the drum; and a retracting-device in connection with and adapted for retracting said rod and the ropeguide carried by the rod, and for maintaining said rope -guide constantly in engagement with the coil next adjacent to that carried in said guide-way, substantially as described.

' 3. In an apparatus of the class specified, a revoluble rope-winding drum; an idle-wheel substantially in parallelism withsaid drum; a rope-guide supported for shifting movement longitudinally of the drum and intermediate of said drum and idle-wheel and normally in contact with the drum, and having upon its drum-engaging side a rope-receiving guide-way tangentially disposed with relation and in close proximity to the periphery of the drum, the walls of said guide way being adapted to positively hold in contact with the drum that portion of the rope carried in said guide and between the same and the face of the drum; a rope secured at one end to the drum and extending through the guideway and over the idle-wheel; and a retracting-device in connection with said rope-guide and adapted to maintain the same constantly in engagement with the coil next adjacent to that carried in said guide-way, substantially as described.

4:- In an apparatus of the class specified, the combination with the frame-work, and with the revoluble rope-Winding drum mounted thereon; of a shiftable rope-guide supported at its lower end and at one side of and below the axis of the rope-winding drum and normally in contact with the drum, and having upon the under side of its upper end a ropereceiving guide-way extending above the periphery of the drum and terminating at one end in approximately vertical alignment with the axis of said drum, the walls of said guide- Way being adapted to positively hold in contact with said drum that portion of the rope carried in said guide and between the same and the face of the drum; and-a retractingdevice in connection with said rope-guide and adapted to maintain the same constantly in engagement with the coil next adjacent to that carried in said guide-way, substantially as described.

JOHN C. STEVENS. Witnesses:

FRED. C. ROCKWELL, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

Images