A rope brake is provided for controlled lowering of a branch or limb cut from a tree by a person holding one end of the rope. The rope brake includes a drum mounted to a back plate. The back plate is mounted to the tree. The rope for lowering the branch or limb is threaded through guides on the drum and wrapped around the drum one, two or three times. One end of the rope is tied to the branch to be cut and the other end is held by the operator. When the branch is cut from the tree, the tension on the rope supplied by the operator controls the friction between the rope and the drum, such that the branch can be safely lowered in a controlled manner.

A traction winch for winching an elongated article having a high-tension end connectable to a load and low-tension end connectable to a storage device includes two or more rotatable drums arranged adjacent to each other with their rotational axes substantially parallel, each of them having a plurality of parallel, circumferential sheaves with groove, the sheaves being axially offset with respect to each other to allow wrapping of the elongated article around the sheaves of both drums in a spiral fashion. The sheaves includes fixed sheaves, stationary relative to their underlying drum, and rotatable sheaves, rotatable relative to their underlying drum. The majority of the rotatable sheaves of at least one of the drums is arranged adjacent to each other on a high load supporting side of the winch and the rotational velocity of at least one of the rotatable sheaves is reducible by means of at least one braking device.

A traction winch for winching an elongated article having a high-tension end connectable to a load and low-tension end connectable to a storage device includes two or more rotatable drums arranged adjacent to each other with their rotational axes substantially parallel, each of them having a plurality of parallel, circumferential sheaves with groove, the sheaves being axially offset with respect to each other to allow wrapping of the elongated article around the sheaves of both drums in a spiral fashion. The sheaves includes fixed sheaves, stationary relative to their underlying drum, and rotatable sheaves, rotatable relative to their underlying drum. The majority of the rotatable sheaves of at least one of the drums is arranged adjacent to each other on a high load supporting side of the winch and the rotational velocity of at least one of the rotatable sheaves is reducible by means of at least one braking device.

A lifting device includes a primary attachment point for engagement with a hoist of a crane, a plurality of redundant attachments for engagement with a structure adjacent the hoist, a first hoist having a first hoist wire for holding or moving a load, a second hoist having a second hoist wire for holding or moving the load; and, a reeving system for engagement with the first hoist wire and the second hoist wire such that at least one hoist wire will hold the load if another hoist wire fails.

A lifting device includes a primary attachment point for engagement with a hoist of a crane, a plurality of redundant attachments for engagement with a structure adjacent the hoist, a first hoist having a first hoist wire for holding or moving a load, a second hoist having a second hoist wire for holding or moving the load; and, a reeving system for engagement with the first hoist wire and the second hoist wire such that at least one hoist wire will hold the load if another hoist wire fails.

A brake/clutch device for a manual hoist provides an externally-viewable indicator showing the wear status of friction elements within the hoist. The brake/clutch device has a brake block, a brake ratchet, a reversing ratchet, a torsion spring block, a hand wheel and a fastener mounted onto a main shaft of the manual hoist. Friction elements on the brake ratchet provide braking against sudden drops of a load. Ball and spring devices mounted in the hand wheel contact detents and grooves that gradually increase in depth in the torsion spring block depending on the relative positions of the hand wheel and the torsion spring block. The hand wheel has an indicator mark that may align with indicator areas of the torsion spring block to indicate an extent of wear of the friction elements.

The present invention provides methods and mechanisms to selectively fix or free a planetary carrier of a epicyclic gearbox, thereby allowing dual modal operation of the gearbox and facilitating selective operation of a device, such as a winch, having capacity to safely and efficiently operate in a high load heavy lifting utility mode and a low load light lifting personnel mode.

The present invention provides methods and mechanisms to selectively fix or free a planetary carrier of a epicyclic gearbox, thereby allowing dual modal operation of the gearbox and facilitating selective operation of a device, such as a winch, having capacity to safely and efficiently operate in a high load heavy lifting utility mode and a low load light lifting personnel mode.

A load securing pulley supports the weight of a hoisted load by restraining a load-support cord in order to maintain tension within the load-support cord between the hoisted load and the load securing pulley. The load securing pully includes a wheel-supporting housing, a wheel-receiving opening, a hook retention eye, a rope lock, and a pulley wheel. The hook retention eye is connected to the wheel-supporting housing such that the present invention is able to be suspended from a hook to a raised horizontal support. The wheel-receiving opening laterally traverses into the wheel-supporting housing in order to allow the pulley wheel to be positioned and rotate within the wheel-supporting housing. The rope lock allows for the load-support cord to be secured to the present invention through tension due to the weight of the hoisted load.

A winch assembly is disclosed. The winch assembly may have a support with parallel plates spaced apart from each other. The winch assembly may also have a drum with a hollow spool between the parallel plates, and a shaft passing axially through and being connected to the hollow spool. The winch assembly may further have a motor directly connected to an end of the shaft, and a fail-safe-brake directly connected to an end of the shaft.