Described is a tugboat 1 for assisting a marine vessel 2 to manoeuvre. The tugboat 1 comprises a hull 11 having a perimeter P. The tugboat 1 also comprises a line handling system 10 comprising a line guide mechanism 100. The line guide mechanism 100 protrudes, or is positionable to protrude, away from the hull 11 for guiding a line 20 of the marine vessel 2 towards a predetermined region R of the perimeter P.

A hoisting assembly for lifting a load into an attic or lowering a load therefrom includes a hoist. The hoist comprises a housing, which has a drum or a lift wheel engaged thereto and positioned in an interior space defined thereby. A suspension module is engaged to and extends from an upper end of the housing. The suspension module can selectively engage a beam so that the housing is suspended from and removably engaged to the beam. A lifting medium is operationally engaged to the drum or the lift wheel and extends from a lower end of the housing. A connector is engaged to the lifting medium distal from the housing. The connector can selectively engage a load so that the load is removably engaged to the lifting medium. The hoist thus is configured to lift the load.

An apparatus for use with a sheet of rigid support material at a hole formed therein through a thickness of the sheet to provide an anchoring point at a proximal face of the sheet for anchoring an object thereto comprises a frame member supporting a face-engagement member for engaging a distal face of the sheet which is spaced from the proximal face by the thickness of the sheet, so as to resist removal from within the hole by the object anchored to the apparatus, and a buttress member also supported on the frame member for buttingly engaging a peripheral wall of the hole so as to resist movement transversely to a thickness direction of the sheet.

A trigger mechanism is provided for a passive rotating jointed tubing injector having gripper blocks for moving connected, segmented oilfield tubulars axially into or out of horizontal, extended-reach oil and natural gas wells that may contain pressurized fluid or gas to complete for production, work over and service the wells, utilizing an operation commonly known as snubbing. The trigger mechanism can open the gripper blocks when a tapered upset section of increasing diameter on the tubulars is encountered that would not otherwise fully open and operate the gripper blocks.

A crawl space winch system including a base plate; a winch box carried by said base plate; a winch mechanism disposed in said winch box and having a cable extending out of an opening in a front side of said winch box for attaching to an item; a winch drive shaft extending through a sidewall of said winch box and being operatively associated with said winch mechanism for retracting said cable; and, a primary anchor opening disposed in a generally central portion of said base plate for receiving a portion of a primary anchor to secure said base plate to the ground, and wherein said primary anchor provides a pivot point around which said base plate rotates.

A crawl space winch system including a base plate; a winch box carried by said base plate; a winch mechanism disposed in said winch box and having a cable extending out of an opening in a front side of said winch box for attaching to an item; a winch drive shaft extending through a sidewall of said winch box and being operatively associated with said winch mechanism for retracting said cable; and, a primary anchor opening disposed in a generally central portion of said base plate for receiving a portion of a primary anchor to secure said base plate to the ground, and wherein said primary anchor provides a pivot point around which said base plate rotates.

A machine for extracting a ductile pipe. The machine has a vise which can grip the pipe, and a wire clamp. Each of the wire clamp and vise are supported on a carriage which is movable relative to a frame. This enables the vise to grip and pull the ductile pipe. Additionally, a wire strand may be disposed through the pipe from a far end to the end at which the machine is placed. The wire clamp allows the machine to pre-stress the strand to improve the extraction of the ductile pipe.

A vertical lifting device and method are provided. The vertical lifting device includes a fixed frame fixed to a foundation. A first cavity allowing passage of a lifting rope is provided in the middle of the fixed frame. A sliding frame moving horizontally on the fixed frame is arranged above the fixed frame. A second cavity allowing passage of the lifting rope is provided in the middle of the sliding frame. At least two stepping vehicles alternately lowering or lifting weights are arranged on the sliding frame and move on the sliding frame. The stepping vehicles are spaced in preset distances. The lifting rope penetrates through the stepping vehicles in sequence. Each stepping vehicle is provided with a clamping part clamping the lifting rope and a driving mechanism driving the stepping vehicle to move on the sliding frame.

A pulley block may include an alpha pulley block including an alpha connector, a beta pulley block including a beta connector, wherein the alpha pulley block is coupled to the beta pulley block when the alpha connector is coupled to the beta connector. At least one of the alpha connector and the beta connector may comprise magnets.

A device, system and method are used for hoisting and lowering a load. The device has a front plate that may be displaced to reveal a sheave. The device also has a friction accessory. The friction accessory is arranged to create friction between a rope and the device when a load is suspended from the device using the rope and where the device is secured to a support structure. The system may be prepared by an operator, having ascended to an elevated location, and further allows the operator to lower the load from the elevated location prior to descending.