An arbor trap apparatus for use with a counterweight rigging system having at least one counterweight arbor. The apparatus may include a trap housing for attachment to a support structure, and at least one catch blade for attachment to the counterweight arbor. The catch blade may enter the trap housing as the counterweight arbor moves generally towards the trap housing, and the trap housing may engage the catch blade to prevent the counterweight arbor from moving generally away from the trap housing. The trap housing may transfer load from the counterweight arbor to the support structure and prevent a runaway.

A drive unit for at least one traction means, especially in stage machinery, with a winding drum comprising at least one take-up region, on (each of) which a traction means is received which can be wound up or unwound, characterized in that axially adjacent to the take-up region there is a cylindrical drive region disposed on the winding drum, on which is received a belt-shaped drive means that can be wound up or unwound and which can be wound up onto a drivable drive drum, generating a drive torque acting on the winding drum, or can be unwound from the drive drum, releasing the winding drum.

A lift system comprises a drum that rotates about an axis, an elongate member that winds around the drum when the drum rotates in a first direction and that unwinds from the drum when the drum rotates in a second direction, a drive mechanism operable to rotate the drum, and a braking mechanism adapted to inhibit rotation of the drum. The braking mechanism includes a brake disk rotatable with the drum, a movable brake pad, and a ramp that guides movement of the movable brake pad. A method of operating the lift system comprises rotating the drum in a first direction to wind the elongate member onto the drum, rotating the drum in a second direction to unwind the elongate member from the drum, and moving the brake shoe along the ramp to thereby cause the movable brake pad to be compressed against the brake disk.

There is provided a novel representation without depending on a limitation of space on a stage. A stage representation system includes a display panel suspended via a plurality of suspension lines from a ceiling of a stage and a control unit configured to dynamically control lengths of the plurality of suspension lines in space of the stage and display of the display panel.

A manually operated counterweight hoist including a batten operable to support a load, an arbor operable to support one or more counterweights, a hand line operable to move the batten or the arbor, a brake operable to prevent movement of the arbor and the batten by constricting movement of the hand line, a brake actuator operable to activate the brake, a sensor that measures a speed of the arbor, and a controller including an electronic processor. The controller is operatively coupled to the sensor and the brake actuator. The controller is configured to receive a measurement signal from the sensor, determine whether the speed of the arbor exceeds a threshold based on the measurement signal, and activate the brake actuator when the speed of the arbor exceeds the threshold.

A counterweighted theatrical rigging system for movably supporting theatrical equipment above a stage floor. The rigging system includes a batten on which the theatrical equipment is configured to be supported. A counterweight arbor of the rigging system is configured to balance and offset the weight of the loaded batten. The counterweighted theatrical rigging system is convertible between a first configuration in which the batten and the counterweight arbor are linked for corresponding movement in opposite vertical directions, and a second configuration that allows the batten to be lowered to the stage floor while the counterweight arbor remains in a lowered position for ballasting the counterweight arbor from the stage floor.