A hoist system having a drum primarily self-contained within a batten, for raising and lowering lighting, sound equipment, curtains and the like, often in a performance environment. The compact system is highly scalable to a variety of spaces and applications, including school and public theaters and concert halls, as well as some homes, private business, etc. The hoist system may be adapted with safety mechanisms including an overspeed detector, which may comprise a centrifugal detection mechanism coupled to an elongate member of the system; dampening means; a compact mechanism for trimming or adjusting an operative length of elongate member; stabilizing pipe shaft bearings; elongate member diverter pulley mechanisms load balancing termination points. Additional features include various alternative combination hoist implementations and orientations, and alternative incorporated attachment mechanisms for use with the hoist system.

A windlass system and method in which an inertial force resulting from an abrupt removal of primary operating power from a primary source of power during a lifting operation being carried out by a windlass of the windlass system is attenuated to reduce load forces generated by the inertial force.

A machine includes a frame, ground-engaging elements coupled to the frame, and a hoisting system having a sideboom and a fairlead. The hoisting system also includes a hook pulley block and a hoisting cable extending through the fairlead and the hook pulley block and held in tension such that the hoisting cable couples pivoting of the fairlead to pivoting of the sideboom. The pivotable fairlead may be instrumented with position, cable loading, and cable feed sensors.

A machine includes a frame, ground-engaging elements coupled to the frame, and a hoisting system having a sideboom and a fairlead. The hoisting system also includes a hook pulley block and a hoisting cable extending through the fairlead and the hook pulley block and held in tension such that the hoisting cable couples pivoting of the fairlead to pivoting of the sideboom. The pivotable fairlead may be instrumented with position, cable loading, and cable feed sensors.

The present disclosure relates to a control unit for controlling operation of a hoist in a load slip condition. The hoist may include a motor coupled to a winding drum for lifting and lowering a load. The control unit may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may store processor executable instructions, which, on execution, cause the processor to operate the hoist for selectively lifting and lowering a load between a first position and a second position upon detecting a load slip condition. The processor may operate the hoist based on parameters pertaining to transport of the load. The control unit may be configured to reciprocate the load in a load slip condition to prevent overheating and failure of a motor, thereby preventing a fall of the load in a work area.

We generally describe a winch (100) comprising: a plurality of ropes (130, 140) coupleable to a first load (200) or to different respective second loads (200, 210); a support frame (110); and a first roller (150) moveably coupled to the support frame (110), wherein a first rope (150) of the plurality of ropes (130, 140) is moveable over the first roller (150); wherein a movement of the first roller (150) is configured to shorten and/or lengthen a usable length of the first rope (140) of the plurality of ropes (130, 140), and wherein the shortening and/or lengthening of the usable length of the first rope (140) is configured to raise and/or lower the first load (200) or one of the second loads (200, 210) to which the first roller (150) is coupleable via the first rope (140).

A method for judging a winding disorder of a rope onto a drum of a winch includes acquiring a captured image by a camera oriented to the drum, performing, on the basis of the captured image, a judgment on whether the winding disorder of the rope is present or absent and a determination of a disorder degree indicating the degree of the winding disorder, and outputting results of the judgment and the determination.

A hoist security arrangement for avoiding dropping of the load when the chain or cable breaks includes a longer redundant auxiliary chain or cable disposed alongside the main chain or cable and which is raised and lowered synchronously with the slightly shorter main chain or cable so that the main chain or cable normally supports the entire weight of the load. If the main chain or cable breaks, the load drops slightly until the slack in the redundant auxiliary chain or cable is eliminated to hold the load solely by tensioning the auxiliary chain or cable. The extent of slack is set to insure that slight lengthening of the main chain as caused by wear does not result in loading of the auxiliary chain or cable.

A hoist security arrangement for avoiding dropping of the load when the chain or cable breaks includes a longer redundant auxiliary chain or cable disposed alongside the main chain or cable and which is raised and lowered synchronously with the slightly shorter main chain or cable so that the main chain or cable normally supports the entire weight of the load. If the main chain or cable breaks, the load drops slightly until the slack in the redundant auxiliary chain or cable is eliminated to hold the load solely by tensioning the auxiliary chain or cable. The extent of slack is set to insure that slight lengthening of the main chain as caused by wear does not result in loading of the auxiliary chain or cable.

A hoist, a hoisting apparatus with said hoist and a method for securing a hoist. A hoist body having a drive mechanism for raising or lowering a hoist chain or a hoist cable is suspended from a support device by a hoist support. A safety device having a loosely arranged coupling element and a damping element is mounted between the hoist body and the support device. If the hoist support is released, the hoist body can drop by a drop height until the coupling element becomes taut. The damping element then damps the fall under the load of the hoist body, the hoist chain and whatever load is suspended from it.