A winch with handheld battery powered tensioning and payout unit provides uniform loading of all winches and allows for safe easy loading and payout. A method and apparatus is provided for retrofitting manual winches, in particular manual marine winches, to be operable with a handheld battery powered tensioning and payout unit.

The present disclosure discloses a winch for a vehicle including a base, a winding drum fixed on the base for winding a traction rope, a support fixed on the base, a transmission component, and a reciprocating component for driving the traction rope to reciprocate along an axial direction of the winding drum when the traction rope is wound onto or released from the winding drum. The disclosed winch enables an orderly arrangement of the traction rope when the traction rope is wound on or released from the winding drum.

A lifting device is disclosed for elevating an object between a first elevation and a second elevation. The lifting device comprises a base frame, a load bearing frame coupled to the base frame, an elevation reducing frame coupled to the load bearing frame and an extension frame coupled to the elevation reducing frame. A mounting bracket is coupled to the base frame. The mounting bracket engages a rung of a ladder. A load winch is coupled to the load bearing frame and lifts the object and transferring the weight of the object to the ladder. The base frame, the load bearing frame and the elevation reducing frame define an object chamber for receiving the object in the object chamber and increasing the elevation of the object relative to the extension frame.

Described herein are methods and systems to dampen oscillations of a payload coupled to a tether of a winch system arranged on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For example, the UAV's control system may dampen the oscillations by causing the UAV to switch to a forward flight mode in which movement of the UAV results in drag on the payload, thereby damping the oscillations. In another example, the control system may cause the UAV to reduce an extent flight stabilization along at least one dimension, thereby resulting in damping of the detected oscillations due to energy dissipation during movement of the UAV along the dimension. In this way, the control system could select and carry out one or more such techniques, and could do so during retraction and/or deployment of the tether.

An electrically driven winch device includes a winch drum, a plurality of axial-gap electric motors, and a drive shaft. The winch drum rotates around a drum axis in order to wind or unwind a work rope. The plurality of electric motors are electric motors configured to drive the winch drum to rotate, and are each provided with a stator, and rotors which rotate around a rotation axis and are disposed at an axial distance from the stator. The drive shaft is disposed coaxially with the drum axis and serially connects the rotors of the plurality of electric motors on the rotation axis.

Described herein are methods and systems for picking up, transporting, and lowering a payload coupled to a tether of a winch system arranged on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For example, the winch system may include a motor for winding and unwinding the tether from a spool, and the UAV's control system may operate the motor to lower the tether toward the ground so a payload may be attached to the tether. The control system may monitor an electric current supplied to the motor to determine whether the payload has been attached to the tether. In another example, when lowering a payload, the control system may monitor the motor current to determine that the payload has reached the ground and responsively operate the motor to detach the payload from the tether. The control system may then monitor the motor current to determine whether the payload has detached from the tether.

Devices, systems, and methods for a multi-winch lifting apparatus and load movement are disclosed. The lifting apparatus includes a mounting base. At least two lateral winches are attached to the mounting base. Each of these lateral winches includes its own lateral line. A lifting winch is also attached to the mounting base. The lifting winch also includes a lifting line.

This disclosure relates to an endless cable winch including a drive unit having an engine configured to generate a torque. The endless cable winch further including an output unit connected to the drive unit, the output unit including a power transmission assembly coupled to the drive unit, the power transmission assembly configured to apply a driving force to a cable. The endless cable winch further including a lifting force limiting device configured to stop the drive unit as soon a predetermined driving force is exceeded. In doing so, this system is also transferable to winches with multiple engines. The engine and the output unit can be movable relative to one another, and the lifting force limiting device can be configured to stop the drive unit based on the relative movement of the drive unit and the engine.

A spare wheel assembly winch having a force dependent cable release mechanism is disclosed. In one embodiment, the sheave includes a series of breakaway features that can be torn if the tension on the spare tire cable exceeds the predetermined level, thus allowing the inner, gear-containing portion of the sheave to rotate independently of the outer, cable-holding portion. In another embodiment, the sheave includes a series of breakaway notches formed on the gear teeth of the internal gear. In a further embodiment, a frangible tab extends from torque plate into a depression formed in the cover plate. In yet another embodiment, a tear feature extends from the housing and is situated adjacent the torque plate arm. In an additional embodiment, frangible tabs extend from the body of the sheave into a geared insert. In still another embodiment, a frangible tab extends from a geared insert into the torque plate.

Devices, systems, and methods for varying rotational speeds is disclosed. A battery pack has a plurality of batteries and a switch. The battery pack has an overall voltage. The switch varies the overall voltage in discrete steps by combining the plurality of batteries in series, in parallel, or in a combination thereof. A motor drives a shaft at a rotational speed. The motor is powered by the battery pack. The rotational speed varies proportionally with the overall voltage.