LIFTING GEAR

Abstract

A lever hoist includes a housing in which a load chain wheel and a driveshaft driving the load chain wheel are mounted, as well as a safety brake. A load chain is movable via the load chain wheel. The safety brake brings about an emergency braking in the event of excessive rotational speed of the driveshaft. The safety brake has a locking disc with teeth and a control disc with control cams. The locking disc and the control disc are rotatable in relation to one another in a limited manner. A catch hook is movable in a swivelling manner and has a latch contour and a sensing contour. The sensing contour rests on the control. In response to exceeding a defined rotational speed, the sensing contour lifts off the control disc. The latch contour rotates towards the locking disc and engages with a locking tooth of the locking disc.

Claims

1. Lifting gear, in particular a lever hoist comprising a housing in which a load chain wheel and a driveshaft driving the load chain wheel via a transmission are rotatably mounted, as well as a drive, a load pressure brake and a safety brake, wherein a load chain can be moved via the load chain wheel, wherein the safety brake has a locking disc with locking teeth and a control disc with control cams, as well as a catch hook, wherein the locking disc and the control disc can be rotated in relation to one another, wherein the rotation is limited by a rotational travel limiter and wherein the catch hook is arranged such that it moves in a swivelling manner and has a latch contour at a front end and a sensing contour at a rear end, wherein the sensing contour rests on the control disc under the influence of a spring element and the latch contour can be brought to lockingly engage with a locking tooth of the locking disc and an unlocking mechanism is provided for returning the locking disc and control disc to their starting position, wherein the unlocking mechanism has a reset button and a blocking body, wherein the blocking body can be brought into an unlocking position by actuation of the reset button, in which the locking disc is held by the blocking body in such a way that the control disc is rotatable relative to the locking disc and can be transferred to the starting position.

2. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the rotation path limiter has at least one cam track and a limit stop body which can be displaced along the cam track.

3. Lifting gear according to claim 2, wherein the cam track is formed by an elongated hole or a groove in the control disc or the locking disc.

4. Lifting gear according to claim 2, wherein the limit stop body is a pin.

5. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein latch elements are incorporated between the locking disc and the control disc.

6. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of locking teeth are arranged evenly distributed on the circumference of the locking disc.

7. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of control cams are evenly distributed on the circumference of the control disc.

8. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the control disc has a central connector provided with inner toothing, on which the locking disc is positioned with a central bearing section and is secured by a securing element.

9. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein in the starting position of the locking disc and the control disc, the rear outer contour of the locking teeth is aligned with the outer contour of the control disc.

10. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the catch hook is mounted on a side plate that can be integrated into the housing.

11. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the reset button is rotatably mounted.

12. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the reset button cooperates with a tension spring.

13. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the reset button and the blocking body form a unit.

14. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the unlocking mechanism has a latch which secures the reset button and/or the blocking body in the unlocking position.

15. Lifting gear according to claim 14, wherein the latch has a latch body, which in the unlocked position engages in a latch receptacle, wherein the latch body can be moved out of the latch receptacle in the starting position of the locking disc and control disc.

16. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the blocking body has an abutment surface on which the locking disc is supported in the unlocked position with an outer flank of a locking tooth.

17. Lifting gear according to claim 1, wherein the blocking body has a tooth contour with a tooth flank which can be brought into engagement with a locking tooth of the locking disc.

Description

[0037] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings.

[0038] FIG. 1 shows lifting gear according to the invention in the form of a lever hoist in a longitudinal section;

[0039] FIG. 2 shows the lever hoist in an exploded view of its components;

[0040] FIG. 3 shows a side view of part of the lever hoist;

[0041] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the safety brake of the lever hoist;

[0042] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the locking disc and the control disc of the safety brake;

[0043] FIG. 6 shows components of the safety brake in an explosion-like exploded manner of illustration;

[0044] FIG. 7 shows a view of the illustration of FIG. 5 from above;

[0045] FIG. 8 shows a section through the illustration of FIG. 7 along the line A-A;

[0046] FIG. 9 shows a section through the illustration of FIG. 7 along the line B-B;

[0047] FIG. 10 shows the illustration corresponding to FIG. 5 in a view from below;

[0048] FIG. 11 shows the opened lever hoist with a view of the region of the load pressure brake and the safety brake in a normal situation;

[0049] FIG. 12 shows the illustration corresponding to FIG. 11 in a problematic situation;

[0050] FIG. 13 shows a view of the safety brake of the lever hoist in a first operating situation;

[0051] FIG. 14 shows the safety brake in a second operating situation;

[0052] FIG. 15 shows the safety brake in a third operating situation;

[0053] FIG. 16 shows the safety brake in a fourth operating situation;

[0054] FIG. 17 shows the illustration of the safety brake with an unlocking mechanism during an unlocking process for resetting the locking disc and control disc to their starting position;

[0055] FIG. 18 shows a lever hoist with an unlocking mechanism in the standby mode;

[0056] FIG. 19 shows the lever hoist corresponding to the illustration of FIG. 18 with the safety brake locked;

[0057] FIG. 20 shows the lever hoist in a first stage of the unlocking process;

[0058] FIG. 21 shows the lever hoist in a second stage of the unlocking process;

[0059] FIG. 22 shows the lever hoist with the illustration of the first stage of a manual locking process and

[0060] FIG. 23 shows the lever hoist in a second stage of a manual locking process.

[0061] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a lever hoist according to the invention in the form of a hand-operated lever hoist 1. A component of the lever hoist 1 is a housing 2, which is composed of several housing parts 3, 4 as well as side plates 5, 6 and distance frame 7. The lever hoist 1 has a support hook 8 as an upper fastening element and a load hook 9 as a lower limit stop element. The support hook 8 and the load hook 9 are indirectly connected to one another via the housing 2. The load hook 9 is attached to one end of a load chain 10. At the other end of the load chain 10, a chain end piece 11 is provided. The load chain 10 can be moved via a traction means drive. The traction means drive substantially comprises a drive 12 with a hand lever 13, a locking wheel 14 and a switchable ratchet mechanism 15, a load pressure brake 16, a load chain wheel 17 and a transmission 18. The hand lever 13 and the locking wheel 14 of the ratchet mechanism 15 sit at one end 19 of a drive shaft 20 which passes through the load pressure brake 16 and the load chain wheel 17. At the other end 21 of the drive shaft 20 is the transmission 18, which is connected to the load chain wheel 17 in a torque-transmitting manner. A handwheel 22 is used to move the locking wheel 14 axially on the drive shaft 20 in order to actuate a freewheel mechanism 23 of the lever hoist 1.

[0062] The load pressure brake 16 has a locking wheel disk 24 provided with teeth on its outer circumference. The locking wheel disc 24 is provided on both sides with friction elements 25 in the form of friction linings. Furthermore, the load pressure brake 16 has two locking latches 26 which are pivotably mounted on the side plate 6 in the housing 2 and which are pressed against the locking wheel disc 24 under the influence of locking hook springs 27. Moreover, the load pressure brake 16 includes a pressure disc 28 on which the locking wheel disc 24 is mounted. The locking wheel 14 is axially displaceable on a movement thread 29 of the drive shaft 20. FIG. 3 shows the lever hoist 1 with the locking wheel 14, hand lever 13 and handwheel 22 removed.

[0063] The load pressure brake 16 has the task of holding the load carried by the lever hoist 1 when the locking wheel 14 is stationary. Then the locking wheel 14 is pressed against the pressure disc 28 via the locking wheel disc 24 and the integrated friction elements 25. The locking latches 26 are located in the circumferential recesses of the locking wheel disc 24. If the locking wheel 14 is turned in the lifting direction, the locking latches 26 slide over the teeth of the locking wheel disc 24 until the locking wheel 14 comes to a standstill. Then the locking latches 26 snap back into the recesses of the locking wheel disc 24. When the load is lowered, the locking wheel 14 is rotated in the opposite direction, as a result of which it slides axially on the movement thread 29 of the drive shaft 20 and the frictional contact with the friction elements 25 of the locking wheel disc 24 and the pressure disc 28 is cancelled. The load can then be lowered until the rotating drive shaft 20 compensates for the axial play again.

[0064] In addition to the standard load pressure brake 16, the lever hoist 1 has a safety brake 30, 31. The safety brake 30, 31 has the task of performing emergency braking in extreme situations in which the rotational speed of the drive shaft 20 can be so high that the load pressure brake 16 no longer engages due to inertia.

[0065] A safety brake 30 and its mode of operation is described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 17. A corresponding embodiment of a safety brake 31 is also shown in FIGS. 18 to 23. Mutually corresponding components or structural components are provided with the same reference symbols. The safety brake 30, 31 is arranged coaxially below or behind the load pressure brake 16 in the direction of the load chain wheel 17.

[0066] The safety brake 30, 31 has a locking disc 32 with locking teeth 33 and a control disc 34 with control cams 35, as well as a catch hook 36. A plurality of locking teeth 33, three in the exemplary embodiment, are arranged in a uniformly distributed manner on the circumference of the locking disc 32. The control disc 34 has a triangular configuration with control cams 35 which are rounded on its circumference. The control disc 34 has a central connector 38 provided with an inner toothing 37, on which the locking disc 32 is positioned with a central bearing section 39 and is secured in position by securing elements 40, 41. The control disc 34 and, with the control disc 34, the locking disc 32 are held on a threaded section 43 of the drive shaft 20 provided with an outer toothing 42 via the connector 38 and the inner toothing 37.

[0067] The catch hook 36 is arranged to be pivotable on the side plate 5 of the lever hoist 1. With the incorporation of a spring element 44 in the form of a leg spring, the catch hook 36 is mounted on a bolt 45 on the side plate 5 and secured by a securing ring 46. The mounting of the catch hook 36 on the bolt 45 is in the middle length region of the catch hook 36, so that the catch hook 36 is mounted like a rocker.

[0068] The locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 can be rotated in relation to one another. The rotation of locking disc 32 and control disc 34 relative to one another is limited by a rotational travel limiter 47. The rotational travel limiter 47 comprises a cam track 48 which is formed in an elongated hole 49 in the form of a section of a circular arc in the control disc 34. A limit stop body 50 in the form of a pin can be displaced along the cam track 48. It can be seen that three elongated holes 49 are arranged uniformly offset on a partial circle in the control disc 34. Correspondingly, three pins are incorporated as limit stop bodies 50 in mounting openings 51 of the locking disc 32. The limit stop bodies 50 protrude in the direction of the control disc 34 with respect to the locking disc 32 and engage in the elongated holes 49. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the rotational travel limiter 47 enables the locking disc 32 to be rotated by 45° with respect to the control disc 34.

[0069] Latch elements 52 in the form of steel balls are incorporated between the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34. The latch elements 52 fix the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 in the starting position or in the end position after rotation. The latch elements 52 are held in receptacles 53 in the control disc 34 and contact spherical section-shaped latch surfaces 54 in the locking disc 32 and cooperate with them in an opposing and movement-inhibiting manner.

[0070] The catch hook 36 has a latch contour 56 at a front end 55. The latch contour 56 has a pointed catch tooth 57 with a frontal catch flank 58, which is configuratively adapted to a front locking flank 59 of a locking tooth 33 of the locking disc 32.

[0071] At the rear end 60, a sensing contour 61 is formed on the catch hook 36. For this purpose, the rear end 60 of the catch hook 36 is designed to be rounded. With the sensing contour 61, the catch hook 36 rests against the outer contour of the control disc 34 under the influence of the leg spring. The spring element 44 has the effect that the latch contour 56 lies outside the outer circumference of the locking disc 32 during normal operation. In normal operation, the catch hook 36 slides with the rear sensing contour 61 along the control disc 34. The front latch contour 56 is lifted out.

[0072] When a certain excessive rotational speed is exceeded, the sensing contour 61 of the catch hook 36 lifts off the control disc 34 or the control cam 35 due to the inertia and the acting acceleration forces. The catch hook 36 tilts and rotates around the bolt 35 in the locking disc 32. The latch contour 56 of the catch hook 36 snaps into a locking tooth 33 of the locking disc 32 and there comes to rest with the catch flank 58 on the locking flank 59. As a result, the locking disc 32 is stopped while the control disc 34 arranged coaxially behind it continues to rotate along the predetermined rotational path of the rotational travel limiter 47. The rotation takes place until the limit stop bodies 50 come to the limit stop at the end 62 of the elongated holes 49 located in the direction of rotation. The locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 can then be blocked in relation to one another. In this way, a positive connection between the drive shaft 20 and the lever hoist 1 is established. Any further spinning of the load chain wheel 17 or a rushing out of the load chain 10 is prevented.

[0073] FIG. 11 shows a normal situation of load pressure brake 16 and safety brake 30. The locking latches 26 engage the locking wheel disc 24 and hold the load.

[0074] FIG. 12 shows a problematic situation. The locking latches 26 of the load pressure brake 16 are not free to move. The locking latches 26 do not engage the locking wheel disc 24. A load cannot be held. This can lead to a dangerous excessive rotational speed increase in the opposite direction to the pulling direction of the lever hoist 1, combined with a rushing out of the load chain 10.

[0075] FIGS. 13 and 14 show the safety brake 30 each in a normal situation or starting position. The locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 are aligned in such a way that the rear outer contour of the locking teeth 33 coincides with the outer contour of the control disc 32. The sensing contour 61 of the catch hook 36 is pressed against the outer contour of the control disc 34 by the spring force of the leg spring and slides along the control cam 35. The sensing contour 61 lies on a control cam 35 both in the top dead centre of the control disc 34 (FIG. 13) and in the bottom dead centre of the control disc 34 (FIG. 14). During the rotation of the control disc 34 and locking disc 32, the front latch contour 56 of the catch hook 36 is lifted out of the effective region of the locking disc 32 or its locking teeth 33.

[0076] With increasing acceleration of the drive shaft 20 and with it the safety brake 30, i.e. at excessive speed, caused for example by a falling load, the sensing contour 61 of the safety hook 36 is accelerated outward and lifts off the control disc 34. The front catch tooth 57 of the latch contour 56 snaps into the locking disc 32 (see FIG. 15) and comes to rest with its frontal catch flank 58 blocking the locking flank 59 of a locking tooth 33 (see FIG. 16). After the catch hook 36 has collapsed, the control disc 34 rotates further anticlockwise (arrow P1) by 45°, driven by the load, and thereby locks the locking wheel 14. This effect is self-reinforcing, i.e. the catch hook 36 falls the deeper the more the sensing contour 61 on the opposite side is raised by the control disc 34.

[0077] In order to release the blocking of the safety brake 30 and to put the control disc 34 and the locking disc 32 back into the aligned initial state, an unlocking mechanism 63 is provided. In the configuration according to FIG. 17, this includes a reset button 64 in the form of a slide for actuating the unlocking mechanism 63 and a blocking body 66 under the influence of a tension spring 65. By actuating the reset button 64 (arrow P2) it blocks the locking disc 32 with the blocking body 66 and holds it in place so that the locking disc 32 is prevented from rotating, while the control disc 34 is actuated in the lifting direction (clockwise) (arrow P3) via the handwheel 22 or the hand lever 13. In this way, the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 are displaced relative to one another and brought into their aligned starting position.

[0078] The lever hoist 1 shown in FIGS. 18 to 23 has a safety brake 31 which corresponds in structure and mode of operation to the safety brake 30 explained above. The safety brake 31 has, as described above, a locking disc 32 with locking teeth 33 and a control disc 34 with control cams 35, as well as a catch hook 36.

[0079] The lever hoist 1 has an unlocking mechanism 63. The unlocking mechanism 63 has a reset button 64 and a blocking body 66 which functionally form a unit 67. The reset button 64 and the blocking body 66 are non-positively and positively connected to one another.

[0080] The reset button 64 is rotatable or pivotable in the housing 2 of the lever hoist 1, mounted about a bolt 68. The reset button 64 interacts with a tension spring 65 which is mounted in the housing 2 and engages the lever arm 69 of the reset button 64.

[0081] The unlocking mechanism 63 also has a latch 70 with a latch body 71 which can be displaced against the force of a compression spring, not shown here, arranged in the reset button 64.

[0082] A support strip 72 is provided in the housing 2. Two latch receptacles 73, 74 are formed in the support strip 72 at a distance from one another. The latch body 71 engages in the latch receptacles 73, 74 depending on the position of the reset button 64.

[0083] In principle, the unlocking mechanism 63 can also be designed without a latch 70 and the latch function. To carry out an unlocking process, the reset button 64 is then actuated and held manually.

[0084] FIG. 18 shows the lever hoist 1 and the safety brake 31 in standby mode, i.e. the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 of the safety brake 31 are in their starting position, in which the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 are congruent, i.e. the rear outer contour of the locking teeth 33 is aligned with the outer contour of the control disc 34. The sensing contour 61 of the catch hook 36 is spring-loaded against the control disc 34. A load can be raised and lowered at any time without any problems. The unlocking mechanism 63 is in its neutral position. The latch body 71 of the latch 70 is located in the first latch receptacle 73 located further out. The blocking body 66 is outside of its unlocked position E, in which it comes into operative connection with the locking disc 32.

[0085] The illustration in FIG. 19 shows the safety brake 31 in the locked state. The safety brake 31 was released after a load was lowered too quickly or after the load chain was manually pulled too quickly in the load direction in the unlocking mode. The catch tooth 57 of the catch hook 36 engages in the locking disc 32 (point S). The locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 are interlocked with one another. The 45° rotated contour of the control disc 34 prevents the catch hook 36 from falling out (point N). As a result, the safety brake 31 or the lever hoist 1 is completely locked and no more lifting or lowering movements are possible.

[0086] In order to unlock the safety brake 31 from the outside and to reset the locking disc 32 and control disc 34 to their starting position, the unlocking mechanism 63 is actuated. As can be seen in FIG. 20, the reset button 64 is pressed for this purpose (arrow P4). The reset button 64 is moved inwardly into the housing 2. The blocking body 66 is brought into an unlocked position E by the reset button 64. The latch body 71 of the latch 70 is moved with the reset button 64 and latches in the unlocked position E in the second inner latch receptacle 74. As a result, the reset button 64 and with it the blocking body 66 are secured in the unlocked position E.

[0087] The safety brake 31 is then turned clockwise (arrow P5) using the handwheel until the locking disc 32 comes to rest on the blocking body 66 (point E). In the unlocked position E, the blocking body 66 and the locking disc 32 come into an operative relationship.

[0088] The blocking body 66 has a profiled abutment surface 75 on its outside. In the unlocked position E, the locking disc 32 is supported with an outer flank 76 of a locking tooth 33 on the abutment surface 75. In the unlocked position E, the locking disc 32 is prevented from further rotation in the clockwise direction by the blocking body 66.

[0089] In the unlocked position E, the locking disc 32 is held by the blocking body 66 in such a way that the control disc 34 can be rotated relative to the locking disc 32 and brought into the starting position (see FIG. 21). For this purpose, the safety brake 31 is rotated 45° further clockwise using the handwheel (arrow P6) until the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 are congruent again, i.e. the starting position is reached. In this position the safety brake 31 engages noticeably. The reset button 64 springs back (arrow P7). This is brought about by the action of the control disc 34 and the locking disc 32 against the rounded contour of the abutment surface 75. When the control disc 34 is rotated into the congruent starting position with the locking disc 32, the limit stop bodies 50 are also moved in the elongated holes 49 of the rotational travel limiter 47 (see also FIGS. 6 to 10 in this regard). In the starting position of locking disc 32 and control disc 34, limit stop bodies 50 designed as pins come to rest on the end of the cam track 48 or elongated holes 49. The torque applied via the handwheel is then transmitted via the control disc 34 and the locking disc 32 and the latch body 71 of the latch 70 is lifted out of the latch receptacle 74. The tension spring 65 pivots the reset button 64 back into its starting or neutral position in the standby mode. The safety brake 31 is ready for use again and is in its freely moving normal position.

[0090] A manual locking process of the safety brake 31 is explained with the aid of FIGS. 22 and 23.

[0091] The blocking body 66 has a tooth contour 77 with a tooth flank 78.

[0092] In order to be able to lock the safety brake 31 manually, the reset button 64 is pressed (arrow P8) until it engages. The latch body 71 of the latch 70 is located in the first latch receptacle 74 located further out. The position corresponds to the unlocked position. If a safety brake 31 is not equipped with a locking function, the reset button 64 is pressed and held manually.

[0093] The safety brake 31 is then turned anticlockwise using the handwheel (arrow P9) until the locking tooth 33 of the locking disk 32 rests on the tooth flank 78 of the blocking body 66 (point P in FIG. 22).

[0094] The safety brake 31 is then turned 45° further anticlockwise using the handwheel (arrow P10) until the locking disc 32 and the control disc 34 are completely interlocked. The interlocking of locking disc 32 and control disc 34 can be seen in FIG. 23. The safety brake 31 noticeably engages in this position as well. The reset button 64 automatically springs back. In the case of a safety brake 31 without a latch function, the reset button 64 is released. The tension spring 65 pivots the reset button 64 back to its starting position according to the arrow P11. The safety brake 31 is now locked.

[0095] After a further rotation of a maximum of 45° anticlockwise, the catch hook 36 of the safety brake 31 would automatically take over the load. Further lowering is then no longer possible.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0096] 1—lever hoist [0097] 2—housing [0098] 3—housing portion [0099] 4—housing portion [0100] 5—side plate [0101] 6—side plate [0102] 7—distance frame [0103] 8—support hook [0104] 9—load hook [0105] 10—load chain [0106] 11—chain end piece [0107] 12—drive [0108] 13—hand lever [0109] 14—locking wheel [0110] 15—ratchet mechanism [0111] 16—load pressure brake [0112] 17—load chain wheel [0113] 18—transmission [0114] 19—end of 20 [0115] 20—drive shaft [0116] 21—end of 20 [0117] 22—handwheel [0118] 23—freewheel mechanism [0119] 24—locking wheel disc [0120] 25—friction element [0121] 26—locking latch [0122] 27—locking hook spring [0123] 28—pressure disc [0124] 29—movement threads [0125] 30—safety brake [0126] 31—safety brake [0127] 32—locking disc [0128] 33—locking tooth [0129] 34—control disc [0130] 35—control cam [0131] 36—catch hook [0132] 37—inner toothing [0133] 38—connector [0134] 39—bearing section [0135] 40—securing element [0136] 41—securing element [0137] 42—outer toothing [0138] 43—thread section [0139] 44—spring element [0140] 45—bolt [0141] 46—safety ring [0142] 47—rotational travel limiter [0143] 48—cam track [0144] 49—elongated hole [0145] 50—limit stop body [0146] 51—mounting opening [0147] 52—latching element [0148] 53—receptacle [0149] 54—latch surface [0150] 55—front end of 36 [0151] 56—latch contour [0152] 57—catch tooth [0153] 58—catch flank [0154] 59—locking flank [0155] 60—rear end of 36 [0156] 61—sensing contour [0157] 62—end of 49 [0158] 63—unlocking mechanism [0159] 64—reset button [0160] 65—tension spring [0161] 66—blocking body [0162] 67—unit [0163] 68—bolt [0164] 69—lever arm [0165] 70—latch [0166] 71—latch body [0167] 72—support strip [0168] 73—latch receptacle [0169] 74—latch receptacle [0170] 75—abutment surface [0171] 76—flank of 33 [0172] 77—tooth contour [0173] 78—tooth flank [0174] P1—arrow [0175] P2—arrow [0176] P3—arrow [0177] P4—arrow [0178] P5—arrow [0179] P6—arrow [0180] P7—arrow [0181] P8—arrow [0182] P9—arrow [0183] P10—arrow [0184] P11—arrow [0185] E—unlocked position