Mobile winch in a bag system

Abstract

A mobile winching system is provided, whereby a motorized winch, battery, and controller are mounted on a metal plate that is attached to and may be enclosed within a bag, wherein the metal plate has attachment points for coupling an anchor component to fix the winch system in position during a winching operation. The mobile winch in a bag system provides a way to transport and operate a winch in areas that are otherwise inaccessible by traditional vehicle mounted winches without the necessity of separately transporting the components of the system and with reduced setup of the components for use.

Claims

1. A mobile winch system comprising: a bag having an opening that includes a closure means, said closure means allowing said opening in said bag to be in an open or enclosed position; a metal plate having an outer face and an inner face, said outer face affixed to a bottom surface on an inner portion of said bag; said metal plate including at least one protrusion, said protrusion defining a hole that serves as an attachment point for securing said anchoring component thereto; a winch mounted to said inner face of said metal plate, said winch comprising a motor, a winch drum, and a winch cable attached to and wound about said winch drum, said winch cable also having a free end; a battery removably affixed to said inner face of said metal plate for driving said motor; and an anchor component for anchoring said winch system in a fixed position, said anchor component being removably attached to said metal plate.

2. The mobile winch system of claim 1 further including a controller operatively connected to said winch for controlling operation of said winch by a switch.

3. The mobile winch system of claim 2 wherein said switch includes a length of cable attached to said controller, so that a user may operate said winch from a remote position.

4. The mobile winch system of claim 1 wherein said bag defines a hole for said free end of said winch cable to pass through.

5. The mobile winch system of claim 1 wherein said anchoring means comprises a strap.

6. The mobile winch system of claim 5 wherein said strap is affixed to said metal plate using a removable fastener.

7. The mobile winch system of claim 1 further including a hook attached to said free end of said winch cable for securing said winch cable to an object.

8. The mobile winch system of claim 1 further including a charger removably attached to said battery in order to charge said battery during periods of nonuse.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

(2) FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of the mobile winch system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a front view of one embodiment of the mobile winch system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is an back view of one embodiment of the mobile winch system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention; and

(5) FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view at line 4-4 of the embodiment of the mobile winch system of FIG. 1.

(6) FIG. 5 is perspective view showing one embodiment of the mobile winch system in use during a winching operation, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a mobile winch in a bag system 10 generally comprising an anchor component 18 for anchoring the system 10 in a fixed position and a bag 12 enclosing the components of the winch system 14, preferably comprising a metal plate 16 attached to the floor of the bag 12, a battery 22 mounted on or affixed to the metal plate 16, a motorized winch 28 mounted on the metal plate 16, and a controller 24 mounted on the metal plate 16.

(8) FIG. 1 shows a generally rectangular shaped metal plate 16 inside a bag 12, the metal plate 16 acting as a base for the winch 28, a controller 24, and a battery 22. The metal plate 16 may also define attachment points 20 that protrude through slits or openings in the bag, and extend outside the bag 12. These attachment points 20 may allow connection of the anchor component 18 to the apparatus. A single person can easily move the mobile winch in a bag system 10 to any physical location required by simply transporting the bag 12. To aid in transport of the bag 12, the bag 12 may have handles, wheels, straps, or other useful items. The bag may also have zippers, buttons, or other features to aid in enclosing and securing the winch system 14 within.

(9) In a preferred embodiment, the battery 22, controller 24, and winch 28 may be mounted to the metal plate 16 inside the bag 12. In a preferred arrangement, the winch 28 may be operatively connected to the battery 22, a controller 24, and mounted to the metal plate 16. The winch 28 may be comprised of a motor 30, winch drum 32, and winch cable 34. The winch drum 32 may be facing in an opposite direction from the attachment points 20 on the metal plate 16 such that the free end of the winch cable 34 may be pulled or extended in an outward direction relatively straight away from the winch 28 and attachment points 20. The drum 32 may have a release mechanism, so that a user can simply release the drum 32 from the gears for unspooling the cable 34 therefrom. In that case, the drum 32 must be re-engaged with the gears (taken out of neutral) after the cable 34 has been spooled out as desired, and before commencing a winching operation.

(10) Additionally, the bag 12 may feature an opening on the side closest to the winch drum 32 so that the winch cable 34 can be pulled through the side of the bag 12. The cable slit in the side of the bag 12 allows the winch 28 to be utilized without removal of the winch 28 or the metal plate 16 it is mounted on from the bag 12. The winch 28, controller 24, and battery 22 may be mounted or affixed to the metal plate 16 with bolts or the like. In a preferred embodiment, the battery 22 may be removably mounted to the metal plate 16 to allow the battery 22 to be replaced as necessary. Alternatively, a battery mount may be affixed to the metal plate, and the battery may be removably secured to the battery mount.

(11) As shown in FIG. 1, the winch 28 may include an electric motor 30, a drum/axle 32 coupled to and driven by the motor 30, and a winch cable 34 wound around the drum/axle 32. The motor 30 is electrically coupled to the battery 22. The motor 30 drives the drum/axle 32 in either direction, as desired by the user. The winch cable 34 is wound about the drum/axle 32 such that rotation of the drum/axle 32 either retracts or extends the winch cable 32 thereon, as necessary. The free end of winch cable 34 may preferably include a hook attached thereto for attaching to an object to be winched in any suitable manner. When not in use, the free end of winch cable 34 may be pulled inside of the bag 12 to prevent uncontrolled movement of the cable 34. Additionally, as in FIG. 2, a fairlead 36 may be attached to the bag 12 or to the metal plate 16, over the opening in the side of the bag 12 from which the winch cable 34 exits, in order to preserve the life of the winch cable 34 by reducing the friction of winching operations, particularly between the opening in the side of the bag 12 and the winch cable 34. As in FIG. 1, the winch 28 may be operated by a controller 24. The controller 24 may be operatively connected to a switch 26. The switch 26 may be physically attached to the controller 24, as by a cable, or may be remotely attached. The winch 28 may be any suitable winch, many of which are commercially available, such as the Badland Winches 2500 LB Capacity ATV/UTV Winch or the Rugged Ridge Extreme HD ATV/UTV Winch, for example.

(12) As in FIGS. 3-5, the metal plate 16 may also preferably include attachment points 20 that protrude through the bag 12 and allow attachment of an anchor component 18 for anchoring the system 10 in a fixed position. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1-5, the anchor component 18 may be a tree trunk protector strap made of tough, high quality nylon, removably affixed to each lateral edge of the metal plate 16 at the attachment points 20 through the use of a clevis fastener and cotter pin. The attachment points 20 may be heavy duty metal rings welded to the metal plate 16 or may be holes defined by metal strips extending from the metal plate 16 either welded, bolted in place, integrally formed with the metal plate 16, or affixed in any suitable manner, wherein the clevis fastener 16 may be removably attached to the metal ring 18 or holes defined by the metal strips. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, this arrangement provides that one end of the attachment component 18 may be released from the attachment points 20 allowing the attachment component 18 to be wrapped around a fixed object and re-attached to the attachment points 20. It should be understood that other suitable removable attachment components may be utilized for anchoring the system 10 in a fixed position, as desired. Additionally, the anchor component 18 may be stored and transported within the bag 12 when not in use.

(13) FIG. 5 illustrates the mobile winch in a bag system 10 as it may be used during operation. The system 10 may be manually transported by carrying of the bag 12 to a desired location. An important aspect of this invention is the ability to transport the winch system 10 over terrain and to locations inaccessible by current vehicle-mounted winches. During a winching operation, the anchor component 18 (strap) may be secured to a fixed object, such as a tree or stump, and the winch cable 34 may be extended outwardly and attached to the target object to be winched, as shown in FIG. 5. During the winching operation, it is noted that the system 10 may be raised from the ground as the winch cable 34 tightens. This placement depends upon the position and orientation of the end of the winch cable 34 and the anchor component 18.

(14) It is contemplated that the winch cable 34 may also be directed upwardly, toward the top of a tree that is being cut, for instance, and then the force exerted by the winch 28 is at a downward angle toward the winch 28. In most cases, it will be necessary to use the anchor component 18 to prevent the winch 28 from moving, because otherwise, the winching operation is likely to simply move the winch system 10 toward the target object, rather than moving the target object toward the winch system 10.

(15) Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein. All features disclosed in this specification may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.