Patent Application
20140224853
The present device and assembly relate to securing a winch to a vehicle. More specifically, the device and assembly relate to facilitating the securing and detachment of a winch to a vehicle.
The use of a winch has been documented going back to the times of Aristotle, who regarded them as common for architectural use. Employing them on vehicles goes back at least as early as World War II where large military vehicles were equipped with winches for use in everything from construction to demolition, from vehicle towing to general safety. The vehicle mounted winch was primarily permanently affixed directly to the vehicle frame or to a front bumper, which was in-turn coupled to the vehicle frame.
Soon detachable vehicle winches became useful, particularly in the military where the interchangeability of parts between vehicles is extremely useful. However, the current mechanism for mounting and attachment of a removable winch cradle from a vehicle may be cumbersome. Current portable assemblies utilize drawbars similar to trailer hitch drawbars and typically require additional loose pins and locks to be installed. The pins and locks are located on the underside of the drawbar receiving bracket which requires a person to climb under the vehicle for securing or unlocking the assembly. This is an undesirable scenario for many military situations.
To solve these and other problems associated with portable winch cradle assemblies, the disclosed device and system provides a winch cradle assembly with a readily accessible locking mechanism. Further, the disclosed device and system provides greater stability and reliability over prior winch cradle assemblies.
A cradle winch assembly for attachment to a vehicle frame is disclosed.
In an embodiment, the cradle assembly comprises a winch cradle for mounting a winch thereon, at least one drawbar fixed to the winch cradle, at least one receiver bracket for affixing to the vehicle frame and configures to allow insertion therein of the at least one drawbar, a locking mechanism connected to the winch cradle and having a lever to actuate the locking mechanism between a locked and an unlocked position in a direction transverse to the insertion direction of the drawbar into the receiver bracket, and wherein the locking mechanism enters the at least one towing hole on the vehicle frame when actuated to a locked position by the lever.
In another embodiment, the cradle assembly comprises a winch cradle for mounting a winch thereon, two drawbars fixed to the winch cradle and extending a distance from the cradle, two receiver brackets configured to be affixed to the vehicle frame and to allow insertion therein of the two drawbars, and a locking mechanism connected to the winch cradle. The disclosed locking mechanism comprises a lever, two opposing load-bearing pins, and linkage connecting the lever to the pins wherein the locking mechanism is configured to move between a locked and unlocked position with the pins moving in a direction transverse to the insertion direction of the drawbar into the receiver bracket. The locking mechanism locks the cradle to the vehicle frame when actuated to a locked position by the lever.
Additional embodiments and features of the assembly can be understood from the appended drawings and the detailed description below.
With reference to
Further, the assembly 10 comprises two square metal tubes 14 running substantially perpendicular to the winch 40 and extending from beneath the cradle 12 to provide the drawbars 16 (
Finally, with reference to
Referring now to
In the locked position, the pins 32 are moved outward into the existing vehicle frame towing holes and the configuration resists parallel forces (i.e., directly forward) exerted on the winch cradle 12. Similarly, the drawbars 16 positioned within the receiver brackets 18 resist angular (0°<φ<90°), vertical and lateral forces even if the lever 34 were in an unlocked condition.
