US-12617658-B2 - Crank arrangement

US12617658B2US 12617658 B2US12617658 B2US 12617658B2US-12617658-B2

Abstract

A crank arrangement ( 100 ) for operating a winch having an elongate crank arm ( 10 ), a hollow driving head ( 29 ) having an external engagement profile, a handle part ( 40 ) and a locking plate ( 25 ) arranged at an outer end of an actuator element rotatably taken up within the hollow driving head ( 29 ). Hinged lever arms ( 11 A, 11 B) extend in parallel on external opposite side walls of the crank arm ( 10 ) having protruding pins ( 18 A, 18 B) for, when at least one hinged lever arm ( 11 A, 11 B) is gripped, actuating upon the actuator element rotationally connected to the locking plate ( 25 ) such that the locking plate ( 25 ) will perform a rotational movement to assume a first position in which the locking plate ( 25 ) is aligned with the engagement profile of the driving head ( 29 ). When at least one the hinged lever arms ( 11 A, 11 B) is released, the locking plate ( 25 ) will be rotated to assume a second, locking, position in which it is misaligned with the engagement profile ( 30 ) of the driving head ( 29 ) limiting the rotational movement of the actuator element being provided. The locking plate ( 25 ) can be rotated to assume the first position via a one-hand grip.

Inventors

Mathias Lindström
Björn ADIELS
William Holt

Assignees

SELDEN MAST AB

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220401
Priority Date: 20210528

Claims (20)

1 . A crank arrangement for operating a driving arrangement, said crank arrangement comprising: an elongate crank arm with a hollow driving head disposed at one end thereof and a handle part at a distance from the driving head, the driving head and the handle part protruding substantially perpendicularly to the crank arm in substantially opposite directions, the driving head comprising an external engagement profile, a locking plate arranged at an outer end of an actuator element rotatably taken up within the hollow driving head, a lever arrangement for rotating the locking plate from a second position in which the locking plate is misaligned with the engagement profile of the driving head to a first position in which the locking plate is aligned with the engagement profile of the driving head, wherein the lever arrangement comprises at least one spring loaded lever arm extending in parallel to an external longitudinal wall of the crank arm and mounted movably with respect to a crank arm base section, said at least one lever arm comprising engaging means being adapted to, when said crank arm is gripped such that at least one of said at least one lever arm(s) is moved, actuate upon an actuating member of said actuator element which is connected to the locking plate such that the locking plate will perform a rotational movement in a direction to assume the first position in which the locking plate is aligned with the engagement profile of said driving head, whereas when the at least one lever arm is released, the locking plate will be actuated upon to perform a rotational movement in an opposite direction to assume the second position in which the locking plate is misaligned with the engagement profile of the driving head, a means for limiting the rotational movement of the actuating member are provided, and in that the locking plate can be transferred from the second, misaligned, position to the first, aligned, position allowing engagement with a driving arrangement by means of gripping the crank arm with one hand while moving the at least one lever arm(s) against a spring action, and the locking plate can be transferred from the first aligned position to the second misaligned position locking to a driving arrangement by means of releasing the grip on the crank arm.
2 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the crank arrangement comprises a winch handle for operating a winch.
3 . The crank arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein when the locking plate is in the first position and aligned with the engagement profile of the driving head, engagement with/disengagement from a winch socket is allowed, and in that when the at least one lever arm(s) is/are released and the locking plate rotated to assume the second position and is misaligned with the engagement profile of the driving head, the driving head, being received in a receiving cavity of the driving arrangement, is locked to the driving arrangement.
4 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one lever arm comprises two hinged lever arms extending in parallel on opposite external side walls of the crank arm, each hinged lever arm being pivotally mounted around a respective rotation axis at a distance from an end portion at which the handle part is arranged, and by means of a respective compression spring urged outwardly, each hinged lever arm at opposite end portions being operatively connected to the actuator element, the hinged lever arms hence being movable through rotation.
5 . The crank arrangement according to claim 4 , wherein the means for limiting the rotational movement of the actuating member comprises a first actuation shoulder and a second actuation shoulder, and wherein each hinged lever arm engaging means comprises a protruding pin, each said protruding pin being located at a respective distance from the outer end of the respective hinged lever arm, wherein the distance from the outer end of one of the hinged lever arms at which one of the protruding pins is located exceeds the distance from the outer end of the other hinged lever arm at which the other protruding pin is located, such that one of the protruding pins via an opening on one side of the crank arm base section will engage with the first actuation shoulder provided on one outer side of the actuating member and the other protruding pin via an opening on the opposite side of the crank arm base section will engage with the second actuation shoulder provided on an opposite outer side of the actuating member, hence allowing the actuating element to be rotated when the crank arm is gripped such that at least one of the hinged lever arm(s) is/are urged towards the crank base section.
6 . The crank arrangement according to claim 5 , wherein each protruding pin comprises a gripping recess, the gripping recesses being adapted to engage with a respective first actuation shoulder or second actuation shoulder.
7 . The crank arrangement according to claim 6 , wherein each protruding pin comprises a protrusion, the protrusions being adapted to engage with a respective one of the first or second actuation shoulders.
8 . The crank arrangement according to claim 5 , the actuating member comprises a hollow upper cylindrical portion adapted to receive an upper end of an actuator connecting rod, an upper plate comprising a circular plate with a protrusion, the first and second actuation shoulders being provided on opposed sides of the cylindrical portion and extending axially downwards from the upper plate in the direction towards the locking plate.
9 . The crank arrangement according to claim 8 , wherein the crank arm base section on an upper side comprises a recess comprising a circular portion coaxial with the hollow driving head and a cutout which is directed towards the handle part, said cutout forming blocking means, the recess being dimensioned and located to allow reception of the upper plate of the actuating element, the circularly plate of the actuating element plate being of substantially the same dimensions as the circular portion, but smaller allowing the circularly plate to be received in the circular portion, the first actuation shoulder of the upper plate having transversal dimensions smaller than the cutout allowing rotation of the upper plate between a first position, in which the first actuation shoulder is blocked by a side wall of the cutout, when the crank arm is gripped such that the at least one hinged lever arm is/are pushed towards the crank arm base section allowing engagement/disengagement of the crank arrangement, and a second position in which the first actuation shoulder is blocked by an opposed wall of the cutout corresponding to a locked position (a neutral position) in which the at least one hinged lever arm is/are released and in which the handle cannot be engaged with/disengaged from a winch socket.
10 . The crank arrangement according to claim 8 , wherein for rotating the actuating element from the first position to the second position and vice versa, it is rotated an angle of 22.5°, corresponding to 1/16 of a full turn, a rotation from the first to the second, locking, position being automatically achieved through release of the hinged lever arms.
11 . The crank arrangement according to claim 8 , wherein the actuator element further comprises a securing portion connected to or integral with an upper end, opposite to the end at which the locking plate is provided, of the actuator connecting rod, said upper end protruding through the upper plate and the securing portion being disposed on an upper side of the upper plate, the securing portion comprising a through opening for reception of a locking pin axially locking the actuator element to the crank arm base section.
12 . The crank arrangement according to claim 4 , wherein the crank arm base section comprises two elongate recesses provided on opposite outer sides and being adapted for reception of the hinged lever arms such when they are gripped, and urged inwardly against the action of the compression springs, and pivoted around their rotation axes, they are substantially taken up in said elongate recesses, whereas in a released position respective front portions of the hinged lever arms protrude from the elongate recesses.
13 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the driving head has an octagonal cross-sectional external shape forming an engagement surface and that the locking plate is square-shaped.
14 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the crank arm base section comprises an upper recess in a front end of which a recess is located and a protective cover element adapted to cover said upper recess, the protective cover element fixedly or releasably connected to the crank arm base section, the recess comprising a circular portion coaxial with the hollow driving head and a cutout which is directed towards the handle part.
15 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the locking plate is rotationally coupled with the actuating member.
16 . An assembly comprising a winch for a sailing boat and a winch handle for manual operation of the winch, wherein the winch handle comprises a crank arrangement as in claim 1 , that the winch comprises a winch socket with an external engagement profile mating with an internal engagement profile of the driving head of the crank arrangement.
17 . The assembly according to claim 16 , wherein the internal engagement profile and the external engagement profile each having an octagonal cross-sectional shape.
18 . A method of operating a crank arrangement according to claim 1 for manually operating a sailing boat winch.
19 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one spring loaded lever arm mounted movably translationally or rotationally with respect to the crank arm base section.
20 . The crank arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one lever arm being pivotally mounted around a respective rotation axis disposed in a respective opening or recess in the crank base section at a distance from an end portion at which the handle part is arranged.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a crank arrangement having the features of the first part of claim 1. More particularly it relates to a winch handle releasably engageable with a winch of a sailing boat. The invention also relates to an assembly comprising a crank arrangement and a winch having the features of the first part of claim 16. BACKGROUND On a sailing boat there may be several different kinds of sails, mainsails, spinnakers, jibs, headsails, and genoas. The sails are supported by one or more masts. The sails are attached to lines or wires holding them in place and applying tension to the sails and supporting e.g. the mast. The lines, or wires, are denoted differently depending on location and function or attachment such as headstay, backstay, shrouds, sheets, halyards, etc. In order to be able to handle sails and rig usually different kinds of arrangements are used wherein a rotating part is operated manually by an operator via lines/wires and/or toothed gear wheels or similar. Some specific examples on functions for which such arrangements are used for operation/control are for setting, sheeting in, reefing, hauling out, and hauling down sail, tightening of running rigging, e.g. kicking strap, backstay runner and halyards. Manually operated winches are very common on sailing boats. A winch or a similar driving unit comprises a driving shaft and a socket allowing reception of a driving or engagement portion of a crank arrangement such that, when a winch handle part is manually operated, the manual force to which the handle is exposed is transformed into a torque in the winch, or more generally, the driving unit, hence allowing it to be rotated around an axis. In order to allow engagement between a winch handle and a winch socket, the shape and dimensions of the engagement surfaces of the winch socket and of the engagement portion of the winch handle have to mate well in order to enable proper transfer of torque from the manually operated winch handle to the winch and to avoid damages and wear on either of the surfaces. Winch sockets are often dimensioned and formed according to legacy industry standards allowing proper engagement with an engagement part, a lug, or a driving head, of a crank arrangement, a winch handle, with an adequate corresponding engagement profile. Common for most winch crank arrangements, in the following also simply denoted winch handles, is that they comprise an elongate crank arm with a driving head or lug adapted to mate with a receiving portion, also called receiving cavity, of winch sockets, such that engagement between winch socket and winch handle is enabled. The elongate crank arm in most known crank arrangements is arranged to extend mainly perpendicularly to a center axis of the driving head generally equipped with a locking mechanism to secure the winch handle to the winch during operation. At the other end of the crank arm a handle part is disposed, which extends mainly perpendicularly to the crank arm, and is oriented mainly in parallel with the main axis of the driving head. The handle part is generally arranged to be rotatable around an axis extending substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the crank arm. It is a problem that a crank arrangement (a winch handle) may be unintentionally released or detached from the winch socket. In order to prevent or reduce the risk of such unintentional release, as referred to above, different locking mechanisms have been used. One known type of locking mechanism is based on using a rotatable part which can be rotated between a locking position and an unlocking position in which the winch handle can be released. Several winch crank arrangements using a locking mechanism based on the principle with a rotatable part are known. Generally such a locking mechanism comprises a plate which is connected to a circular rod which runs through a key grip. The plate with the rod is so mounted that the plate can be rotated through a central axis of the key grip. The receiving part of the driving unit in the winch socket is provided with a flange such that the plate in given positions locks axially against the flange and can pass the flange when rotated a certain angle with respect to said given positions. The shaft is on the side opposite to the side of the key grip, in the direction of the shaft, connected to an actuating part which e.g. extends perpendicularly from the center axis of the rod, on an upper side of the which handle. The actuating part is kept in a neutral position e.g. by means of a spring. In the neutral position the plate is held in such a position with respect to the axial geometry of the driving shaft that the plate prevents the winch handle from being released or detached from the driving shaft when the winch handle part comprising the key grip is taken up in the receiving part of the driving shaft. In the neutral position, and when the winch handle key grip part is engaged within