Device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible articles

{
  "publication_number": "US5875991A",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A",
  "title": "Device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible articles",
  "abstract": "A device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible articles comprising two bearings (1) forming a winch, supported on a substantially horizontal surface (7), and means (17) for moving all the bearings (1) towards and away from one another perpendicular to the unwinding direction so that the bearing (1) may be brought to bearing relationship with a drum (9) thereby enabling a rotation of said drum, and means (14, 16) adapted to be moved to supporting contact with a drum (9) and for lifting and lowering said drum relative said bearings. The supporting contact means comprise slings (14) connected to said lifting and lowering means (16).",
  "claims": [
    "1. A shipboard device for rotating a drum with a circumferentially extending groove on each drum end and which carries a wound member, comprising: two pairs of rails for being fixed to a deck of a ship and for carrying the device; two carriages movable on said rails, each of said carriages being independently supported and carried by a different pair of said two pairs of rails; means for guiding and selectively immobilizing each of said carriages on a respective pair of said rails; two frames, each of said frames being mounted on a different one of said carriages and being movable relative to said carriages in a first direction perpendicular to a direction of said rails; two bearings, each of said bearing being mounted on a different one of said frames, said bearings being aligned axially by relative movement of said two carriages and spaced apart to form a winch for carrying the drum between said two bearings; means for moving said two bearings axially relative to said frames and in said first direction so that each of said two bearings can be brought into a bearing relation with an adjacent drum end to enable rotation of the drum; and two carrying slings, each of said slings being carried by a different one of said frames above said bearings for lifting and lowering the drum relative to said two bearings, each of said two slings being constructed and arranged to be brought into and out of supporting contact with the circumferential groove at an adjacent drum end; one set of one of each of said carriages, frames, bearings and slings being spaced apart from and not connected to the other set of one of each of said carriages, frames, bearings and slings to permit unobstructed passage of the drum between said two sets.",
    "2. The device of claim 1, further comprising two jacks, each carried by a respective one of said two frames above said bearings, each of said two jacks for lifting and lowering a respective one of said two slings."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a device for winding up or unwinding flexible elongated articles, such as pipes or cables.\n\nDevices of this type are, for example, installed on ships for laying submarine pipes or cables. They essentially comprise a winch on which can be arranged a drum onto which is wound the cable or pipe.\n\nIn such cases the loaded drum represents a heavy item and during the sea voyage from port to the laying area the drum needs to be secured to the ship's deck, thus isolating the bearings from the drum load. This is also the case during the return to port with the empty drum.\n\nThere is often a considerable distance between the place of laying the cable or tube and the port where full drums are stored. It is therefore important to be able to use the ship drum storage capacity to the full. It is therefore known to arrange a plurality of drums on a ship's deck using a device of the said type to engage and carry each drum in succession, thereby enabling the unwinding of the cable or pipe carried by the drum.\n\nThe transfer of the drum load from the deck to the device and vice versa represents a critical phase of the drum handling operation, especially at sea.\n\nIn a known winch device (GB 2046207-B) this critical transfer is solved in that two bearings are moved vertically in a frame until they are located in the extension of the axis of the drum, whereafter the bearings are moved towards each other so that the bearings engage the sides of the drum. The drum is then lifted by means of the bearings which are raised vertically in the frame.",
  "cpc": [
    "B65H 67/00"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B65H 67/00"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Jean Pierre Branchut"
  ],
  "filing_date": "1995-10-05",
  "publication_date": "1999-03-02",
  "grant_date": "1999-03-02",
  "priority_date": "1994-10-06",
  "application_number": "US-81711597-A",
  "family_id": "19897476",
  "cited_by_count": 8,
  "citations": [
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}