Winch Rigging Link Channel Geometry for Soft Shackle Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional winch hooks often cut and fray recovery straps and fail to securely hold two ends of a recovery strap, leading to potential strap escape during slackness.
Innovation Solution
A winch rigging link with a cable retainer and a soft shackle retainer, featuring a channel with curvature in the lengthwise and widthwise plane, maximizing the bend radius of the soft shackle and minimizing volume, while also incorporating a shear pin for cable retention and rubberized bumpers for secure stowage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional winch hooks are used to attach recovery straps, then the winch can perform towing and recovery operations, but the hooks can cut and fray recovery straps and allow strap ends to escape
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a winch rigging link as an intermediary component between the winch cable and the soft shackle. This link features a cable retainer with a curved surface that cradles the cable, and a soft shackle retainer with a channel that accommodates the soft shackle. The intermediary link design eliminates direct contact between harsh metal hooks and the recovery straps, thereby preventing cutting and fraying while maintaining secure retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the retention surfaces. The cable retainer features a curved surface with a radius of curvature that matches the cable diameter, creating a cradling effect. The soft shackle retainer includes a channel with specific dimensional relationships (channel width less than shackle body width, channel depth less than shackle body depth) that provide secure accommodation. These parameter changes ensure reliable retention without harmful contact.
2Device complexity
If conventional winch hooks are used, then the structure is simple, but the hooks are insufficient to hold two ends of a conventional recovery strap therein
Solution Approach 1:
The winch rigging link is designed with universal retention capabilities. The cable retainer can accommodate various cable types (steel or synthetic rope), and the soft shackle retainer with its channel design can securely hold the soft shackle and its two looped ends. This multi-functional design allows a single component to perform multiple retention functions, replacing the need for separate hooks for different strap configurations.
3Volume of moving object
If the soft shackle retainer uses a narrow body design, then the volume of the link is minimized, but the bend radius of the soft shackle is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the volume-strength contradiction by utilizing three-dimensional space efficiently. The soft shackle retainer channel is positioned and oriented such that the soft shackle bends in a direction that maximizes the available space within the narrow link body. The channel's spatial arrangement allows the soft shackle to achieve its required bend radius while the link maintains its compact overall dimensions, effectively using another dimension to accommodate the bending requirement.
Data Source
AI summary
A winch rigging link has a body defining a cable retainer and a soft shackle retainer at opposite ends. The body has a length, a width less than the length, and a depth less than the width. Furthermore, the body defines opposing faces bounded by the length and width and spaced apart by the depth. The soft shackle retainer comprises a channel running widthwise across the soft shackle retainer an in between the faces. The channel defines a bearing surface having curvature in a lengthwise and widthwise plane. The cable retainer may be permanently attached to a winch cable and the soft shackle retainer attached to a soft shackle or the like when required for winch rigging. The configuration of the link maximises the bend radius of the soft shackle or the like retained by the soft shackle retainer, despite the relatively narrow profile of the body thereof.