Harken Italy S.p.a.

Fondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia

Andrea Merello

Michele Cazzaro

Marco Crepaldi

Francesco Binetti Pozzi

Giorgio Zini

Karthikeyan Kalyanasundaram Balasubramanian

Nathan Charles Foster

Cristina Becchio

Antonio Toppi

Pietro Binda

Michiel Kruithof

The invention regards to a portable ascender device () on a rope () comprising an actuation element (), manual or motor-driven, a nautical winch () provided with a self-tailing (), rotated by the actuation element (), and at least one first forced passage () of the rope () in proximity to the winch (). The first forced passage () is arranged upstream of the winch () with respect to the rope () winding direction. A method for hoisting oneself by means of such device () along a vertically stretched rope (), and two methods for descending along the rope () by means of the same device (), respectively in active mode and in passive mode, are also described.

Rope ascender device and method for use thereof

The invention refers to a drive system of the servo-pneumatic type for activating/deactivating motion transmissions in sailing boats. The drive system of the invention is adapted to activate/deactivate motion transmission operating configurations, or for shifting from one motion transmission operating configuration to another one, when a drive is given by a crew member, much more rapidly than with the mechanical drive systems known in the art. The drive system of the invention can be used, for example, for activating/deactivating the motion transmission between pedestals and/or between pedestals and winches, or for driving the shift from one winch speed to another one, or to prevent the deactivation of a first winch speed when shifting from a first speed to a second speed, or also for driving any speed multiplier connected to the winches.

Drive system for activating/deactivating motion transmission in sailing boats

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Genoa, Italy

Andrea Merello