John T. Hepburn, Limited

Derek Foster

Ronald Ballantyne

Colin Rich

An integrated winch and windlass for hauling in and paying out a mooring line which consists of wire rope serially connected to chain cable is described. The integrated system has a pair of traction winch drums for conveying the wire rope, and a chain wheel for conveying the chain cable. The chain wheel is coaxially mounted with one traction winch drum, and has a wire rope groove with a groove diameter substantially the same as that of the traction winch drums. A sheave directs wire rope between one of the drums and the chain wheel, and is so positioned that a wrap of wire rope is formed about the chain wheel whenever the system is operating on wire rope exclusively. A drive mechanism is provided for rotating the traction winch drums and chain wheel, including a common drive shaft, and a clutch mechanism which permits the traction winch drums and the chain wheel to be located simultaneously or separately. Simultaneous rotation of the chain wheel and traction winch drums is timed so that wire rope is conveyed at the same speed by the traction winch drums and the chain wheel. The chain wheel is effectively integrated into the traction winch functions, the wire rope groove of the chain wheel basically serving as the first groove of a traction winch.

Integrated winch and windlass

A mooring device is secured to a sea-going vessel to handle anchor line of the type having an upper length of wire rope in series with a lower length of chain cable. The mooring device comprises a traction winch for handling the wire rope and a windlass for handling the chain cable. The windlass includes a chain wheel so positioned beneath the winch when the mooring device is located in its operative position that the anchor line can be hauled by the winch substantially vertically between flanges of the chain wheel. In operation the wire rope can be hauled up or paid out without actively engaging the chain wheel, the flanges merely serving as a guide to ensure that the anchor line is properly located for chain handling functions. When a portion of anchor line at the junction between the wire rope and chain cable is drawn above the chain wheel, a chain holder can be engaged to take up the tension in the chain cable, and a hydraulic anchor line retractor is then activated to draw the anchor line portion generally horizontally from its vertical position to a retracted position in which links of chain are draped over link-gripping whelps of the chain wheel. The chain hanger can then withdraw, after the windlass is activated to haul the chain cable upwardly. A conventional static and dynamic brake system is provided to regulate the paying out of anchor line during a substantially reverse process.

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Brampton, Canada

Derek Foster