The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 15, 1990
Filed:
Nov. 18, 1988
William C Ottemann, Fremont, CA (US);
International Marine Industries, Guilford, CT (US);
Abstract
In a sailboat having a sail such as a Genoa jib with roller reefing for spirally winding the sail on a fairing around a stay, a winch mechanism for turning the fairing about the stay and spirally winding the sail to and from the fairing is disclosed. The winch includes a high mechanical advantage clutch, preferably a cone clutch, normally engaged by load between the sail and sheet exerting an unwinding force upon the fairing through the normally engaged clutch to a normally stationary clutch driving shaft. The clutch driving shaft has a first clutch member ratchetted from the vessel to permit turning of the entire clutch for taking in of the sail. The clutch includes a second clutch member attached for rotation with the fairing relative to the vessel and driven for both sail take-up and let out by the normally stationary clutch driving shaft. The normally stationary clutch driving shaft is in turn driven usually by a hydraulic motor or upon motor failure by a ratchetted winch handle.