Motor vehicles, particularly those traveling off-road, often get bogged down in mud, snow, ditches and the like. Since four-wheel-drive vehicles are frequently used off-road, they are particularly prone to getting stuck. If such an incident occurs in a remote area, such as on a hunting trip, help may be unavailable. For this reason many four-wheel-drive vehicles have an attached winch. The winch can be attached to a convenient fixed object, such as a tree, and used to pull the vehicle to better ground or back on a road.
Most vehicle-mounted winches are electrical, as pulling a heavy truck out of muck is very difficult work with a mechanical winch. Most electrical winches are mounted on the front of the vehicle. This position gives easier access to the vehicle's electrical system, reducing the expense of installation. A front-mounted winch also does not interfere with moving cargo in and out of the rear. Electrical winches are available which can be either front-mounted or rear-mounted, but such winches tend to be more expensive and heavier than conventional winches and require extra wiring.
A conventional front-mounted winch can only pull the vehicle forward. Attempting to pull a vehicle backwards or sideways with a conventional front-mounted winch leads to the winch cable bending at sharp angles where it contacts the vehicle body or frame. At best the winch jams and/or damages the vehicle; at worst the winch cable breaks. A front-mounted winch will operate properly only when pulling toward a fixed object within a fairly narrow range of pulling angles toward the front. This can be very inconvenient when no fixed objects are available in suitable positions, or when the best way out is backwards or sideways.
Unfortunately, vehicles typically get into trouble front first, so that the best way out most often is backwards or sideways. For example, a truck stuck with its front wheels in a roadside ditch is not likely to get back on the road by being pulled forward.
The present invention is a winch pulley accessory. The winch pulley accessory is used with a motor vehicle-mounted winch and a motor vehicle-mounted box hitch. Preferably the winch and the box hitch are mounted on the front of the vehicle, with the box hitch below the winch. However, the pulley accessory may be attached to a box hitch installed anywhere on a vehicle. The winch is preferably an electric winch, but may be a mechanical vehicle-mounted winch. Typical winches for use with the pulley accessory would be Warn and Ramsey's 8,000, 10,000, and 12,000 lb. electric winches.
The pulley accessory can direct the pull of a winch to pull a motor vehicle in any desired direction. The pulley accessory allows a front-mounted winch to pull backwards and sideways, either left or right, a full 360 degrees. The pulley accessory also allows the winch to pull upward when necessary to lift the front of the vehicle off the ground. This can be helpful for emergency repairs.
With the pulley accessory, a front-mounted winch can be used to free a stuck vehicle even if suitable fixed objects are located only to the side or the back of the vehicle. The pulley accessory does not reduce the pulling power of the winch in any direction. The pulley accessory can withstand the same force as the winch or the cable in any direction. The pulley accessory greatly increases the flexibility and the value of a front-mounted vehicle winch for freeing stuck vehicles. The extra expense and complexity of a rear-mounted electrical winch or of mounting both front and rear winches can be avoided. The combination of a front-mounted winch, a front-mounted box hitch, and the pulley accessory provides an inexpensive and versatile system for freeing a bogged down vehicle.
The pulley accessory is light in weight and easy for anyone to lift into position or remove after use. No tools at all are necessary for installation or removal. Proper installation is easy even for a person lacking in mechanical aptitude. Due to its simplicity, the pulley accessory is easily used at night or in bad weather.
The pulley accessory is mechanically very simple and inexpensive to produce. It is also very rugged. It requires no special protection during transport, but can simply be thrown behind a seat, in a toolbox, or in the back of a truck. The compact shape, without awkward protrusions, also makes it easy to store in the vehicle so that it is readily available when needed.
The winch pulley accessory comprises an elongated tubular member and a pulley block fixedly attached to the tubular member. The winch cable passes through the shell and over the sheave. The shell keeps the winch cable in place over the pulley during use, the groove defined in the sheave serving to guide the cable. The shell also protects the pulley from damage during transport. The pulley directs the winch cable in the desired direction. The tubular member is used to mount the winch pulley accessory to the vehicle and holds the pulley block far enough away from the vehicle so that the winch cable never has to bend at a sharp angle. The winch and winch cable are prevented from jamming and breaking, no matter what direction the winch is pulling.
The winch pulley accessory is very easy to install, requiring only sliding the tubular member into the box hitch. It is equally easy to remove by pulling it out of the hitch. Installation and removal take only seconds to accomplish. The entire process of freeing a stuck vehicle with the winch pulley accessory can be completed by one person in a few minutes.
Since the pulley accessory is not used when the winch pulls forward, it is generally unnecessary to secure the tubular member in the box hitch. Even in situations where a vehicle is stuck at an angle, with the front lower than the rear, friction is generally adequate to keep the pulley accessory in place. If a more secure attachment is needed, the tubular member may be provided with holes to admit a pin passing through matching holes in the box hitch.
The pulley accessory has two possible positions, one with the longitudinal axis through the pulley pin vertical, the other with the axis horizontal. The vertical position is best for a sideways pull. The horizontal position is best for a backwards pull or an upwards pull. For a forwards pull the pulley accessory need not be used, as a front-mounted winch functions adequately in this direction. To switch the pulley accessory from the horizontal to the vertical position, all that is necessary is to pull the pulley accessory out of the box hitch, turn it 90 degrees, and slide it back into the hitch. Due to the pulley accessory's light weight and compact design, this is easily accomplished by one person in a few seconds.
The elongated tubular member has an approximately square cross-section. The tubular member removably attaches the pulley accessory to the box hitch. The tubular member is preferably between 7 inches and 30 inches in length along its longitudinal axis, most preferably 18 inches. Preferably the tubular member has a width and a height of about 2 inches. The tubular member has four walls, making it square in cross-section. The tubular member has a hitch end and a pulley end. The tubular member slides into the box hitch at the hitch end and is attached to the pulley block at the pulley end. The longitudinal axis of the tubular member extends from the hitch end to the pulley end.
The four walls of the tubular member may each have a hole, with the two pairs of holes axially aligned. This allows the pulley accessory to be securely attached to the box hitch if necessary by passing a pin through a pair of holes and simultaneously through pin receiving holes on the box hitch.
The shell of the pulley block includes a strap having an attachment end, a free end, a first side, and a second side. The attachment end of the strap is attached to the tubular member at the pulley end of the tubular member. The pulley block preferably has a length of about 11 inches, a width of about 33/4 inches, and a height of about 3 inches.
The sheave is rotatable about a pin. The pulley accessory is attached to the box hitch so that the longitudinal axis of the pin extends in a direction approximately perpendicular to the desired direction of vehicle movement.
The tubular member and pulley block are composed of steel, aluminum, or magnesium, and possibly other metals or alloys. Preferably aluminum or magnesium is used to minimize weight. The pulley accessory is light in weight, preferably having a total weight of no more than 26 pounds, most preferably no more than 15 pounds.
The pulley accessory is used by sliding it onto a motor vehicle-mounted box hitch so that the longitudinal axis of the pin is roughly perpendicular to the desired direction of vehicle movement. Preferably the winch is an electrical winch mounted on the front of a vehicle. The draw hook and its attached winch cable are extended from the winch downward and forward to the pulley. The draw hook is passed through the swallow so that the winch cable lies in the groove of the sheave. The draw hook is then attached to a stationary object appropriately located for movement in the desired direction. The winch is then operated, moving the motor vehicle in the desired direction.
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