Pivoting winch assembly for a wood chipper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9321185-B2
Application number	US-201414209435-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

A pivotable winch assembly for a wood chipper includes an attachment bracket permanently connected to the wood chipper, a boom pivotably coupled to the attachment bracket by a pivot pin such that pivoting of the boom helps to manipulate and draw material into the wood chipper, a pivot pin to enable the boom to pivot into a plurality of preferred positions with respect to the wood chipper, and a retention pin for securing the boom into the plurality of preferred positions.

First claim

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:

1. A pivotable winch assembly configured to be secured to a wood chipper, the wood chipper including a frame and a feed horn, said feed horn having an opening that faces towards a rear end of the wood chipper, the pivotable winch assembly comprising:
a winch for drawing material towards and into the wood chipper;
an attachment bracket configured to be permanently coupled to the wood chipper, wherein the attachment bracket has an end, the end facing the rear end of the wood chipper,
wherein the end of the attachment bracket has a set of bracket openings and a set of retention openings;
a boom having a first end pivotably coupled to the attachment bracket and a second end for directing the winch with respect to the wood chipper, wherein the second end is configured to elongate upwards over the feed horn and outwards substantially towards the rear end of the wood chipper,
wherein the first end of the boom has a set of boom openings and a plurality of secondary openings;
a pivot pin extending vertically through the set of bracket openings and the set of boom openings,
said pivot pin enabling the boom to pivot freely about the vertical axis of the pivot pin into a plurality of preferred positions; and
a retention pin extending vertically through the attachment bracket and the boom,
said retention pin enabling the boom to be fixed into one of the plurality of preferred positions by being placed in one of the plurality of secondary openings.

2. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a rope attached to the winch configured to draw material towards the feed horn of the wood chipper;
a winch opening at said second end of said boom and facing the rear of the wood chipper;
wherein said boom is hollow providing a chamber in which to mount the winch; and
a passageway connecting the chamber to the winch opening,
said passageway configured to direct the rope from the winch through the boom and out the winch opening.

3. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , wherein said set of bracket openings comprises a pair of bracket openings,
said pair of bracket openings are a first distance from each other; and
wherein said set of boom openings comprises a pair of boom openings,
said pair of boom openings are a second distance from each other,
wherein said first distance is greater than said second distance.

4. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , wherein said set of bracket openings comprises a pair of bracket openings,
said pair of bracket openings are a first distance from each other; and
wherein said set of boom openings comprises a pair of boom openings,
said pair of boom openings are a second distance from each other,
wherein said second distance is greater than said first distance.

5. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of secondary openings comprises three openings.

6. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of secondary openings comprises five openings.

7. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , wherein said attachment bracket is configured to be mounted to the frame of the wood chipper.

8. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 1 , wherein said attachment bracket is configured to be mounted to a feed system of the wood chipper.

9. A pivotable winch assembly configured to be secured to a wood chipper, the wood chipper including a front end, a rear end, a left side, a right side, and a major axis that extends horizontally from the front end to the rear end, the wood chipper also including a feed horn with an opening, the opening facing towards the rear end of the wood chipper, the pivotable winch assembly comprising:
a winch for drawing material towards and into the wood chipper;
an attachment bracket permanently coupled to the wood chipper, wherein the attachment bracket has an end, the end facing the rear end of the wood chipper,
wherein the end of the attachment bracket has a set of bracket openings and a set of retention openings;
a boom having a first end pivotably coupled to the attachment bracket and a second end for directing the winch with respect to the wood chipper, wherein the second end is configured to elongate upwards over the feed horn and outwards substantially towards the rear end of the wood chipper,
wherein the first end of the boom has a set of boom openings and a plurality of secondary openings
a pivot pin extending vertically through the set of bracket openings and the set of boom openings, said pivot pin enabling the boom to pivot about the vertical axis of the pivot pin into a plurality of preferred positions with respect to the wood chipper; and
a retention pin extending vertically through the set of retention openings and one of the plurality of secondary openings for securing the boom into said plurality of preferred positions,
wherein said plurality of preferred positions include the following:
said boom is substantially parallel with the major axis of the wood chipper,
said boom is not substantially parallel with the major axis of the wood chipper, and the second end of said boom is facing both the left side and the rear end of the wood chipper,
said boom is not substantially parallel with the major axis of the wood chipper, and the second end of said boom is facing both the right side and the rear end of the wood chipper.

10. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 9 , wherein said set of bracket openings comprises a pair of bracket openings,
said pair of bracket openings are a first distance from each other; and
wherein said set of boom openings comprises a pair of boom openings,
said pair of boom openings are a second distance from each other,
wherein said first distance is greater than said second distance.

11. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 9 , wherein said set of bracket openings comprises a pair of bracket openings,
said pair of bracket openings are a first distance from each other; and
wherein said set of boom openings comprises a pair of boom openings,
said pair of boom openings are a second distance from each other,
wherein said second distance is greater than said first distance.

12. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 9 , wherein said attachment bracket is configured to be mounted to the frame of the wood chipper.

13. The pivotable winch assembly of claim 9 , wherein the attachment bracket is configured to be mounted to a feed system of the wood chipper.

14. A method for feeding wood into a wood chipper, the wood chipper having a front end, a rear end, a left side, a right side, and a feed horn located at the rear end with an attached feed table extending horizontally away from the rear end of the wood chipper, the wood chipper also having a major axis that extends horizontally from the front end to the rear end of the wood chipper, the wood chipper further having a pivotably attached winch assembly including an attachment bracket, a boom, and a retention pin, the boom having a winch and a rope, the winch assembly extending above the feed horn and substantially towards the rear end of the wood chipper, the boom of the winch assembly pivots about a vertical axis and is operable into a plurality of preferred positions such that the boom is substantially parallel with the major axis of the wood chipper, the boom is angled to the left of the major axis of the wood chipper, or the boom is angled to the right of the major axis of the wood chipper, the method comprising the following steps:
acquiring the wood chipper;
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Assignees

• Altec Ind Inc

Inventors

• Satterwhite Robert Daniel

Classifications

• A01G3/002

  for comminuting plant waste · CPC title

• B66D1/36

  Guiding, or otherwise ensuring winding in an orderly manner, of ropes, cables, or chains · CPC title

• B27L11/002 Primary

  Transporting devices for wood or chips · CPC title

• B02C18/2225

  Feed means · CPC title

• B02C21/02

  Transportable disintegrating plant · CPC title