US3507457A - Cathead construction - Google Patents

Description

April 21, 1970 c, GUlLD E'i AL 3,507,457

CATHEAD CONSTRUCTION Filed July 12, 1968 INVENTORS CHARLES L. GUILD WILLARD B. GOODMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,507,457 CATHEAD CONSTRUCTION Charles L. Guild and Willard B. Goodman, both of 100 Water St., East Providence, RI. 02914 Filed July 12, 1968, Ser. No. 744,507

Int. Cl. B65h 75/18; B66d 1/30 US. Cl. 242117 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cathead constructed of a pair of heads with a spool therebetween and an open end to receive water within the cathead that is used as a cooling medium for dissipating heat generated through the friction of a line wound about the spool thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has been previously proposed to cool catheads such as are used in draw-works or hoists by the use of water as the cooling medium. The principal attempts in this direction have been to provide cooling fins adjacent the inner end of the cathead and in some cases to provide a supply of water to this particular area allowing, in some cases, for the water to flow into the interior of the cathead and be drawn off therefrom. An example of this approach is shown in the Dickson Patent 2,512,564 in which a cathead is provided with a passageway diametrically located with respect to the spool thereof so that water could pass in and out, a tortuous path being provided by a plurality of cooling fins. This particular construction has certain drawbacks in that the amount of water introduced into the interior of the cathead may very well build up to substantially fill the central area thereof, and inasmuch as the outlet port and inlet port are only diametrically located with respect to the inner end of the cathead, it becomes exceedingly difiicult to insure that water passes in and out of the interior of the spool as desired. Further, since the cooling of the cathead is caused by the physical effect known as heat of vaporization in which one thousand sixty b.t.u.s per pound are expended in raising water above the boiling water, it will be appreciated that water in the prior art device will not always be raised to the boiling point due to the possibility of the changing thereof into a gas so that the most efficient cooling cannot be effected. The instant invention provides for a small amount of water to be retained within the interior of the cathead with plenty of opportunity for outward spillage thereof and further the removal of the gaseous phase of the water which will develop during the cooling of the spool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cathead construction is provided with effectively four parts, namely a pair of identical heads, a spool, an end plate and a hub means. The spool that is provided that extends between the two heads may be made of a high strength alloy steel or may merely be made from cold roll steel that has been suitably case hardened or has been surface hardened by the utilization of other methods known to those skilled in the art. Since wear generally develops at the inner end of the spool, the spool may be readily reversed by merely unfastening a number of longitudinal bolts passed between the end plate and the hub member and the entire structure will readily then disassemble. So that the cathead may be adaptable to a plurality of shaft sizes, a split taper bushing is provided on the hub member.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the cathead construction in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view taken at the lefthand side of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings a cathead body is composed of a pair of heads 11 and 12 which are of identical construction, each being provided with a counterbore or recess 13 and 14 that open toward one face thereof. The inner end of each of the heads is provided with an inwardly extending ring boss 15 and 16 which provides a shoulder 17 and 18 respectively on each of the heads to receive a spool 20. A shaft hub means comprises a member 22 having a cylindrical body 23 with a radially extending flange 24, which flange is seated in the recess or counterbore 13 of head 11. -A tapered bore 25 is provided in the body 23 which receives a cooperating tapered bushing 26. The bushing 26 has a bore 27 with a keyway 28 and receives the end of a shaft 30 which is also provided with the keyway 31. A key 29 is located in these keyways. The bushing is adapted to be fastened into the body 23 by a plurality of screws 32 that are received in threaded bores 34 of the body 23.

The head 12 is provided with a retainer plate which is received in the recess or counterbore 14 and this plate has a central aperture 41 which is shown as having a chamfered section 42. A plurality of holes are provided about the plate 40 which holes are designated 44 and which receive a plurality of bolts 45 that extend therethrough and through the radially extending flange 24 of the hub means 22. In this fashion the two heads are drawn together to retain the spool 20 in position. The head 12 is preferably provided near the outer end thereof with a groove 46 and just inwardly of this groove 46 a cover plate 47 is placed which also has a central aperture 48, the cover plate being held in position by a snap ring 49 located in the groove 46.

Water may be received in the interior of the completed structure and will be retained therein to a level just below the aperture opening 41. As the spool heats up, it will be obvious that the water in contact with the inner surface of the spool 20 may be easily heated to the boiling point and as briefly pointed out above, the heat of vaporization raises the water above its boiling point and by the absorption of such heat serves as a cooling effect on the cathead, and if steam is actually generated within the body of the cathead, it may be easily expelled through the aperture openings 41 and 48. A cathead of this construction may be readily disassembled to replace a worn part and the spool 20 may be reversed should wear occur at the inner end adjacent the head 11. Should any of the parts of this particular cathead become damaged, it may be readily repaired and/or replaced by simple disassembly of unscrewing the nuts on the bolts 45 and/or cutting the same should the corrosion due to the presence of the Water be sufficient to prevent normal removal. However, the bolt heads and the nuts are exposed, thus allowing easy access thereto for breakage type of removal.

We claim:

1. A water cooled cathead construction comprising a pair of heads, a tubular spool received between said heads, each head having an end opening recess, retainer plate means received in one of said recesses, said retainer plate having a central aperture, and a shaft hub means received in the other of said recesses, fastening means between said plate means and said hub means, said hub means when fastened in position closing the recess of the head whereby a partly closed chamber is provided said open recess in said head and said aperture in said retainer plate being open to receive water within said chamber for dissipating heat generated through the friction of a line wound about the spool thereof.

2. A cathead as in claim 1 wherein said fastening means comprises bolts extending through said retainer plate and shaft hub means and exposed outwardly of said plate and shaft hub means.

3. A cathead as in claim 1 wherein a cover having an opening therein covers said retainer plate and means for detachably securing said cover in position.

4. A catbead as in claim 2 wherein a cover having an opening therein covers the retainer plate and bolts therethrough and means for detachably securing said cover in position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,234,811 3/1941 Smith 254-150 2,284,540 5/1942 Purcell 2421 17 2,512,564 6/1950 Dickson 254-150 HARVEY c. HORNSBY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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