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Information about Winch

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Modern self-tailing winch on a sailing boat. Here, the line winched is a jib or spinnaker sheet which runs from the sail (upper left, not shown) to a block (lower right,not shown) and from there to the lower part of the winch. The handle is detachable to facilitate handling of the line.


A winch is a mechanical device that is used to wind up a rope or wire rope (also called "cable"). In its simplest form it consists of a spool and attached crank. The spool can also be called the winch drum. More elaborate designs have gear assemblies and can be powered by electric, hydraulic, pneumatic or internal combustion drives. Some may include a solenoid brake and/or a mechanical brake or ratchet that prevents it from unwinding.

Besides industrial applications (e.g. in cranes), winches are used for towing cars, boats, or gliders. There are several winches on almost every boat or ship where they are used to pull anchor or mooring lines, halyards, and sheets.

The rope is usually stored on the winch, but a similar machine that does not store the rope is called a capstan. When trimming a line on a sailboat, the crew member turns the winch handle with one hand, while tailing (pulling on the loose tail end) with the other to maintain tension on the turns. Some winches have a "stripper" or cleat to maintain tension. These are known as "self-tailing" winches [1].

Winches are frequently used as elements of backstage mechanics to move scenery in large theatrical productions. Winches are often embedded in the stage floor and used to move large set pieces on and off.

History

The earliest literary reference to a winch can be found in the account of Herodotus of Halicarnassus on the Persian Wars (Histories 7.36), where he describes how wooden winches were used to tighten the cables for a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont in 480 B.C. Winches may have been employed even earlier in Assyria. By the 4th century BC, winch and pulley hoists were regarded by Aristotle as common for architectural use (Mech. 18; 853b10-13).[2]

The largest winch in the world is placed on the Balder. It is used as a Mooring Line Deployment Winch with a diameter of 10.5 meter and a SWL (Safe Working Load) of 275 MT.

Footnotes

1. ^ Mark Smith. The Annapolis Book of Seamanship. 1999 Simon & Schuster
2. ^ J. J. Coulton, “Lifting in Early Greek Architecture,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 94. (1974), pp. 1-19 (12)

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Parts of a sailing ship
Anchor Anchor windlass Beakhead Bilgeboard Boom brake Bow Capstan Centreboard Daggerboard Deck Figurehead Forecastle Gunwale Hull Jackline Keel Keel (Canting) Leeboard Mast Orlop deck Poop deck Quarter gallery Rudder Steering wheel Skeg Stern Tiller Winch
rope (IPA: /rəʊp/) is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength (i.e.
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Wire rope consists of several strands laid (or 'twisted') together like a helix. Each strand is likewise made of metal wires laid together like a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes.
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A crank is a bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.
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A gear is a component within a transmission device that transmits rotational force to another gear or device. A gear is different from a pulley in that a gear is a round wheel which has linkages ("teeth" or "cogs") that mesh with other gear teeth, allowing force to be fully
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Hydraulics is a topic of science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Hydraulics is part of the more general discipline of fluid power. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid
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Pneumatics is the use of pressurized air to effect mechanical motion. Pneumatics is employed in a variety of settings. In dentistry applications, pneumatic drills are lighter, faster, and simpler than an electric drill of the same power rating (because the prime mover, the compressor, is
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The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of fuel and an oxidizer (typically air) occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. This exothermic reaction creates gases at high temperature and pressure, which are permitted to expand.
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A Solenoid Brake is an electrically controlled brake that is used, along with a mechanical brake, to manage the load on a cargo winch. The brake is turned on and off by an electrical solenoid when the mechanical brake is off.
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In mechanical engineering a ratchet is a device used to restrict motion in one direction. This sort of behavior is useful in many areas, such as in turnstile, spanners (where rotation in confined surfaces can be achieved easily), winders, jacks, hoists and others.
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crane is a mechanical lifting device equipped with a winder, wire ropes and sheaves that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability
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Gliders or Sailplanes are heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight. See also gliding and motor gliders for more details.[1]

Terminology

A "glider" is an unpowered aircraft.
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anchor is a heavy object, often made out of metal, that is used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point. There are two primary classes of anchors—temporary and permanent.
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halyard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist (pull up) a sail, a flag or a yard.
  • A triangular (Bermuda or "Marconi") sail has only one halyard which is attached at its uppermost point (the head).

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capstan is a rotating machine used to apply force to another element, notably used on board ship and on dock walls, for heaving-in or veering ropes, cables, and hawsers.
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Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine
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Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: Ἡρόδοτος Ἁλικαρνᾱσσεύς Hērodotos Halikarnāsseus
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Ancient Mesopotamia

Euphrates Tigris
Cities / Empires
Sumer: Uruk ' Ur ' Eridu
Kish ' Lagash ' Nippur
Akkadian Empire: Akkad
Babylon ' Isin ' Susa
Assyria: Assur Nineveh
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Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.
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The DCV Balder is a Deepwater Construction Vessel operated by Heerema. It was constructed in 1978 by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. as Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel. In 2001 it was converted to DCV by Verolme Botlek BV.
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Sailing ship is now used to refer to any large, wind-powered, vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant.
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anchor is a heavy object, often made out of metal, that is used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point. There are two primary classes of anchors—temporary and permanent.
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anchor windlass is a machine that restrains and manipulates the anchor chain and/or rope on a boat, allowing the anchor to be raised and lowered. A notched wheel engages the links of the chain or the rope.
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beakhead is the protruding part of the foremost section of a sailing ship. It was fitted on sailing vessels from the 16th to the 18th century and served as a working platform by sailors working the sails of the bowsprit, the forward-pointing mast that carries the spritsails.
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A bilgeboard is a lifting foil used in a sailboat, which resembles a cross between a centerboard and a leeboard. Bilgeboards are mounted between the centerline of the boat and the sides, and are almost always asymmetric foils mounted at an angle to maximize lateral lift while
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boom brake is a device designed to control the swing of the boom on a sailboat. The boom brake acts as a preventer when sailing downwind, and can also be used to jibe the mainsail in a slow measured action.
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bow (pronounced to rhyme with how) is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow.
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capstan is a rotating machine used to apply force to another element, notably used on board ship and on dock walls, for heaving-in or veering ropes, cables, and hawsers.
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A centreboard is a retractable keel which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a centerboard trunk (US) or case. The pivoting ability allows the centreboard to be raised to operate in shallow waters, to reduce drag when the full area of the centreboard isn't
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A daggerboard is a retractable keel used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, countering the leeward push of the sail.
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A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull[1] of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary deck is the horizontal structure which forms the 'roof' for the hull, which both strengthens the hull and serves as the primary working surface.
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