| 摘要 |
<p>A descender for use when abseiling down a rope, the descender including a self acting brake mechanism (63,36), which will slow the rate of descent unless the brake is held in the release position, and a manually operated braking mechanism (95,31) which will slow the rate of descent when a handle (17) is operated. The descender has two braking surfaces (36,95) in substantially fixed locations and a pair of sheaves or projections (30,31) extending from a support member (32) which is pivotable about an axis passing through a lower one of the sheaves (30) such that a rope passing around the lower sheave (30), between the two sheaves (30,31) around the upper sheave (31) and finally between the upper sheave (31) and the first of the two braking surfaces (36), will cause the pivotable member to be pivoted to press the rope between the upper sheave (31) and the braking surface (36) when a tension is applied to the upper end of the rope (15). The descender is also provided with a handle (17) to reduce the braking force by pivoting the upper sheave (31) away from the first braking surface (36) and toward the second braking surface (95). Further movement of the handle will cause the rope to be pressed between the upper sheave (31) and the second braking surface (95) to enable manual braking of the descender. The second braking surface (95) while being in a fixed location, is pivotable to allow proper alignment with the rope passing through the descender. A retaining plate (39) is also provided, which is pivotable between a position in which the rope (15) is retained in the descender and a position in which the rope is able to be inserted into and removed from the descender.</p> |
