Winch assembly for parachute jump practice balloon - has cable drum, cable drive and shock absorber unit upstream of vertical pulley

摘要

The winch assembly is intended for launching and recovering a captive balloon such as may be used in practicing parachute jumps (from nacelle). It comprises a cable drum (1) from which the cable (2) passes to the balloon via a (hydraulic) cable drive unit (21) followed by a shock absorber unit (32) and a vertical cable pulley (40). The unit (21) may comprise two cable drive pulleys driven by a common pinion shaft carrying a brake drum and connected to the hydraulic motor via a coupling. The shock absorber may comprise two cable pulleys (33,34) carried by respective yokes slidably spaced with compression springs between them. FL.