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What is a winch and how do they work

Posted on the 05 of Nov 2014

Winches are mechanical, sometimes electrically operated devices that are used to wind in or out or adjust the tension of rope, wire or cable.

A simple form would consist of a spool and an attached crank handle, in larger forms winches can be seen to be used in elevators, tow trucks to chandelier hoists

More elaborate designs can have gear assemblies allowing the winch to lift more through ratio gearing allowing the user to lift maximum loads with minimal efforts

Some winches may also include remote control handsets that wirelessly operate via remote controls

Types of winches:

Chandelier Winch

Chandeliers come in all shapes and sizes weights and designs, Once a focal point in wealthy stately homes hallway or dining room the chandelier gave a lustrous feel as the crystal’s would reflect light throughout the room throwing shapes of colour onto china silverware and hand crafted furniture

Modern technology has allowed for replicas to be designed and created to give a similar feel to one rooms as a focal piece and are smaller in size to fit in the modest of homes

Chandelier winches are a mechanical or electrically operated device that allows the chandelier to be lowered from ceiling height by hand keyswitch or remote control to enable the service and cleaning of the attached chandelier,

Chandelier winches can also be recessed into a ceiling void which would conceal the winch from view, this in turn returns the focus back onto the centre piece in the room.

Lighting Winch

Lighting winches are designed to lower and raise lighting in areas that are inaccessible; most buildings are designed with high vaulted entrances to capture an audience to an exhibition centre or theatre

The lighting winch is normally designed to be used for a certain weight range and has few options for lowering distances, most are remote controlled and can be operated also by keyswitches

Lighting rafts can also be lowered and raised using lighting winch for frontal window displays in high street shops and retail chains

Banner Winch

Advertising banners are increasingly used in hotels, shopping centres to schools and colleges promoting offers or events that are being held at certain times or seasonal promotions

Banner winches are designed to be incorporated into the banner frame or as part of the support system to lower and raise the advertising material, this allows the user to change and replace material without the need for scissor lift or scaffolding on a frequent basis

The banner winch is determined by the weight of the banner system, the total weight that would need to be suspended is a factor in choosing the correct winch, remote controlled winches provide simple and quick change solutions

CCTV Winch

CCTV winches are designed for CCTV cameras normally for external integrated systems that bolt directly into the camera infrastructure.

These winches allow for the cameras to be lowered on street junctions and intersections of busy cities and towns to enable engineers to service and replace the fully functional ‘yoke’ or internals of the cameras, these winches can also be used to cycle the cameras power in case of a system freezing or menu not operating correctly

CCTV winches can also be used internally for warehousing and distribution centres for use over conveyors or automated lines and picking robots.