Super Simple One-Way Winch Mechanism w/ Neutral Shift Option

[Lexlukener]

I am the Co-Engineering lead on Team 4265 Secret City Wildbots, and we recently developed an easy way to develop and manufacture a winching mechanism with the ability to shift into neutral position with the use of VexPro's 2-Stage BallShifters. We simply assembled the ballshifter but on the front outer-plate of the ballshifter we machined a slot just wide enough for a 3/8' ratcheting wrench and removed the gear driving the low gear shifting side and sliped in the ratcheting wrench as seen in the pictures below with a spacer to keep wrench flush and level in the shifter. I hope this helps bunches

[Ether]

Could you please take some pictures with a camera that can focus?

[GabeHaro]

Would a similar modification work well on an AndyMark Super Shifter (with dog)? We just happen to have one but we are afraid of using it for this purpose because of the force required to disengage. Would it be worth it to invest in a ball shifter (keep in mind we are tight on funds)? Would the AM shifter work with a direct piston or should we use a lever arm like Ri3D? Has anybody tried this? I just don't want to do anything to damage the gearbox.

[wilful]

Would a similar modification work well on an AndyMark Super Shifter (with dog)? We just happen to have one but we are afraid of using it for this purpose because of the force required to disengage. Would it be worth it to invest in a ball shifter (keep in mind we are tight on funds)? Would the AM shifter work with a direct piston or should we use a lever arm like Ri3D? Has anybody tried this? I just don't want to do anything to damage the gearbox.

With a large enough piston, you should be able to directly disengage the dog gear, however, I have read this takes at least a 1.5in bore piston. If you can acquire the same size ball shifter gear, and a ball shifter mechanism, you could modify your dog-shifter gearbox into a ball shifter gearbox.

If you have the resources, you might try putting a bevel into the dog gear, see if that helps at all. However, I have not done the math to see if it would work, and suggest anyone who thinks about trying this to make sure that the force on the dog does not force it out of the gear, or cause the gearbox to malfunction in other ways

[nathannfm]

Originally Posted by Ether

Could you please take some pictures with a camera that can focus?

A little hard on the first time OP don't you think?
And that's actually motion blur due to low lighting, not a focus problem. Try a flash or a tripod.

(I love the design, you might want to cut off the wrench so it just sticks out or if you can, drill a hole in it and mount it inside the housing, just don't forget about it and try driving with it next year )

[pfreivald]

Is a ratcheting wrench rated for forces that high? (Of course, "that high" depends on the rest of the design....)

[sdcantrell56]

Originally Posted by pfreivald

Is a ratcheting wrench rated for forces that high? (Of course, "that high" depends on the rest of the design....)

Assuming 2 minicim motors, the wrench is only seeing roughly 7ft-lbs of torque which seems well in the allowable range for a hand wrench.

[waialua359]

Just make sure you use a Snap-On or Craftsman wrench.
Lifetime guarantee in case it breaks. No receipt necessary.

It'll help when traveling to an outside regional where a Sears may be nearby, or a Snap-On truck can roll to your location.

We actually used a universal joint back in 2006, it broke, and then took it to Sears to get it replaced.

[gsesny]

Thanks for the update on the ball shifter. That is really awesome and helped me answer some of our questions. We have the same ball shifter and configured it to give us a neutral gear but were stumped on how to attach the ratchet since you need to have the low gear because it directly connects to the cim motors. Does not having the high gear give you enough torque. How much force can your two stage winch pull with in low gear?

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by gsesny

Thanks for the update on the ball shifter. That is really awesome and helped me answer some of our questions. We have the same ball shifter and configured it to give us a neutral gear but were stumped on how to attach the ratchet since you need to have the low gear because it directly connects to the cim motors. Does not having the high gear give you enough torque. How much force can your two stage winch pull with in low gear?

I think you mixed up high and low gear in this post. In this situation the low gear (the ratio with the larger reduction) is disabled and they are only using high gear.

[gsesny]

Sorry yes you are correct! Been a long couple of days!

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

Assuming 2 minicim motors, the wrench is only seeing roughly 7ft-lbs of torque which seems well in the allowable range for a hand wrench.

Good deal. There are a lot of ways that this could be used, and not all of them would be nice to that wrench!

[dellagd]

What output shaft are you using? It looks longer than any we've seen for the two stage model and would really like a longer shaft thats at least 2.5" long. Thanks for any help...

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by dellagd

What output shaft are you using? It looks longer than any we've seen for the two stage model and would really like a longer shaft thats at least 2.5" long. Thanks for any help...

They've removed the stock shaft option and inserted a new piece of Hex stock, sorry we do not sell this as a base option
But you can press (possibly requiring some heat) the existing shaft out and do this, just be sure to replicate the internal features of the shaft you remove.

If only I would've known it'd be a winch game.

-Aren

[RobotDoktor]

Apologies for the low quality photos, I'll post better ones when I can. We have since cut down the wrench (a Craftsman by the way), and added a milled retention plate to prevent the wrench from damaging the shifter casing.