Winch - a mechanism, the tractive effort of which is transmitted by means of a rope, chain, cable or other flexible element from the drive drum. The winch drive can be manual, electric, from an internal combustion engine. It is intended mainly for lifting cargo vertically, but sometimes it is also used to move cargo horizontally.
A conventional electric winch consists of an electric motor, gearbox, drum, frame, braking system. If necessary, some winches are combined with a chain hoist.
Depending on the version, the winches can be subdivided: by the type of traction body - into rope and chain; by the type of installation - on stationary (fixed on the floor, wall, ceiling) and mobile (on trolleys moving along the floor or along overhead tracks); by the number of drums - for one-, two- and multi-drum winches; by drum type - into rifled, smooth and frictional.
