Importance

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Abstract

This improved cable-scooping hook device with upper and lower portions and with a pivot pin and hubs is better able to snatch and scoop up a load cable than previous designs. Its tongs-like configuration can have a combination of magnetic hammerheads, weights on top and an extension spring to help force its lower portions, including jaws, to separate, when suspended cargo makes a touchdown onto a platform. To ensure that the load cable is snatched, a bar magnet is suspended from one or both hubs of the pivot pin. A ferrous metal load cable is attracted by the suspended magnet and held in place until the device's jaws close, as a load is lifted by the hoist cables. A person holding a long pole with a hook on its end guides the device to the load cable's location. When the hook reaches the load cable, attached to a load, the device is lowered to make contact with it, whereupon the cable is quickly snatched and scooped up, aided by the magnet's attraction. Another technique is described and illustrated for aiding a nonmagnetic cable to be snatched and scooped up.

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First Claim