Litigation SupportBoat WinchClient Industry: Civil LitigationResult: Settlement Introduction:Boat trailers use several different types of winches to pull the boat up onto the trailer. Most of them use a cam and pawl and posi-lock cam configuration. They are designed to fall into notches or interdental spaces on another part so as to permit motion in only one direction. This winch configuration has both positive and negative settings as well as a neutral setting. The positive setting allows the winch to pull the boat up on a trailer, whereas the negative setting allows the winch to release the boat into the water slowly. The neutral setting allows the operator to stretch out the chain and physically attach it to the boat, and also allows a tangible medium between negative and positive phases. In certain instances, particularly with defective winches, the winch does not allow the neutral position to lock into place and just switches from negative to positive positions.In one case retained by RWFE, we represented Plaintiff, who suffered injuries to his hand when subject winch was not in the positive phase, instead in the neutral. Plaintiff was not aware of the neutral phase, so when the boat was positioned in what was thought of as positive, the boat came off the trailer and Plaintiff sustained injuries to his hand and arm. The reason Plaintiff was never aware of the neutral position was because the winch had never properly locked into the neutral position, instead locking in the positive position. In this specific case, the winch did lock into the neutral position and Plaintiff subsequently sustained injuries because the weight of the boat pulled the chain out, catching Plaintiffs hand and arm. Inspection and Testing:The subject winch was taken in to our lab and the pawl and cam were inspected. It appeared that the subject winch would hardly catch in the neutral position, only every once in a while. There appeared to be a small difference between the pawl and cam, therefore this difference was corrected by placing a piece of scotch tape on the cam, which was a bit smaller. Because the pawl and cam of the winch were now in perfect alignment, the subject winch started to catch every time in the neutral position.
Opinion:To substantiate this opinion, further investigation into the manufacturing defects of previously provided winch, and two exemplar winches were conducted. Table 1 contains a summary of measurements taken from several pawls and posi-lock cams with respect to the subject winch and 2 exemplar winches (A & B). The red highlight indicates dimensions that are not within factory specifications.
Conclusion:A review of the design of the cam and pawl assembly revealed that proper function requires that the dimensions d3 and d5 be sufficiently similar such that the three-sectioned-profile of the posi-lock cam maintains contact with the guide as it slides from forward to neutral and reverse. To check the similarity of the distances each exemplar winch was dissembled and examined (See Figures). Note the gap between Cam and hole black arrow in both exemplar winches. This discrepancy prevents contact between the cam and the guide.After the investigation, it remains the opinion of RWFE that the manufacturing defects observed in the subject winch were the producing cause of the injuries sustained by the plaintiff.
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