There’s a certain class of products – usually introduced to rock and roll touring during the 1960s – where for whatever reason, no-one can quite remember who did it first. The self-climbing / inverted chain hoist falls very much into that category – yet it revolutionized our industry, and is still very much the way shows are hung today.
 
The CM Lodestar was probably be the first to be flipped over and run upside down, perhaps able to do so because it used grease instead of oil for lubrication. 
 
Many others have followed since. This is a Verlinde Litachain, a range introduced in around 1990 in 500kg and 1000kg versions. The one shown here is cut-away, to reveal how the magic of lifting heavy objects safely over our heads, that most of us now take completely for granted, actually works!

Verlinde Litachain
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Verlinde Litachain
Click thumbnail to enlarge

Verlinde Litachain
Click thumbnail to enlarge