Docstoc feed for: Legal->Patents->Traversing Hoists

Independently Powered Trolleys - Patent 8127950

Patents-424 — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:33:10 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 16, 2012

This invention pertains to gantry cranes and, in particular, to a control system that allows for independent movement of multiple trolleys on a gantry crane.BACKGROUND Mobile gantry cranes are often required to lift loads at four or more lifting points. In these cases, the crane is supplied with a dual trolley and hook block assembly. The typical dual trolley arrangement has an unadjustable fixed distancebetween the trolleys. This can be a disadvantage if the distance between the lift points on a product to be lifted varies. For this reason, a system that allows for the multiple trolleys to be independently powered so as to allow for an adjustment ofthe distance between lift points would be an important improvement in the art.BRIEF SUMMARY Disclosed is a trolley control system for a gantry crane having a multiple trolley arrangement such as a first and second trolley. The control system includes a trolley beam connected to the gantry crane. A first drive device is connected tothe trolley beam. This first drive device is powered by a first drive system. A second drive device is also connected to the trolley beam. The second drive device can be powered by either the first drive system or the second drive system. A firsttrolley is connected to the first drive device while a second trolley is connected to the second drive device. In another embodiment, the front control system includes the trolley beam connected to the gantry crane, a first drive device, a first drive system, a second drive device, a processor and the second drive system. The first drive device isconnected to the trolley beam and is powered by the first drive system. A second drive device is also connected to the trolley beam and is powered by the second drive system. In this embodiment the first drive system includes a first motor, a firstdrive train, a first brake and a first encoder. Similarly, the second drive system includes a second motor, a second drive train, a second brake and a

Telescopic Crane Boom - Patent 8127951

Patents-424 — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:31:46 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 16, 2012

PRIORITY CLAIM This is a U.S. national stage of application No. PCT/DE2007/000785, filed on 26 Apr. 2007. Priority is claimed on the following application(s): Country: Germany, Application No.: 10 2006 023 371.9, Filed: 16 May 2006, the content of whichis/are incorporated here by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a telescopic crane boom with a tubular base box section, with at least one box section mounted in telescopic fashion inside the base box section, and with a head with deflecting pulleys on the outward-facing end of theinnermost box section.PRIOR ART The total weight of a mobile crane with telescopic boom allowed on public highways is determined by the permissible axle load (e.g., 12 tons or 12,000 kg in Germany) and the number of axles. Parts of the crane such as the counterweight and themain boom extension must often be transported separately to remain under the permissible axle loads. The length of the telescopic boom, which consists of rigid sheet metal box sections, also limits transportability and the maximum allowable weight perunit. The last inner box section, that is, the innermost section of the boom, carries at its forward end a head with a set of pulleys to reeve the lifting cable, to reverse the direction of the lifting cable (feed pulley), and possibly to serve aspoints of attachment for a main boom extension and to accommodate bracing for the boom. The head is inserted into the interior of the box section, and the steel components and accessory parts of the head block it off for the most part and cannot beremoved except by completely disassembling the inner box section. If it is desired to extend the length of the telescopic boom by adding more inner box sections, these additional sections must be transported separately and installed at the construction site. For this purpose, the box section with the head,which has been innermost section up to now, must be removed first. Then, a box section without a head

Crane Backstay Spreader - Patent 8127949

Patents-424 — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:31:05 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 16, 2012

BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a backstay spreader used on a crane, such as mobile lifting crane, and particularly a backstay spreader that can have its length adjusted after being interconnected between a pair of backstay straps. Lift cranes typically include a carbody; ground engaging members elevating the carbody off the ground; a rotating bed rotatably connected to the carbody such that the rotating bed can swing with respect to the ground engaging members; and a boompivotally mounted on the rotating bed, with a load hoist line extending there from. For mobile lift cranes, there are different types of moveable ground engaging members, most notably tires for truck mounted cranes, and crawlers. Typically mobile liftcranes include a counterweight to help balance the crane when the crane lifts a load. Since the crane will be used in various locations, it needs to be designed so that it can be transported from one job site to the next. This usually requires that the crane be dismantled into components that are of a size and weight that theycan be transported by truck within highway transportation limits. The ease with which the crane can be dismantled and set up has an impact on the total cost of using the crane. Thus, to the extent that fewer man-hours are needed to set up the crane,there is a direct advantage to the crane owner or renter. When the crane needs to work on particularly high buildings or structures, or in restricted spaces, a jib may be mounted at the top of the boom to provide required reach. This could be a fixed jib or a luffing jib. When a jib is employed, oneor more jib struts are connected to the top of the boom or bottom of the jib. These struts support the jib rigging and provide a moment arm about which force can be applied to support a load being lifted by the jib. When a luffing jib is used,frequently two struts will be used, and the angle between the struts will be controlled by jib hoist rigging. Changing the angle b

Jib Crane - Patent 8141725

Patents-424 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:13:04 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

The present invention relates to a jib crane for use in transportation of a heavy burden.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Some jib cranes are arranged, for example, in shipbuilding yards for use in transportation of heavy burdens. This kind of jib crane comprises an upper revolving table and a jib protruding from the revolving table (see, for example, PatentLiterature 1 showing a climbing crane as jib crane). The jib has a base end pivoted on the revolving table and may be derricked through lead-in or pull-out of derricking wire ropes. A hanger such as a hook is suspended from a tip of the jib viahoisting wire ropes and a work of lifting and landing a burden hooked to the hanger, i.e., a burden handling work is carried out by reeling and unreeling the hoisting wire rope. [Patent Literature 1] JP2001-130870ASUMMARY OF INVENTIONTechnical Problems During the burden handling work, load of the burden is applied through the hoisting wire ropes to the jib which is then inevitably bent by the load. Thus, lift-off of the burden causes the tip of the jib to tilt forward due to the bending ofthe jib or other structure. When the jib is held at a predetermined upward derricking angle to the horizontal, such forward tilting causes a position of the hanged burden after the lift-off of the burden to be displaced forward of the jib relative to aplumb line of the burden in its lift-off position. Contrary, when the burden is landed, the load applied to the jib is released to release the bending of the jib so that the tip of the jib is flipped up to its original position. As a result, the burden on its landed position is dragged towardthe base end of the jib through the hoisting wire rope and the hanger as the tip of the jib is flipped up. The above-mentioned positional displacement of the hanged burden and dragging of the burden greatly and adversely affect on centering of a heavy burden during positioning of the burden mainly in a shipbuilding yard or the like, which may notonly b

Boom Slewing Actuator System - Patent 8123053

Patents-424 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:48:08 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The present invention relates to a slewing actuator system for use with a boom, particularly for use in unloading cargo materials from a ship.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Booms for loading and unloading materials, whether on land or ship decks, are known, and typically are secured to a fixed supporting point and rotatable around at least a part of a circle. Such booms when intended for use secured to the deck of a ship, for use in unloading materials contained on the ship, are typically rotated (slewed) around a point on the deck. This rotating motion of the boom has been traditionally achieved byslewing actuators, with the boom structure typically being connected to the slewing actuator by trunnion pins. Typically, such a structure will slew from 90 degrees to 120 degrees in either direction to discharge material to another ship or on shore. Such range of motion generally relates to restrictions based on the space available on the ship deck, and not by any operational limits. Similar ground-surface based arrangements are also used for cargo movement. A conventional slewing actuator typically comprises a hydraulically actuated rack and pinion arrangement. In such an arrangement, hydraulically actuated steel racks move back and forth to effect rotation about the rotatable pinion, which causethe boom to move. The total length of the rack governs the amount of rotation and, typically, these arrangements can take up a large amount of space in order to operate. On some ships, and other loading and unloading locations, there may be a smallclearance envelope available in which such an arrangement can be positioned, and this can limit the rotational range of the boom to, for example, 90 degrees in some situations, which may not be sufficient for unloading operations. There are other problems inherent in such slewing actuator arrangements. Firstly, slewing actuators are typically manufactured and shipped as integral units, and are not disassembled for shipping from th

Method For Lifting Of Components Of Wind Energy Installations - Patent 8113362

Patents-424 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:51:51 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

STATEMENT OF RELATEDAPPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(a)-(d) or (f), or 365(b) of German Patent Application No. DE 10 2008 047 341.3 having a filing date of 15 Sep. 2008, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by thisreference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for lifting of components of a wind energy installation to the installation height. 2. Prior Art It is known that the dimensions of modern wind energy installations are becoming ever larger. Some wind energy installations are being installed with hub heights of well over a hundred metres. These dimensions result in various difficulties. One particular problem is that the individual components of the wind energy installation, for example the generator, must be lifted to the required installation height when the installation is being installed. It is known for heavy-lift cranesor large cranes to be used for this purpose, whose jibs have a considerable length and are designed for considerable forces. The costs which are incurred for the use of such cranes are immense. It is also known for a lifting device to be installed in the area of the tower head of the wind energy installation, in particular on the machine support. This in general has a winch, onto which a hoisting cable is wound. This hoisting cableis let out downwards until it is close to the ground, when required. There, components to be lifted are connected to the cable, and are then lifted up by winding the cable onto the winch. However, the maximum lifting height of these lifting devices is in general not sufficient to lift large components, which must be positioned adjacent to or on the machine support of the wind energy installation, for example the installationgenerator, to the required installation height. This is because the lifting height of a lifting device such as this is generally limited or defined by deflection rollers over

Adjusting Mechanism For A Winch - Patent 8113363

Patents-424 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:51:16 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

(1) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an arrangement with a winch, which is provided preferably for hoisting loads, and an adjusting mechanism for the winch, wherein the winch when being assembled on a crane arm can be moved to a limited extentbetween a working position and a transport position by way of the adjusting mechanism, wherein the adjusting mechanism comprises at least one linear drive. The invention further relates to a crane arm, in particular for vehicles, with an arrangement of the type to be described and also, in addition, to a crane with a crane pillar and with at least one crane arm which is mounted so as to be movablerelative to the crane pillar. (2) Description of Related Art An arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset is used, for example, in connection with transport vehicles so as to move the winch, when not in use, into a position in which it assumes, with the other components of a loading crane, aposition which is as compact as possible. In this way, the overall height of the vehicle can be reduced in order to form, for example during travel, as little air resistance as possible or in order to be able to maneuver the vehicle more easily--inparticular within buildings. Mounting of the winch on a crane arm of a transport vehicle with limited movability between a transport and a working position is in principle already known; nevertheless, the adjusting mechanism for moving the winch is inthis case provided in a relatively complex manner. The object of the present invention is therefore to disclose an improved adjusting mechanism for moving the winch between the working and transport position, allowing complex design components to be substantially dispensed with.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, in an advantageous embodiment, this is achieved in that the linear drive interacts with a lever apparatus in order to adjust the winch, wherein the lever apparatus comprises at least one knee leve

Gantry Positioning System - Patent 8109395

Patents-424 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:40:15 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The invention relates to a movable gantry system on which a device is mountable for performing an operation within a work area, and in particular to a system for precisely controlling a position of the movable gantry.BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART Gantry systems can be widely used for a range of applications, from assembly and electronic manufacturing, to vision systems and industrial automation. In semiconductor assembly and packaging, positioning systems using gantries are useful wherea work space spans a predefined area and it is necessary to position a device accurately at various positions within the area. References herein to gantry systems are to be understood as including multi-axis positioning systems whereby a device is required to be accurately positioned in a two dimensional plane or a three dimensional space. In a typical two dimensionalarrangement, the device is supported by a carriage which is movable back and forth in a first direction along a gantry beam. The gantry beam is movable back and forth in a second direction which is typically perpendicular to the first direction. Thegantry beam is typically supported at both ends by a pair of carriages. If movement in three dimensions is required, the device is movably supported on the carriage so that the device is moveable in a third direction which is typically perpendicular toboth the first and second directions. The three directions are typically orthogonal XYZ axes. Travel distance, speed, acceleration, accuracy of placement and reliability are relevant factors for consideration in the design of gantry systems. Accuracy of placement and repeatability are especially critical for demanding applications wherea tool or device must be positioned accurately with only a small margin for error. Conventionally, gantry systems utilized ball screw-based mechanisms and AC servomotors for driving the gantry. However, ball screws have inherent drawbacks such asrelatively slow speed and lower precision. More r

Portable Crane System For Wind Turbine Components - Patent 8104631

Patents-424 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:55:11 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The present disclosure is directed to crane assemblies and methods for servicing and installing wind turbines and components thereof.BACKGROUND Recently, wind turbines have received increased attention as environmentally safe and relatively inexpensive alternative energy sources. With this growing interest, considerable efforts have been made to develop wind turbines that are reliableand efficient. Generally, a wind turbine includes a rotor having multiple blades. The rotor is mounted to a housing or nacelle, which is positioned on top of a truss or tubular tower. Utility grade wind turbines (i.e., wind turbines designed to provideelectrical power to a utility grid) can have large rotors (e.g., 30 or more meters in length). In addition, the wind turbines are typically mounted on towers that are at least 60 meters in height. Blades on these rotors transform wind energy into arotational torque or force that drives one or more generators that may be rotationally coupled to the rotor through a gearbox. The gearbox steps up the inherently low rotational speed of the turbine rotor for the generator to efficiently convertmechanical energy to electrical energy, which is fed into a utility grid. In order to provide the efficient conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy, the wind turbine utilizes a variety of wind turbine components that are too heavy and/orawkward to manually carry, such as shafts, gearing components, pitch drives, generator components and other components within the wind turbine. Components in the wind turbine typically have to be installed, serviced or replaced using mobile land-based cranes and/or manually carrying components to remove and/or replace components. Wind turbine components may be huge or awkward tohandle, precluding manual transportation of the components. Further, wind turbines may be installed on uneven terrain and/or on very high towers (e.g., towers that are at least 60 meters in height) that are inaccessible to mobi

Device For Placing A Tower Crane In Weathervaning Mode - Patent 8074816

Patents-424 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:12:31 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates, in a general manner, to the technical field of tower cranes. More particularly, this invention relates to the mechanism for slewing the rotating part of a tower crane, and more precisely still to the device forplacing the tower crane in weathervaning mode, which device is associated with the slewing mechanism and which, in the case of the present invention, is aimed at facilitating the weathervaning of the crane in a disturbed wind.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART A tower crane is conventionally composed of two main parts, firstly a nonrotating vertical pylon, also designated as "mast", and secondly a rotating upper part, that is to say capable of slewing about a vertical axis of rotation. The rotatingupper part, mounted at the top of the mast, is itself composed of a jib, which extends on one side of the vertical axis of rotation of this rotating part, and of a counterjib which is equipped with a ballast and which extends on the other side of thevertical axis of rotation, thus on the opposite side to the jib. The rotating part is rotated about this vertical axis by means of a motor-driven assembly, designated here as slewing mechanism. In order to mount the rotating part at the top of the mast of a tower crane, there is usually provided a slewing ring bearing which is interposed between the jib and the counterjib of the rotating part, said bearing being composed of twoconcentric rings, with one fixed ring connected to the top of the mast and with a movable ring secured to the rotating part, and balls or cylindrical rollers are mounted in a rolling manner between said rings. In order to rotate the rotating part thus mounted, the slewing mechanism usually comprises at least one electric geared motor unit secured to this rotating part, the geared motor unit rotationally driving a pinion of vertical axis which isengaged with a toothed wheel cut into the fixed ring of the slewing ring bearing. Depending on the mechani

Apparatus And Method For Assembling Wind Turbines - Patent 8070000

Patents-424 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:58:32 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The invention relates generally to improved apparatus and methods for assembling wind turbines and, more particularly, to a crane having improved features that provide enhanced control of wind turbine components during assembly thereof.BACKGROUND Wind turbines for converting wind energy to electrical power have been known and applied for many years, but have found a dramatically increased application as an alternative energy source during the last couple of decades. With this renewedinterest in wind power, wind turbine designs have seen significant advancements that, in turn, have allowed wind turbines to significantly increase in size and weight. By way of example, modern wind turbines may have rotors approaching 100 to 150 metersin diameter. Additionally, the weight of, for example, three wind turbine blades may be as high as 40 to 50 tons. Consequently, the assembly of wind turbines has presented some challenges for manufacturers. These challenges are not only due to theincreased size and weight of the wind turbine components, but also due to shifting from traditional mounting locations to more extreme, difficult-to-access areas, such as mountainous areas and offshore sites. One conventional technique for assembling a wind turbine includes transporting the different components to the construction site; assembling the tower sections that collectively form the tower; lifting the nacelle with a crane and mounting thenacelle on top of the tower; assembling the wind turbine rotor on the ground; and lifting the wind turbine rotor with the crane and mounting the rotor to the low-speed shaft extending from the nacelle. Depending on the particular size of the windturbine, particular location, or other factors, the assembly process may be suitably modified. For example, the rotor hub may be coupled to the nacelle prior to mounting the nacelle on the tower, and the blades individually lifted with the crane andmounted to the hub. Those of ordinary skill in the art m

Crane Control, Crane And Method - Patent 8025167

Patents-424 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:23:32 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 05, 2011

The present invention relates to a crane control of a crane which includes at least one cable for lifting a load. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a further configuration of the crane control of a crane which includes at least onefirst and one second strand of cables for lifting a load. The crane control drives the positioners of the crane. In particular, the crane is a boom crane which has a boom to be swivelled about a horizontal axis, which is hinged to a tower rotatableabout a vertical axis. For this purpose, a luffing gear and a slewing gear are provided as positioners. The cable for lifting the load runs over the tip of the boom, in particular over one or more deflection pulleys arranged there, so that the load canbe moved in tangential direction by slewing the tower and in radial direction by luffing up the boom. In the embodiment of the invention with at least one first and one second strand of cables, both strands of cables extend from the tip of the boom to asuspension element such as a hook. The length of the cable can be adjusted by a corresponding drive, in order to move the load in vertical direction. In particular, the crane control of the invention generally relates to rotary cranes as well as mobileharbour cranes, ship cranes, off-shore cranes, truck cranes and crawler cranes. From DE 100 64 182 and DE 103 24 692, whose entire contents form part of the present application, crane controls are known, whose control and automation concepts prevent the pendular movement of the load on the cable during a movement of thecrane. From DE 100 29 579 and DE 10 2006 033 277, whose contents likewise form part of the present application, there are furthermore known crane controls which prevent a rotary oscillation of the load on the cable. In the above-mentioned crane controls, gyroscope units are used for determining the load oscillation, which are arranged in the hook of the crane and determine the angular velocity of the cable. The cable

Articulated Jib - Patent 8006850

Patents-424 — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:55:28 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, October 02, 2011

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to jibs and, in particular, to a simplified, articulated camera jib with improved balance and stability. 2. Description of the Related Art It is known to provide articulated camera jibs that allow movement about three distinct horizontal axes. Examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,705 issued on Jul. 23, 1991 to Reagan and U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,963 issued on Mar. 9,1993 to Hill. These jibs allow a camera to be moved without requiring movement of a base which supports the jib. However, these jibs typically use timing belts or chain drives to ensure synchronization of all the various elements in order to providebalance and stability. The timing belts or chain drives add undesired structure and weight to the jib. To overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of timing belts and chain drives, some articulated camera jibs use linking rods to ensure synchronization of all the various elements. An example of such a jib is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,531,412 issued on Jul. 2, 1996 to Ho. However, the jib disclosed by Ho has a complex structure including four interdependent "four-linking mechanisms". Each of the "four-linking mechanisms" comprises two pairs of parallel linking bars. There isaccordingly a need for a simplified, articulate jib with improved balance and stability.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a simplified, articulated jib with improved balance and stability. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved articulated jib in which each jib arm isindependently counterbalanced. Accordingly, there is provided an articulated jib for moving a load. The jib is supported on a base and comprises a first jib arm pivotably connected to the base. The first jib arm functions as a bascule and is pivotable about a first axis. There is a first counterweight disposed on the first jib arm. A second jib arm is pivotably

Trunnion Transportation System And Crane Using Same - Patent 7997432

Patents-424 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:08:24 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 01, 2011

BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a mobile lifting crane that uses crawlers mounted on a carbody through a trunnion. The invention provides a way of easily installing the trunnion and connecting the crawler to the carbody when the crane is setup at a new job site. Mobile lift cranes typically include a carbody having moveable ground engaging members; a rotating bed rotatably connected to the carbody such that the rotating bed can swing with respect to the ground engaging members; a boom pivotally mountedon a front portion of the rotating bed, with a load hoist line extending there from, and counterweight to help balance the crane when the crane lifts a load. There are different types of ground engaging members, most notably tires for truck mountedcranes, and crawlers. The crawlers typically have a frame, at least one drive tumbler supported on the frame; and a track made of a plurality of connected track shoes wrapped around the frame and engaging the drive tumbler so that a plurality of theshoes are in contact with the drive tumbler. Many cranes have two crawlers, one on each side of the carbody. However, there are some cranes that have four crawlers, two on each side of the carbody. Because a mobile left crane is often used on uneven ground surfaces, there is a benefit for a crane having four crawlers to have each crawler mounted to the carbody in a manner that the crawler frame can pivot about a horizontal axis throughwhich it is connected to the carbody. With such a pivoting movement, as the crane travels over uneven ground, the crawler can rotate with respect to the carbody as needed to best distribute the weight of the crane and any load being lifted. One methodof mounting the crawlers to the carbody so that they can pivot is to use a trunnion. An example of a crane with four trunnion mounted crawlers is a Bucyrus Erie Model 300D dragline. Since a crane will often be used in various locations, it needs to be designed so that it can be transpo

Device For Suspending A Travel Rail Of An Overhead Conveyor Or A Hoisting Machine - Patent 7997433

Patents-424 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:06:42 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 01, 2011

The invention pertains to a device forsuspending a rail, and particularly to a device for suspending a travel rail of an overhead conveyor or a hoisting machine.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION From the prospectus (March 2000 edition) entitled "Crane Construction Kit KBK classic and KBK ergo" of the firm Demag Cranes & Components GmbH, Wetter, Germany, there is known a crane construction kit system with C-shaped and I-shaped railswhich are open at the bottom, by which one can implement different kinds of constructions, such as monorail telphers, single and double-beam overhead cranes. In each case, the rails are suspended from support structures, other rails, or traversing gearswhich run into other rails. These suspension systems consist essentially of a rod-like tension element, suspended from the aforesaid support structures, other rails or traversing gears, having at the lower end a steel ball head, which engages with amating ball cup with plastic slide shells. The ball cup is fastened by a fixing device to the rail being suspended. This ball and socket bearing of the suspension system ensures that the rails align themselves and thus come into a state of equilibrium,i.e., no significant bending load occurs in the tension element. In a suspension system of C-shaped rails open at the bottom, with a web broadening out toward the top and arranged at the top side of the rail, preferably a Y-shaped or T-shaped web, the fixing device includes two identical fixing parts. Thesefixing parts are formed as sheet metal parts such that, after being fitted together and held by screws, the broadening web of the rail is clamped in the lower region and the ball cup is accommodated in the upper region, while the tension element ispassed through an opening. This type of suspension system has been popular for many years and may be easily installed on any given portion of a rail, since the fixing parts are fitted together and tightened together by the screws to clamp against the rail

Truck Rack And Loading/unloading System - Patent 7992732

Patents-424 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:25:03 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, September 30, 2011

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for transporting, manipulating and loading/unloading materials and equipment. Currently, there are numerous truck rack, loading and/or unloading devices, methods and technologies in the market. Many of these, while effective, have limited utility in that they may not optimize ease of loading and/or loading, and they maybe used to transport only materials of substantial length. Additionally, such technologies may be cumbersome to use, unsightly, and inhibit access to the truck bed. There are also numerous truck bed ramp technologies available for loading and unloading wheeled equipment, such as for example, vehicles, tools, machinery, equipment, and the like. Loading such heavy items in this manner, however, is strenuousand involves a substantial likelihood of serious injury to an operator. Furthermore, such ramps require storage which may be impractical if a truck bed is near its storage capacity. Lastly, there are available lift arm technologies which may be mounted in a truck bed, for example, in a corner thereof, to load and unload heavy items. Such technologies suffer from several drawbacks including their unsightly appearance anddifficulty of installation. Additionally, such technologies are limited to the function of lifting and placing loads in a limited range of positions in a truck bed. Thus, there is a need in the art for a multi-use apparatus which may facilitate the loading/unloading of materials and equipment as well as function as a rack for transporting materials of varied length and which overcomes the deficiencies ofthe existing technologies.SUMMARY In one embodiment, the present invention provides a multi-use truck bed apparatus, comprising a first rack assembly, a second rack assembly, a base assembly coupled to the truck, wherein the first rack assembly and second rack assembly arecoupled to the base assembly, and a lifting mechanism, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises

Semiconductor Automation Buffer Storage Identification System And Method - Patent 7992734

Patents-424 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:24:53 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, September 30, 2011

FIELD OF THEINVENTION The invention generally relates to a system and method for reading substrate carriers, and/or wafers arranged therein, arranged in a buffer storage of a semiconductor manufacturing environment or facility using an overhead transport vehicle.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Semiconductor manufacturing facilities typically utilize a number of buffer storage areas, a number of bays that includes processing tools, an overhead track system, and a number of overhead traveling vehicles or transporters (OHTs). The bufferstorage areas store substrate carriers which are also known as front opening unified pods (FOUPs), standard mechanical interface (SMIF) pods, and cassettes. It is also known to utilize overhead buffer storage systems (aka zero footprint storage) in semiconductor manufacturing facilities. These overhead storage systems are typically suspended from a ceiling in a manner similar to the track system. An OHT can access the overhead buffer storage system via the track and functions to transfer the substrate carriers between, among other locations, the processing tools and the overhead buffer storage system. However, it sometimes occurs that the control system of the semiconductor manufacturing facility is rendered blind as to the specific location of each substrate carrier. This can occur when the data provided to the control system is lost orcorrupted. When this occurs, the OHTs must go out to the areas where the substrate carriers are stored, retrieve each substrate carrier, and deliver it to a data collection area (i.e., one of the floor storage buffer locations or one of the processingtools). These data collection locations have RFID readers which can read the RFID tags of the substrate carriers. This process is very time consuming and represents time that the facility is not processing wafers, which is, of course, very costly. For example, in a facility having 206 buffer storage locations in three different bays or in a facility havinga

Assist System Configured For Moving A Mass - Patent 7992733

Patents-424 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:24:11 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, September 30, 2011

The present invention relates to an assist system that is configured for moving a mass in a vertical direction.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Overhead bridge cranes are widely used to lift and relocate large payloads. Generally, the displacement in a pick and place operation involves three translational degrees of freedom and a rotational degree of freedom along a vertical axis. This set of motions, referred to as a Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm ("SCARA") motions or "Schonflies" motions, is widely used in industry. A bridge crane allows motions along two horizontal axes. With appropriate joints, it is possible to adda vertical axis of translation and a vertical axis of rotation. A first motion along a horizontal axis is obtained by moving a bridge on fixed rails while the motion along the second horizontal axis is obtained by moving a trolley along the bridge,perpendicularly to the direction of the fixed rails. The translation along the vertical axis is obtained using a vertical sliding joint or by the use of a belt. The rotation along the vertical axis is obtained using a rotational pivot with a verticalaxis. There are partially motorized versions of overhead bridge cranes that are displaced manually along horizontal axes and rotated manually along the vertical axis by a human operator, but that include a motorized hoist in order to cope with gravityalong the vertical direction. Also, some bridge cranes are displaced manually along all of the axes, but the weight of the payload is compensated for by a balancing device in order to ease the task of the operator. Such bridge cranes are sometimesreferred to as assist devices. Balancing is often achieved by pressurized air systems. These systems need compressed air in order to maintain pressure or vacuum--depending on the principle used--which requires significant power. Also, because of thefriction in the cylinders, the displacement is not very smooth and can even be bouncy. Balancing can be achieve

Radio Remote Control Device For A Working Machine - Patent 7980402

Patents-424 — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:30:38 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a 35 U.S.C. 371 National Phase Entry Application from PCT/EP2006/009692, filed Oct. 6, 2006, which claims the benefit of German patent application Ser. No. 10/2005 048 386.0 filed on Oct. 10, 2005, the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The invention relates to a radio remote control unit for an operating device, having a radio transmitter for transmitting control command signals for the operating device and having a radio reception unit assigned to the operating device forreceiving control command signals of the radio transmitter and for converting the control command signals into control signals for controlling operating functions of the operating device. It is known that such radio remote control units may be used with hauling gear and hoisting gear, in particular with cranes, to control their operating movements. The operator of a crane therefore carries the portable radio transmitter with himand can issue control commands to the radio transmitter, these commands then being converted into control command signals by the radio transmitter. The control command signals sent by the radio transmitter are received by the radio reception unit of thecrane and converted into control signals for controlling the operating functions of the crane. These operating functions may include, for example, rotation of the crane on a rotary tower crane, including movements of the traveling crab in the case of acrane with a traveling crab jib and hoisting gear functions. To specify the control command signals, the radio transmitters are equipped with operating elements such as buttons, joystick levers, etc. It is already known that such a radio transmitter may be equipped with an emergency cutout operatingelement. In the case of radio remote control of a crane, a radio message can be sent by operating the emergency cutout operating element on the radio transmitter, which message is t

Mobile Lift Crane With Variable Position Counterweight - PDF

Patents-424 — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:14:44 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, June 29, 2011

BACKGROUND The present application relates to lift cranes, and particularly to mobile lift cranes having a counterweight that can be moved to different positions in an effort to balance a load on the crane. Lift cranes typically include counterweights to help balance the crane when the crane lifts a load. Sometimes the counterweight on the rear of the crane is so large that the carbody is also equipped with counterweight to prevent backwardtipping when no load is being lifted. Further, an extra counterweight attachment, such as a counterweight trailer, is sometimes added to the crane to further enhance the lift capacities of the mobile lift crane. Since the load is often moved in and outwith respect to the center of rotation of the crane, and thus generates different moments throughout a crane pick, move and set operation, it is advantageous if the counterweight, including any extra counterweight attachments, can also be moved forwardand backward with respect to the center of rotation of the crane. In this way a smaller amount of counterweight can be utilized than would be necessary if the counterweight had to be kept at a fixed distance. Since the crane needs to be mobile, any extra counterweight attachments also need to be mobile. However, when there is no load on the hook, it is customary to support these extra counterweights on the ground apart from the main crane; otherwisethey would generate such a moment that the crane would tip backward. Thus, if the crane needs to move without a load on the hook, the extra counterweight attachment also has to be able to travel over the ground. This means that the ground has to beprepared and cleared, and often timbers put in place, for swing or travel of the extra counterweight unit. A typical example of the forgoing is a Terex Demag CC8800 crane with a Superlift attachment. This crane includes 100 metric tonne of carbody counterweight, 280 metric tonne of crane counterweight, and 640 metric tonne on an extra counte

Connection System For Crane Boom Segments - Patent 7954657

Patents-424 — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:14:16 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The present invention relates to lift cranes, and more particularly to connection systems for aligning sectional boom members for cranes and the like. Large capacity lift cranes typically have elongate load supporting boom structures comprised of sectional boom members secured in end-to-end abutting relationship. Predominantly, each of the sectional boom members is made of a plurality ofchords and lacing or lattice elements. The terminal end portions of each chord are generally provided with connectors of one form or another to secure abutting boom segments together and to carry compressive loads between abutting chords. Typicalconnectors comprise male and female lugs secured by a pin carrying compressive loads in double shear. An example 220 foot boom may be made of a 40 foot boom butt pivotally mounted to the crane upper works, a 30 foot boom top equipped with sheaves and rigging for lifting and supporting loads, with five sectional boom members in between: one 10feet in length, one 20 feet in length and three 40 feet in length. Such an example boom has six boom segment connections. Typically each segment has four chords, and hence four connectors, making a total of 24 connectors that must be aligned and pinnedto assemble the boom. Large capacity cranes require very large boom cross sections. As a result, even when the boom segments are laying flat on the ground, the pin connectors between the top chords are typically eight feet or higher off the ground. The riggingpersonnel must either move a step ladder to each pin location or stand and walk along the top of the boom to reach the top connectors. A 40 foot long sectional boom member may weight over 5,000 lbs. Thus, an assist crane is required to lift the boom member. One rigger usually then holds the suspended boom segment in general alignment while a second rigger uses a large hammer(10 or 15 lbs.) to manually drive the pin, which typically has a long taper, into position. The pins connecting the boom

Procedure For Descent Of Equipment To Bottom Of Sea - Patent 7954658

Patents-424 — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:13:41 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of Brazilian Patent Application Ser. No. PI 0800140-5 filed Feb. 1, 2008.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention refers to a procedure to permit descent to the sea bottom of equipment used in oil exploration in submarine oil fields, especially descent of equipment of large size and mass in deep water fields, with utilization ofconventional tug boats, rendering unnecessary contracting of special vessels for this purpose.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Usually, descending equipment of large size and mass, such as manifolds, to the sea bottom in submarine oil extraction fields, especially in deep water fields, requires utilization of special vessels, provided with heavy duty cranes, verticalmovement compensators (the so-called heave compensator) and/or other facilities. Such vessels, in addition of having a very high lease cost, are not always promptly available for contracting at the occasion they are needed, which may result indifficulties for the continuity of oil extracting operations. Consequently, one of the concerns of companies engaged in oil exploration in submarine fields consists in looking for solutions, eliminating, as much as possible, the requirement for using such special vessels.RELATED ART In the submarine oilfield exploration, one of the activities where the use of special vessels is mostly required, involves transportation and descent to the sea bottom of equipment of large size and mass. This activity involves four phases: (a)loading equipment aboard vessel; (b) transportation to site; (c) removal of equipment from vessel and positioning for descent to sea bottom; (d) descent of equipment to sea bottom. Phase one offers no problems, since the equipment is in harbor or yard, where it was manufactured. These sites normally have cranes and other facilities to place the equipment aboard the vessel which will take them to the oil exploration site. Phase two also offers no larger difficulties

Powered Auxiliary Hoist Mechanism - Patent 7926671

Patents-424 — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:34:23 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, May 21, 2011

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH ORDEVELOPMENT N/ATECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to load lifting mechanisms used on cranes and, more particularly, to certain hoist features for a gantry crane.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Industrial cranes, such as gantry cranes, are used for lifting and transporting large cargo containers and other loads to and from railroad cars, truck trailers and other locations, as well as for lifting and transporting boats. The gantrycrane typically has a gantry structure comprising a series of connected beams that span over a large item to be lifted. Each beam of a gantry crane supports a main hoist and an auxiliary hoist. Both the main hoist and the auxiliary hoist are coupled to the beam by a trolley assembly for effecting lateral movement of the hoist along the beam. Precise positioningof the hoists is important in many lifting applications. The gantry crane can be configured or utilized in a panel turner application wherein a lift assembly is operably attached to the gantry structure and is designed to lift and manipulate, for example, large prestressed concrete slabs or panelsthat may weigh many tons apiece. While panel turners for gantry cranes according to the prior art provide a number of advantageous features, they nevertheless have certain limitations. The present invention is provided to overcome certain of these limitations and other drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior cranes or panel turners. A full discussion of the features andadvantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides improved features for a lifting mechanism utilized in a crane. Specifically, according to a preferred aspect of the invention, the improved features are applicable for use with a panel turner for a gantry crane. According to one as

Truck Mounted Telescopic Boom Structure Including A Stowable Jib Boom With A Stowable Personnel Basket - Patent 7926670

Patents-424 — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:33:17 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, May 21, 2011

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a truck having a telescoping boom structure mounted thereon. More particularly, this invention relates to a stowable jib boom for the boom structure with the jib boom having a personnel basket, bucket or platformmounted thereon. Even more particularly, this invention relates to a unique mounting system for mounting the personnel basket on the jib boom which enables the personnel basket to be stowed on the truck deck or bed adjacent the jib boom withoutdisconnecting the personnel basket from the jib boom, when the jib boom and the boom structure are in their stowed positions. 2. Description of the Related Art Truck mounted telescopic boom structures or cranes frequently have a jib boom mounted on the outer end of the innermost boom section to enable the boom structure to perform tasks which would not be possible without the jib boom. The jib boomsof the prior art are usually pivotally mounted to the outer end of the innermost boom section so that the jib boom may be pivotally moved between an operative extended position to an inoperative stowed position adjacent one side of the boom structure. Apersonnel basket, bucket, work platform, etc. is frequently mounted on the outer end of the jib boom. However, if the personnel basket is not disconnected from the jib boom when the jib boom and the boom structure are in their stowed positions, thepersonnel basket will protrude laterally from the side of the truck and will cause the truck to be "over width." To avoid the "over width" problem, the personnel basket is usually disconnected from the jib boom and stowed on the truck deck or bed or evenplaced on a trailer or the like. When it is desired to again connect the personnel basket to the jib boom, the boom structure must be extended with the jib boom then being pivoted to its operative position. The personnel basket, which may weigh 200-300pounds, must then be moved to where the outer end of the jib boom is posi

Common Pipelayer Frame For Multiple Machine Configurations - Patent 7669724

Patents-424 — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:47:02 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, May 03, 2011

This disclosure is directed to a pipelayer frame and, more particularly, to a common pipelayer frame that may be used for multiple machine configurations.BACKGROUNDPipelayers are track-type work machines used in pipelaying operations, in which the pipelayer raises, lowers, and carries heavy pipes. In order to reduce the cost of producing pipelayers, standard bulldozer tractors are often converted intopipelayers. This conversion is accomplished by the installation of a pipelayer frame onto the standard bulldozer. The pipelayer frame typically includes a boom frame attached to one side of the bulldozer chassis and a counterweight frame attached to anopposing side of the chassis. With the boom and counterweight frames attached, the bulldozer effectively becomes a pipelayer.Problems with converting bulldozers to pipelayers have arisen, particularly in relation to machines with varying configurations. That is, bulldozers can be configured with narrow configurations to minimize shipping widths or with wideconfigurations to minimize pressure exerted by the bulldozer on the ground. Problems occur in quickly and easily adjusting pipelayer frames to accommodate these various configurations. Service technicians require much time and effort, as well asnumerous replacement parts, to change a pipelayer from a narrow configuration to a wide configuration.One attempted solution to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0245888 A1 (the '888 publication) issued to Dietz et al. on Nov. 2, 2006. The '888 publication discloses a bulldozer fitted with a pipelayer frame, wherethe pipelayer frame comprises a first sub-frame attached to a first side of the bulldozer chassis, a second sub-frame attached to a second side of the chassis, and a cross-bar interconnecting the first and second subframes and being unattached to thechassis. The cross-bar of the '888 publication can be twisted in one direction to extend the length of the cross-bar, or in the other di

Friction Modifier Applicator System For Traveling Cranes - Patent 7694833

Patents-424 — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:08:26 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 29, 2011

This invention generally relates to traveling cranes. More particularly, this invention relates to systems for reducing friction during movement of a traveling crane along rails.Portal cranes are used extensively in ports to load and unload ships and submarines. These cranes generally have a high load lifting capacity and therefore utilize double flange steel wheel trucks on heavy weight steel rails. The rails have awide gage (up to 40 ft. or more). Depending on the load lifting capacity, portal cranes have a large number (8 to 16 or more) of two wheel trucks. One-half to one-third of the wheels are powered. Drive motors are generally located on the truck.FIGS. 1A and 1B show a typical diagram of a modern portal crane 1 used by the U.S. Navy. A superstructure of several levels, which levels include a rotating upper works 10 connected to a system of booms, pulleys, hook hoists, steel ropes, etc.collectively designated at 15, which enables the crane 1 to pick up or lower heavy loads. The particular components of the lifting system or boom 15 will vary according to the intended use of the crane 1. The upper works 10 and boom 15 are supported bya traveling portal base 16, which is built on top of a plurality of trucks 11, 12, 13, 14. The trucks 11, 12, 13, 14 move on heavy rails 37, 38 placed with a wide gage 7. Similar cranes with smaller booms and smaller load lifting capacities are used bycommercial services. There are several differences between Navy and commercial cranes but the type of trucks and wheels used in both cranes, collectively referred to herein as traveling cranes, is the same.In Navy portal cranes, power is supplied by an on-board engine and generator typically located in the traveling portal base 16, above the trucks. Many of the other electrical and mechanical systems are located in a chamber-like structural member28 of the crane 1. An on-board fuel tank supplies fuel for the engine. The maximum power available is thus limited to the

Inventory Storage And Retrieval System And Method With Guidance For Load-handling Vehicle - Patent 7690520

Patents-424 — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:02:51 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, April 28, 2011

This invention generally pertains to vehicle guidance systems and more particularly relates to a system for guiding a vehicle to deposit and retrieve items in conjunction with inventory tracking data.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA guidance system for a gantry crane is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/298,487, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The guidance system of that application uses GPS technology to determine the ground positionand orientation of a gantry crane, thereby providing directional data useful for automatically or manually driving a vehicle such as a gantry crane to a desired location.Various load handling systems are known, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,512,902, 6,266,008, and 6,577,921, and in International Publication No. 98/34127.A need exists for an improved system and method for utilizing a guided vehicle to handle items in an inventory.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present application relates to an inventory storage and retrieval system that utilizes one or more coordinate systems for tracking storage locations and items associated with those locations. The location information is used to guide aload-handling vehicle to a particular item. Moreover, the location information is used to manage inventory data that is updated as items are deposited or retrieved from the locations with the vehicle.The system manages an inventory of items respectively stored at predetermined positions within a storage facility defined by three-dimensional coordinates. The system keeps track of the location of each item with such coordinates. The locationinformation may be used to guide a load-handling vehicle for depositing and retrieving the items. The system is particularly useful for managing and moving shipping containers stored in a stacked manner within a shipping facility, wherein the loadingvehicle is a land-traveling unit (e.g., a gantry crane, packer, side loader, forklift, etc.) or a rail-traveling

Suspended Type Transporting Carriage And Transporting System - Patent 7686176

Patents-424 — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:01:01 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, April 28, 2011

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a suspended type transporting carriages such as an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport) carriage, which is used in a manufacturing factory of a semiconductor device, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) device and the likeand which travels on a track installed on or near the ceiling of the factory and transports the object, as well as a transporting system using such a carriage.2. Description of the Related ArtIn a manufacturing factory of a semiconductor device, an LCD device and the like, in order to deal with an increase of production amount, an improvement in production efficiency is strongly desired, as one of which it is desired to shorten thetransporting time duration. In order to shorten the transporting time duration, it becomes an important point how to shorten the time duration required to transfer a carrier (i.e., a transported object) to a stocker or stacker device, which is atemporarily storage place for the carrier, from the carriage, how to shorten the time duration required to transfer the carrier to the carriage from the stocker, and so on. Here, the "carrier" or "transported object" in the present invention means aproduct, an intermediate product, a part, an article, a work, a partly-finished good, a good or the like (e.g, a semiconductor or LCD device), or means a box or container for containing such a product or the like (e.g, a container containing thesemiconductor or LCD device), which has been transported or is to be transported by the transporting carriage.For example, the semiconductor integrated circuit element, which is manufactured by the semiconductor manufacturing factory, is transported by the transporting system, while various processes such as thin film formation by CVD (Chemical VaporDeposition), ion injection, photo-lithography, etching, inspection and so forth peculiar to the semiconductor manufacturing processes, are applied to the circuit element by various processing devices s

Container Crane - PDF

Patents-424 — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:00:00 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, April 28, 2011

BACKGROUNDThe present invention relates to a crane for use with a shipping container. More particularly, the present invention relates to a container crane coupled within the container for lifting and moving loads between the inside and the outside of thecontainer.Large shipping containers are used to store and transport goods. Often, forklifts, other material handlers, or laborers are used to move goods between the inside and the outside of the shipping containers. Further, conventional cranes may beused to lift or place a load near an opening of a shipping container, however such cranes cannot lift or place a load within the shipping container. These methods of loading and unloading are inefficient and increase the cost of loading and unloadinggoods.SUMMARYIn one embodiment, the invention provides a container crane including a container including first and second side walls spaced apart and generally parallel, a bridge adapted to travel in a substantially longitudinal direction along the first andsecond side walls, a trolley adapted to travel in a substantially longitudinal direction along the bridge, a jib coupled to a bottom surface of the trolley, and a hoist mounted to the jib.In another embodiment, the invention provides a crane for use in lifting and unloading a load to and from a shipping container, the shipping container including two side walls that are spaced apart and generally parallel, each side wall includinga support channel. The crane includes a bridge adapted to travel in a substantially longitudinal direction along the support channels, a trolley adapted to travel in a substantially longitudinal direction along the bridge, a jib rotatably coupled to abottom surface of the trolley and adapted to travel back and forth relative to the trolley, and a hoist adapted to travel along a length of the jib.In yet another embodiment, the invention provides a container crane including a container including first and second side walls spaced apart and gen

Vehicle Crane With A Telescopic Boom, As Well As Process For Assembling And Disassembling The Anchor Supports Of The Telescopic Boom - Patent 7686174

Patents-424 — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:59:43 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, April 28, 2011

The within invention concerns a vehicle crane with a telescoping boom that can luff on a horizontal axle and rotate on an upright axle, with a pivot section, telescoping sections that can telescope out of the pivot section, and two anchorsupports housed flexibly on one of the sections, so that they can pivot out of transportation position, in which they are folded against the section essentially parallel to each other, into an upright operating position, particularly a V-shaped position. The invention also concerns a process for assembling and disassembling said anchor supports of the telescoping boom of the vehicle crane.Telescoping booms of said type are regularly pivoted on the superstructure of the vehicle crane and can luff on a luffing cylinder jointed to the superstructure. The anchor supports are usually pivoted on the back of the telescoping boom in theupper portion of a pivot section, and are customarily mounted by means of hydraulic cylinders. The anchor supports can be anchored by means of cables or rods against the head of the inner telescoping section or a collar of the upper telescopic sectionas well as against the superstructure or the lower portion of the pivot section. For example, a crane boom known from DE-Gbm 1 751 383 is equipped with anchor supports positioned in a V shape symmetrical to its horizontal and vertical central plane,over which said anchor sections anchor components run to the top and bottom of the boom. The anchor supports can pivot on two axles, so that they can be folded out of their V-shaped operating position and against the pivot section for purposes oftransportation. However, under certain circumstances this is not sufficient to permit the vehicle crane to travel through the streets. To meet the axle load regulations established by law, the telescoping bracing must be removed when necessary andloaded onto a low-bed trailer that travels with the vehicle crane. In vehicle cranes of the usual type, an additional auxiliar

Crane - Patent 7681747

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:21:15 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 27, 2011

BACKGROUNDa. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a crane. More particularly, it concerns a crane suitable for assisting the installation of windows in a building.b. Related ArtWindows are often fitted to a building by carrying them up a ladder, and then installing them whilst standing on the ladder. However, windows are heavy and working with ladders in this way inevitably puts the installers at significant risk. Alternatively, scaffolding may be used, but this is time consuming and costly to construct.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a crane for use in raising windows into place in a window opening in a building, the crane comprising an adjustable length strut having a head plate at one end and a foot plate atthe other end and a boom mounted on the strut, the head plate having two faces substantially at right angles to one another for engagement with two surfaces of an edge of a window opening in which the crane is to be used, and the foot plate having a toeedge extending rigidly at right angles to the axis of the strut.A winch is preferably mounted on the crane, the winch having a drum for winding up a cable which passes over a pulley at the outboard end of the boom. The winch can be mounted on the boom or on the strut, or on another parts of the crane, but ispreferably mounted on the boom.The upper surfaces of the head plate and the lower surface of the foot plate preferably have engagement surfaces which will not mark the window opening, so that the crane can be used in a building without damaging any surfaces or decorativefinishes which may have been applied. For example, the engagement surfaces can be provided with a rubber layer, which also helps to enhance friction between the plates and the surfaces of the window opening with which they are in contact.The length of the strut can be adjusted so that the strut ends of the strut are in close contact with the top and bottom of a windo

Hoisting Device With Vertical Motion Compensation Function - Patent 7681748

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:21:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 27, 2011

1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to a hoisting device with a vertical motion compensation function, especially the hoisting device with the vertical motion compensation function eliminating effects by the heaving of a ship caused by waves with respect toan article hung from the ship through a wire.2. Description of the Related ArtIn the prevailing oceangraphic observation, the sea area is grasped three-dimensionally based on the data of a vertical distribution and a horizontal distribution of a salinity concentration, a water temperature and a water depth measured at thesame time. There is a CTD (conductivity temperature depth) observation instrument as an instrument for gathering the above data. The observation instrument is used for observing the CTD under a situation maintained in a constant depth, hung by a winchfrom a board of a ship to the sea. There is a case that measurements are performed, allowing the observation instrument to be raised or to be lowered at a constant speed. Furthermore, there are cases, for example, such that works are performed with awork robot held in a constant depth of the sea, and such that structures or the topography of the sea floor are observed with a camera hung from a board of a ship held in a constant depth by using a lifting device on the ship.In such cases, when a hull is moved vertically by waves, an equipment such as the observation instrument in the water is also moved vertically in accordance with the vertical motion of the hull, as a result, accurate and speedy observations orworks can not be performed. Therefore, it is required that the observation instrument or the equipment hung from the hull is allowed to be held in a constant depth or to be raised or lowered at a constant speed, and patent document 1 disclose aheaving-compensation type crane for the purpose.FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a heaving-compensation type crane according to patent document 1. As shown in FIG. 4, in a crane system 2 in

Load Monitoring And Control System With Selective Boom-up Lockout - Patent 7677401

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:06:01 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Systems that monitor loads on a crane and control the crane in accordance with sensed conditions, and components of such systems, are referred to by various terms. These include Load Moment Limiters, RatedCapacity Indicators, Rated Capacity Limiters, Load Indicators, Safe Load Indicators, Load Moment Indicators, etc. Each of these may be a system, or part of a system that monitors loads on a crane in order to assist an operator to operate the crane onlywithin recommended or desired parameters. For the sake of brevity, all such systems will be referred to hereinafter as Load Moment Indicator (LMI) systems.Typically, an LMI system receives data indicating the configuration of the crane, including such factors as boom length, boom angle, configuration and dimensions of the outriggers or other supporting base for the crane, mass and position ofcounterweights, etc. The LMI further monitors the load on a crane at each instant of time. For each configuration of the crane there will be appropriate capacity limitations including some maximum permissible load which can be lifted or supported by thecrane, and a varying limit on the permissible range of movement of the crane and its load for loads of varying magnitudes. The set of parameters and/or limits applicable to operation of a crane in a given configuration is commonly known as the "capacitychart" for the crane in such configuration. Obviously, the maximum permissible load and range of movement will vary with the configuration of the crane, and data representing the various corresponding "capacity charts" will be incorporated into thecontroller of the crane to provide appropriate references in determining, at all times, if the crane is operating within desired limits or ranges. The LMI system is programmed to restrain or prevent operation of the crane in one or more ways if anundesired condition is detected, such as when the crane is nearing a limit to its desirable operational range.A typical undesirable crane ope

Self Movable Crane System With A Boom - Patent 7665621

Patents-424 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:56:31 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, April 26, 2011

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONThis application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2007-0080976, filed on Aug. 11, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a self crane apparatus with a boom, and more particularly, to a self movable boom system having a self movable structure with respect to a building clamp structure.2. Description of the Related ArtA steel-frame structure is one of building structures for construction of multistoried buildings. In general, steel-frame materials used for assembling a conventional steel-frame structure are moved up and down by using a rope attached to atower crane installed at a height of, for example, 20 to 30 meters from a ground. In a typical tower crane, a mast, a telescoping cage, a cabin, and a cat head disposed on a base mask on a base anchor, and a main jib, a counter jib, and a trolleywinding apparatus are disposed vertically to the mask. In order to ensure sufficient working area, the conventional tower crane needs to have a larger height than the building. Therefore, when the tower crane performs a circulation movement, a slightsmall angle error of at the end of the tower crane induces a large positional error with respect to an object, that is, a constructional material connected through a wire, so that associated tasks become vary difficult. Accordingly, only anhighly-trained operator can drive the tower crane, so that personnel expenses are increased, and a shortage of trained operators occurs. In addition, due to the difficulty in tasks caused from the positional error, it is difficult to implementautomation of construction processes such as moving the construction materials. In addition, the cabin lifting-up task through a telescoping cage at a very large height becomes difficult, and in case of a multistorie

Crane - PDF 1

Patents-424 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:56:22 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The present invention relates to a crane, preferably a truck crane, comprising a plurality of crane elements which are movable by actuators, a crane control unit for controlling and/or monitoring the movement of the crane elements, and at leastone actuating switch for actuating the actuators.Modern truck cranes usually are provided with multiaxially tiltable control sticks, sometimes also referred to as joysticks, for controlling the diverse crane elements and/or actuators provided for the same, such as the slewing gear, the hoistgear, the telescoping drive or the luffing drive. A sensor unit usually is associated to the control sticks, by means of which the central crane control detects movements of the respective control stick, whereupon the central crane control unit convertsthe movement signals into control signals for the actuators. In other words, the positioning movement of the control sticks is converted into control commands for the actuators via the central crane control. The actuators frequently are of thehydraulic type and are controlled via hydraulic valves, whose movement is controlled via the control commands generated by the crane control.In practice, such crane controls have turned out to be quite useful, but nevertheless they still need improvement in some aspects and for some applications. In particular, it would be desirable to reduce the costs of such crane controls withouthaving to do without the various functionalities. In addition, it would be desirable to accelerate the conversion of the switch movements into actual crane movements.Therefore, it is the object underlying the present invention to create an improved crane as mentioned above, which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and develops the latter in an advantageous way. Preferably, a less expensive cranecontrol should be created, which provides for a rapid conversion of the switch movements into crane movements and offers a high safety.In accordance with the invention,

Installation Device For Counterweight - Patent 7658293

Patents-424 — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:32:43 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 25, 2011

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCEThe disclosure of the following priority application(s) is/are herein incorporated by reference:Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-098038 filed Apr. 4, 2007.The disclosure of the following application is herein incorporated by reference:U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/175,283.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to an installation device for a counterweight with which the counterweight is mounted in a rear end of a body frame of a construction machine such as a crane.2. Description of Related ArtJapanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2006-44948 discloses a counterweight device adapted to mount the counterweight in the rear end of the body frame. In this device, an upper part of a hydraulic cylinder integrally disposed to thecounterweight is engaged with a body frame and the counterweight is lifted by drive of the hydraulic cylinder to mount the counterweight at a rear end of the body frame. On this occasion, after the counterweight is lifted by the drive of the hydrauliccylinder, a pin is inserted in an attaching portion of the counterweight in the horizontal direction to connect the counterweight to the body frame with the pin.However, in order to allow the pin for mounting the counterweight to be inserted, it is necessary to secure a space for operation in a central portion of the counterweight, for example, by dividing the counterweight into right and left parts. This results in a loss of the weight of the counterweight.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA counterweight installation device according to a 1st aspect of the present invention includes: a weight support unit provided on a rear end of a body frame of a construction machine; a weight mounting unit disposed on a counterweight; a pinmember for mounting the counterweight adapted to move between a first position at which the weight mounting unit is mounted on the weight support unit and a second position at which the weight mountin

Container Lifter Being Able To Lift Two 40 Feet Containers - Patent 7918354

Patents-424 — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:36:33 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, April 23, 2011

FIELD OF INVENTION The invention generally relates to hoisting equipment, more specifically to a bank-run container crane which is able to hoist two 40 feet containers at a time.DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART The increasing requirements of container transportation in the world and the continuous increment of the handling capacity of the container port put forward new and increased demands on the technical equipment for loading and unloadingcontainers, and an urgent need for the design and development of high efficient bank-run container load and unload systems to meet the demand of the crane productivity needed by the larger ships. Currently, cranes are only able to hoist only one 40 feet container at a time and its efficiency is low.SUMMARY OF INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a container crane for hoisting two 40 feet containers at a time so as to improve the low efficiency of the container crane of the prior art, which is able to hoist only one single 40 feet container at atime. The technical scheme of the invention is as follows: A container crane for hoisting two 40 feet containers at a time, comprising: a first hoisting device, the first hoisting device comprises a first head block, a first spreader, a first winding barrel, a first hoisting mechanism motor, a firstbrake, a first hoisting reduction gear box, a first head block pulley and a first hoisting pulley, wherein the first hoisting pulley is arranged on a trolley and the first head block pulley is arranged on the first head block; a second hoisting device,the second hoisting device comprises a second head block, a second spreader, a second winding barrel, a second hoisting mechanism motor, a second brake, a second hoisting reduction gear box, a second head block pulley and a second hoisting pulley,wherein the second hoisting pulley is arranged on the trolley and the second head block pulley is arranged on the second head block; a connection cylinder, for approaching and separating the firs

Panel Turner For A Gantry Crane - Patent 7913864

Patents-424 — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 12:04:15 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, April 23, 2011

FIELD OFTHE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to load lifting mechanisms used on cranes and, more particularly, to certain hoist features for a gantry crane.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Industrial cranes, such as gantry cranes, are used for lifting and transporting large cargo containers and other loads to and from railroad cars, truck trailers and other locations, as well as for lifting and transporting boats. The gantrycrane typically has a gantry structure comprising a series of connected beams that span over a large item to be lifted. Each beam of a gantry crane supports a main hoist and an auxiliary hoist. Both the main hoist and the auxiliary hoist are coupled to the beam by a trolley assembly for effecting lateral movement of the hoist along the beam. Precise positioningof the hoists is important in many lifting applications. The gantry crane can be configured or utilized in a panel turner application wherein a lift assembly is operably attached to the gantry structure and is designed to lift and manipulate, for example, large prestressed concrete slabs or panelsthat may weigh many tons apiece. While panel turners for gantry cranes according to the prior art provide a number of advantageous features, they nevertheless have certain limitations. The present invention is provided to overcome certain of these limitations and other drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior cranes or panel turners. A full discussion of the features andadvantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides improved features for a lifting mechanism utilized in a crane. Specifically, according to a preferred aspect of the invention, the improved features are applicable for use with a panel turner for a gantry crane. According to one aspect of the invention, a gantry cr

Pipe - Download Now PDF

Patents-424 — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:49:32 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, April 19, 2011

This invention relates to a perfected pipe-laying machine.In particular, it relates to a pipe-laying machine consisting of a tracked vehicle to which is removably fitted a crane boom able to lift pipes and the like and lay them at the bottom of a trench.The characteristic feature of this invention is that it includes the counterweight required to balance the moment created by the crane when it operates in the projecting configuration. Said counterweight consists of a very thick metal (e.g.iron) plate, which is positioned between the tracks of the vehicle and is subject to the action of means that allow it to be moved from a rest position in which it retracts fully into the machine and an operational position in which it projects from themachine to counterbalance the effect of the loads lifted by the crane.In the machine according to the invention, the engine unit and control cab are located at each end of the chassis, slightly projecting from it, to leave a free space in the central part of the vehicle where all the crane movement and controlmechanisms can be installed.Underground pipes, such as gas and oil pipelines, consist of relatively large, heavy pipe sections, and special machines called pipe-laying machines are used to lay them.Said pipe-laying machines, which generally derive from other machines, such as bulldozers or other common earth-moving machinery, suitably modified, comprise a tracked chassis driven by an internal combustion engine, to which a crane designed forlifting and moving the pipes is fitted laterally.The engine is positioned in the central part of the chassis, behind the cab, and the crane boom is hinged to the crawler track carriage.This configuration, derived from other machines, restricts the operator's view, which is partly limited by the presence of the engine, and tends to cause a certain imbalance of the machine, which must be compensated by counterweights. Saidcounterweights are generally installed, in a projecting configuration, o

Industrial Vehicle Counterweight System - Patent 7896178

Patents-424 — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:51:24 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 18, 2011

1. Field of the InventionEmbodiments of the present invention generally relate to a pipelayer and a method for of loading a pipelayer or excavator for transportation.2. Description of the Related ArtFIG. 1 is a front view of a prior art pipelayer 10. The pipelayer 10 is typically used for the construction of underground pipelines which transport hydrocarbons, such as natural gas or gasoline. Typical operation of the pipe layer includesraising, carrying, and lowering heavy pipe 12. The pipelayer 10 is a crawler or tractor-type vehicle having a maneuverable boom 42 disposed on a side thereof. For this reason, the pipelayer 10 is referred to as a sideboom.The pipelayer 10 further includes a main frame assembly 14 having first and second opposed sides 16 and 18 and a radiator guard 20. The pipelayer 10 includes first and second endless self-laying track assemblies 22, 24, with each of the trackassemblies 22, 24 having a roller frame. A rigid cross bar 28 and a pivot shaft connect each track assembly 22, 24 to a respective side 16, 18 of the main frame assembly 14. A pipelayer frame 32 has a first portion 34 secured to the main frame assembly14 and a second portion 36 secured to one of the roller frames by a plurality of fasteners. The first portion 34 is joined to the second portion 36 by a pin arrangement 40. The boom arm 42 has a first end portion 44, pivotally connected to thepipelayer frame second portion 36, and a second end portion 46 supporting a cable operated load block assembly 48. A drawworks 50 runs a cable 52 in and out to raise and lower the block assembly 48 and the pipe 12. A fluid operated cylinder 54 has afirst end portion 56 connected to the pipelayer frame 32 and a second end portion 58 releasably connected to the boom arm second end portion 46. A counterweight 55 is attached to the main frame 14. The counterweight 55 may also be secured to one of theroller frames by a counterweight frame (not shown) similar to the pipelayer frame 32.T

Crane Radial Support Bearing - Patent 7891508

Patents-424 — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:22:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 18, 2011

The present invention relates to an apparatus and methods for resisting thrust loads on a crane. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bearing system for resisting radial (i.e., horizontal) thrust loads from a boom on a postcrane.Ships and offshore platforms need cranes to rapidly and safely load and off-load various material and personnel. Affixable, pedestal-type cranes with a center post have been very popular in marine type applications. On a post crane, thesuperstructure and boom of the crane rotate on bearings about the axis of the post.The post serves as the crane's structural base for resisting the thrust loads and overturning moments experienced by the crane. The thrust loads are transferred from the boom to the post via the bearings on which the superstructure rotates aboutthe axis of the post. Specifically, vertical thrust loads are transferred from the boom to the post via a container ring bearing, which comprises a plurality of rollers. Radial (i.e., horizontal) thrust loads are transferred from the boom to the postvia the radial bearing ring comprising a plurality of rollers, which rollably engage the outer circumference of the post.While the post crane has many advantages over other types of cranes in a marine environment, the ability to achieve equal bearing loading about the bearings, especially the radial bearing ring, has been challenging. Failure to achieve equalloading about the bearings can result in uneven bearing roller wear, which can lead to premature repairs and downtime for the crane or even catastrophic failure of the crane.To achieve equal roller loading about the radial bearing ring, manufacturers have had to rely on precision machining of the bearing ring and its rollers or structures that permit elastic deflections. Both options are less than desirable due totheir expense. Also, the commercially available precision bearings with integral rings are limited in size to 6.5 meters in diameter, which in turn limit

Apparatus For Carrying A Load - Patent 7886920

Patents-424 — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:00:41 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, April 18, 2011

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(a), this application claims priority from Patent Application No. GB 0720167.6, filed in the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office on Oct. 15, 2007, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by referenceherein.This invention relates to an apparatus for carrying a load, particularly to an apparatus for use in a theatrical performance. The invention relates more particularly to personnel transportation apparatus for use in theatrical performances inwhich a performer is transported in the air to convey the effect of flying.The need to transport a load through the air arises in many industries for example in the movement of goods in the haulage industry, mining applications, a dockyard, railway yard or the like, in assembly operations such as may be required inmanufacturing plant and in the sphere of entertainment, for example in theatrical performances. It is important to ensure reliable, safe and controlled movement of the load and this is especially so where people are being transported for example tosimulate flying or other special effects in theatrical performances. Servicing of equipment in theatrical applications is often necessary and due to health and safety considerations, the use of ladders, cheery-pickers and the like may not be appropriateand the use of scaffolding is inconvenient and cumbersome.In the transportation of a performer, safety is a prime consideration but having fine control over the movement of the performer is also important, particularly maintaining the performer at a constant height over the stage and in having universalflexibility and control over the movement of the performer. The space for production equipment in many theatrical environments may be relatively confined and the particular environment will differ from location to location. Apparatus for transporting aperformer must be able to operate in a such an environment where space may be at a premium. In addition, controlling costs of e

Profile Shape For A Crane Boom - Patent 7878349

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:53:46 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, April 17, 2011

The present invention concerns a crane boom for a crane, the crane boom having a longitudinal axis and a contour line extending in a transverse plane relative to an axis of symmetry in mirror-symmetrical relationship. The contour line hasbetween a point arranged on the axis of symmetry equidistantly relative to the first and second intersection points and the first intersection point an at least approximately arcuate portion which is tangentially adjoined in the direction of the secondintersection point by a first straight portion whose notional extension in the direction of the second intersection point intersects the axis of symmetry and includes an acute angle therewith.Such a crane boom is shown for example in FIG. 13 of EP 583 552 B1.A disadvantage is that production of the arcuate portion is complicated and expensive and cannot be easily carried out in an error-free manner.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe object of the invention is to provide an improved crane boom, and that object is attained by a crane boom having the features described below.It will be appreciated that a real crane arm has both an outside contour and an inside contour by virtue of the material thickness of the components forming it. The `notional contour line` refers to the outside contour of the crane boom.The invention affords good weldability of the crane boom, better suitability for clamping for the welding operation by virtue of the portions which meet each other at an incline, and the implementation of a longitudinal weld seam withoutadditional edge preparation. Overall, that affords a configuration which is more reliable in terms of process implementation.Further advantageous embodiments are defined in the appendant claims.The term `centroid` is used in the context of this disclosure to denote the center of gravity of the overall region enclosed by the notional contour line. The term `centroid` is therefore not to be interpreted in relation to the area enclosedbetween the outside and

Lifting Apparatus With Compensation Means - Patent 7878347

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:53:27 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, April 17, 2011

The present invention is directed to a class of light duty hoists that are often used in manufacturing environments to move articles in and about a work cell or material handling within a shipping and receivingarea.BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn manufacturing environments components and assemblies are often transported around the factory floor and between assembly stations using a crane having a hoist suspended from an overhead rail system. While numerous types of bridge cranes andhoists are currently available for lifting and moving objects and parts in and between work stations or cells, a particular problem inherent in these devices is the difficulty an operator encounters in accurately and controllably lifting and translatinga load within a work station or between adjacent workstations; in other words enabling an operator to safely perform operations on the product without undo manual exertion, fatigue or injury.The lifting apparatus of the present invention uniquely overcomes several drawbacks of articulated jib crane devices by providing a lifting apparatus that permits an object to be precisely lifted and moved in a ergonomic manner within or betweenwork stations. For example, parts having an individual weight in excess of U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lifting standards, require a lifting means to transfer the parts into and around the work station. Additionally thesame lifting mechanics may be required to reach into machines or freely move the load around obstructions within the work space or a shipping/receiving dock. In order to overcome the limitations of a gantry hoist system or fixed length jib cranes, thecurrent invention includes a free standing lifting device having an articulating jib arm that horizontally traverses or swings about the work space with only a nominal manual effort by the operator. Thus, the "double jointed" jib crane, having two armsattached to one another in one embodiment, provides for a

Robotic-movement Payload Lifter And Manipulator - Patent 7878348

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:53:19 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, April 17, 2011

1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to robotic manipulators. More specifically, the invention is a payload lifter and manipulator capable of robotic movements.2. Description of the Related ArtA variety of devices are used for lifting, manipulating, and/or placing payloads. For Earth-based operations, conventional cranes are usually used to perform macro or over-land payload movements while fork-lifts (or other more easily manipulateddevices) provide micro or on-land payload movements. However, lunar or planetary operations require more efficient device utilization. That is, lunar or planetary travel requires devices that can provide multiple functions, are readily transportable bya launch vehicle, and are readily assembled/configured for a variety of tasks.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can be used for both payload lifting and payload manipulation.Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can lift a payload and precisely manipulate the payload using robotic-like movements.Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings.In accordance with the present invention, a payload lifter/manipulator module and assemblies made from one or more modules are provided. Each module includes a rotatable joint that typically has at least first and second spreader arms angularlyspaced with respect to one another and coupled to the joint for rotational movement therewith. Each of the spreader arms terminates at an outboard end thereof. A rigid arm is fixedly coupled to the joint and extends out therefrom to a tip. The rigidarm can rotate with the joint. A tension arm has a first end and a second end with the first end being fixedly coupled to the tip of the rigid arm. The tension arm incorporates pivots along the length thereof. Each pivot can be engaged by ordisengaged from the out

Boom Assembly - Patent 7874438

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 05:26:02 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, April 17, 2011

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION The present application relates to a boom assembly primarily for domestic use, but also used in industrial applications.BACKGROUND OF THE ART Boom assemblies (e.g., cranes) are commonly present in domestic uses to displace loads onto vehicles. For instance, boom assemblies are used to displace lumber onto a trailer. One of the issues with boom assemblies for domestic use is that they require numerous maneuvers during operation. The operator must constantly move between the load and the boom assembly, for example to ensure that the boom of the boom assemblyis aligned with the load, or to displace a lifted load onto a vehicle. Accordingly, various boom assemblies have been developed with different mechanisms to simplify their operation. However, such improvements have often been to the detriment of safety, as a lifted load on a freely rotating boom if a safetyhazard.SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION It is therefore an aim of the present disclosure to provide a boom assembly that addresses issues associated with the prior art. Therefore, in accordance with the present application, there is provided a boom assembly comprising: a base anchored to a structure/ground; a boom rotatably mounted to the base at a connected end so as to be rotatable about a generally verticalaxis, the boom having a device to support loads at a free end; and an orientation clutch between the base and the boom, the orientation clutch having a mechanism for locking a rotation of the boom with respect to the generally vertical axis so as toselectively adjust an orientation of the boom, the orientation clutch having a release configuration to allow the boom to self-adjust its orientation to align with a load pulled by the device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a boom assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the boom assembly of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view

Overhead Crane - Patent 7874439

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 05:25:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, April 17, 2011

BACKGROUND The present invention relates to overhead cranes. More particularly, the present invention relates to an overhead crane including a trolley and positionable hoist that eliminates side loading of the crane. Conventional overhead cranes include a frame with a pair of bridge cross members that move along a pair of main support beams. A pair of tracks are supported by the cross members and a hoist moves along the pair of tracks in a directiontransverse to the main support beams. Such a configuration does not permit the hoist to lift loads positioned outside the perimeter defined by the main support beams. Further, to lift loads positioned outside the runway defined by the cross members ordirectly under one of the cross members, side loading of the hoist results, which is unsafe and a violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. An overhead crane that permits positioning of the hoist directly over the load,regardless of the location of load within a crane bay, would be welcomed by users of overhead cranes.SUMMARY In one embodiment, the invention provides an overhead crane adapted to be supported by at least one main support beam. The overhead crane includes a bridge adapted to travel in a substantially horizontal direction along the at least one mainsupport beam, a trolley adapted to travel in a substantially horizontal direction along the bridge, a jib rotatably coupled to a bottom surface of the trolley, and a hoist adapted to travel in a substantially horizontal direction along the jib. In another embodiment, the invention provides an overhead crane adapted to be supported by first and second main support beams that are spaced apart and generally parallel. The overhead crane includes a bridge adapted to travel along anunderside of the main support beams, and the bridge includes first and second girders aligned transversely to the main support beams wherein the first and second girders are spaced apart and generally para

Trolley And Spreader Assembly - Patent 7861872

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:55:34 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, April 16, 2011

The invention relates to apparatus, such as hoists and spreaders, required for manipulating freight devices, for example shipping containers and flat racks. Further, the apparatus of the present invention is applicable to the manipulation ofmultiple freight devices simultaneously.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTo increase the economic viability of transporting freight, port authorities invest significant capital into infrastructure to facilitate the efficient loading and unloading of containers from ships at dock. The infrastructure is geared to movesaid containers to storage facilities ready for delivery via land transport or directly from ships to the land transport.Recently, to increase efficiency and therefore economic viability, inventions facilitating the movement of several containers simultaneously have been developed. One such invention is disclosed in WO 01/98195, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference. This invention incorporates a spreader having connection to two container engagement frames, which may engage with one or two containers. It follows that this will immediately increase the rate for which a ship may beloaded or unloaded, and therefore the efficiency of the process.A disadvantage of this invention is the connectivity between the spreader and engagement frames. As shown in the various figures of WO 01/98195, the engagement frames are connected to the spreader either by chains or pin-jointed tie rods.If this arrangement were to pick up one container only or two containers of substantially varying weights, then a redistribution of the weight would lead to the spreader listing to one side due to the unbalanced force. Thus, this arrangement isrestricted to lifting containers of substantially similar weights. In the loading and unloading procedure however, the only time an operator will be assured of lifting two containers of similar weight will be when the containers are empty. Thus whilstthis invention is useful in moving

Control System For A Boom Crane - Patent 7850024

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:03:01 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 15, 2011

The present invention relates to a control system for a boom crane, wherein the boom crane has a tower and a boom pivotally attached to the tower, a first actuator for creating a luffing movement of the boom, and a second actuator for rotatingthe tower. The crane further has first means for determining the position r.sub.A and/or velocity {dot over (r)}.sub.A of the boom head by measurement and second means for determining the rotational angle .phi..sub.D and/or the rotational velocity {dotover (.phi.)}.sub.D of the tower by measurement. The control system for the boom crane controls the first actuator and the second actuator of the crane.Such a system is for example known from DE 100 64 182 A1, the entire content of which is included into the present application by reference. There, a control strategy for controlling the luffing movement of the boom is presented, which tries toavoid swaying of the load based on a physical model of the load suspended on the rope of the crane and the crane itself. The model used is however only linear and therefore does not take into account the important non-linear effects observed in boomcranes. As the centrifugal acceleration of the load due to the rotation of the tower can also lead to swaying of the load, a pre-control unit tries to compensate it using data for the rotation of the crane based on the desired tangential movement of theload given by a reference trajectory generator as an input. However, these data based on the reference trajectories used in the pre-control unit can differ considerably from the actual movements of the crane and therefore lead to an imprecise control ofthe movements of the load and especially to a poor anti-sway-control.From DE 103 24 692 A1, the entire content of which is included into the present application by reference, a trajectory planning unit is known which also tries to avoid swaying of the load suspended on a rope. However, the same problems as aboveoccur, as the entire trajectory pl

Method For Controlling The Orientation Of A Crane Load - Patent 7850025

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:02:39 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 15, 2011

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONThis application claims priority to German Patent Application Serial No. DE10 2006 033 277.6, filed Jul. 18, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.FIELDThe present disclosure relates to a method for controlling the orientation of a crane load, wherein a manipulator 416 for manipulating the load is connected by a rotator unit to a hook suspended on ropes 410 and the rotational angle .phi..sub.Lof the load is controlled by a control unit using the moment of inertia J.sub.L of the load as most important parameter.BACKGROUND AND SUMMARYIn DE 100 64 182 and DE 103 24 692, the entire content of which is incorporated into the present application by reference, control and automation concepts for harbour mobile cranes are disclosed. In these rotary boom cranes the manipulator 416for grabbing the load is suspended on ropes 410 and positioning of the manipulator for grabbing containers causes spherical swaying movements. The control concepts use trajectory tracking control to control the movement of the load and to automaticallyavoid sway, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the cargo handling process.For such control systems a method for controlling the orientation of the crane load is known from DE 100 29 579, the entire content of which is incorporated into the present application by a reference. There, the hook suspended on ropes has arotator unit containing a hydraulic drive 412, such that the manipulator 416 for grabbing containers can be rotated around a vertical axis. Thereby it is possible to vary the orientation of the crane loads. If the crane operator or the automaticcontrol gives a signal to rotate the manipulator and thereby the load around the vertical axis, the hydraulic motors of the rotator unit are activated and a resulting flow rate causes a torque. As the hook is suspended on ropes, the torque would resultin a torsional oscillation of the manipulator and the load.

Crane Assembly - PDF

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:02:22 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, April 15, 2011

FIELD OF THEINVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to an improved crane assembly. The invention has particular application to a manually operated suspended (or overhead) crane assembly, which is configured to provide easier operation for the assemblyoperator. The invention will therefore be described in this context. However, it will be appreciated that the invention has broader application and is not limited to that particular use.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONManually operated suspended crane assemblies such as a gantry crane or bridge crane are used in a great variety of industrial and other applications for lifting and moving objects. Suspended crane assemblies can be designed to lift and move anypractical weight.Existing suspended crane assemblies generally include a crane, which is suspended from a trolley that is, in turn, suspended from at least one bridge. The trolley is capable of longitudinal movement along the at least one bridge. The at leastone bridge is movably supported (generally in a suspended manner) at either end from a pair of parallel tracks or guides. The tracks or guides are generally mounted to a building ceiling or roof structure. Alternatively, the tracks or guides(hereinafter referred to simply as "guides") could be supported from a steel superstructure. This is a particularly attractive option in situations where the building ceiling or roof structure concerned is not designed to bear loads.One problem with existing assemblies occurs when an operator attempts to initiate movement of the bridge in either direction relative to the guides. The effort required to initiate such movement is often considerable, at least in part owing tothe fact that movement of the other end of the bridge is initiated. This can cause the bridge to twist relative to the stationary guides, and thereby jam and prevent further movement.Another problem with existing assemblies is the fact that the guides must be aligned parallel or very close to pa

Vehicle Mounted Crane - PDF

Patents-424 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:31:04 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The invention relates toa vehicle mounted crane, in particular a mobile, self-propelled or crawler crane.In crane technology, a distinction is commonly made between categories on the basis of tower slewing cranes or tower cranes, on the one hand, and vehicle mounted cranes, on the other hand.Tower slewing cranes have a vertical tower standing on a sub-structure, which is usually provided in the form of a lattice framework. Although they can be moved by means of a track system, on building sites for example, they are not designed tooperate as vehicles which can move in normal road traffic. Vehicle mounted cranes, on the other hand, are self-driving road vehicles and are designed precisely for mobile applications.Vehicle mounted cranes comprise an undercarriage incorporating the bogie and a top carriage which is able to rotate on the undercarriage and comprises a slewing unit and a jib. The jib may be a telescopic jib based on a box-type design or alattice mast boom.Increasingly tougher demands are being placed on cranes both in terms of carrying strength and lifting capacity as well as the height to which the loads have to be lifted.One application in which cranes are becoming increasingly important is that of erecting wind turbines. There is a growing trend towards higher performance wind turbines, which not only requires higher lifts but also lifting of heaviercomponents.Amongst the problems of erecting wind turbines by means of existing cranes is the practically unavoidable damage to the ground, incurring high costs. This results from the immense total weight of the crane, and the fact that a number ofindividual trips have to be made carrying heavy loads to the site of wind turbines, which are usually in remote locations.The objective of the invention is to propose a vehicle mounted crane that is suitable for erecting wind turbines. To this end, the present invention provides a crane which is of as low a weight as possible and can be made ready for operation

Lattice Boom Crane For Lifting Heavy Loads - Patent 7828163

Patents-424 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:30:45 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 13, 2011

This patent application claims priority of German Patent Application Serial No. 10 2005 021 859.8-22 filed May 11, 2005, which application is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention concerns a lattice boom crane for lifting heavy loads, such as, e.g., reactors, generators, distillation columns or the like.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCranes are always designed for a specific ultimate load range. The lifting of heavy ultimate loads is then potentially not possible with such a crane. For lesser loads, such a crane is not economical, because the purchase and operation costsare higher than the costs of a smaller crane. Nevertheless, in order to lift increased loads without having to purchase a larger crane, it is already known to lift a load with multiple cranes simultaneously. However, the necessary safety is ensuredonly under specifically defined conditions with such so-called tandem or multiple-lifts, as a rule, due to the problematic load distribution or the fact that the crane is equipped with individual controllers. Consequently, the load to be lifted withsuch tandem or multiple-lifts is often permitted to be only so high that maximally 60 to 80 percent of the load carrying capacity is used.It is already known from GB 1,162,405A to connect two cranes by a portal, which is affixed to the free ends of each boom, in order to lift heavy loads. The problem with this arrangement is that the position of the two cranes is not fixedrelative to each other and thus it results in constraining forces, whereby the load must be reduced.A double portal crane for bulky loads, in particular a container crane, is known from AT 28 28 76. This double portal crane comprises two separate, movable crane portals. Each crane portal carries a crane trolley, preferably designed as anangled trolley, with its lifting unit. The two crane portals are latchable with each other at specified intervals. The trolleys are independent from each other in a kn

Suspended Platform For Overhead Traveling Carriage - Patent 7828164

Patents-424 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:30:24 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 13, 2011

(1) Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to suspended platforms on which articles conveyed by overhead traveling carriages are mounted, and in particular to suspended platforms which can prevent overturning of articles.(2) Description of the Related ArtAn overhead traveling carriage and suspended platforms for the overhead traveling carriage are arranged such that the overhead traveling carriage can convey an article along a traveling rail and temporarily place the article on the suspendedplatforms. The article is delivered between the platforms and the overhead traveling carriage. Conventionally proposed platforms include safety members against overturning intended to prevent articles mounted on the platforms from overturning andfalling (for example, see Patent Reference: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-206371).The platforms are provided with side walls having certain heights as safety members against overturning as mentioned above, thereby preventing articles from overturning and falling.The conventionally proposed suspended platforms have a problem that articles mounted on the platforms overturn and fall when a great quake such as an earthquake occurs. This problem arises because the side walls as the safety members againstoverturning do not have sufficient heights.FIGS. 10A to 10C illustrate the problem of the conventional suspended platforms.In the drawings, the X-axis direction is the transfer direction on the horizontal plane in the case where an overhead traveling carriage mounts an article 500 on suspended platforms 300, and the Y-axis direction is the vertical direction.As shown in FIG. 10A, the overhead traveling carriage transfers the article 500 in the minus direction of the X-axis and lowers the article 500 in the minus direction of the Y-axis when mounting the article 500 on the platforms 300.In this case, the time to mount the article 500 can be reduced by reducing the distance ("A" shown in FIG. 10A) by

Apparatus For Covering Semitrailer Payloads - Patent 7819262

Patents-424 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:52:56 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, April 13, 2011

ONThe present invention relates to apparatus for covering a semitrailer payload with a tarpaulin. When materials or commodities are hauled on flatbed trailers or semitrailers, many such materials or commodities must be covered with a tarpaulin toprotect the goods from inclement weather. Various types of coverings are used to cover these payloads, the most common of which is tarpaulin. However, covering payloads on a flatbed trailer present several problems. If the tarpaulin is to be manuallyplaced on top of the payload and the tarpaulin secured to the semitrailer, the workers must climb to the top of the payload with the tarpaulin and then position the tarpaulin over the payload and then tie down the tarpaulin to the semitrailer. These mayrequire several workers working together. Therefore the process is time consuming and inefficient. Further, workers working on top of a payload are working at a height which may present dangers of the worker falling off the payload.There are several known apparatus used for covering semitrailer payloads. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,709 shows an apparatus for pulling a tarpaulin up and over a payload; U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,202 to Hornady shows another apparatus forpulling a tarpaulin up and over a payload; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,620 shows apparatus for lifting a tarpaulin over a payload using fastening roller members for securing the tarpaulin cover to an arm which is lifted over the payload to be covered.There is a need for an apparatus which is easy to use, can be operated by a single individual from ground level. A need also exists for apparatus which can be used to lift a tarpaulin completely to an overhead position and to drop the tarpaulindown on top of the payload whereby the tarpaulin can be secured to the semitrailer easily and efficiently. A need also exists for apparatus which can be used to cover payloads requiring multiple tarpaulins not requiring the flatbed or semitrailer to bedriven in and then ou

Boom Component Display Apparatus - Patent 7810659

Patents-424 — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:17:59 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, April 12, 2011

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a boom component display apparatus, in those cranes which are provided with such a boom assembly as formed by connecting a plurality of unit booms.2. Description of the Related ArtConventionally, such a crane that makes it possible for identification information of each unit boom to be transmitted to its crane main body is known. Such a conventional crane is provided with a processing unit that outputs the identificationinformation of each unit boom, and a communication unit that transmits the identification information sent from the processing unit to a central processing unit that is located on the crane main body. The processing unit and the communication unit areinstalled on each unit boom respectively. With these arrangements provided, by adding up all unit booms' lengths included in the identification information and sent to the central processing unit, it is possible to find the total length of the boomassembly. And in the same manner, by adding up all unit booms' weights included in the identification information, it is also possible to find the total weight of the boom assembly.Normally, in a crane that forms a boom assembly by connecting a plurality of unit booms, there are several kinds of the unit boom lengths (for example; 3 m, 6 m, 9 m, 12 m and so forth). In such a case, from a strength viewpoint of the boomassembly, each unit boom should be assembled in accordance with an appropriate connecting sequence. These unit booms are constructed so that they may be used for multipurpose use; for example all the connecting parts of each unit boom are manufacturedin accordance with an appropriate standard. Also, these unit booms are made up so that they may be connectable with each other regardless of their connecting sequences. Therefore, even when the boom assembly is assembled in a same length, it may bepossible to connect unit booms in varieties of connecting sequences, and it would be poss

Tarping System - Patent 7798344

Patents-424 — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 15:13:04 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 30, 2010

Flatbed transport vehicles and trailers transport payloads that need to be covered to protect the cargo from the sun, rain, snow, dust and the like. It is common practice to use a heavy sturdy tarpaulin cover which is releasably secured to thetransport vehicles and is repeatedly reused to cover various cargo typically transported on flat bed vehicles. Because of the weight of the tarpaulin cover, manual installation and removal requires the services of several men and it is a time consumingoperation and physically demanding. A proposed power operated tarping apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,709.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe herein disclosed tarping apparatus has a number of advantages over the tarping apparatus illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,709. It is designed for heavy duty. It is particularly well suited for indoor installation with suspension from asuspended overhead beam. The overhead beam serves as a support and guiding tracking for a trolley supporting a vertically retractable lifting mechanism attachable to the forward end of the tarpaulin. The lifting mechanism is comprised of two laterallyspaced scissors linkages depending from opposite ends of a horizontal hanger secured to the trolley. The lift linkages move from raised folded positions to extended lower positions by a pair of horizontally disposed linear power actuators. In tarping aflat bed trailer a tarpaulin roller carrier is lowered from the overhead beam to a position back of the trailer. The trolley supported scissors linkages are moved to the rear end of the trailer just ahead of the tarpaulin roller carrier and is loweredso the end of the tarpaulin can be manually passed over the horizontal roller on the carrier and connected to the lower ends of the lift linkages. The scissor linkages are raised above the height of the load being tarped and is moved forwardsufficiently to permit the guide roller carrier to be raised so that the guide roller is above the height of

Hoist For Low Space Crane - Patent 7793794

Patents-424 — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:26:17 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 29, 2010

The present invention relates to a hoist for a low space crane, and in particular to a hoist for a low space crane in which it is possible to prevent an impact load, which is transferred to a hoist frame in the course of shifting an object, frombeing transferred to a load support roller of a load support wheel part, and a biased load is balanced, and a hoist stably operates on a girder, so that the whole weight of a hoist decreases, whereby a hoisting capacity for an object can be increased.BACKGROUND ARTAs well known in the art, a crane is a machine or a machine apparatus which is designed to hoist an object using a driving force and moves in a horizontal direction and is designed to operate a winding and unwinding operation for lifting orlowering a hoisting object and a horizontal direction operation and a swing operation for horizontally moving the lifted object. So, the hoist works properly in a 3D space with the help of the above combined works,The crane consists of a pair of running rails, and a girder which is installed on the running rail and moves along the same, and a hoist which is installed on the girder and shifts along the same.A running wheel is installed at both ends of the girder and is mounted on the running rail. A running motor is installed at the running wheel. When the running motor is driven, the running wheel rotates and allows the girder to move along therunning rail.The hoist installed at the girder comprises a hoist frame which supports the entire structure of the hoist, a cross running motor which is installed at the hoist frame and is mounted on the girder and shifts the hoist frame along the girder, awire drum which is rotatably installed at the hoist frame and winds or unwinds a wire rope, a winding motor which is connected with the wire drum for driving the same, and a hook which is connected with a lower end of the wire rope and moves up or downas the wire rope is wound or unwound from the wire drum.When a certain weight object is

Combination Crane - Patent 7789253

Patents-424 — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 01:47:10 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 29, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a combination crane that integrates a plurality of crawler cranes in order to lift heavy materials.2. Description of Related ArtConventionally, in order to lift heavy materials, a so-called "multi-crane lift" which uses two crawler cranes is usually used. However, in said multi-crane lift, as load distribution to the respective cranes in operation changes in accordancewith their operation postures, it is conventional to use two crawler cranes whose lifting capacities are enough to lift 100% of the working load respectively. Accordingly, when a lifting operation needing the double lifting capacity of the respectivecranes is conducted, it is necessary to prepare two crawler cranes with the double lifting capacity. In this case, it is necessary to use a plurality of cranes so that a larger working space is needed and running cost becomes higher.On the other hand, as a capacity increasing device which is available to increase its rated lifting capacity to one class higher than its original capacity, some devices are known, for example, a device capable of exchanging its booms,reinforcing its mast or connecting to a counterweight dory. However, such devices need heavier booms for replacement or an additional counterweight dory. Besides, in this case, crane work can not be performed for a load more than that of a single unit,because the crane itself is a single crane.Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of the crane operation without wasted working space and additional running cost, a self-propelling type combination crane is demanded, which works independently under normal working condition and alsofunctions as a combination crane when it lifts a heavy material that a single crane can not handle. As a combination crane which fulfills this requirement, the crane shown in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2006-315864 (U.S. patent publication2006/0273057) is known for example. This combination crane co

Wind Turbine Nacelle With Integral Service Crane For Accessing Turbine Components - Patent 7789252

Patents-424 — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 01:45:18 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 29, 2010

This invention relates to wind turbines housed in a nacelle atop a tall tower, and more particularly to an integrated service crane for accessing turbine components atop high towers.DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTThe cost of wind-generated electricity has been dropping due to technological innovations and economies of scale. The average turbine size is now approximately 1.5 MW with rotor diameters ranging from 70 to 85 m. This class of turbines has onaverage a nacelle weight of 50 tons (generators, gear box and nacelle housing) and a rotor weight of approximately 35 tons. To improve the economics of wind turbines, manufacturers have been designing taller towers to take advantage of greater windenergy at higher levels above ground. Manufacturers are increasingly relying on 80 and 100 m tower designs, rather than the shorter towers used previously. The cost of lowering and lifting these weights from/to the top of tall land based towers forservicing can be prohibitive, mainly due to the reach of conventional cranes, which require much higher crane capacity than the actual weight being lifted. This is due to the bending moment resulting from the reach of conventional cranes.U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,025 discloses a method of raising a wind turbine tower wherein the nacelle and turbine generators housed in the nacelle are raised together, such that once the tower is raised the nacelle is at the top of the tower. It ispossible using the method described therein to lower the tower and nacelle to replace the nacelle and turbine. However for routine maintenance or replacement of only one component, such as one generator, it is not cost effective to lower the entirenacelle. Only the defective component need be lowered.In the conventional method of the prior art, using a typical crane at ground level, a drivetrain or a component thereof is lifted up and over the top of a nacelle located on the top of a tall tower. The drivetrain or component is then loweredthrough a hatch do

Device For Suspending A Rail, Particularly A Running Rail Of An Overhead Conveyor Or Of A Lifting Apparatus - Patent 7784627

Patents-424 — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:31:15 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 28, 2010

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONThis application claims the priority benefits of International Application No. PCT/EP2006/065073, filed on Aug. 4, 2006, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention pertains to a device for suspending a rail, especially a travel rail of an overhead conveyor or a hoisting machine, from a traversing gear or supporting structure with a tension element, being secured by one end to the rail, while abolt passes through the tension element and is received by a fixing device that is secured to the rail.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONFrom the prospectus (March 2000 edition) entitled "Crane Construction Kit KBK classic and KBK ergo" of the firm Demag Cranes & Components GmbH, Wetter, Germany, there is known a crane construction kit system with c-shaped and I-shaped rails whichare open at the bottom, by which one can implement different kinds of constructions, such as monorail telphers, or single and double-beam overhead cranes. In each case, the rails are suspended from support structures, other rails, or traversing gearswhich run into other rails. These suspension systems have a pendulum type design, which ensures that the rails align themselves and thus come into a state of equilibrium, i.e., no significant bending load occurs in the tension element. The pendulumsuspension occurs through ball and socket bearings, having steel ball segments and mating ball cups with plastic slide shells. The ball segments are fastened to the end of a compound tension element. Thus, the tension element includes (looking downfrom above) a lug to fasten the tension element to the supporting structures, other rails or traversing gears, and a shaft joined to it as a single piece, to which the ball segment is screwed and secured.In a suspension system of c-shaped rails open at the bottom, with a web broadening out toward the top and arranged at the top side of the rail, preferably a y-shaped or T-shape

Article Transport Facility - Patent 7780020

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:12:06 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

This invention relates to an article transport facility including an article-carrying mobile body movable along a moving path and having an article holder, and article supports for article storage movable between an article transfer position forreceiving articles from the article holder of the mobile body and for passing articles to the article holder, and an article storage position.The above article transport facility includes a plurality of article transfer stations arranged along the moving path. The mobile body moves along the moving path to transport articles between the stations.The article supports are provided to keep temporarily articles to be transported to the stations. The article supports are usually located in positions for article storage such as at a side of the moving path, not to interfere with movement ofthe mobile body. When articles are stored on the article supports or when articles are transported from the article supports, the article supports are moved from the article storage position to the article transfer position, to transfer articles fromthe holder of the mobile body to the article supports, and transfer articles from the article supports to the holder.Conventionally, such an article transport facility has a guide rail serving as the moving path installed on the ceiling, a link mechanism pivotable about a horizontal axis relative to the ceiling and supporting an article support deck acting asthe article support to be movable between the article storage position and article transfer position, and a hydraulic cylinder disposed between the ceiling and the link mechanism for moving the article support between the article storage position and thearticle transfer position (see Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) H10-45213, for example).In this conventional article transport facility, when storing an article on the article support, with the mobile body stopped in an article transfer location, the hydraulic cylinder is driven to rock

Electric Motor Driven Traversing Balancer Hoist - Patent 7775384

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:29:04 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Balancing hoists have long been known in which a drum has a length of cable wound and unwound thereon as the drum is rotated in either direction to position a load held by the cable. This arrangement has utilized pneumatically operated hoistswhich use regulated air pressure acting on a piston to cause cable wind up or pay out by rotation of the drum. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,298 for a detailed description of this type of hoist. The load can be raised or lowered by the operator by exertinga low level force on the suspended load which increases or decreases the air pressure acting on the piston slightly, which pressure change is made up by a regulator to lower or raise the load accordingly.The limited stroke of the piston limits the cable travel that can be obtained, and thus electrical motor driven balancer hoist have been developed, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,921,959 and 4,807,767.The servo motor typically drives a planetary reduction gear, the output of which drives the cable wind up drum.Since the cable is elastically stretchable to a significant degree, it has considerable stored energy when heavily loaded.If the cable breaks, a hazard can be created by whipping of the cable caused by release of the stored energy when the cable breaks or when there is some other failure. Emergency brakes have been employed to prevent rapid unwinding of the cablein this situation.The mass of the planetary gearing also increases the momentum of the movable components when winding or unwinding is underway. The control of the servo motor is made more complicated by the cable stretch and the momentum of the rotatingcomponents, creating complex dynamics, particularly at the high speeds which the electric servo motor drive systems operate.The cable must always be maintained in tension during raising and lowering operation of the hoist in order to avoid loose turns in the cable windings on the drum leading to tangling of the windings, interfering with later unwinding. Sen

Hoisting Device With Vertical Motion Compensation Function - Patent 7775383

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:28:39 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to a hoisting device with a vertical motion compensation function, especially the hoisting device with the vertical motion compensation function eliminating effects by the heaving of a ship caused by waves with respect toan article hung from the ship through a wire.2. Description of the Related ArtIn the prevailing oceanographic observation, the sea area is grasped three-dimensionally based on the data of a vertical distribution and a horizontal distribution of a salinity concentration, a water temperature and a water depth measured at thesame time. There is a CTD (conductivity temperature depth) observation instrument as an instrument for gathering the above data. The observation instrument is used for observing the CTD under a situation maintained in a constant depth, hung by a winchfrom a board of a ship to the sea. There is a case that measurements are performed, allowing the observation instrument to be raised or to be lowered at a constant speed. Furthermore, there are cases, for example, such that works are performed with awork robot held in a constant depth of the sea, and such that structures or the topography of the sea floor are observed with a camera hung from a board of a ship held in a constant depth by using a lifting device on the ship.In such cases, when a hull is moved vertically by waves, an equipment such as the observation instrument in the water is also moved vertically in accordance with the vertical motion of the hull, as a result, accurate and speedy observations orworks can not be performed. Therefore, it is required that the observation instrument or the equipment hung from the hull is allowed to be held in a constant depth or to be raised or lowered at a constant speed, and patent document 1 disclose aheaving-compensation type crane for the purpose.FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a heaving-compensation type crane according to patent document 1. As shown in FIG. 4, in a crane system 2 i

Rope Winding System For Winding And Unwinding Steel Ropes Of Cranes - Patent 7770744

Patents-424 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:08:04 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to rope winding systems for winding and unwinding steel ropes of a crane, and to a crane which is equipped with such a rope winding system. Cranes of the construction of interest comprise for example mobile cranes,in particular telescopic boom cranes, but also tower slewing cranes, in particular top and bottom slewing cranes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONGenerally rope winding systems are well known which use various techniques or constructions in order to apply a more or less constant load to a steel rope while it is wound onto a rope drum of a rope winch, in particular of a crane, so that thesteel rope can be uniformly wound onto the rope drum in several layers.For example, pressure rollers are used in order to avoid slack rope problems in spooling operations. The pressure rollers used do not, however, always contact the entire width of the rope drum, so that the pressure roller experiences differentloads as the rope is wound up. The use of pressure rollers results in high wear and tear of the steel rope. Also, pressure rollers tend to skip, which may lead to damage. The skipping may be due, for example, to the rope drum not being entirelyuniformly wound. Such a design is sold, for example, by the firm Rotzler (Germany).In another approach to solve the problem of winding up or down a steel rope, outer and inner rope drums are provided, as disclosed in DE 43 16120 A1. A continuous rope can be wound onto a storing drum and a working drum wherein the working drumsurrounds the storing drum and is concentrically mounted to the latter on the drum shaft. The drum housing of the working drum is provided with an axially extending gap for passing the rope, and the working drum is freely rotatable on the drum shaft. Aclutch for the non-rotating coupling of the working drum to the storing drum is also provided. In this arrangement, the rope length not needed for a particular operating mode is stored on the storing drum. D

Mobile Lift Crane With Lift Enhancing Attachment - Patent 7766176

Patents-424 — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:53:52 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, October 25, 2010

REFERENCE TO EARLIER FILED APPLICATIONSThe present application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120 of PCT patent application Ser. No. PCT/US07/068738, filed May 11, 2007; and also claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) ofProvisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/799,915; both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUNDThe present application relates to lift cranes, and particularly to mobile lift cranes having attachments to increase the lift capacity of the crane.Enhancing the lift capacities of mobile lift cranes has been the subject of many improvements in the art of lift cranes over the years. Even with these improvements, there is still a need for further improvements, especially where the particularload to be lifted is very heavy, and other constraints associated with the load come into play, such as the need for the crane to be able to move over the ground while lifting the load.BRIEF SUMMARYA mobile lift crane has been invented which is capable of making very heavy lifts and still being mobile while lifting the load. In a first aspect, the invention is a mobile lift crane comprising a central crane unit having a carbody, moveableground engaging members and a rotating bed mounted to the ground engaging members with a rotatable connection such that the rotating bed can swing with respect to the ground engaging members; a boom unit having a support member, a boom pivotally mountedon the support member, and at least one moveable ground engaging member mounted on the support member so that the weight of the boom is supported by the boom unit moveable ground engaging member, and whereby the boom, boom support and boom unit moveableground engaging member all travel together as a single unit; a counterweight unit having counterweight on a support member; and rigging connecting the boom and counterweight unit such that a load lifted by the boom can be counterbalanced b

Mast Raising Structure And Process For High-capacity Mobile Lift Crane - Patent 7762412

Patents-424 — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:30:33 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, October 25, 2010

BACKGROUNDThe present application relates to lift cranes, and particularly to high-capacity mobile lift cranes having a mast behind the main boom from which counterweight is supported, and to methods of raising that mast during a set-up operation.High-capacity mobile lift cranes typically include a carbody having moveable ground engaging members; a rotating bed rotatably connected to the carbody such that the rotating bed can swing with respect to the ground engaging members; a boompivotally mounted on a front portion of the rotating bed, with a hoist line extending therefrom; a mast mounted on the rotating bed; and counterweight to help balance the crane when the crane lifts a load. The mast is used to support the rigging,including the boom hoist rigging, so that it may transfer the forces from lifting a load to the rear of the carbody and the counterweight. Sometimes an extra counterweight attachment, such as a counterweight trailer, is added to the crane to furtherenhance the lift capacity of the mobile lift crane. Since the load is often moved in and out with respect to the center of rotation of the crane, and thus generates different moments throughout a crane pick, move and set operation, it is advantageous ifthe counterweight, including any extra counterweight attachments, can also be moved forward and backward with respect to the center of rotation of the crane. In this way a smaller amount of counterweight can be utilized than would be necessary if thecounterweight had to be kept at a fixed distance. The mast has to be designed to support the rigging, including a tension member, such as a counterweight strap, tied to such counterweights. The mast for such high-capacity cranes is usually made from aplurality of lattice segments and is designed to withstand very substantial compressive loads.Since the crane will be used in various locations, it needs to be designed so that it can be transported from one job site to the next. This usually requires that

Movable Independent Crane System Used Temporarily For Moving Or Replacing Components And Mounting Wind Generators - Patent 7748547

Patents-424 — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 06:34:37 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 23, 2010

The invention relates to an independent mobile crane system for temporarily use on wind turbine generators (WTG), and more particularly an independent mobile crane system used for the replacement of different components i.e. rotor parts, blades,generator, gearbox etc., and during the erection of the wind turbine generator.STATE OF THE ARTWhen using a crane on a wind turbine generator (WTG) today it is either for replacing parts of the turbine, during service or repair, or during the turbine erection.For these purposes the conventional solutions of an external crane, an internal crane or a build up add-on crane in the nacelle are used.External cranes with high lifting range and high capacity are versatile and efficient, but can be difficult to get to the site and also there can be difficulties with the soil conditions where the crane should be standing. It is not uncommonthat it can be necessary to make extra foundations for the crane support legs or to prepare the access roads for example with steel plates. The height range and the capacity requirements for erection and service of turbines larger than 1 megawatt (MW)limit the number of available cranes. These factors make the use of the external cranes expensive. For offshore turbines the use of an external crane can be extremely expensive.Internal cranes are often limited to a capacity below 1 ton (T), but can be upgraded to a higher capacity by mounting a gripwinch (Tirak) system with extra wires etc. This task can be difficult and time consuming. When using the internal craneit can be difficult to have space enough to get the components out of the turbine, and it can be necessary to remove some components to ensure a free passage due to the limited lifting height of the internal crane. Additionally items can only be lowereddown via holes in the bottom of the nacelle.An internal crane could also be build as a heavy duty system such as the patents WO-A-9610130 and EP-A-1101934 in the name of Liebherr which ad

Upper Block - Patent 7735662

Patents-424 — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:56:30 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 21, 2010

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCHNot ApplicableREFERENCE TO APPENDIXNot ApplicableFIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to overhead cranes and particularly to upper blocks of overhead cranes. More particularly, the present invention relates to failure proof mechanisms for upper blocks of overhead cranes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONConventional overhead cranes include an upper block that, in combination with a lower block and a drum, is used to raise or lower a hook or other lifting mechanism attached to the lower block. Often, conventional overhead cranes include failureproof mechanisms within the upper block to shut down the crane if an overload or uneven-load condition is present.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a crane having a drum, an upper block, a lower block, and at least two rope ends. The upper block includes an equalizer yoke pivotally mounted to a support wall of the upper block and having two load pins. Eachrope end is coupled to one of the load pins, and the rope ends are substantially parallel to one another in a direction substantially perpendicular to a line running through the two load pins.In another embodiment of the present invention, an equalizer is provided for a crane having a drum, a lower block, an upper block, and at least two rope ends. The equalizer comprises a support wall and an equalizer yoke pivotally coupled to thesupport wall. The equalizer yoke includes two load pins, each rope end being coupled to one of the load pins through a connection bracket. The connection bracket includes a frame substantially surrounding and movable relative to the load pin and anadjustment screw threaded through a top wall of the frame, the adjustment screw having an end in engagement with the load pin, wherein rotation of the adjustment screw moves the frame relative to the load pin.Still another embodiment of the present invention provides an equalizer for a crane having a drum, a lower block, an

Gantry Stacker With Two Side-by-side Spreaders - Patent 7731041

Patents-424 — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:04:43 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 of German Application No. 10 2007 049 012.9 filed Oct. 11, 2007.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the InventionThe invention relates to a gantry stacker for transporting and stacking freight containers. The invention may be used whenever several containers are deposited in a close side-by-side relationship by a crane in transhipment ports and whenever itis necessary to transport, stack or position the side-by-side freight containers for conventional gantry stackers to ensure further shipment.2. The Prior ArtOn transhipment docks, in particular in port facilities, containers are usually picked up, transported and when necessary stacked on the ship or in the port facility by means of gantry crane spreaders for loading and unloading ships. Such agantry crane has been described in German Patent No. DE 197 26 359 A1 for example.Containers that have been deposited in the port facility are next picked up by gantry lift trucks and transhipped to the port facility where they are loaded onto other vehicles such as road vehicles or stacked appropriately.German Patent No. DE 32 221 49 A1 describes a gantry stacker for picking up containers and for transporting them. These vehicles are suited for picking up superposed containers and have therefor a corresponding height. On either side of twochassis beams there are at least two, but often even several steerable wheels. These chassis beams have to be of a narrow implementation for the gantry stacker to be capable of traveling between the containers in narrow alleys. For this reason, thesechassis beams are often configured so that engines, gears and other parts needed for displacement are disposed therein. Usually, two supports are located on the chassis beams. On the supports are located the hoist, the overhead frame, the driver's caband engines usually constituting combustion engines, e.g., diesel engines, supplying the current for the drive in the wheels.A spre

Crawler Crane - PDF

Patents-424 — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:04:22 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 20, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a crawler crane and more particularly to a layout of a cabin and a power unit both mounted on an upper rotating body.2. Description of Related ArtGenerally, an upper rotating body of a crawler crane is provided, as a frame structure, with a rotating frame located centrally and extending along the longitudinal direction, and right and left deck frames mounted on right and left sides of therotating frame respectively. An example of such a crawler crane is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-314106 (US2007/0175849A1). In this example, a base end of a boom is supported pivotally at a front end of arotating frame. Moreover, plural winches for winding wire ropes which are used for winding up or winding down lifting hooks suspended from a front end of the boom are disposed on the rotating frame longitudinally in a row in a plane view. Further, acabin is usually disposed on one of the deck frames disposed on both sides of the rotating frame and a power unit comprising an engine and a hydraulic pump is disposed on the other deck frame. The power unit, which is also called a power plant or apower source, is disposed on the other deck frame longitudinally, namely, the longitudinal direction of the power unit is directed in the front and rear direction of the crawler crane.In the case of such an upper rotating body, its width is determined by the sum of the width of the winches disposed on the rotating frame, the width of the cabin disposed on one deck frame, and the width of the power unit disposed on the otherdeck frame. For enhancing the easiness of workability or transportability when disassembling the crawler crane, and mounting/transporting the upper rotating body on a trailer, it is desired that the width of the upper rotating body be shortened as smallas possible.To meet such a requirement, it is proposed that both cabin and power unit, which are large in occupying wi

Removable Externally Mounted Slewing Crane For Shipping Containers - Patent 7726497

Patents-424 — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:45:23 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, October 19, 2010

This invention relates to a crane mounted on a shipping and stowage container. More particularly, this invention is for a slewing crane secured to the end of a shipping and stowage container utilizing powered and/or manual force forlifting/lowering loads, extending/retracting the loads and swinging or slewing the loads in the horizontal plane.Containers are widely used in air, sea and land transport of goods since they keep many items together as a lot and protect them from damage during the haul. Large transport, vehicles can carry rows and columns of the containers that can restsingly or in stacks on decks and/or pallets.The great majority of shipping and stowage containers in commercial air and maritime commerce have evolved into a standard design. The standard established by ISO 1161 requirements by the International Organization for Standardization definescontainers of standardized dimensions and ruggedness to promote efficiency and safety for air and maritime use. The ISO 1161 containers are robustly constructed with rigid side walls mounted on strong frameworks that have a heavy-duty block-shapedcorner fitting at each of the containers' eight corners. The corner fittings and other parts of an ISO 1161 container can be made of steel, aluminum or other tough material.The ISO block-shaped corner fittings have outward facing elongated openings sized to receive appropriately dimensioned heavy-duty rotatable bayonet portions of standard single or double-cone twist-lock fittings. When a cone-shaped bayonetportion of a single or double-cone twist lock fitting is inserted through an opening and into an ISO 1161 corner fitting, the inserted portion is manually rotated a partial turn via an attached small twist-lock lever. This rotation of the insertedbayonet portion securely engages the twist-lock fitting to the block-shaped corner fitting, and when the other cone-shaped bayonet portion of the double-cone twist lock fitting is inserted through an opening and int

Systems And Methods For Sway Control - Patent 7648036

Patents-424 — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:53:49 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Tuesday, October 19, 2010

BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure relates generally to the movement of loads and, more particularly, to the measurement and control of sway in load transportation systems.Load transportation systems such as ship-to-shore cranes, tower cranes, marine-based cranes, Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes (RMGC), and boom cranes are often used to move loads from one location to another. These loads are often large and heavy andtend to sway or swing during movement. Load sway decreases transportation efficiency and increases the risk of damage and injury.An example of a typical load transportation system 100 is shown in FIG. 1. The system 100 may comprise, for example, a load spreader 102 suspended from a trolley 104 by one or more trolley ropes 106. For example, where the load 108 is arectangular box container, a trolley rope 106 may support each of the four top corners of the load spreader 102 carrying the container 108.The trolley 104 may travel along a rail 110 which may be the rail of a crane. For example, the rail 110 may be a standard "I" beam or steel "W" section and/or the load jib of a tower crane. The trolley 104 may have one or more pulleys 112 thatmay be used to raise or lower the load spreader 102 and any load 108 carried by the load spreader 102.When the load 108 is transported from one location to another the load 108 may sway. In the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 the sway may be defined, for example, as the deviation of the load 108 from the position expected of the load 108 at rest. The magnitude and/or direction of sway may change, sometimes frequently, such as when the load 108 swings beneath the trolley 104. The sway may be dictated by various factors including, but not limited to, the weight and/or configuration of the load108, the length of the trolley ropes 106, the speed and/or motion of the trolley 104, and/or various weather conditions such as prevailing winds, or wave motions affecting marine-based cranes.The sway of the load 108 must generally be mon

Transporting Apparatus, Transporting System, And Elongation Mechanism - Patent 7637380

Patents-424 — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:13:27 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Monday, October 18, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a transporting apparatus for transporting a transported object, for example, various substrates and the like for manufacturing semiconductor devices, on a track portion, a transporting system including thetransporting apparatus and the track portion, and an elongation mechanism used for the transporting apparatus. Here, the "transported object" means a product, an intermediate product, a part, an article, a work, a partly-finished good, a good or thelike, or means a box or container for containing such a product or the like, which has been transported or is to be transported by the apparatus.2. Description of the Related ArtAs this type of transporting apparatus, there is a transporting apparatus of an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport) type, which travels on the track portion, installed on or near the ceiling. Moreover, there is a transporting apparatus that cantransfer or load a transported object, placed except under the track portion, i.e. placed on the side of the track portion (hereinafter referred to as "lateral transfer", as occasion demands).For example, Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. Hei 11-180505 discloses a technology which allows the lateral transfer by providing a transferring device, which can move on a horizontal surface, in the lower portion of a transportingcarriage. Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. 2005-206371 discloses a technology which allows the lateral transfer by providing a ceiling buffer on the lateral side of the transporting carriage and by displacing a lift to the ceilingbuffer. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. 2006-282303 discloses a technology which allows the lateral transfer by providing an object placing stage on the lateral side of the track.The transporting apparatus, disclosed in the patent documents, is provided with an elongation mechanism for laterally elongating a loading device, mechanically, using a gear, r

Swing Stop For Rotary Crane - Patent 7635063

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:49:42 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, October 17, 2010

The present invention relates to rotating platform members and mechanisms for limiting the rotation of such members. In greater particularity, the present invention relates to rotatable platforms mounted on carriages such as a rail mountedchassis or frame and having a working element mounted to the platform mechanism. In still greater particularity, the present invention relates to a mobile track crane or similar vehicle wherein the crane is mounted on a rotatable upper assemblysupported on a track engaging carriage. Specifically, the present invention is related to a stop mechanism to limit the rotational movement of a track crane to prevent the crane from interfering with equipment on an adjacent track.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONProper maintenance of railroad track requires the periodic removal and replacement of worn or degraded ties from beneath the rails. Modern railroad maintenance utilizes tie cranes to move the ties to and from the track bed. A stand alone tiecrane is exemplified by the Model 12-12 Tie Crane available from the Kershaw Division of Progress Rail, owner of the present application. Such tie cranes are self propelled and include a lower frame and an upper platform mounted to the lower frame on alarge diameter slewing ring which allows the upper deck to rotate a full 360 degrees. The crane boom is mounted to the upper platform and moves with the platform. In environments where two tracks are adjacent, care must be taken that the crane boomdoes not extend beyond the clearance guideline of the adjacent track. Known technology requires the operator to dismount from the cab to place fixed mechanical stops in position to arrest the movement of the platform and boom towards the adjacent track. The stops provide a sudden stop that is jarring to the operator and the equipment with associated wear on both.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is the object of the present invention to insure that the tie crane boom does not foul the clearance guidelines of an

Telescopable Sliding Beam - Patent 7703616

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:50:48 GMT

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CROSS-REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONThis application claims priority to German Utility Model Application Serial No. 20 2005 012 049.9 filed Aug. 1, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.FIELDThe present disclosure relates to a telescopable sliding beam as it is generally applicable in work machines, preferably in truck cranes or excavators.BACKGROUND AND SUMMARYEspecially in the field of truck cranes or also excavators there is a multitude of possibilities for hydraulic support, which serve to improve the load bearing capacity and the stability. Simple telescopable sliding beams, dual telescopablesliding beams, collapsible beams or also combinations of collabsible beams and sliding beams are known here, for instance.Depending on the local conditions and in dependence on the required load bearing capacity, different conditions of extension of the sliding beams laterally extending from the chassis are required for a safe operation, wherein the load input intothe sliding beams must be effected via defined load input points for static reasons. In all conditions of extension, it must be possible to reproducibly approach the load input points at any time.It is already known to provide dual telescopable sliding beams, wherein the systems can be designed differently for telescoping out and retracting the sliding beams. In this case, the provided hydraulic cylinders and rope discharge systems canfor instance be combined with each other. Instead of these systems, hydraulic cylinders with chain discharge have already been used. An alternative consists in using two hydraulic cylinders, one for each sliding beam, or to use a single two-stagecylinder.In the known discharge system with one hydraulic cylinder and one rope or chain discharge, the telescoping operation of the sliding beams is effected as follows:First of all, the first sliding beam is pushed out by means of a hydraulic cylinder between sliding beam box and sliding beam.

Lattice Piece For A Large Mobile Crane And Method Of Erecting The Same - Patent 7703615

Patents-424 — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:50:36 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Sunday, October 17, 2010

This invention relates to a lattice piece for a large mobile crane and a method of erecting such lattice piece.Large mobile cranes are transported to the respective sites of operation on public roads. Here, the rules of public road traffic are applicable, in Germany for instance the German Road Traffic Regulations. The maximum admissible weights andalso dimensions are specified, for instance. In other countries, similar regulations are applicable.These regulations lead to the fact that the dimensions of the parts to be transported are limited. As a result, the total size of the mobile crane and therefore also the maximum achievable load capacity and the outreach (load moment) thereofalso are limited.Different approaches for increasing the load capacity have already been formulated. In DE 20 2005 017 362 U1, for instance, it has already been proposed to couple two cranes. From WO 2005/030632 A1 it is known to use two booms on one crane inparallel. In these two proposals, the two booms provided here are connected with each other.In accordance with another proposal, lateral reinforcements were mounted on both sides of the booms and adjusted by means of a dual derrick (as proposed in DE 100 02 917 A1).In EP 1 015 374 B1 it is described already to create lattice pieces which are dimensioned slightly smaller than the dimensions of a container, in order to simplify the transport of the lattice pieces. Here, differently profiled corner posts wereused. The transport of the lattice pieces was effected analogous to the transport of a container with corresponding connections, as they are known for containers.Since the booms constructed of the lattice pieces should be slewable on a common axis, all solutions have in common that the width of the assembled booms always was larger than the height. Thus, the known booms have less load capacity in theluffing plane than vertical to the luffing plane. In the case of long and heavy main booms, the maximum length to be erected

Crane Trim, List, Skew And Snag Protection System - PDF

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:42:21 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 16, 2010

The present invention relates to an improved hoisting apparatus that, through the use of a dual diameter or tapered drums and opposite direction wire rope wrapping, reduces the shaft torque required to lift a load with respect to that seen inconventional hoisting systems. With differing drum diameter sections, the shaft torque for the same operation may be positive, zero or negative. This improved design, besides allowing for smaller drum rotating mechanical equipment, has wideapplications in the hoisting and craning industry. One of the applications is for use as a container crane's trim, list, skew and snag protection system (TLSS).Container cranes hoist containers with four individual wire ropes. For purposes of simplification in explanation, each wire rope runs to a corner of a lift beam connected to the container. By controlled take up and let out of these four wireropes the operator of the crane can force a container to tilt in the x axis, the y axis or yaw about a vertical z axis. In the craning industry these motions are called list, trim, and skew. In aircraft terms, these would be termed limited roll rightand left, limited pitch nose and tail, and limited yaw clockwise and counterclockwise. (TLS) By adjusting these motions a suspended container can be forced to align better as it is moved on and off a ship and on or off a truck.A snag occurs when a hoist is lifting a liftbeam at high speed and the lift beam hangs up in a ship's hold, or alternatively, when the lift beam fails to stop when it reaches the underside of the hoist trolley. Although there is a significantamount of stretch in long wire ropes, once a snag occurs, if the upward lift of the crane is not stopped, damage will occur. Stopping the upward motion of the lift beam is not immediate as the hoist machinery keeps turning by virtue of its own flywheelinertia. The rotating kinetic energy associated with that flywheel inertia must be converted to heat, elastic strain or deformation. A

Tie - Download Now PDF

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:41:33 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 16, 2010

This application claims the benefit of International Application No. PCT/NL2006/050224 filed on Sep. 6, 2006 under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.371,entitled, "TIE-BACK SYSTEM FORCRANES, IN PARTICULAR HEAVY LOAD OFFHORE CRANE" which itself claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 05108173.5, filed on Sep. 6, 2005, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.The invention relates to a tie-back system for cranes, in particular offshore cranes for heavy loads such as between a 1000-10.000 tons. In offshore cranes, tie-back systems are used for increasing the outreach of the boom without overloadingthe main components of the crane. The tie-back system connects the top of the crane frame to a distant position on deck, such that only restricted slewing of the crane is possible. Such a tie-back system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,269 in thename of the applicant. In the above prior art reference, an offshore crane has a boom that is connected to the top of an A-frame via a detachable boom hoist block. Via a guide construction and a hoist wire, the block is detached from the A-frame andthe boom hoist is attached to a pad eye on deck, at a distance from the heel point of the boom. In this way, the boom can be hinged to a more horizontal position while the load in the boom hoist cables attached to the tie-back rod or cable is equal tothe load in the boom hoist ropes, such that the known crane is statically determined. Disconnecting the boom hoist blocks from the A-frame is a relatively difficult operation which requires a large number of actions on deck and which is relatively timeconsuming.The invention also relates to a method of applying a tie-back member to a crane.It is an object of the present invention to provide a tie-back system of the above mentioned type and a method of applying the same, which is relatively simple and which allows fast and safe deployment and demobilisation. It is also an object ofthe present invention to pro

Telescopic Crane Jib Part With Cross Sectional Segments Of Varying Curvature - Patent 7578402

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:05:33 GMT

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The invention relates to a telescopic crane jib part with a top profiled part and a bottomprofiled part, with curved cross-sectional segments.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONPatent specification EP 0 449 208 A2 discloses jib sections which are more or less round or, instead of a circle, are based on an upstanding ellipsis. Jibs made from these cross-sections have a relatively low rigidity about the vertical andhorizontal axis, a relatively low torsion resistance and a low resistance to twisting. Sections with half-box shaped or, alternatively, trapezoidal top shells are also described. The straight legs of the top and bottom shell portions lie in one plane. With this shape, the two lateral and the top segments are highly susceptible to buckling.Patent specification EP 0 668 238 A1 discloses a jib section, comprising a half-box shaped segment and a rounded bottom segment. The rounded bottom segment has at least one flat wall portion. The straight legs of the top half-box shaped segmentlie parallel with the vertical axis of symmetry of the section and are joined to the bottom legs. Both the top and the bottom jib segments are highly susceptible to instability, especially during displacement, in the regions of the overlap and at pointswhere force is transmitted.Document DE 200 04 016 U1 discloses a jib cross-section with a bottom rounded part and a top half-box shaped part, the oppositely facing legs of which are welded to one another. The top part has the shape of an equal-sided trapezium without alonger base line. Extending parallel with the vertical axis of symmetry, the legs of the bottom section abut with the legs of the top profiled part forming an angle. In order to reduce the risk of buckling in the thinner top shell, the thicker bottomshell must terminate far beyond the neutral zone of the cross-section. Furthermore, the overall cross-section is less rigid due to the fact that the straight web walls are drawn in. A jib of this design is higher in weight a

ATV Hoist - Patent 7575120

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:13:55 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 16, 2010

This invention relates to a hoist that can be secured to an all terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a quad-runner. More particularly, this invention relates to a hoist that can be secured to the front or rear of an ATV and it can be operatedmanually or automatically.ATV's have many uses can traverse rugged terrain, including unpaved areas and forests. Further, ATV's are owned by several consumers for work or recreation. Therefore they may serve useful work purposes in environments such as camping orhunting, and also around the home. To increase the ATV's workhorse function, ATV's have been adapted with carrying or luggage racks, and winches.U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,451 discloses an ATV hoist with a telescoping vertical support shaft connected to a horizontal boom. The '451 hoist is secured to an ATV rack 52, 54 on one side of the rack 52, 54, as compared with being secured near thewidth-wise center of the ATV. The width-wise center is defined as the mid-point of the distance from one side (i.e. left) to the other side (i.e. right). The '451 hoist distributes the entire weight of the hoist and the load that the hoist may becarrying, to the vertical shaft section 44 and the support plate 48. The vertical shaft section 44 and the support plate 48 are disposed near the right side, or the left side of the ATV, rather than the center.U.S. patent application Publication No. 2002/0048504 disclosed an ADV hoist that is secured at two locations on the ATV, near the rack and near the front wheel.As can be seen, there is a need for an ATV hoist that is easily and securely positioned on either the front or back of the ATV; and an ATV hoist that is positioned in the width-wise center of the ATV so it does not tip leftwardly or rightwardlywith a heavy load.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA hoist that is demountably secured to a frame of an all terrain vehicle, comprising a base that is demountably secured to the frame; an arm-base bracket that is secured to a top surface of said ba

Removable Externally Mounted Bridge Crane For Shipping Containers - Patent 7621410

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:11:16 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 16, 2010

This invention relates to a crane mounted on a shipping and stowage container. More particularly, this invention is for a self-erecting crane secured to the end of a shipping and stowage container using powered hoists for lifting/lowering loadsand manual force for extending/retracting the lifted loads in the X-direction and transversally moving the loads in the Y-direction.Containers are widely used in air, sea and land transport of goods since they keep many items together as a lot and protect them from damage during the haul. Large transport vehicles can carry rows and columns of the containers that can restsingly or in stacks on decks and/or pallets.The great majority of shipping and stowage containers in commercial air and maritime commerce have evolved into a standard design. The standard established by ISO 1161 requirements by the International Organization for Standardization definescontainers of standardized dimensions and ruggedness to promote efficiency and safety for air and maritime use. The ISO 1161 containers are robustly constructed with rigid side walls mounted on strong frameworks that have a heavy-duty block-shapedcorner fitting at each of the containers' eight corners. The corner fittings and other parts of an ISO 1161 container can be made of steel, aluminum or other tough material.The block-shaped corner fittings have outward facing elongated openings sized to receive appropriately dimensioned heavy-duty rotatable bayonet portions of standard double-cone twist-lock fittings. When a cone-shaped bayonet portion of adouble-cone twist lock fitting is inserted through an opening and into an ISO 1161 corner fitting, the inserted portion is manually rotated a partial turn via an attached small twist-lock lever. This rotation of the inserted bayonet portion securelyengages the twist-lock fitting to the block-shaped corner fitting, and when the other cone-shaped bayonet portion of the double-cone twist lock fitting is inserted through an opening a

Method Of Converting Off-shore Installed Pedestal Cranes Link Belt Models 218 And 238 From Mechanical To Full Hydraulic Operation - Patent 7571824

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:43:03 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 16, 2010

The present invention relates, in general, to off-shore cranes and, more particularly, this invention relates to a method of converting on off-shore installed pedestal cranes Link Belt Models 218 and 238 from a mechanical to a total hydraulicoperation.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAs is generally well known, a vast majority of industrial mechanically operated cranes installed on off-shore platforms require greater than desired repair and maintenance effort and, subsequently, a greater life cycle cost associated therewith. The repair and maintenance costs increase with the increase in crane age and use. Of a particular concern are pedestal-type cranes Link Belt Models 218 and 238 which include a pedestal secured to an off-shore platform, a turntable attached to thepedestal, a main frame rotatably attached to the turntable, a boom pivotally mounted on the main frame and having cables and hooks suspended therefrom, a winch frame secured to the main frame and having a pair of side members and a operator cab securedto the main frame and a trio of mechanically operated winches mounted within the winch frame each connected to a respective cable.Furthermore, it is also generally known that such mechanically operated cranes pose numeral safety hazards to operating personnel.Prior to the conception and design of the present invention these mechanically operated pedestal-type cranes were being retrofitted in their entirety with a new type of cranes having hydraulically operated winches and turntable mechanism. Whilesuch hydraulically operated cranes increase performance efficiency and reduce maintenance costs, the overall retrofit (replacement) costs, which are predominantly influenced by the cost of the new crane, impact the profitability of the many off-shoreplatforms and cannot be easily absorbed by the owners of such platforms.Therefore, there is a need to improve performance of existing pedestal-type cranes installed on off-shore platforms while minimizing the overall retr

Crane Lattice Boom And A Crane - Patent 7617943

Patents-424 — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:03:26 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Saturday, October 16, 2010

The invention relates to a crane lattice boom comprising two boom sections and a crane, in particular a mobile crane, having such a crane lattice boom.In cranes, the maximum working load with long booms is limited by the lateral stiffness of the boom system. This applies in a particular degree with lattice-shaped booms and when the lattice is used in a steep position. This instability isfurther amplified e.g. with an inclined crane installation, unfavorable wind conditions or different temperature influences at the sides of the booms.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is the object of the present invention to increase the lateral stiffness and thus the working load of the boom system even with a steep-standing boom.This object is solved using a crane lattice boom, crane or, in particular a mobile crane, having the features herein. The description herein is also directed to advantageous embodiments.A crane lattice boom in accordance with the invention comprises at least two boom sections and at least one guy support for a rope guy arrangement. The term "boom sections" is used in this connection for the individual lattice mast elements ofthe crane lattice boom. Guy supports of this type extend outwardly from the lattice boom in the operating state. Guy ropes are secured at their freely projecting ends or run over corresponding return pulleys whose ends are secured to the lattice boomitself, preferably to its head and base. The lateral stability of the lattice boom is significantly increased in this manner by the guy rope arrangement. The crane lattice boom in accordance with the invention has at least one guy support whose base isdesigned such that it can be installed between two boom sections. The design in accordance with the invention permits a flexible use of the lateral guy arrangement. The base of the at least one guy support can be mounted, depending on the necessity,between different boom sections. If the working loads to be lifted or the external condition

Lifting Machinery Of Four Reel Differential Type For Two 40 Feet Container Shore Crane - Patent 7494020

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:17:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application 200510024906.8, filed 6 Apr. 2005, the subject matter of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF INVENTIONThe invention generally relates to a lifting machinery for crane, more particularly, relates to a lifting machinery of two reel differential type for two 40 feet container shore crane.BACKGROUND OF INVENTIONThe increasing requirements of container transportation in the world and the continuous increment of the handling capacity of the container port put forward new and increased demands on the technical equipment for loading and unloadingcontainers, and an urgent need for the design and development of high efficient bank-run container load and unload systems to meet the demand of the lifter productivity needed by the larger ships.The main lifting machinery of the crane of the prior art carries out the lifting and lowering operation of one hanger tool only, hence only one 40 feet container or two 20 feet containers can be lifted at a time so that limits the productionefficiency and does not meet the market requirement.SUMMARY OF INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a lifting machinery for four reel differential type for two 40 feet container shore crane so that the lifting machinery with a set of motors and reductors can lift two 40 or 45 feet containers(or four 20 feet containers) simultaneously, achieving both the synchronous operation of two hanger tools and the operation of single hanger tool. The loading and unloading efficiency may be increased by more than 60%, thus the present invention canmeet the requirements of the increasing demand on loading and unloading efficiency of the ship transportation industry.According to the present invention, providing a lifting machinery of four reel differential type for two 40 feet container shore crane, comprising: a motor; a reductor connecting to the output shaft of the motor; a high speed brake provid

Crane - Patent 7490728

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:50:56 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a crane, in particular to an offshore crane, having a hoist rope winch, a hydraulic hoist winch drive and an overload protection which is connected to the hoist winch drive and which, when a predeterminedpermitted load limit is reached, permits a drawing off of the hoist rope from the hoist rope winch under a predetermined variable restoring force dependent on the radius and/or the permitted working load of the crane.2. Description of the Prior ArtAs a rule, cranes have an overload protection with a control device which prevents the crane from being moved into the overload range. In this process, the load acting on the crane is detected by means of a load detection device and is comparedwith a load limit. As soon as too great a load should be lifted or the radius should be increased so much by luffing down the crane boom with a lifted load that the load limit would be reached, the control device of the crane engages and sets the cranedrives out of operation or only allows an actuation to the effect that the load acting on the crane is reduced. The load limit can be stored in the form of a load limit curve typical per se in dependence on the crane radius for various setup conditions. It has also already been proposed to define the load limit as a torque limit and always to make a current calculation of the load torque respectively acting on the crane from the respective radius and the winch rope force.This type of overload protection is, however, not suitable for all possible load cases. Load cases can in particular occur with offshore cranes in which the mere switching off of the crane drives would result in a destruction of the crane. Theloading and unloading of a ship, which is not carried out with calm water in a port, but at a higher sea state, is particularly dangerous here if the lifting hook of a crane standing on an offshore platform is attached onto too heavy a load which lies ona ship, an ove

Crane And Boom Hoisting Device Thereof - Patent 7565982

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:23:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a crane and a boom hoisting device of the crane, permitting easy removal of a mast or a gantry for raising and lowering a boom attached to a body frame.2. Description of the Related ArtThe related art will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 showing a crawler crane as an example.This crane has a body frame comprising a lower travel body 1 of a crawler type and an upper rotating body 2 mounted on the lower travel body 1 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis.The upper rotating body 2 is basically composed of a boom 4 mounted on a rotating frame 3 as a base, three winches 5, 6, 7 as main hoist, auxiliary hoist and boom hoisting winches, respectively, and a mast 8 for raising and lowering the boom 4.A base end portion 8a of the mast 8 is attached to a front side portion 3a of the rotating frame 3 so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis and attached detachably to the front side portion 3a of the rotating frame 3. In order to avoidmutual interference of wire ropes delivered from the winches 5 to 7, these winches are mounted at intervals on the rotating frame 3 in the order of main hoist winch, auxiliary hoist winch and boom hoisting winch from the front side.As shown in FIG. 4, a hoisting wire rope 12 of the boom hoisting winch 7 is stretched through an upper spreader 9 provided at an upper end portion of the mast 8 and is spread like a rattan blind on both a sheave of the upper spreader 9 and asheave of a lower spreader 10 mounted on a rear portion of the rotating frame 3. Thus, when the boom hoisting winch 7 is operated to unwind or wind the hoisting rope 12, thereby changing the distance between the upper spreader 9 and the lower spreader10, the mast 8 rises or lowers, so that the boom 4, which is connected to the mast 8 through a guy line 11, also rises or lowers.As another upper rotating body, as shown in FIG. 5, one provided as a substitute for the mast 8 with a gantry 30 having a gant

Overhead Travelling Carriage - Patent 7611023

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:19:37 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

The present invention relates to an overhead travelling carriage which is provided with a hoist and which runs along a track installed above a floor surface, and in particular, to a mechanism that supports an article supported by the hoist andhoused in the overhead travelling carriage.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAn overhead traveling carriage (hereinafter referred to as "carriage") has hitherto been known which is provided with a hoist and which runs along a track installed above a floor surface. The carriage is composed of a running section that allowsthe carriage to run along the track and an article supporting section in which the article is housed.Such a carriage houses an article inside using a chuck mechanism provided in the hoist to support and raise a handle formed at the top of the article. The housed state of the article ends once the hoist has moved the chuck mechanism, supportingthe article, up to the highest position. Then, in this state, the carriage starts to transfer the article.In recent years, it has been desirable to increase the speed of a carriage that transfers wafers. However, when an attempt is made to cause the carriage to run at high speed, an article housed in the carriage may be oscillated around a chuckinstalled at the tip of a traction wire in a hoist. If the transferred article is a cassette that houses a large number of wafers, or the like and thus cannot sufficiently endure vibration, it is adversely affected by impact caused by oscillation asdescribed previously.It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an overhead travelling carriage with a hoist which suppresses transmission of vibration to an article during transfer.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Means for solving these problems will be described below.According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an overhead traveling carriage which is provided with a hoist and which runs along

Upper Block - Patent 7611022

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:19:13 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCHNot ApplicableREFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIXNot ApplicableFIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to overhead cranes and particularly to upper blocks of overhead cranes. More particularly, the present invention relates to failure proof mechanisms for upper blocks of overhead cranes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONConventional overhead cranes include an upper block that, in combination with a lower block and a drum, is used to raise or lower a hook or other lifting mechanism attached to the lower block. Often, conventional overhead cranes include failureproof mechanisms within the upper block to shut down the crane if an overload or uneven-load condition is present.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a crane having a drum, an upper block, a lower block, and at least two rope ends. The upper block includes an equalizer yoke pivotally mounted to a support wall of the upper block and having two load pins. Eachrope end is coupled to one of the load pins, and the rope ends are substantially parallel to one another in a direction substantially perpendicular to a line running through the two load pins.In another embodiment of the present invention, an equalizer is provided for a crane having a drum, a lower block, an upper block, and at least two rope ends. The equalizer comprises a support wall and an equalizer yoke pivotally coupled to thesupport wall. The equalizer yoke includes two load pins, each rope end being coupled to one of the load pins through a connection bracket. The connection bracket includes a frame substantially surrounding and movable relative to the load pin and anadjustment screw threaded through a top wall of the frame, the adjustment screw having an end in engagement with the load pin, wherein rotation of the adjustment screw moves the frame relative to the load pin.Still another embodiment of the present invention provides an equalizer for a crane having a drum, a lowe

Crane Vehicle - Patent 7611021

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:18:18 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

The invention relates to a crane vehicle having a base plate fastenable to its undercarriage to receive ballast and two hoisting means vertically fastened to the part of the superstructure projecting outwardly in the opposite direction to theboom, said hoisting means having first load receiving points which can be moved into cut-outs of connection rods arranged at the base plate and engage there into matched recesses. In accordance with the invention, both hoisting means are longer beyondthe first load receiving points and are provided at their extended ends with second load receiving points which engage into corresponding shape-matched recesses of the connection rods. Due to this embodiment of the hoisting means, they cannot onlyaccept forces, but also torques. The ballasting system is independent of the position of the pivot point of the total ballast due to this additional torque acceptance. The available space can thus be utilized ideally while taking account of theinitially named condition. The respective piece of ballast to be placed on can namely have a comparatively large height independently of the position of the center of gravity. The space requirements of the outwardly pivoting superstructure can herebybe considerably reduced.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIIONPreferred aspects of the invention also result from the description herein.The hoisting means are preferably hydraulic cylinders with extensible piston rods supporting the load receiving points. The load receiving points are advantageously holding plates. Other load receiving points such as transverse bolts can,however, also be used instead of holding plates.Furthermore, the second load receiving points can be formed by a sectional cross-section extension in the end region of the piston rod.Since the second load receiving means substantially accept the forces perpendicular to the axis of the piston rod, it is sufficient here for the cross-sectional region to be extended in the end region of the pisto

Method For Controlling A Crane - Patent 7484632

Patents-424 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 02:01:54 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Friday, October 15, 2010

The invention relates to a method for controlling a crane, the method comprising giving velocity requests as control sequences from a crane control system to crane drives and reading and storing the velocity requests in a control system, wherebyeach velocity request is compared with the previous velocity request and, if the velocity request is changed, an acceleration sequence for the corresponding velocity change is formed and stored, after which, irrespective of whether the velocity requesthas changed, summing the velocity changes defined by the stored acceleration sequences at a given time and adding the obtained sum to the previous velocity request to achieve a new velocity request, which is set as a new control and velocity request forthe crane drives, and performing some of the velocity changes defined by the summed acceleration sequences at the definition time of each sequence and performing the rest of them as delayed.The above method is disclosed in Finnish Patent 89155. By using this method it is possible to efficiently prevent the undesired swinging of load fastened to the crane, disturbing the use and operability of the crane when the crane is controlledand the load is transferred. The method improves the properties of a crane control system by summing, in a particular manner, different control sequences eliminating the swinging occurring after load acceleration. By using this method, the endvelocities forming the target of acceleration can be randomly changed at any time, also during the actual velocity change sequences, and a new, desired end velocity is achieved without undesired swinging of the load.According to prior art, a control preventing the load swinging typically comprises two acceleration sequences, the time difference of which is half of the oscillation time of the load. Another, easily definable control consists of threeacceleration sequences with the same magnitude but varying directions, the first sequence being positive, the second

Wire Rope Reeving System For Twin Lift Cargo Container Handling - Patent 7559429

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:31:54 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates primarily to dockside cranes utilized in cargo container handling operations for transporting cargo containers between the ship and shore. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wire rope reevingsystem for cargo container lifting spreader apparatus which are translated by said cranes. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to twin container lift apparatus for engaging two containers by independent lifting spreaders forsimultaneous side-by-side movement and for lifting and lowering said two cargo containers, simultaneously and independently, by a single wire rope reeving system, while the containers are suspended at one location or being transported horizontally by thecrane.2. Description of the Prior ArtThe utilization dockside of various types of cargo container handling gantry cranes, or quay cranes, for the purpose of loading and unloading of cargo container transport ships, is highly and diversely developed in the prior art. The reason isthat shipping companies wish to reduce the time a ship spends in port involved in berthing operations (offloading and loading) in order to increase the efficiency of each vessel.Quay crane container handling rates are measured in cycle rates. Unsteady quay crane operations result because the cranes move containers different distances depending upon the deposition location of the container on a ship causing varying thecycle rates. For example, as a quay crane loads or unloads each column of containers spaced across the beam of the ship, the hoist travels a longer distance outboard for each successive column of containers and lowers and hoists longer for eachcontainer located deeper in the stack. The increased traveling distance and stationary time for the hoist, for each successive container, adds to the container handling time and the resulting cycle time. Increasing productivity through reducing aship's down time is essentially accomp

Portable Lift, Support, Removal And/or Installation System And Method - Patent 7556160

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:59:59 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

The present invention relates to field installation and removal of movement objects/components from equipment fixtures and the like. These applications are typically within industrial environments where the movement objects are large, heavy, anddifficult to manipulate.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to the removal and/or installation of equipment from a wide variety of locations. It provides the necessary support mechanism, lifting mechanism and temporary storage of the equipment to be removed and/orinstalled. In addition, the invention is portable in nature and can be moved from location to location as needed.DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTOverviewGenerally, power plants, co-generation power plants, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, refineries, dairies, tank farms, gas storage facilities, liquid natural gas storage facilities, manufacturing facilities and/or any facility that hastanks, vessels, piping, heat exchangers and/or equipment of any kind have had the need to install and/or remove (temporally or permanently) various components from the site or from the location that the component is installed, for a wide variety ofreasons. Some of these reasons include but are not limited to:1. maintenance of equipment and/or components,2. replacement of equipment and/or components,3. inspection of equipment or components, and/or4. installation of equipment or components.Current methods for temporary and/or permanent removal and/or installation of equipment and/or components rely on a number of options including: 1. Utilizing forklift trucks to lift the item to be removed and/or installed (movement object).2. Utilizing lifting tables to lift the movement object.3. Utilizing a crane to lift the movement object.4. Locating a structural member of the facility, near the movement object, securing some kind of a fixture to the structure and attaching a "chain pull" or other device to the fixture to support and remove and/or install the it

Lifting Machinery Of Two Reel Differential Type For Two 40 Feet Container Shore Crane - Patent 7556161

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:56:25 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application 200510024904.9, filed 6 Apr. 2005, the subject matter of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF INVENTIONThe invention generally relates to a lifting machinery for crane, more particularly, relates to a lifting machinery of two reel differential type for two 40 feet container shore crane.BACKGROUND OF INVENTIONThe increasing requirements of container transportation in the world and the continuous increment of the handling capacity of the container port put forward new and increased demands on the technical equipment for loading and unloadingcontainers, and an urgent need for the design and development of high efficient bank-run container load and unload systems to meet the demand of the lifter productivity needed by the larger ships.The main lifting machinery of the crane of the prior art carries out the lifting and lowering operation of one hanger tool only, hence only one 40 feet container or two 20 feet containers can be lifted at a time so that limits the productionefficiency and does not meet the market requirement.SUMMARY OF INVENTIONAs one aspect of the invention, a lifting machinery for two reel differential type for two 40 feet container shore crane is provided so that the lifting machinery of a set of motors and reductors can lift two 40 or 45 feet containers (or four 20feet containers) simultaneously, the lifting machinery may achieve the synchronous operation of two hanger tools or the operation of single hanger tool, increasing the loading and unloading efficiency by more than 60%, meeting the requirement of theincreasing demand on loading and unloading efficiency of the ship transportation industry.According to the invention, a lifting machinery of two reel differential type for two 40 feet container shore crane, comprising: a motor; a reductor and a high speed brake, said reductor connects to the motor; a reel provided on the output end ofthe reductor; and a r

Hitch Mounted Hoist Assembly - Patent 7607546

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:15:23 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

The present invention relates to a hoist assembly which may be mounted to a vehicle hitch attachment and used to assist with lifting items into or out of the vehicle.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA hoist assembly for lifting a load or equipment into and out of a vehicle, such as a pickup truck, often is required since the load may not be lifted easily by hand. Rather than having separate hoist assemblies to load a vehicle and to unloadthe vehicle at its destination or at multiple destinations, it is convenient to have a hoist assembly which may be mounted to the vehicle and which may travel with the vehicle.Various hoist or crane assemblies for use with a vehicle have been provided in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,038 to Pendergraft, issued Dec. 6, 1983, provides a hoist assembly which is integrated into a vehicle bumper. The assemblyfolds into the bumper and thus may be stored when not in use. However, the device of Pendergraft requires adaptation of the bumper and the vehicle itself in order to implement the hoist. U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,343 to Watson, issued Aug. 8, 1995, alsoprovides a combined bumper and hoist assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,610 to Spitsbergen, issued Dec. 31, 2002, provides a compact hoist assembly which may be mounted via a base plate onto the cargo space of a vehicle, the flat bed of a truck or theroof of a building. U.S. Pat. No. 6,821,075 to van der Horn, issued Nov. 23, 2004, discloses a hoist adapted to fit with a standard vehicle receiver hitch with two structural supports extending from a boom support. While van der Horn notes the legsmay be adjusted to account for use of a vehicle and the hitch assembly on uneven terrain, van der Horn does not provide a convenient and accurate means for positioning the hitch hoist. The support legs in the assembly disclosed by van der Horn may beadjusted but this would impact the leveling of the device both in the horizontal and vertical planes, making it difficult to provide a devic

Crane Trim, List, Skew And Snag Protection System - PDF

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 06:44:26 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

Supporting Bracket For Mobile Machine Tools - Patent 7552828

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 06:43:54 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATIONSApplicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 of German Application No. 10 2005 007 522.3 filed Feb. 17, 2005. Applicant also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.365 of PCT/EP2006/000532 filed Jan. 21, 2006. The internationalapplication under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English.The invention relates to a support boom for mobile work machines, particularly for mobile concrete pumps, having a push-out box disposed on a chassis, preferably so as to pivot, having a telescope part consisting of several telescope segmentsguided inside one another, which engages into the push-out box, and having a foot part disposed on the front end of the first telescope segment, preferably adjustable vertically.In the case of mobile concrete pumps, it is known (DE-A-10032622) to configure at least one part of the support boom as a multiple telescope, which engages into a push-out box that can pivot relative to the chassis and is displaceable relative tothe latter. In the operating state, the telescope segments are always completely extended there. A narrow support on construction sites that have limited space is brought about in that the set-up angle of the support boom relative to the chassis isreduced in size.Proceeding from this, the invention is based on the task of improving the known support booms of the type indicated initially in such a manner that a further possibility of narrow support is obtained, which can be adjusted in simple and reliablemanner during the set-up process.To accomplish this task, the combination of characteristics indicated in claim 1 is proposed. Advantageous embodiments and further developments are evident from the dependent claims.The solution according to the invention is based on the thought that during the set-up process, only part of the telescope segments is extended, and the other segments remain in their retracted position. In order to ensure, in the case of suchset-up, that individu

Portable Knockdown Trolley Hoist - Patent 7604134

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:24:23 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates generally to hoists and more particularly to portable knockdown trolley hoists.2. Background ArtLifting and moving cargo and various objects by hand is considered to be one of the most significant sources of on the job injury in occupations requiring manual labor and transportation and delivery of cargo from one location to another. Suchtasks also become particularly difficult to those not performing such activities routinely and on a day-to-day basis. Cargo and objects typically have to be transported, moved, loaded, and unloaded from one location to another safely, quickly, easily,and efficiently.A hoist is necessary that overcomes the difficulties presented to those individuals lifting and moving cargo and various objects, and makes such activities easy, safe and secure, whether performed occasionally or on a day-to-day basis. The hoistshould be portable, capable of being used in a variety of situations and configurations, in the field, on or off vehicles, or in permanent or semi permanent installations on or off the vehicles. A minimum of training should be required to use, operate,assemble, disassemble, and repair the hoist.The hoist should have an extension boom, which allows the user to maneuver cargo and other objects at a variety of distances, and be maneuverable substantially collinearly with the extension boom and transverse to the extension boom. Theextension boom should preferably be a telescoping extension boom.The hoist should have a plurality of load bearing surfaces, such as roller bearings, that allow the extension boom to be maneuvered into and out of different locations. Such load bearing surfaces should allow the extension boom to be maneuveredwith a minimum of friction of moving parts of the hoist, while maintaining structural integrity of the hoist and maneuverability of the load to be lifted and moved.The hoist should preferably have a moveable trolley that has a plurality of uppe

Tensioning System For A Mobile Telescopic Crane - Patent 7604135

Patents-424 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:21:51 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

The present invention relates to a tensioning system for a mobile telescopic crane, in which the telescopic mast is outwardly braced via a tensioning means. In particular, the present invention relates generally to optimally integrating atensioning system and the components connected to it with a jib design on the superstructure of a mobile telescopic crane.The aim of any jib design is to keep the ratio of its tare weight to its working load small. The overall system must also exhibit sufficient rigidity to meet the performance capability demanded by the standards.Jib construction mainly employs fine-grained constructional steel with increasingly higher strengths up to a yield point of 1100 N/mm.sup.2. The modulus of elasticity and the available design space remain almost unchanged, hence the deformationsborder on the limits of performance capability. Deformations such as in a fishing rod are, however, not desirable in lifting platforms and in the field of cranes.The hollow sections used for a jib are mainly subjected to bending stresses. In terms of tension, only the peripheral fibres are utilised, the material being inactive in the centre. The stability of other panel-like areas is endangered; usingsuperior material has no effect.It is important to develop light-gauge designs which optimally utilise the material strengths; this applies in particular to vehicle cranes. Filigrees and meticulous designs with little deformation are efficient and save weight. The bearingloads in the range of strength and in the range of steadiness of the existing crane classes would have to be significantly increased still.A jib section for a braced system with high-tensile materials is described in DE 201 20 121 U1. This teaches how an increase in bearing load can be achieved by shell-segment designs curved outwards. Bracing designs are known from DE 200 02 179U1 and DE 100 22 658 A1 which are limited to an overhead line of the main jib, arranged in the level luffing plane o

ATV Hoist And Method For Loading And Skinning An Animal - Patent 7549545

Patents-424 — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 23:26:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-424 on: Wednesday, October 13, 2010

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIXNot Applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Technical FieldThis invention relates to animal loading and skinning systems and, more particularly, to a multi-animal hoisting system for use with an existing all-terrain vehicle such that a user is able to easily load and unload a first animal from theexisting all-terrain vehicle while skinning a second animal supported by the existing all-terrain vehicle.2. Prior ArtWhen a large animal, such as a deer, is shot and killed by a hunter in the wild, the hunter is then left with the job of skinning and carrying home the animal. It is desirable to skin the animal in a way that does not damage the head and antlersof the animal because a hunter often desires to mount this portion of the animal. Also, it is desirable for the hunter to place the body of the animal in a bag after the skin of the animal has been removed so that dirt and other contaminants associatedwith the animal's fur are effectively separated away from the portion of the animal which is useful as meat.It is well known in the prior art that through the judicious placing of incisions through the skin of the large game animal, the skin of the animal can be relatively easily removed by merely peeling the skin of the animal off of the carcass. Various patents have been awarded for devices which more easily facilitate this skinning process. However, all of these devices are designed for use in a substantially similar way. That is, first the animal is suspended from a tree limb so that theanimal is elevated above the ground. Then a cable is attached to the skin of the animal behind the neck. Upon applying tension to the cable, as with a vehicle, the skin is peeled away from the animal. At the outset of the peeling process the animal ishanging substantially vertically and the point of cable connection is high on the animal with an opposite end of the