IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0754593
(2010-04-05)
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등록번호 |
US-9950564
(2018-04-24)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
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출원인 / 주소 |
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대리인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
11 |
초록
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An articulating carriage for moving an object across a surface having a non-planar obstruction to allow movement of the object over the obstruction. The articulating carriage has a walking beam assembly that pivotally supports a pedestal to dispose a support surface thereof above the walking beam as
An articulating carriage for moving an object across a surface having a non-planar obstruction to allow movement of the object over the obstruction. The articulating carriage has a walking beam assembly that pivotally supports a pedestal to dispose a support surface thereof above the walking beam assembly. The walking beam assembly has a base plate, wheeled casters and a pair of spaced apart hangers having articulation openings. The walking beam pivots relative to the pedestal. In one embodiment, the pedestal is pivotally mounted on the walking beam assembly. In another embodiment, a pair of walking beam assemblies are connected with a crosstube that pivotally supports the pedestal. In another embodiment, a major crosstube assembly connects a pair of crosstubes to define a carriage having four walking beams. In yet another embodiment, a compound crosstube assembly connects pairs of major crosstube assemblies to define a carriage having eight walking beams.
대표청구항
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1. An articulating carriage for moving an object across a surface, said articulating carriage comprising: a walking beam assembly having a base plate, a first caster assembly at a first end of said walking beam assembly, a second caster assembly at a second end of said walking beam assembly, a first
1. An articulating carriage for moving an object across a surface, said articulating carriage comprising: a walking beam assembly having a base plate, a first caster assembly at a first end of said walking beam assembly, a second caster assembly at a second end of said walking beam assembly, a first hanger supported by said base plate and a second hanger supported by said base plate in spaced apart relation to said first hanger, each of said first caster assembly and said second caster assembly having a wheel configured to rotate about a wheel center and rotatably engage said surface and support said base plate above said surface, each of said first hanger and said second hanger having one or more articulation openings therein that are disposed in corresponding relation to each other below said base plate;a pedestal supported above said surface by said walking beam assembly, said pedestal having a first support plate at said first hanger, a second support plate at said second hanger in spaced apart relation to said first support plate and a mounting plate interconnecting said first support plate and said second support plate so as to dispose a support surface above said base plate and support said object above said walking beam assembly; anda pivoting means interconnecting said walking beam assembly and said pedestal for pivoting said walking beam assembly relative to said pedestal when at least one of said wheels contacts a non-planar area on said surface, said pivoting means comprising at least one bushing assembly positioned at a lower end of each of said first hanger and said second hanger below said base plate, a first fulcrum plate at said first support plate of said pedestal, a second fulcrum plate at said second support plate of said pedestal, a contact surface on each of said first fulcrum plate and said second fulcrum plate and one or more pivot members interconnecting said first fulcrum plate and said second fulcrum plate, said contact surface of said first fulcrum plate disposed in pivoting relation to said bushing assembly on said first hanger and said contact surface of said second fulcrum plate disposed in pivoting relation to said bushing assembly on said second hanger, at least one of said pivot members configured to move within at least one of said articulation openings in response to pivoting of said walking beam assembly. 2. The articulating carriage of claim 1, wherein said wheel center of each of said wheels is disposed between said first fulcrum plate and said second fulcrum plate. 3. The articulating carriage of claim 1, wherein said walking beam assembly further comprises means for securing each of said first hanger and said second hanger to said base plate. 4. The articulating carriage of claim 3, wherein said securing means clamps each of said first hanger and said second hanger to said base plate. 5. The articulating carriage of claim 1 further comprising pivot limiting means interconnecting said walking beam assembly and said pedestal for limiting the pivotal movement of said walking beam assembly. 6. The articulating carriage of claim 5, wherein said pivot limiting means comprises a forward edge and a rearward edge of said articulation opening. 7. The articulating carriage of claim 1, wherein said one or more pivot members comprises a crosstube, said articulation opening and said crosstube cooperatively configured with said crosstube received through said articulation opening and to allow pivotal movement of said walking beam assembly. 8. The articulating carriage of claim 1, wherein each of said bushing assemblies comprises a replaceable bushing. 9. The articulating carriage of claim 8, wherein said replaceable bushing is removably received in a bushing holder. 10. The articulating carriage of claim 1, wherein said contact surface of each of said first fulcrum plate and said second fulcrum plate pivotally engages said bushing assembly below a horizontal plane disposed through said wheel center of each of said wheels when said articulating carriage moves across the surface and said surface is substantially planar. 11. An articulating carriage for moving an object across a surface, said articulating carriage comprising: a walking beam assembly having a base plate, a first caster assembly at a first end of said walking beam assembly, a second caster assembly at a second end of said walking beam assembly, a pair of spaced apart hangers each having outwardly extending tangs engagedly supported by said base plate at each of said first end and said second end and a clamping plate at each of said first end and said second end for clamping said hangers to said base plate, each of said first caster assembly and said second caster assembly comprising at least one wheel configured to rotate about a wheel center and to rotatably engage said surface and support said base plate above said surface, each of said first hanger and said second hanger having one or more articulation openings below said base plate;a pedestal supported above said surface by said walking beam assembly, said pedestal having a first support plate at said first hanger, a second support plate at said second hanger in spaced apart relation to said first support plate and a mounting plate interconnecting said first support plate and said second support plate so as to dispose a support surface above said base plate and support said object above said walking beam assembly; anda pivoting means interconnecting said walking beam assembly and said pedestal for pivoting said walking beam assembly relative to said pedestal when at least one of said wheels contacts a non-planar area on said surface, said pivoting means comprising a first inner fulcrum plate and a first outer fulcrum plate at said first support plate, a second inner fulcrum plate and a second outer fulcrum plate at said second support plate, a contact surface on each of said fulcrum plates, a pair of bushing assemblies mounted at a lower end of each of said hangers and a pivot member interconnecting each of said fulcrum plates and said support plates, said contact surface of each of said fulcrum plates disposed in pivoting relation to one of said bushing assemblies below a horizontal plane disposed through said wheel center of each of said wheels when said articulating carriage moves across the surface and said surface is substantially planar, said pivot member configured to move within at least one of said articulation openings in response to pivoting of said walking beam assembly. 12. The articulating carriage of claim 11, wherein each of said bushing assemblies comprises a replaceable bushing. 13. The articulating carriage of claim 11, wherein said wheel center of each of said wheels is disposed between said first outer fulcrum plate and said second outer fulcrum plate. 14. The articulating carriage of claim 11 further comprising pivot limiting means interconnecting said walking beam assembly and said pedestal for limiting the pivotal movement of said walking beam assembly. 15. The articulating carriage of claim 14, wherein said pivot limiting means comprises a forward edge and a rearward edge of said articulation opening. 16. The articulating carriage of claim 11, wherein said one or more pivot members comprises a crosstube, said articulation opening and said crosstube cooperatively configured with said crosstube received through said articulation opening and to allow pivotal movement of said walking beam assembly. 17. An articulating carriage for moving an object across a surface, said articulating carriage comprising: a first walking beam assembly having a base plate, a first caster assembly at a first end of said first walking beam assembly, a second caster assembly at a second end of said first walking beam assembly, a first hanger supported by said base plate and a second hanger supported by said base plate in spaced apart relation to said first hanger, each of said first caster assembly and said second caster assembly having a wheel configured to rotate about a wheel center and rotatably engage said surface and support said base plate above said surface, said wheel center disposed between said first hanger and said second hanger, each of said first hanger and said second hanger having one or more articulation openings therein that are disposed in corresponding relation to each other below said base plate;a second walking beam assembly in spaced apart relation to said first walking beam assembly, second walking beam assembly having a base plate, a first caster assembly at a first end of said second walking beam assembly, a second caster assembly at a second end of said second walking beam assembly, a first hanger supported by said base plate and a second hanger supported by said base plate in spaced apart relation to said first hanger, each of said first caster assembly and said second caster assembly having a wheel configured to rotate about a wheel center and rotatably engage said surface and support said base plate above said surface, each of said wheel centers of said wheels disposed between said first hanger and said second hanger, each of said first hanger and said second hanger having one or more articulation openings therein that are disposed in corresponding relation to each other below said base plate;an elongated crosstube interconnecting said articulation openings of said first walking beam assembly and said articulation openings of said second walking beam assembly;a fulcrum assembly at each of said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly configured to allow said first end of said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly to pivot relative to said second end of said respective first walking beam assembly or said second walking beam assembly when one of said wheels contacts a non-planar area on said surface, each of said fulcrum assemblies having a first inner fulcrum plate and a first outer fulcrum plate at said first hanger, a second inner fulcrum plate and a second outer fulcrum plate at said second hanger, a contact surface on each of said fulcrum plates and a pair of bushing assemblies mounted at a lower end of each of said hangers, said fulcrum plates of each of said fulcrum assemblies receiving an end of said crosstube in said articulation openings of said hangers, said contact surface of each of said fulcrum plates disposed in pivoting relation to one of said bushing assemblies below a horizontal plane disposed through said wheel center of each of said wheels when said articulating carriage moves across the surface and said surface is substantially planar, each of said fulcrum assemblies and said articulation openings configured to allow said respective walking beam assembly to pivot relative to said crosstube;a pedestal supported above said surface by said crosstube between said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly, said pedestal having a pair of spaced apart first support plates, a pair of spaced apart second support plates and a mounting plate interconnecting said support plates so as to dispose a support surface above said base plates of each of said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly to support said object above said walking beam assemblies; anda yoke assembly interconnecting said crosstube and said pedestal for pivoting said crosstube relative to said pedestal when at least one of said wheels of said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly contacts said non-planar area on said surface to pivot said walking beam assembly relative to said pedestal. 18. The articulating carriage of claim 17 further comprising pivot limiting means interconnecting each of said walking beam assemblies and said crosstube for limiting the pivotal movement of said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly, said pivot limiting means comprising a forward edge and a rearward edge of each of said articulation openings of said hangers. 19. The articulating carriage of claim 17 further comprising a pair of said articulating carriages each having said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly interconnected by said crosstube with a major crosstube assembly interconnecting said crosstubes of each of said articulating carriages, said pedestal and said yoke assembly mounted on said major crosstube assembly between said pairs of said articulating carriages. 20. The articulating carriage of claim 19, wherein said articulating carriage comprises two pairs of articulating carriages each having said first walking beam assembly and said second walking beam assembly connected by said crosstube with said major crosstube assembly interconnecting said crosstubes to define each of said articulating carriages as having four walking beam assemblies, said articulating carriage further comprising a compound crosstube assembly interconnecting said major crosstube assemblies, said pedestal and said yoke assembly mounted on said compound crosstube assembly between said pairs of said articulating carriages.
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