Abstract:
A rope pulling machine is convertible into a walking machine, and has a machine frame composed of a pulling station movable back and forth and a gripping station connected to the pulling station via a main cylinder/piston arrangement, the pulling and gripping stations each having an auxiliary cylinder/piston arrangement for a gripper, and the two grippers are linked via bearing shafts to the auxiliary cylinder/piston arrangement. The grippers have clamping jaws aligned in a rope direction and linked via bearing shafts to the pulling and gripping stations, respectively. The bearing shafts are designed as detachable shafts, making the grippers exchangeable with walkers having the same bearing points and bearing shafts and which form a walk station and a slave station. The walkers have pawls engaging a rack alternately, and running gears guided on the rack. In the course of converting a rope pulling machine into a walking machine and vice versa, the machine frame, the cylinder/piston arrangements, and control device provided therefor remain intact and unchanged.
Abstract:
A suspension bridge has a pair of horizontally spaced towers between which is spanned a main catenary cable. A flexible spacer element, normally a cable, extends along the main cable between the towers and is provided with generally equispaced spacers. Respective hanger assemblies are fixed at the spacers and can slide on the main cable between the towers. Respective upright hangers defining a vertical plane with the main cable have upper ends connected to the hanger assemblies and lower ends and are provided with adjusters between these ends for shortening and lengthening the distance therebetween. Respective girders are secured to the lower ends and extend generally perpendicular to the plane and respective path sections extend generally horizontally and each have one end hooked over a respective one of the girders and another end hooked over an adjacent girder. The sections each have an effective length between the respective girders equal generally to the distance between adjacent spacers of the spacer element and they together form a continuous path between the towers.
Abstract:
A rolling and stepping vehicle capable of serving as a platform for a variety of working elements, e.g. a crane or an excavator, has a central support provided with a plurality of outwardly extending traveling legs. Each traveling leg is swingable relative to the support about a respective vertical axis and is subdivided into an outrigger shank and a support shank articulated together. The support shanks can have extensible rams and are provided with rolling elements, e.g. wheels or tracks.
Abstract:
A wheel support (outrigger) for a rolling and stepping vehicle, especially a crane, excavator or like agricultural, industrial or construction machine in which a leg carries a wheel and is, in turn, connected by a parallelogrammatic linkage to a knuckle which articulates the parallelogrammatic linkage to the vehicle chassis. A further knuckle is provided between the wheel or its leg and the parallelogrammatic linkage. The wheel-carrying outrigger is swingable in a vertical plane while the first knuckle is provided with a vertical pivot axis on the chassis. The outrigger is also provided with an actuating device, preferably a fluid-powered cylinder, which swings the outrigger.
Abstract:
An apparatus for hauling in and letting out a flexible element such as a cable comprises a generally stationary housing defining a cable path and having a predetermined number N equal to at least three of grippers spaced in a row and shiftable along the path. These grippers can be clamped on the element in the path by respective actuators which can displace the grippers parallel to the path in a pulling direction and in an opposite letting-out direction. A controller responsive to gripper position and connected to the actuators operates them sequentially. Thus all but one of the grippers is first clamped on the element and the one gripper is unclamped from the element. Then the clamping grippers are displaced by the respective actuators with the element in one direction at a rate V.sub.w through a distance S/(N-1) while simultaneously the nonclamping gripper is displaced oppositely through a distance S along the element at a rate V.sub.r equal substantially to 2.multidot.V.sub.w to return this nonclamping gripper to a starting position. Subsequently the nonclamping gripper is closed on the element and the one of the other grippers which follows in the row behind the gripper in the starting position is unclamped. These steps are then sequentially repeated so that the grippers are successively returned to the starting position in an operation cycle having N parts.
Abstract:
A traveling assembly, especially a wheel suspension, for a vehicle capable of rolling and stepping or walking travel upon a regular or uneven surface, e.g. for cranes, excavators, construction, earth-moving, mining and other machinery in which wheels are articulated at the ends of legs which, in turn, are pivotally connected to a support structure. The legs themselves are formed with telescoping support elements which can be extended and retracted while a fluid-pressure cylinder can be provided to pivot the arm which is articulated to the lower end of the leg and which carries the wheel.