Crane assembly

A crane assembly for lifting a load comprising:

• a pair of guides positioned parallel to one another;
• a carriage associated with each guide and movable along each guide;
• and
• a bridge having an attachment point for attaching the load, the bridge being attached between the carriages through connector arms, each connector arm being attached through a lower end to the bridge and pivotable at least about an axis perpendicular to the bridge, each connector arm being attached at an upper end to the corresponding carriage through a multi-axis joint;
• wherein each multi-axis joint is a spherical joint and is connected to the corresponding carriage through a thrust bearing configured to rotate with initial movement of the corresponding carriage;
• wherein the multi-axis joint comprises matching first and second parts with spherical surfaces configured to slide over each other, the first part being connected to the connector arm and the second part being connected below the spherical surface of the second part to the carriage through the thrust bearing;
• wherein:
• each connector arm is shaped like an arch;
• a top of the arch provides the upper end of the connector arm and comprises a through-hole;
• the first part of the corresponding multi-axis joint is located within the through-hole;
• and lower ends of sides of the arch being the lower end of the connector arm;
• wherein the second part of the multi-axis joint is configured to cooperate with a locating element on the carriage;
• wherein the locating element is a post of circular cross-section;
• the thrust bearing is annular in shape and is located around a base of the post and the second part of the multi-axis joint is shaped to fit closely over the post and rotate around the post with rotation of the thrust bearing.