Automatically adjusting swing legs for mounting and aligning and reorienting crawlers

A swing leg assembly configured to be coupled to a paving machine configured to move in a paving direction for spreading, leveling, and finishing concrete into a form having a generally upwardly exposed, finished concrete surface and terminating in lateral concrete sides, the swing leg assembly comprising:

• a frame;
• a plurality of jacking columns;
• a plurality of swing legs, each swing leg coupled to a jacking column, wherein each swing leg is coupled to the modular frame via a hinged bracket and hydraulically actuated to pivot the respective swing leg about a vertical axis,
• a first angular position transducer for each of the plurality of swing legs, wherein each first angular position transducer is disposed on the respective swing leg or the frame adjacent the swing leg to measure an angular position between the respective swing leg and the frame and configured to emit a first signal indicative of the measured angular position to an onboard controller, the controller having a processor configured to control operation of the paving machine;
• a crawler track associated with each respective jacking column, each crawler track coupled to a yoke which is rotatably coupled to the respective jacking column, wherein each crawler track is configured to rotate about a second axis to a second angular orientation relative to the jacking column, wherein the crawler track is repositionable while under load during paving, walking or maneuvering around a job site;
• wherein each jacking column of the plurality of jacking column comprises:
• a telescoping inner tube within an outer tube extending along an upright axis of the jacking column, a vertically oriented hydraulic actuator located along the upright axis, the hydraulic actuator comprising a cylinder and a piston operable within the outer and inner tubes, and spaced apart axial bearings coupled to the outer tube and/or the inner tube;
• one or more additional crawler tracks, each having a jacking column associated with a telescopic bolster or sliding mechanism, wherein each telescopic bolster or sliding mechanism is hydraulically actuated to move each additional crawler track with jacking column laterally, wherein a first lineal position transducer is disposed on the modular frame or sliding mechanism to measure a lineal position between the additional jacking column and the modular frame and further emit a first signal indicative of the measured lineal position to the controller;
• a slew gear drive secured at a lower end of the jacking column inner tube and to a top of the yoke to translate relative rotational movements between each respective jacking column and crawler track about the upright axis;
• and
• a second angular position transducer on each crawler track configured to measure an angular position of the respective crawler track and the yoke relative to the jacking column and further emit a second signal indicative of the measured angular position to the controller.