Transport carriage for industrial plants

Carriage for transporting pieces or components in an industrial plant, comprising a bearing structure mounted on wheels, wherein the wheels of the carriage are part of a plurality of wheel units pivoting around respective vertical axes, and in that said carriage further comprises:

• a plate for controlling wheel pivoting units, mounted articulated around a vertical axis on the bearing structure of the carriage and connected to wheel pivoting units by respective kinematisms, in such a manner that each angular position of the control plate corresponds to a determined angular position of each wheel pivoting unit, and
• a steering unit comprising a steering member mounted articulated on the bearing structure of the carriage around the same articulation axis of the control plate,
• said steering unit being suitable to be rigidly connected to said control plate with respect to the rotation movements around said articulation axis by means of an engagement member borne by the steering unit and selectively insertable into a first hole or into a second hole of the control plate,
• the abovementioned arrangement being such that:
• when said engagement member is inserted into said first hole the wheels of the pivoting units are oriented in the normal advancement direction of the carriage, with the possibility of steering within a limited angle, and
• when said engagement member is inserted into said second hole, the steering member may be moved to a position wherein the wheels of the pivoting units are directed in a direction at 90° with respect to the abovementioned direction of normal advancement of the carriage, to allow a movement of the carriage in said transverse direction.