Bridge Crane Assembly

A bridge crane assembly for facilitating cargo to be transported in a warehouse environment, said assembly comprising:

• a crane track being positioned in a warehouse, said crane track including a pair of girders each being at an elevated height, said pair of girders being spaced apart from each other and being oriented parallel with each other, each of said girders having a top surface, said top surface of each of said girders being curved, said crane track having a power element extending along a respective one of said girders;
• a cylinder having a plurality of tracks being integrated into said cylinder, said tracks extending along a full length of said cylinder, each of said tracks being integrated into an outer surface of said cylinder, each of said tracks being concavely arcuate with respect to said outer surface, each of said tracks extending between a first end and a second end of said cylinder, said tracks being evenly spaced apart from each other and being distributed around a full circumference of said outer surface of said cylinder, said cylinder having a pair of rails each being attached to said outer surface of said cylinder, each of said rails extending between said first end and said second end of said cylinder, said rails being spaced a fixed distance apart from each other;
• a drive unit being integrated into said cylinder, said drive unit having a pair of drive wheels each engaging said a respective one of said girders of said crane track such that said cylinder extends between said pair of girders, said drive unit rotating each of said drive wheels in a first direction or a second direction, said cylinder travelling in a first direction along said girders when said drive unit rotates said drive wheels in said first direction, said cylinder travelling in a second direction along said girders when said drive unit rotates said drive wheels in said second direction, said drive unit comprising:
• a pair of primary gears, each of said primary gears having a first surface, a second surface and a plurality of teeth extending between said first surface and said second surface, said first surface of each of said primary gears being rotatably coupled to a respective one of said first end and said second end of said cylinder, each of said drive wheels having a primary surface, a secondary surface and an exterior surface extending between said primary surface and said secondary surface, said exterior surface being concavely arcuate between said primary surface and said secondary surface, said primary surface of each of said drive wheels being coupled to said second surface of a respective one of said primary gears, said exterior surface of each of said drive wheels resting on said top surface of said respective girder having said exterior surface conforming to curvature of said top surface of said respective girder;
• a drive motor being coupled to said cylinder, said drive motor having a pair of outputs, said drive motor rotating in either a first direction or a second direction when said drive motor is turned on;
• a pair of drive shafts, each of said drive shafts being coupled to a respective one of said outputs on said drive motor, each of said drive shafts having a distal end with respect to said drive motor, said distal end of each of said drive shafts being positioned adjacent to a respective one of said first end and said second end of said cylinder;
• a pair of secondary gears, each of said secondary gears being attached to said distal end of a respective one of said drive shafts, each of said secondary gears including a plurality of teeth, said teeth on each of said secondary gears enmeshing with said teeth on a respective one of said primary gears, each of said drive wheels rolling along said respective girder in said first direction said when drive motor is turned on to rotate in said first direction thereby urging said cylinder along said girders in said first direction, each of said drive wheels rolling along said respective girder in said second direction when said drive motor is turned on to rotate in said second direction thereby urging said cylinder along said girders in said second direction;
• a carriage extending around said cylinder, said carriage having a plurality of rollers each being rotatably coupled to said carriage, each of said rollers engaging a respective one of said tracks on said cylinder thereby facilitating said carriage to travel along said cylinder, said carriage having an attachment element being attachable to a winch for lifting cargo thereby facilitating said carriage and said drive unit to transport the cargo to various locations in the warehouse, said carriage comprising a pair of rings and a plurality of members extending between said rings such that each of said rings lies on a plane being perpendicularly oriented with respect to each other, said members being evenly spaced apart from each other and being distributed around said rings, each of said rings extending around said cylinder, each of said rollers comprising a cup and a ball being disposed in said cup, said cup associated with each of said rollers being coupled to an inwardly facing surface of a respective one of said rings, said cup associated with each of said rollers being aligned with a respective one of said tracks on said cylinder, said ball associated with each of said rollers being positioned in said respective track such that an outer surface of said ball conforms to curvature of said respective track, said ball associated with each of said rollers rolling along said respective track;
• a transport unit being integrated into said carriage, said transport unit engaging said cylinder, said transport unit being actuatable to urge said carriage to travel along said cylinder in either a primary direction or a secondary direction, said transport unit comprising:
• a plurality of carriage wheels, each of said carriage wheels being rotatably coupled to a respective one of said members of said carriage, said carriage wheels being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said pair of rings, said plurality of carriage wheels including a set of first carriage wheels and a set of second carriage wheels, each of said first carriage wheels engaging a respective one of said rails on said cylinder, each of said second carriage wheels engaging a respective one of said rails on said cylinder;
• and
• a plurality of carriage motors, each of said carriage motors being rotatably coupled to a respective one of said carriage wheels, each of said carriage motors rotating in a first direction or a second direction, said carriage being urged to travel in said primary direction along said cylinder when said carriage motors rotate in said first direction, said carriage being urged to travel in said secondary direction along said cylinder when said carriage motors rotate in said second direction;
• and
• a control unit being coupled to said carriage, said control unit being in electrical communication with said power element on said crane track, said control unit being electrically coupled to said drive motor, said control unit being electrically coupled to each of said carriage motors.