Ground pressure reducing undercarriage unit

An undercarriage unit, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in spaced apart relationship;
• means for rigidly interconnecting said side frames;
• at least three pairs of axles;
• means for rotatably supporting said axles at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames, at least three of said axles being supported on each of said side frames
• at least five pairs of wheels, one wheel being mounted on the outboard end of each of said axles and one wheel being mounted on the inboard end of each of said endmost axles;
• the middle wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost pairs of wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means associated with each of said side frames for drivingly interconnecting the axles rotatably supported by said side frames;
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels associated with each side frame;
• and
• said drive means comprising at least two motors mounted on each side frame, said transmission means directly coupling each motor to a single axle.

An undercarriage unit for supporting and propelling a mechanism, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in spaced apart relationship;
• means for rigidly interconnecting said side frames;
• six axles, three axles being rotatably supported at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames in middle and endmost pairs;
• ten wheels, six wheels being mounted on the outboard ends of said axles and four wheels being mounted on the inboard ends of said endmost axles;
• the middle pair of wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means cooperating with each side frame for drivingly interconnecting the axles and wheels rotatably supported by said side frames;
• and
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels on each side of the unit, each of said drive means including at least two motors secured to the side frame and extending inboard, said transmission means directly coupling an axle to no more than one of said motors in the side frame.

An undercarriage unit for supporting and propelling a heavy mechanism, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in laterally spaced apart relationship;
• a pair of cross frames positioned in longitudinally spaced apart relationship rigidly interconnected between said side frames;
• six axles, three axles being rotatably supported at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames in middle and endmost pairs;
• ten wheels, six wheels being mounted on the outboard ends of said axles and four wheels being mounted on the inboard ends of said endmost axles;
• the middle pair of wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means including sprockets and chains situated inside each side frame for drivingly interconnecting the axles and wheels rotatably supported by said side frames;
• and
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels on each side of the unit, said drive means including at least two motors secured to the side frame and extending inboard of the side frame, said transmission means directly coupling a single axle to no more than one of said motors to reduce the stress on the sprockets and chains, the remaining axles being driven by sprockets and chains coupled to at least one of the direct coupled axles.

A undercarriage unit for supporting and propelling a mechanism, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in spaced apart relationship;
• means for rigidly interconnecting said side frames;
• eight axles, four axles being rotatably supported at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames in endmost and middle pairs;
• twelve wheels, eight wheels being mounted on the outboard ends of said axles and four wheels being mounted on the inboard ends of said endmost axles;
• the middle pairs of wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost pairs of wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means cooperating with each side frame for drivingly interconnecting the axles and wheels rotatably supported thereon;
• and
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels on each side of the unit, said drive means including at least two motors secured to each of said side frames and extending inboard of the side frame, said transmission means directly coupling a single axle to no more than one of said motors, the remaining axles being driven through coupling to at least one of the direct coupled axles.

An undercarriage unit for supporting and propelling a mechanism, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in spaced apart relationship;
• means for rigidly interconnecting said side frames;
• eight axles, four axles being rotatably supported at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames in endmost and middle pairs;
• twelve wheels, eight wheels being mounted on the outboard ends of said axles and four wheels being mounted on the inboard ends of said endmost axles;
• the middle pair of wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost pairs of wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means cooperating with each side frame for drivingly interconnecting the axles and wheels rotatably supported thereon, wherein each of said transmission means includes:
• two drive sprockets, one drive sprocket being positioned between one middle axle and the endmost axle adjacent thereto;
• two pairs of first and second sprockets, one pair being mounted on each of said middle axles;
• third and fourth sprockets mounted on one of said endmost axles;
• fifth and sixth sprockets mounted on the other one of said endmost axles;
• a first chain interconnecting one of said drive sprockets in said third sprocket;
• a second chain interconnecting said fourth sprocket and the second sprocket in one of said middle axles;
• a third chain interconnecting the other one of said drive sprockets and said fifth sprocket;
• a fourth chain interconnecting said sixth sprocket and the second sprocket on the other one of said middle axles;
• and
• a fifth chain interconnecting the first sprockets on said middle axles;
• and
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels on one side of the unit.

An undercarriage unit for supporting and propelling a heavy mechanism, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in laterally spaced apart relationship;
• a pair of cross frames positioned in longitudinally spaced apart relationship rigidly interconnected between said side frames;
• eight axles, four axles being rotatably supported at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames in endmost and middle pairs;
• twelve wheels, eight wheels being mounted on the outboard ends of said axles and four wheels being mounted on the inboard ends of said endmost axles;
• the middle pair of wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost pairs of wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means including sprockets and chains situated inside each side frame for drivingly interconnecting the axles and wheels rotatably supported thereon;
• and
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels on each side of the unit, said drive means including at least two motors secured to each of said side frames and extending inboard of the side frames, said transmission means directly coupling each of said endmost axles with one of said motors, the remaining axles being driven by sprockets and chains coupled to at least one of said endmost axles.

An undercarriage unit, comprising:

• a pair of elongate hollow load-bearing side frames positioned in spaced apart relationship;
• means for rigidly interconnecting said said frames;
• at least three pairs of axles;
• means for rotatably supporting said axles at longitudinally spaced points along said side frames, at least three of said axles being supported on each of said side frames;
• a plurality of wheels, one wheel being mounted on at least the outboard end of each of said axles;
• the middle wheels extending below a plane lying tangent to the bottoms of the endmost wheels to facilitate skid steering;
• transmission means associated with each of said side frames for drivingly interconnecting the axles rotatably supported by said side frames;
• drive means for actuating each of said transmission means to selectively effect concurrent rotation of the axles and wheels associated with each side frame;
• and
• said drive means comprising at least two motors mounted on each side frame, said transmission means directly coupling each motor to a single axle.