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US 4,938,643 AGranted
Rail mounted crane carrier
AssigneeSpan-Deck, Inc.
InventorsJames H. Lamb, Cliff Caneer, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeSpan-Deck, Inc.
InventorsJames H. Lamb, Cliff Caneer, Jr.
Estimating the term…
A self-propelled rail transport vehicle for carrying a hydraulic crawler crane is provided. The transport vehicle is designed to normally travel along the rails of a track and allow crane operation either from the transport or from a ground off-loaded position. The crane may be delivered and loaded on and off the transport at any convenient ground rail location, and when taken off the transport, may be used to lift the transport from the tracks, so as to allow trains to pass unobstructed. The crane may then be used to lift the transport back on the track after which the crane may be loaded onto the transport. Once the job at a site is complete, the carrier and crane may be returned to its original location by rail or by truck. A latching mechanism is located in the center of the carrier deck of the transport. The latching mechanism is adapted to engage with a retractable pin mounted to the underside of the car body of the crane. The crane is loaded by driving it onto the carrier with its tracks perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the carrier. As the crane is driven onto the carrier, the hydraulic pin is extended and moves into its latched position to prevent forward or backward movement of the crane vehicle on the carrier, while allowing counter-rotation of the crane about the axis of the pin. The crane may thus be positioned along the longitudinal axis of the carrier without danger of falling from the platform.
A rail mounted vehicle carrier comprising a frame assembly having a platform adapted to receive a vehicle to be carried on the carrier, a wheel assembly supported at each end of the carrier, a latch assembly disposed on said frame assembly and adapted to receive a retractable pin mounted on the underside of the vehicle, means on said vehicle for operatively positioning said pin between a first position engaging said latch assembly and a second position disengaging said latch assembly whereby when said pin is positioned in said first position said vehicle is fixed with respect to the axis of the pin and forward or backward movement of said vehicle on the platform is prevented while counter-rotation of the vehicle on the platform about the pin axis is permitted.
A method for transporting a crawl track vehicle on a deck of a rail transporter having front and back wheel assemblies pivotally supported between a first and second position, the wheel assemblies being fixed when latched in the first position or the second position, comprising positioning the transporter at a first location on a set of rails for loading a crawl track vehicle having driving tracks, driving the crawl track vehicle onto the transporter with the driving tracks in engagement with the deck of the transporter and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the transporter, latching the vehicle to the transporter about a fixed axis to prevent forward and backward movement thereof, and counter-rotating the crawl track vehicle about the fixed axis while the tracks remain in engagement with the deck of the transporter to position the tracks parallel to the longitudinal axis of the transporter latching the wheel assemblies in the fixed first position to support the carrier on the rails and pivoting said wheel assemblies in the fixed second position above the deck of the transporter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.