Omnidirectional self-propelled vehicle for ground handling of equipment

A vehicle for ground handling of equipment supportable on the ground by a pair of opposing skids each engageable by a lifting element, said vehicle comprising:

• a front chassis having at least one omnidirectional wheel on each side of a longitudinal axis and arranged to support said front chassis for movement over the ground in any azimuthal direction, each of said front omnidirectional wheels comprising a rotatable front hub and a plurality of rollers secured to the periphery of the front hub with their rotational axis disposed angularly with respect to an axis of rotation of the front hub such that the roller axes of the respective front wheels intersect at a point rearwardly of the front hub axes;
• a rear chassis having at least one omnidirectional wheel on each side of said longitudinal axis of said vehicle and arranged to support said rear chassis for movement over the ground in any azimuthal direction, each of said rear omnidirectional wheels comprising a rotatable rear hub and a plurality of rollers secured to the periphery of the rear hub with their rotational axis disposed angularly with respect to an axis of rotation of the rear hub such that the roller axes of the respective rear wheels intersect at a point forwardly of the rear hub axes;
• pivot means for rotatably interconnecting the front chassis and rear chassis so that they are tiltable relative to each other in a plane transverse to said longitudinal axis;
• a lift assembly comprising a center section of adjustable length pivotally mounted on one of said chassis for pivotable movement in a plane substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis, left and right lever arms extending in the direction of said longitudinal axis and each connected at one end to said center section and at the other end to a fitting adapted to engage said lifting element, and a lifting mechanism connected to said center section for causing said pivotal movement such that, when said fittings engage said lifting elements and said lifting elements engage said skids, said equipment may be lifted to an elevated position off of the ground by a lifting force acting substantially through the center of gravity of the equipment and enabling substantially the entire weight of the equipment to be borne by the lift assembly for transport by movement of said vehicle over the ground.