Bogie unit for suspended transport of a treatment plant

A wheeled bogie unit which is engageable with one end of a chassis of a treatment plant, in order to support that end of the plant chassis above the ground for the suspended transport of the plant, in which the bogie unit comprises:

• a bogie chassis;
• a front axle mounting a front wheel set and a rear axle mounting a rear wheel set to support the bogie chassis;
• a lifting cradle mounted on the bogie chassis and having a projecting end which is engageable with said one end of the plant chassis;
• an inclined support and guide surface provided on the projecting end of the cradle and engageable with an inclined lifting surface provided on said one end of the plant chassis, in order to suspend said one end of the plant chassis above the ground;
• and
• a slide arrangement mounting the cradle on the bogie chassis at a region between said front and rear axles for relative slidable movement along an inclined plane of movement in a direction of between 30° and 45° to the horizontal between a lowered position of engagement with said one end of the plant chassis, when the latter is standing on the ground adjacent thereto, and a raised lifting position in which the end of the plant chassis is lifted off the ground and is supported by the inclined support and guide surface of the lifting cradle, wherein the slide arrangement comprises:
• a mounting bracket via which the lifting cradle is slidably mounted on the bogie chassis at a position between the front and rear axles, the mounting bracket configured to pivot on the bogie chassis and enable the weight of the suspended treatment plant to be distributed between the front and rear wheel sets;
• spacers and clamping strips which mount an underside of the lifting cradle on the mounting bracket, allowing free lengthwise movement of the cradle relative to the bogie chassis;
• and
• one or more operating cylinders to act between the mounting bracket and the cradle, to move the cradle relatively between the lowered position of engagement and the raised lifting position, and in which the mounting bracket is capable of carrying out limited pivoting movement, during relative movement of the cradle to the raised lifting position, in order to adjust the weight transfer of the suspended plant, to be split between a pair of wheel sets supporting the chassis.