Ladle carrier with laterally adjustable cradle

A carrier for lifting and transporting a heavy ladle including a tractor and trailer having a longitudinal center line and a U-shaped frame and a rearwardly opening rigid cradle pivotally mounted on the frame for embracing the ladle and with notches for engaging and lifting the ladle by its trunnions and provided with a hydraulic lift cylinder for vertically pivoting the cradle with respect to the trailer frame wherein the cradle pivot mountings include hydraulic shift actuators aligned parallel with respect to the cradle front cross frame to shift the entire cradle laterally with respect to the trailer center line and the hydraulic lift cylinders are pivotally mounted to the trailer frame and cradle arms with ball connections to permit the limited lateral tilting of the lift cylinders.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to a heavy duty vehicle and more 
particularly concerns a carrier trailer for picking up and transporting 
heavy ladles or slag pots such as the kind used in the steel making 
industry. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,710, there is disclosed a heavy duty carrier 
intended to pickup and transport large ladles or slag pots of the kind 
used in foundries, steel mills, and other metal and slag generating 
industries and which weigh, when loaded, on the order of 200 to 400 tons. 
Generally speaking, the carrier disclosed in the above patent includes a 
trailer with a pair of heavy trailing arms on which the load supporting 
wheels are mounted and a generally U-shaped cradle pivotally mounted on 
the trailer arms for embracing the ladle or pot and supporting it through 
large laterally spaced hooks suspended from the cradle arms to engage the 
ladle trunnions. The carrier disclosed in the above patent includes a 
laterally shiftable cradle which provides advantages over carriers of the 
type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,330,429, 3,825,135, 4,063,658 and 
4,122,961 since these carriers contain non-laterally shiftable cradles 
thus requiring very accurate maneuvering of the large heavy trailer in 
picking up the ladle so as to avoid the ladle being unnecessarily bumped 
or jarred resulting in potential damage to the ladle. 
The laterally shiftable carrier disclosed in U.S Pat. No. 4,729,710 
includes a pair of rearwardIy projecting, articulated cradle side members 
which include rear extensions pivotally connected to rigid front legs by 
substantially vertical hinges. Hydraulic shift cylinders are provided to 
laterally shift the cradle side members by pivoting of the hinged side 
member extensions. Due to the extreme weight of the loaded ladle, the 
hinged cradle side members experience unusually large amounts of stress 
when supporting a loaded ladle and this may produce functional 
difficulties during the operation of such a carrier. Additionally, these 
lateral shifting arrangements are rather complicated and therefore 
expensive to build initially and to service and maintain in use. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the primary aim of the present invention to provide a heavy duty 
carrier for slag pots, molten metal ladles, and the like with a supporting 
cradle adapted to engage trunnions on the ladle that can be moved 
laterally relative to the trailer in order to facilitate proper alignment 
with the ladle for pickup and to laterally adjust the ladle position 
relative to the trailer when the ladle is being set down. A further object 
of the invention is to provide a heavy ladle supporting cradle such that 
the entire rigid cradle structure is laterally shiftable, as opposed to 
having hingedly articulated or laterally shiftable partial cradle side 
members, the former thus resulting in an advantageous force distribution 
on the cradle during lifting and transporting of the ladle, as compared to 
the latter. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a stabilizer for limiting 
fore and aft swinging of the ladle about its trunnion supports during 
transport. 
According to the present invention, a carrier for lifting and transporting 
a heavy ladle is provided including a tractor and a trailer having a 
U-shaped frame and a rearwardly opening cradle pivotally mounted on the 
frame for embracing the ladle and adapted for engaging and lifting the 
ladle by its trunnions. A hydraulic lift cylinder is provided on each side 
of the trailer for vertically pivoting the cradle with respect to the 
trailer frame. The entire cradle structure is connected to the trailer 
frame by a mounting arrangement in which a hydraulic actuator can shift 
the cradle laterally with respect to the trailer center line. The ends of 
the hydraulic lift cylinders (on each side of the trailer) are also 
pivotally connected to the trailer side members and the cradle arms with 
ball connections to permit limited lateral tilting thereof. In the 
preferred embodiment, the carrier also includes a stabilizer attached to 
the trailer frame to limit fore and aft swinging of the ladle during 
transport. 
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more 
readily apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred 
exemplified embodiment of the invention and upon references to the 
accompanying drawings wherein:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Turning now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a heavy duty carrier 
10 for lifting and transporting a ladle 11 or the like. The illustrated 
carrier 10 includes a trailer 13 with a forwardly projecting 
gooseneck-like member 14 connected to a suitable prime mover such as a 
two-wheeled tractor 15. The trailer 13 and tractor 15 are pivoted about a 
vertical axis 16 to give extremely good maneuverability. The 
gooseneck-like tongue 14 provides sufficient clearance over the tractor 
wheels 17 so that the tractor can be turned substantially at right angles 
to the trailer and the carrier can turn substantially within its own 
length. 
The ladle 11 (slag pot or other container) is typically cup-shaped and is 
formed with side projections 20 in the form of trunnions for lifting and 
dumping the ladle 11. Typically the ladle 11 may include one or more 
circumferential reinforcing flanges 21 and reinforcing plates 22 in the 
area of the trunnions 20. 
The trailer 13 includes a generally U-shaped main frame 30 including a 
heavy tubular cross beam 31 integral with or otherwise securely connected 
to the gooseneck 14 and a pair of rearwardly projecting side members 32 
rigidly joined to the cross beam 31. In the illustrated embodiment, the 
side members 32 are formed with a heavy box-like construction and are 
reinforced at their connection to the cross beam 31 with triangular 
extension plates 33. Additionally, the ends of the cross beam 31 and the 
front portion of the side members 32 taper outward from the trailer center 
line. The rear ends 34 of the side members 32 are formed with narrower 
widths for supporting axle means (not shown) for journaling a plurality of 
trailer wheels 35. In the preferred embodiment, dual wheels 35 are 
provided at the rear end 34 of each side member 32. It will be understood 
that the wheels 35 are of the heavy duty type and each wheel may have a 
load bearing capacity of 100 tons or more. 
For lifting and carrying the ladle 11, a generally rigid U-shaped cradle 40 
is provided which is dimensioned to embrace the ladle on three sides. The 
cradle 40 includes a heavy tubular front cross frame 41 and a pair of 
rearwardly projecting generally box-like arms 42 rigidly joined to the 
cross frame 41 and reinforced there with triangular plates 43. Preferably, 
the rear sections 44 of the cradle arms 42 are tapered inward to prevent 
the arms 42 from contacting the rear wheels 35. The inner plates 45 of the 
cradle arms extend above and rearwardly beyond the tapered rear sections 
44 and each plate contains a receiving notch 46 in the rear portion of the 
plate adapted to engage the ladle trunnion 20 for lifting and supporting 
the ladle 11. 
The cradle 40 is pivotally connected to the trailer cross beam 31 through a 
mounting arrangement 50. To pivot the cradle 40 upward and thus raise the 
ladle 11, a pair of heavy duty lift cylinders 60 are provided. In the 
preferred embodiment, the upper end 60a of each cylinder 60 is pivotally 
connected through a cross pin and ball connection to a pair of mounting 
lugs 61 rigidly secured to the bottom of the tapered rear section 44 of 
one of the cradle arms 42. The lower or piston rod end of each cylinder 60 
is pivotally connected through a ball connection 62 to a mounting bracket 
63 rigidly attached to one of the trailer side members 32 through tubular 
mounting frames 64. It will be understood that as the hydraulic cylinders 
60 are extended the cradle 40 is pivoted upward to lift the ladle 11 and 
as the cylinders are retracted the ladle is lowered. The dashed lines of 
FIG. 1 show the ladle trunnion 20 and the rear end of the inner plate 45 
of the cradle arm, including the receiving notch 46, in the lowered 
position. 
In accordance with the present invention, means are provided for laterally 
shifting the cradle 40 with respect to the longitudinal center line 65 of 
the trailer 13. To this end, the cradle cross frame 41 is pivotally 
connected to the trailer cross beam 31 through a laterally shifting 
mounting arrangement 50. As shown in the FIG. 3 enlargement, a generally 
pyramid-shaped mounting frame 51 is rigidly secured to each end of the 
cradle cross frame 41. Each mounting frame 51 terminates in a 
longitudinally extending connection plate 52 which is rigidly attached to 
the cylinder 53 of a hydraulic shift actuator such that the cylinder 53 is 
aligned parallel with the cradle cross frame 41. In the illustrated 
embodiment, each cylinder 53 is mounted on bushings 54 which are contained 
in mounting plates 55 rigidly attached to the top of the trailer cross 
frame 31 such that the bushings 54 permit axial movement of the cylinders 
53 during lateral shifting and coaxial rotation of cylinders with respect 
to the piston rods 56 when the cradle 40 is being pivoted upward. The 
piston rod 56 of each hydraulic shift actuator is anchored to a bifurcated 
mounting bracket 57 which is rigidly attached to the trailer cross frame 
31. 
To laterally shift the cradle 40, the cylinders 53 are alternately extended 
and retracted with respect to the fixed piston rods 56 resulting in the 
axial movement of each cylinder and the corresponding shifting of the 
cradle 40 laterally with respect to the trailer center line 65. This 
lateral shifting is limited by the confined movement of the connection 
plate 52 between the mounting plates 55. During lateral shifting, it 
should be noted that the ball connections at the upper and lower ends of 
the lift cylinders 60 permit the cylinders to tilt and permit the lateral 
movement of the cradle 40. 
It will be appreciated that by laterally shifting the cradle 40, the 
receiving notches 46 on the inner plates 45 of the cradle arms 42 can 
easily be brought into proper alignment with the trunnions 20 as the 
trailer 13 is backed into position around the ladle 11. Accordingly, 
maneuvering the tractor 15 and trailer 13 is less critical and also the 
chances of bumping, jarring, and damaging the ladle are consequently 
lessened. Likewise, when the cradle is to be set down it can be accurately 
located laterally with respect to the companion ladle stand or other 
designated support by appropriately energizing the shift actuators. Again, 
the lateral shifting arrangement of the present invention makes it 
substantially easier to accurately spot the ladle 11 without requiring 
great driver skill or repeated maneuvering the tractor 15 and trailer 13. 
It is also desirable to prevent the ladle 11 from swinging during transport 
as this causes undesirable weight shifting of heavy ladle loads and 
consequent surging motion of the tractor-trailer combination. Accordingly, 
in the illustrated embodiment, a ladle stabilizer leg 70 is provided which 
is rigidly secured to the trailer cross beam 31 such that the ladle 
stabilizer leg 70 contacts the lower portion of the ladle during transport 
to thereby limit fore and aft swinging of the ladle. 
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention 
provides a novel heavy duty ladle carrier 10 having a rigid ladle support 
cradle 40 that may be easily shifted laterally to align the cradle 
receiving notches 46 with the ladle trunnions 20 for pickup or for 
aligning the ladle 11 over a support stand or the like for accurate set 
down. Also included in the carrier is a cradle stabilizer leg 70 to limit 
swinging of the ladle during transport.