Patent Publication Number: US-6213319-B1

Title: Powered lifting apparatus using multiple booms

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/987,416, filed Dec. 9, 1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,562), which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/780,846, filed Dec. 9, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,463, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable 
     REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX” 
     Not applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to heavy equipment, and more particularly to heavy lifting equipment that is used in commercial applications for lifting very heavy multi-ton objects that can weigh as much as several thousand tons. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved heavy lifting apparatus that includes a pair of spaced apart trusses, each formed of a pair of booms, each pair being pinned at an upper boom end portion and load transfer carriages provided at the lower ends of the pair of booms, the carriages being connected with a tensile element (e.g., winch cable) that can be wound upon sheaves to increase the mechanical advantage. One of the carriages has a winch that pulls the cable and the two carriages together increasing the angle of inclination of each boom during a lift, a horizontal lifting beam being suspended below the booms for rigging the package to the horizontal beam. 
     2. General Background of the Invention 
     In the construction industry and at industrial plants, there is great expense associated with the lifting of very large objects such as chemical process vessels, large pieces of equipment, pre-fabricated buildings and the like. Such objects are typically lifted with one or more very large and expensive devices such as high capacity lifting booms or cranes. 
     These cranes must be brought into the facility and assembled on site before use when very large lifts are contemplated. This is a very time consuming and expensive operation costing millions of dollars, even for one lift in some cases where the load is very large (e.g., several thousand tons). Scheduling of large equipment can be critical, due to the limited number of very large capacity cranes world-wide and the time restraints and deadlines associated with plant expansions, turnarounds and renovations. 
     Some of the problems with the lifting of very large objects is the mobilization cost, the complex rigging that must be accomplished timely, and demobilization once the lift is completed. 
     Huge counterweights are required to equally distribute load, especially if soil conditions are less than perfect. With a crane, ground pressures can be 1000-5000 pounds per square foot. A foundation failure is one of the greatest concerns in any land heavy lift in the Gulf Coast area of the United States. With the present invention, soil bearing pressures are distributed to four carriages. Each carriage then further distributes the load in a balanced manner so that soil bearing pressure might be 100-500 pounds per square foot. 
     When moving the load (once lifted) over the ground, the present invention is far more stable than a crane that is walking a load. Another problem with crane lifts is that of a rotation or shifting of the object being lifted so that it hits the crane. During a lift, a crane boom is under such stress, that catastrophic failure can result when the object being lifted even lightly hits the crane. 
     The present invention can be positioned inside buildings without structural modifications that are required when an overhead crane is installed. The only constraint with the present invention is that the apparatus fit inside the building once assembled. 
     Cranes can also fail if the object being lifted moves (e.g., with wind load) out away from the center of the hook. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an improved method and apparatus for lifting multi-ton packages such as chemical vessels, pre-fabricated structures, equipment packages and the like. This invention requires no counterweights, which can be costly to transport and assemble, because it operates using leverage against itself. Power requirements are reduced using this invention, as the power supply is the horizontal extendable member which carries only the horizontal component of boom load. Ground pressure, a significant problem associated with heavy loads, can be reduced by an order of magnitude by dividing the weight onto four evenly loaded carriages instead of eccentrically loading one crane matrix. 
     The method of the present invention first provides for the supporting of a first pair of booms from a first pair of carriages or vehicles, wherein the lower end portion of a first boom is pinned to a first carriage, and the lower end portion of the second boom is pinned to the second carriage. A second pair of booms is supported from a second pair of carriages, wherein the lower end portion of a third boom is pinned to a third carriage and the lower end portion of a fourth boom is pinned to a fourth carriage. Each pair of booms and its carriages defines a generally triangularly shaped variable dimension truss. 
     The method contemplates pinning the upper end portion of the first and second booms together. The method also contemplates pinning the upper end portion of the third and fourth boom together. 
     A lifting beam is generally horizontally positioned and suspended from the upper end portions of the respective pairs of booms, and preferably from the pinned connections of the two variable dimension trusses. 
     A package is lifted with rigging that depends from the lifting beam when a cable is tightened between the first and second carriages. Likewise, the lifting contemplates a tightening of a second cable that links the third and fourth carriages. 
     The apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of carriages that define a structural base for supporting the load to be lifted. 
     Each truss supported by the plurality of carriages defines a load transfer between the carriages and the multi-ton packages to be lifted. 
     The trusses include the multiple booms extending respectively from the plurality of carriages and cables that extend in between the pairs of carriages during use. 
     A first pair of carriages supports a first pair of booms with upper end portions that are pinned together. A second pair of carriages supports the second pair of booms with upper end portions that are pinned together at pinned connections. A lifting beam is supported below the pinned connections. 
     A first extensible, powered lifting cable connects the first pair of carriages for pulling the carriages together so that the first pair of lifting booms increase in inclination during lifting, thus raising the apex of the first pair of booms and lifting the beam and the object to be lifted. 
     A second extensible, powered lifting cable connects the second pair of carriages for pulling the carriages together so that the second pair of lifting booms increase in inclination during lifting, thus raising the apex of the second pair of booms and lifting the beam and the object to be lifted. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages of the present invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, read in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention illustrating the pin connection at the top of a pair of booms; 
     FIG. 2A is a fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a partial elevation view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a partial elevational view of the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a partial elevational view of an alternate embodiment of the carriage showing a skid type carriage; 
     FIG. 10 is an elevational view of a third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown prior to lifting of a horizontally positioned vessel; 
     FIG. 11 is another elevational view of the third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 12 is an end elevational view of the third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown during lifting of the vessel, taken along lines  12 — 12  of FIG. 11; 
     FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 14 is an end elevational view of the third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown after the vessel has been lifted to a vertical position; 
     FIG. 15 is a transverse sectional view of the third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention illustrating the track and carrier undercarriage portions thereof, taken along lines  15 — 15  of FIG. 11; and 
     FIG. 16 is a fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention illustrating the connection between the horizontal beam portions thereof. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIGS. 1-3 show generally the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention designated by the numeral  10 A in FIGS. 1 and 3. 
     Lifting apparatus  10  includes four carriages  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 . At least two of the carriages  11  are powered, having winches  29  thereon for pulling a cable  31  that is wound upon sheaves  33 ,  34 . The carriages  11 ,  12  are powered carriages that have winches  29  thereon, each of the winches  29  being powered with a motor drive. 
     The carriages,  13 ,  14  are not powered but each has a sheave  34  thereon. Each sheave is wound with the cable  31  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. During use, the winch  29  and sheaves  34  are wound so that the two carriages  11 ,  13  move together when the winch  29  takes up cable. Similarly, the two carriages  12 ,  11  move together when cable  31  is wound upon winch  29  of carriage  12 . 
     Four booms  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18  are provided with the apparatus  10  of the present invention. The booms are arranged in pairs as shown in FIG.  1 . Booms  15  and  17  are attached at their upper end portions together at pinned connection  24 . The booms  16 ,  18  are pinned together at pinned connection  25 . 
     A detail of pinned connections  24  or  25  can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 2A wherein pinned connection  24  is shown. The connection  25  is the same as that shown in FIG. 2 for connection  24 . The boom  15  has end portions  15 A,  15 B that attach to transverse load pin  24 A. The boom  17  has end portions  17 A,  17 B that attach to the pin  24 A. Link or sling  20  extends downwardly from pin  24 A as shown in FIG.  2 . Sling  20  can be a wire rope sling (or slings) with a loop or eyelet end portion that fits pin  24 A. 
     A horizontally extended beam  19  is supported by the spaced apart sling members  20 ,  21 . Each sling  20 ,  21  is pinned to a transverse pin  24 A or  25 A of the pinned connections  24 ,  25  as shown in FIGS. 1-3. Sling  20  hangs from pin  24 A of pinned connection  24 . Sling  21  hangs from pin  25 A of pinned connection  25 . Each sling  20 ,  21  attaches at its lower end to beam  19  using shackles for example. Slings  20 , 21  could be rigid links. 
     The transverse beam  19  is preferably of a length equal to the spacing in between the first pair of booms  15 ,  17  and the second pair of booms  16 ,  18 . The length of beam  19  is also equal to the spacing between the pairs of tracks  46 ,  47  shown in FIG. 1, that spacing being designated by the numeral  53  in FIG. 1. A package  23  is shown being supported below beam  19  with sling  22  and rigging  48 . Additional spreader bars or beams could be used to lift vessels, coal boxes, generators, or any other object that could be lifted with a crane or jacking system. 
     During use, the winch  29  of carriages  11  and  12  is powered with a motor (e.g., hydraulic) drive  30  so that the winch  29  can be wound to pull cable  31  in the direction of arrow  32 . This causes the carriages  11  and  13  to move together in the direction of arrows  26  and  27  and upon rails  45 ,  46 . As the carriages  11 ,  13  move closer together, the inclination of booms  15 ,  17  increases thus elevating the apex  24 ,  25  of the pair of booms  15 ,  17  and  16 ,  18  and package  23  in the direction of arrows  28 . 
     Sheaves  33  and  34  can be used to increase the mechanical advantage afforded during lifting by multiplying the number of windings that cable  31  makes in between the sheaves  33 ,  34 . Cable  31  is wound upon winch  29 , then wound a desired multiple times upon sheaves  33  and  34 , then anchored at  39  to carriage  11 . Because the beam  19  is horizontally extending, a plurality of slings such as  22  can be depended from the beam  19  and at spaced apart locations along the beam  19 . This helps in the lifting of horizontally extending objects such as horizontal chemical process vessels and the like. This also enables relatively low power winches to be used when lifting very heavy objects. For example, if a 1000 ton object is to be lifted, a crane would require a 1000 ton vertical hoist capacity. Such a crane would require expensive rigging such as a 1000 ton block. A crane of this capacity costs in the range of several million dollars, a $10,000,000 price being an example. 
     With the present invention, the booms  15 ,  17  and  16 ,  18  could be for example, 50 feet long. For a 1000 ton object and a 60 degree boom angle for each boom, boom load would be about 288 tons. This only requires a 30,000 line load for the cable  31  if, for example, about 12 parts of line are wound upon the sheaves  33 ,  34 . 
     Each carriage  11 ,  13  has a chassis  35 ,  41  respectively. The carriage  11  is shown more particularly in FIG. 2 as including a chassis  35  having an upper surface  36 . The upper surface  36  carries motor drive  30  for powering the winch  29 . The upper surface  36  also has a plurality of padeyes  38  for supporting the lower end portion of a boom  15 , forming a pinned connection  37  in between the boom  15  or  16  and its padeyes  38 . Carriage  12  and its boom  16  are of the same general construction as carriage  11  and its boom  15 . Carriage  14  and its boom  18  are of the same general construction as carriage  13  and its boom  17 . 
     A cable anchor  39  in the form of a reinforced padeye, for example, can be used to anchor the free end of cable  31  after it is wound the desired number of times about sheaves  33  and  34 . In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, a plurality of rail engaging type wheels  40  is provided for each carriage  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 , each wheel  40  being designed to travel on the pairs of spaced apart rails  46 ,  47  shown in FIG.  1 . 
     The carriages  13  and  14  each provide a chassis  41  having an upper surface  42  that carries one or more padeyes  43 . The padeyes  43  enable a pinned connection  44  to be formed between the lower end portion of the booms  17  and  18  respectively with the carriages  13  and  14 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. 
     The rails  45  and  46  can be supported by a plurality of crossties  47 , for example. Rigging  48  can be used to rig a particular package  23  to one or more slings  22  and shackles that depend from horizontal beam  19 . 
     An alternate embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, designated generally by the numeral  10 B. In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the wheels  40  are replaced with tires  52  that would engage a flat underlying surface  51  during use. It should be understood however that carriages such as  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  49 ,  50  could also be in the form of skid-mounted or sled-mounted carriages that do not require wheels  40  or tires  52  for operation but rather roll upon small rollers such as Hillman® type rollers  54  as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 or slide upon a flat underlying surface, as shown in FIG.  9 . In FIG. 9, each chassis has an underlying wooden base  55  that slides upon a metal plate  56  (or a plurality of such plates). 
     FIGS. 10-16 show a third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention designated generally by the numeral  10 C in FIGS. 10,  11 ,  12 ,  13 , and  14 . 
     Lifting apparatus  10 C is shown lifting a vessel  59  from a generally horizontal position as shown in FIG. 10 to the vertical position shown in FIG.  14 . FIGS. 11,  12 , and  13  show the vessel  59  in an inclined position as occurs during the lift. 
     As with the first and second embodiments of FIGS. 1-9, lifting apparatus  10 C includes a plurality of carriages that support booms in an opposed and parallel relationship. As with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-9, a pair of booms are pinned and supported respectively by a pair of carriages. A second pair of carriages and respective booms is positioned next to and generally parallel to the first pair of carriages and booms. This arrangement can be seen in FIGS. 10-14 in the drawings. 
     A first pair of carriages  61 ,  62  are mounted upon supports such as rails  60  (see FIG.  15 ). The carriage  61  supports a boom  66 , connected at its base to the carriage  61  with pinned connection  79 . Similarly, a second boom  67  is attached to the carriage  63  at pinned connection  79 . The booms  66  and  67  have upper end portions that are pinned at connection  73  as shown in FIGS. 10 and 13. 
     A second pair of carriages  62 ,  64  are supported by a second set of supports (e.g., rails)  60 . Each carriage  61 ,  62 ,  63 ,  64  can have supporting wheels W engage supports  60 . Rollers R can be used to engage the sides of rail supports  60  for lateral stability. Each of the carriages  61 ,  62 ,  63 ,  64  has a winch  65  that is wound with cable  70  and upon sheaves  72 . This rigging can best be seen in FIGS. 10 and 13. Each carriage  61 ,  62 ,  63 ,  64  provides a sheave  72 . The pair of carriages  61  and  63  have a winch  65  that takes up the cable  70  during lifting in order to pull the carriages  61 ,  63  together. Similarly, the pair of carriages  62 ,  64  have a winch  65  that takes up the cable  70  during lifting in order to pull the carriages  62 ,  64  together. The cable  70  can be wrapped several times around the sheaves  72  as shown in FIG. 13 for increasing lifting capacity. In FIG. 11, arrow  71  indicates the direction of travel of cable  70  as it is taken up by winch  65  on each of the carriages  63 ,  64  during a lift. As the winch  65  on carriages  63  takes up cable  70 , as shown in FIG. 11, the apex of the booms  66 ,  67  as defined by pinned connection  73  elevates in the direction of arrow  81  as shown in FIG.  11 . At the same time, winch  25  on carriage  64  takes up cable to elevate the apex of booms  68 ,  69 . The vessel  59  gradually inclines during lift as shown by arrow  80  as the vessel is lifted by a rigging supported by the pinned connections  73 ,  74 , and attached to the upper end of the vessel at attachment  82 . 
     In FIGS. 11-13, the vessel  59  is in the inclined position as occurs during a lift. In FIG. 14, the vessel  59  is in a vertical position after the lift is complete. 
     A second winch  83  is provided on each of the carriages  63 ,  64  for providing a load line  84 . The load line  84  can be rigged between crown block  85  and traveling block  86 . The crown block  85  and traveling block  86  enable lifting and elevation change for the package in addition to the lifting elevation change achieved by changing inclination of the booms  66 ,  67 ,  68 ,  69 . In FIG. 16, a detail of the rigging between beams  75 ,  76  and the horizontal beams  77  is shown. A crown block  85  can be attached by welding, for example, to each of the horizontal beams  75 ,  76 . A traveling block  86  is attached to each end of horizontal beam  77 , being pinned thereto at end caps  87 . Such end caps  87  are commercially available, being manufactured by Versabar, Inc. of Belle Chasse, La. A shackle  88  depends from each end cap  87  and supports a diagonally extending sling  89 . Each sling  89  (see FIG. 12) supports an end of lower horizontal beam  78 . 
     The two upper horizontal beams  75 ,  76  are supported below the pinned connections  73 ,  74  respectively of booms  66 ,  67  and  68 ,  69 . Slings  90  can be used to form an attachment between pinned connection  73  and the upper horizontal beams  75 . Slings  90  can also form an attachment between pinned connection  74  and beam  76 . A pair of slings  91  can be extended between lower horizontal beam  78  and vessel  59  as shown in FIGS. 10 and 12. 
     Winches  65 ,  83  can be powered with a power source such as diesel engine  92 . Hydraulic pumps  93  with associated control valves can be powered by engine  92  for operating winches  65 ,  83 . The winches  65 ,  83  can thus be hydraulic winches such as those manufactured by Fritz Culver, Inc. Hydraulic hose flow lines  94  can be used to interface each of the winches  65 ,  83  on the carriages  63 ,  64  with engine  92 . 
     
       
         
           
               
            
               
                   
               
               
                 PARTS LIST 
               
               
                 The following is a list of suitable parts and materials for the 
               
               
                 various elements of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Part Number 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 10A 
                 lifting apparatus 
               
               
                   
                 10B 
                 lifting apparatus 
               
               
                   
                 10C 
                 lifting apparatus 
               
               
                   
                 11 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 12 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 13 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 14 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 15 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 15A 
                 upper end 
               
               
                   
                 15B 
                 upper end 
               
               
                   
                 15C 
                 longitudinal axis 
               
               
                   
                 16 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 17 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 17A 
                 upper end 
               
               
                   
                 17B 
                 upper end 
               
               
                   
                 18 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 19 
                 beam 
               
               
                   
                 20 
                 sling 
               
               
                   
                 21 
                 sling 
               
               
                   
                 22 
                 sling 
               
               
                   
                 23 
                 package 
               
               
                   
                 24 
                 pinned connection 
               
               
                   
                 24A 
                 transverse pin 
               
               
                   
                 25 
                 pinned connection 
               
               
                   
                 26 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 27 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 28 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 29 
                 winch 
               
               
                   
                 30 
                 motor drive 
               
               
                   
                 31 
                 cable 
               
               
                   
                 32 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 33 
                 sheave 
               
               
                   
                 34 
                 sheave 
               
               
                   
                 35 
                 chassis 
               
               
                   
                 36 
                 upper surface 
               
               
                   
                 37 
                 pinned connection 
               
               
                   
                 38 
                 padeye 
               
               
                   
                 39 
                 cable anchor 
               
               
                   
                 40 
                 wheel 
               
               
                   
                 41 
                 chassis 
               
               
                   
                 42 
                 upper surface 
               
               
                   
                 43 
                 padeye 
               
               
                   
                 44 
                 pinned connection 
               
               
                   
                 45 
                 rail 
               
               
                   
                 46 
                 rail 
               
               
                   
                 47 
                 crosstie 
               
               
                   
                 48 
                 rigging 
               
               
                   
                 49 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 50 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 51 
                 flat surface 
               
               
                   
                 52 
                 tire 
               
               
                   
                 53 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 54 
                 rollers 
               
               
                   
                 55 
                 wooden base 
               
               
                   
                 56 
                 metal plate 
               
               
                   
                 59 
                 vessel 
               
               
                   
                 60 
                 rail support 
               
               
                   
                 61 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 62 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 63 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 64 
                 carriage 
               
               
                   
                 65 
                 winch 
               
               
                   
                 66 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 67 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 68 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 69 
                 boom 
               
               
                   
                 70 
                 cable 
               
               
                   
                 71 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 72 
                 sheave 
               
               
                   
                 73 
                 pinned connectjon 
               
               
                   
                 74 
                 pinned connection 
               
               
                   
                 75 
                 beam 
               
               
                   
                 76 
                 beam 
               
               
                   
                 77 
                 beam 
               
               
                   
                 78 
                 beam 
               
               
                   
                 79 
                 pinned connection 
               
               
                   
                 80 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 81 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 82 
                 attachment 
               
               
                   
                 83 
                 winch 
               
               
                   
                 84 
                 load line 
               
               
                   
                 85 
                 crown block 
               
               
                   
                 86 
                 traveling block 
               
               
                   
                 87 
                 end cap 
               
               
                   
                 88 
                 shackle 
               
               
                   
                 89 
                 sling 
               
               
                   
                 90 
                 sling 
               
               
                   
                 91 
                 sling 
               
               
                   
                 92 
                 engine 
               
               
                   
                 93 
                 hydraulic pumps 
               
               
                   
                 94 
                 flow lines 
               
               
                   
                 R 
                 roller 
               
               
                   
                 W 
                 wheel 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.