Patent ID: 7725963

Claim:
A material mover for transferring a load, comprising: a substantially rectangular top sheet defining an uppermost support surface of said material mover and having longitudinal edges extending in a length direction of said material mover and defining a length dimension, lateral edges extending in a width direction of said material mover and defining a width dimension that is less than said length dimension, an upper region, a middle region and a lower region; a substantially rectangular bottom sheet having longitudinal edges extending in a length direction of said material mover and defining a length dimension, lateral edges extending in a width direction of said material mover and defining a width dimension that is less than said length dimension, an upper region, a middle region, a lower region, said width dimension of said bottom sheet being greater than said width dimension of said top sheet in said upper, middle and lower regions of said top and bottom sheets, and a plurality of orifices perforating at least a central portion of said bottom sheet; lateral and longitudinal perimeter sidewalls respectively connecting at least portions of said lateral and longitudinal edges of said top sheet and said bottom sheet to one another and defining a plenum chamber between said perimeter sidewalls and said top and bottom sheets; a plurality of partition members disposed within said plenum chamber and directly connecting at least central portions of said top sheet and said bottom sheet to one another, said partition members extending in a generally parallel direction with respect to said lateral edges of said top sheet and said bottom sheet and being spaced a distance from said lateral and said longitudinal perimeter sidewalls, wherein a height of each said lateral and longitudinal perimeter sidewalls is less than a height of said partition members along at least a portion of respective ones of said lateral and longitudinal edges of said top sheet and said bottom sheet; and a fluid weir defined at least along an outer peripheral portion of said bottom sheet and substantially surrounding said plurality of orifices in said bottom sheet, said fluid weir defining a fluid reservoir at least at said central portion of said bottom sheet; wherein a fluid is supplied to said fluid reservoir from said plenum chamber via said orifices, a fluid film is formed at least between said central portion of said bottom sheet and a surface in contact with said bottom sheet, and wherein the fluid in said fluid film is substantially inhibited from dissipating from said fluid reservoir and is substantially contained in said fluid reservoir by said fluid weir.