Patent ID: 8534474

Claim:
A crane having an upper works rotatably mounted on a lower works, the upper works including at least one column, the column comprising: a) at least a first and second column segment each with at least three chords, with interlacing elements connecting the chords into a fixed relationship forming a column segment having a longitudinal axis with at least a first chord being present in a first longitudinal portion of the column segment and at least a second chord being present in a second longitudinal portion of the column segment; each of the chords, and the column segment, having a first end and a second end, the second end of the first segment being coupled to the first end of the second segment; b) a first connector on the second end of the first chord of the first segment respectively mating with a second connector on the first end of the first chord of the second segment, and a third connector on the second end of the second chord of the first segment respectively mating with a fourth connector on the first end of the second chord of the second segment; c) the first, second, third and fourth connectors each comprising at least one extension having a through-hole there through, and the through-hole having an axis perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and positioned in the extensions such that all through-holes of mating connectors are aligned when the column segments are aligned; d) the first connector comprising a first alignment surface, the second connector comprising a second alignment surface, the third connector comprising a third alignment surface, the fourth connector comprising a fourth alignment surface, wherein the first, second, third and fourth alignment surfaces are on surfaces of their respective connectors that face toward the longitudinal portion of the segment to which they are not attached; e) the first and second alignment surfaces cooperating such that when the first and second connectors are being brought together during column assembly, said alignment surfaces guide the column segments in two dimensions within a plane transverse to the axis of the through holes through the connectors into a relative position such that the through-holes through the extensions in the connectors are aligned sufficiently such that a tapered main pin can be inserted through the through-holes of the extensions in the first and second mating connectors.