Patent ID: 8033376

Claim:
A steerable conveyor for use with a towing vehicle in which the towing vehicle comprises a vehicle frame supported for rolling movement in a forward direction on vehicle wheels which are steerable relative to the vehicle frame, the conveyor comprising: a conveyor housing for conveying material therein in a longitudinal direction from an inlet end to an outlet end; a conveyor frame supporting the conveyor housing thereon; a first pair of wheels and a second pair of wheels supporting laterally opposed first and second sides of the conveyor frame respectively thereon for rolling movement along the ground; a pair of walking beams supporting the conveyor frame on the two pairs of wheels respectively, the walking beams extending generally in the longitudinal direction and being spaced apart from one another in a lateral direction oriented transversely to the longitudinal direction at opposing sides of the conveyor frame, each walking beam being supported on a respective one of the pairs of wheels such that the wheels are supported at longitudinally opposing ends of the walking beam, and each walking beam being pivotally coupled to the conveyor frame for relative pivotal movement about a walking beam axis oriented generally in the lateral direction; each wheel of each pair of wheels comprising a steerable wheel which is pivotal about a respective upright axis relative to the conveyor frame; a hitch connector arranged for connection to the towing vehicle such that the conveyor frame is arranged to be pivotal relative to the towing vehicle about a vertical steering axis of the hitch connector and such that the conveyor frame is arranged to be movable together with the towing vehicle for rolling movement in the forward direction; a steering mechanism arranged to pivot each of the steerable wheels of both pairs of wheels together relative to the conveyor frame in a common direction of rotation such that the conveyor housing is arranged to be steerable relative to the towing vehicle about the vertical steering axis when the conveyor housing is towed for rolling movement in the forward direction with the towing vehicle; and a controller arranged to control the steering mechanism of the steerable wheels.