Patent ID: 7073673

Claim:
A wire rope reeving support system for a cargo container handling crane having a cargo transport trolley mounted for reciprocation along a horizontal gantry thereof and for suspending a load thereunder, said crane having a fleet through wire rope load hoisting system for said transport trolley driven from a remote location on said crane, said rope support system of the present invention comprising at least two pairs of bellcranks and push rods secured in opposed relation to the opposite longitudinal edges of said gantry intermediate the ends thereof, said bellcranks being pivoted at their respective first ends to said gantry with the opposite ends thereof each having at least one wire rope support roller rotatably engaged therewith and formed to project under and support said adjacent portion of said wire ropes of said wire rope load hoisting system when said bellcranks are oriented in a first resting position and said rollers being formed to retract from under said wires and project clear of said trolley when said bellcranks are oriented in a second actuated position, said push rods being contained in vertical tracks which are secured to the opposite longitudinal edges of said gantry adjacent to said bellcranks and said rods being formed for reciprocation in said tracks, connecting rods for each of said bellcrank and push rod pairs, said rods having a first end journalled to said push rods and the opposite end thereof journalled to said bellcranks intermediate the ends thereof between said pivoted ends of said bellcranks and said roller engagements therewith, at least a pair of push rod actuators secured to said trolley and aligned with the lower ends of said push rods whereby as said trolley passes said push rod locations during reciprocation of said trolley along said gantry, said push rod actuators actuate said lower ends of said rods to reciprocate vertically upward from said first position orientation in response to longitudinal movement of said actuators whereby the upper ends of said push rods, being individually interconnected by said connecting rods to said bellcranks intermediate to the ends thereof, move said connecting rods and thereby said bellcranks to said second actuated position orientation when said push rods are at their raised positions, whereby said support rollers are retracted clear of said trolley to let said trolley pass without mechanical interference with said rope support rollers, and said push rods lower said bellcranks by means of said connecting rods to said first resting position when said actuators are out of contact with said push rods whereby said support rollers project under and support the adjacent wire ropes.