Patent ID: 7552818

Claim:
A support means for supporting a lateral conveyor adapted for mounting upon a mobile chassis, said conveyor comprising a tail section, middle section and at least one head section having pivot points related to the conveyor frame separating said sections from each other, said support means comprising a variable length mounting arm, said mounting arm comprising at least two sections and first and second ends, means for locking the length of the mounting arm into at least one fixed length corresponding to the length of the conveyor in a working position, the first end being fixed to said mobile chassis or a part fixed immobile in relation to said mobile chassis and the second end being fixed to the said head section of the conveyor or a part fixed immobile in relation to the at least one head section of the conveyor, the support means being configured to provide at least three kinematic pairs, in which a first kinematic pair is formed by a first section of the at least two sections of the mounting arm and the mobile chassis and is provided by a first joint, a second kinematic pair is formed by the first section and a second section of the at least two sections of the mounting arm, and the third kinematic pair is formed by the second section of the mounting arm and the at least one head section of the conveyor and is provided by a second joint, the support means being further configured such that the first kinematic pair provides for at least two degrees of freedom of movement, the second kinematic pair provides for at least one degree of freedom of movement, and the third kinematic pair provides for at least two degrees of freedom of movement, and at least one of said first, second and third kinematic pairs provides for an additional degree of freedom of movement.