GB1212779A - Giant wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

1,212,779. Giant wheel. ANTON SCHWARZKOPF STAHL-U. FAHRZEUGBAU. 8 Nov., 1968 [14 Nov., 1967], No. 53123/68. Heading A6M. A giant wheel has a bearing frame which comprises two or, preferably, four supports 2 inclined at an acute angle, their upper ends, interconnected in pairs, carrying the bearing 4 for the giant wheel shaft 5 (Fig. 1). The individual supports, which may be of variable length, are pivotally mounted on their supporting base and connected to a hoisting motor 7. The base may be a transfer truck or series of interconnected transfer trucks 9 (Fig. 2), of flatbed or crocodile construction, provided with supporting elements 10. The supports have an obliquely upwardly tapered crosssectional shape, so that, in transport position, they lie adjacent to laterally or upwardly projecting lugs 13 which contain the articulation connected to the piston rod of the hoisting motor. The pivot bearings 8 of the supports are at different heights so that the supports assume superimposed positions in their transport position. A crosstie member 18 may be hinged to one of the supports, its other end fitting a receptacle 20 on the other support, forming a stiff A-shaped bearing frame. The individual supports may have one or more telescopic extension 14, which is or are vertically adjustable by means of a cable winch, and may be locked to the support in the extended position. The bearing hub 4 for the wheel shaft and a flange-like connecting web 15 may be carried on one support or its extension, while the other support or its extension has a recess 16 matching the bearing hub, and the matching counterpart of the connecting web 17. One transfer truck may have a bearing 26 for the wheel shaft at its front end, so that upon dismantling, the supports may be lowered until the shaft rests in the bearing. The shaft comprises an inner portion 27 which is received by the truck bearing and 2 outer sections 28 which remain in the support bearings 4 during transport. The three sections are flanged together. The supports may be provided with steps and treadboards to enable the spokes of the wheel to be fitted after assembly. A traction wheel, or pair of traction wheels 30 (preferably rubber-tyred wheels) connected to a motor is mounted on at least one support, preferably on a pair of supports, forming the means for driving a curved rail 31 extending along the spokes of the wheel and thereby causing the wheel to rotate. The rail may consist of curved, interconnected, hollow prismatic, circular segments, preferably of cast, light-metal rods. A modification is possible in which a single pair of supports 33 having an obliquely upwardly extending shape and adapted to rotate about inclined axes 36 is provided so that the wheel is mounted in an overhung position.