US1325818A - Combination tbavelino-cbane cableway - Google Patents

Description

W. VAN DEN HEUVEL. COMBINATION THAVELING CRANE CABLEWAY. APPLICATION FILED APR. I. 1918.

1,325,818. Patent-edm@ 23,1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. VAN DEN HEUVEL. comm/mow mAvELlNG CRANE ALwAY.

' v APPucATloN meuf/wn. l. 19m, 1,325,818. Patented Dec, 23,1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FISI. 5

INVENTUM William van den Heuvel u 7o b W. VAN DEN HEUVEL.

` 4colvlmrmlow TnAvELlNG CRANE cABLEwAY.

APPLICATION FILED APR. |918. 1,325,818. f

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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O O O O o o o o IHVENTOR @6 William va den Heuvel Patented Deo. 23, 1919.

VAN DEN HEUVEL. COMBINATION THAVELING CRANE CABLEWAY.

him ITorrzey W. VAN DEN HEUVEI.. COMBINATION THAVELING CRANE CABLEWAY.

` FIC.. Il

APPLICATION FILED APR. Il -19H1.

Patented Dec. 23,1919'.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5 tid mim-m WILLIAM VAN DEN HEUVEL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CMBNATION TR1-NJ ELIENGCRANE CABLEWAY.

Teasers.,

Speecaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo. 23, 1919.

Application filed dlfpril 1, 1918. Serial No. 226,093.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, 1WILLrAn' van' DEN Heumen, a subject oit rlhe Netherlands, residing' at Los Angeles, in the county or' Los Angeles, State ci California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Combina tion rlliaveling-Crane Cableivays, ot which the iollovvino is a specification.V

This invention relatos to devices used for transporting and handling materials; and relates more particularly to a traveling crane cableway system adapted for use in shipyards and the like, or Wherever and in Whatever situations it is desired to handle heavy materials over a large ground area. rlhe diiiiculties which my system is particularly designed to overcome are peculiarly found in shipyards; and accordingly l illustrate and describe my system as applied to shipyards. From the specific description thus given, it will be readily understood how my system may be applied to other classes oit transportation or handling of materials.

Particularly as applied to shipbuilding, there have been great diiiiculties encountered in the economical and efficient handling ot the heavy materials and pai s, and the provision or eilicient and economical appliances, devices and apparatus for doing the required Work. lt is ot course theoretically possible to buildL structural traveloranes ot the kind used for shop transportation, and ot a size large enough to carry material over a single ship; but such structures are extremely expensive and have their limitations. Although there may be no limitation upon the length or tra-vel ot an ordinary beam crane, there is a practical limitation upon its span; ami so it has proven practically impossible to handle heavy materials over a Wl'ioleyard, or over a number of slips, with a single mechanism. t single mechanism or system, besides having the advantage or relative inexpensiveness :tor or ginal construction und installation, has the exceedingly great advantage oi being able to handle a load trein any point to any other point in a Whole yarder over a number ot slips Without having to drop the lead and piclr it up again; and has the advantage or beingable move :troni slip to slip, instead of being confined to a single slip, as heretofore.

Although attempts have been made in the direction ot' using traveling crane cable- Ways and the like, no success has been attendant largely on account ot the nonpositiveness or operation of such system.

lt is an object oit this invention to overcome the ditliculties herein spoken ot; to provide a traveling crane cablevvay system which may be extended to cover a large yard or number or slips, large enough to handle material over the length of the largest ship, and capable ot extension to cover any number of slips Which lie side by side (capable in tact, of indeiinite extension in this direction); and to provide a system which is relatively inexpensive of construction, installation, and operation. In tact, it is an object or this invention to provide a system which has the advantages of the rigid structural traveling crane system, together `with the advantages of a cable- Way system, which alloT it to cover a large area. And it is an object ot this invention to specically provide a form oit system `ufhich vvill enable shipbuildcrs to economi cally and eiiiciently transport and handle materials, plates, parts, etc., with the highest speed, accuracy and economy.

Underlying my system is the principle of positiveness et operation, control and placement oi loads.` To gain this positiveness l employ a rigidity ot the fundamental structure which, so far as l am aware, has hitlr erto been unknown in any traveling cableway system. ln laying out my system for use in Shipyards, I lay along the upper and lower limits of a slip or slips an elevated track-Way supported upon towers and of such construction as to be rigid under all the strains Which it is designed to carry.

rllhis `elevated track-Way is high enough to handle materials high as desired-over the highest lvvork carried on in theslip-and is high enough to allorv the ship to pass under when launched. rlhe elevated traclrways are supported upon towers sutliciently Widely spaced at the lower end to allow passage oit a hull between them and at the upper end to allow 'free transportation and movement of materials, parts, etc., underf beam roomV for Vpossible lWithout unduly lengthening the the upper trackway. The cableway is suspended between traveling bogies travelers-upon theopposite elevated trackways; and the primary' strain to which the elevated trackways are subjected are those transmitted to it through the suspension cable or cab-les. These strains, necessarily large, necessitate special design and construction of the trackways and the supporting structure and towers.

Besides these general features of my system there are certain other detailed features embodied in the general application of my system, and certain detailed and specific features embodied in a\.specific application of my system to a particular service. All of such features, and the general objects and accomplishments of my invention and system, will be best understood from the following detailed description of a specific form of system embodying the invention and adapted and designed particularly for shipbuilding service. For the purpose of this description I refer to the accompanying drawings in which; Y Figure lis a side elevation showing the application of my system to ship building service; Fig. 2 is a plan showing the same; Fig. '3 is an enlarged transverse section showing section of the upper or shop-end track and showing a bogie thereon, in section; Fig. a' is an enlarged vertical section of parts shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail section taken on line 5 of Fig. S; Fig. 6 is a sectional plan of a bogie; Fig. 7 is a horizontal detail section on line 7 of Fig. 4; Fig. 8 is a rear side elevation, and parts being in section, of a pair of bogies; Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the electrical connections to and between the bogies of each pair; Fig. l() is a detail showing an interconnection between controllers for the bogies; Fig. l1 is a View similar to Fig. 3 of a bogie at the water end of the system; Fig. 12 is a plan of the same.

I shall first explain the general structural and mechanical and operative features of the system and then describe the details of the diflierentdparts. The elevated trackway 20 is placed across the upper or land end of a Vsliporslips. These elevatedvv trackway structures may extend as, far as desired or .necessary te' accommodate any number or slips. They are supported' upon fsuitable thrust towers 22 and 23 set upon heavy foundations 2a ofconcrete or any other suitable material. "Towers 23 at the lower end of the slips may bef made .narrower than those at the-upper end so as to increase as much as possible the effective clear width between adjacent tewersfso as to give as, much clear a hull to pass through as span of the track structure'2l between the towers. The towers at the upper or land n' la Vbogie B of eaciL pan.

end of the slips may be somewhat wider in construction; but it is a feature of the construction in general that ample room is left between towers to allow free transportation and movement of materials and parts without obstruction. At the upper or land end of the system, the shop structures may be incorporated with or built adjacent to the tower structures, as is indicated at 25. The arrangement is such that materials and parts may be moved out of the shops into the spaces between the towers 22 and directly under the carriers, where they may be immediately picked up and transported to any part of the yard. That is, referring to the drawings, material delivered at the point designated generally by the letter D (just outside the shop structures) may be picked up without any further handling or transportation and handled thenceforth by the carriers on the cableway system.

Upon the upper elevated traekways 20 I mount any desired number of traveling bogies B; and upon the lower trackways 21 I mount a corresponding number of bogies B. Between each of the two bogies which constitute a pair I suspend a suspension or track cable S. Upon each track cable S I operate a carrier on trolley C. These trolleys C form points of suspension for lifting and carrying tackle L; and means are provided, through the medium of trolleying cables 'I for trolleying the trolleys back and forth along the suspension cables S. And the hoist cables H provide means for controlling and operating the hoisting and lowering of the lifting tackle L wherever the trolley C may be upon cable S.

All of the operations, including the movement of the bogies in pairs along their tracks, the trolleying of the trolleys along the track cables and the operation of the lifting tackle, are controlled from the upper There may be, as I have said before, as many pairs of bogies as desired in a single system; and it will be obvious that any number of these bogies ma),v be concentrated in any given portion of the tracks, so as to concentrate their services upon any given portion of the yard. The operator for each pair of bogies is situated in bogie B, above the slips where he commands a view of all points. This concentration of the bogies and of the cableway is limited only by the necessary size of the bogies themselves.

Frein what has been said so far, it will be seen that the principal strains upon the elevated trackways are primarily horizontal and toward each other. The towers of course mustcarry these strains; and they are accordingly designed substantially in the manner shown in the drawings in such a manner as to transmit a great deal of the strain directly through their forward compression heaters members orcolumns 22u and 23?I to the forward foundations. Under these circume stances the rear column members 221 and 23h become strained in tension; and the rear foundations are constructed as anchors. Besides these horizontal stresses (or diagonal stresses in which the horizontal component is comparatively large) the towers are of course subjected to vertical downward stresses due to the weight of the structure itseli2 and due to the weight or the bogies and due also to the horizontalv component of the stresses transmitted to the bogies, and thus to the structures, through the cables. The track structures 20 and 21 are subjected to similar strains, both vertical and hori- Zontal. The track structures are conse quent-ly designed substantially in box girder form with their principal strength as beams in a horizontal direction. 'lhe upper longitudinal members BO and 31 of the track structures form the stringere upon which rails 32 are laid. The bogies are provided with supporting` wheels 33 running on rails 32. rl`he rear longitudinal members 31 carry heavy rails 34- standing out in a horizontal plane behind the members 31; and the bogies are provided with a suitable number ot lflanged wheels 35 Yrunning upon these rails. lt is through these flanged wheels 35 that the horizontal strains are transmitted from the bogie to the track structure; and 1 consequently make special provision for eiiicient transmission of these strains through the bogie structure to the wheels 35; and also rake special provision vlier strengthening and reinforcing the member 31. Vlhis l do by placing another longitudinal member 31'a near the longitudinal member 30 of the track structure and by then inter-bracing the members 31 and 31a with the struts and braces lb; so that in effect the member 31 becomes the upper chord and the member 31ZL becomes the lower chord of a structural arrangement adapted to etliciently carry the horizontal loads imposed upon the track rail. Both these members 31 and 31"L map7 be constructed of composite wood and steel as indicated at 31C and 31d. From the rear chord 31 the horizontal strains are transmitted through structural members indicated at 31e to the lower longitudinal members Blf of the track structure, whence they are transmitted to the towers and thence to the foundations.

Ilhe bogie :trame work is made up principally of trans Verse beams 36 and longitudinal beams or connections 37. A suitable flooring may be put over the frame work as indicated at 38 and the various maehineiE;T of the bogie mounted upon the looring and connected with the iframe work. -l`he track cable C is in each case connected to a bracket 6() on the bogie which bracket is mounted between the two central channel beams 36a, oitthebogie,` Ar clevis for the cable is connected to the bracket at the point 61 and this point 61 is close to and directly on a horizontal line" with the tread orf forward rail 32 and also on a horizontal line with the tread of Wheels 35 on rail. 3d. ln order to accomplish this arrangement and construction the forward rail 32 is below the rear rail 32, the forward longitudinal. member 3() of the track structure being below the rear longitudinal member 31. The result or this arrangementis that the horizontal component oit' the strain transmitted by cable bl to the bogie is transmitted directly in a horizontal plane from the point 61 to the rail 34. This results in the fact that rail 34.- carries all of the horizontal stress and none of the horizontal is put upon the other two rails. Furthermore the fact that this horizontal stress is transmitted in the horizontal plane or the tread el 'lorward rail and is transmitted entirely to thrust rail 3ft, precludes this horizontal stress from `forming a turning moment which would tent to tip the bogie on its track. In other words, by the arrangement here described, l have placed all ot the horizontal stress component on the rail. 3dand thus upon the structure 31, B1, 31h; and l have placed all olf the vertical stress component upon the rails 32. rlhe two stress components being thus segregated, the corresponding stresses are transmitted to the track structure and to the towers through their structural memw bers.

Wheels 35, which bear on rail 3st, are carried on aides 63 mounted in bearings 641:, which slide in guide blocks 65 and are pressed by heavy compensation springs 66 toward the rail 342. These compensation springs serve the purpose et' keeping the load equally dis-:tributed on the four wheels 35. Guide block 65 are mounted upon horizontal plates ('37 and 68 which plates are secured to the back plate 69 and are braced and stilened by angles or other members as shown at 70. llfhe black plate 69 and the horizontal plates 6T and 65 are connected to the beams 36 by vertical plates 71. The whole structure is such as to eiliciently transmit the horizontal strain fromv the beams 36 to the wheels 35 and distribute that strain through the wheels onto `the rail 34.-.

rlhe bogies l-l and B are traversed along their respoctre tracks through the medium oi a single traversing cable on each track. The traversing cable '.l" is anchored at each end as indi 'ated at d0; and the anchorage means shown at l-On maj,7 also be a bumper or buffer mea to limit the n'ioveiuent olf the bogies. ln each bogie there is a 'traversing mechanism consisting or' a drum or drun'is l1 and around which the cable '.l" passes. The traversing drum i-1 is operated. trom a motor M through the connecting medium oli gearing 42, shalt d3 and connection mechallt) Lil@

Vat all times.

nism (a clutch mechanism) connecting with shaft 44 of drum 41. This same motor M performs also the office of trolleying the trolley C along the cable S. The trolleying cable T winds over the drum 48 which is driven from shaft 43 through the medium of gearing 46 connecting to shaft 47 of the trolleying drum. The mechanism at 45 may be a clutch mechanism whose function is to connect the shaft 43 with either the shaft 44 or the shaft 43a. These connections may be controlled by levers 52 and 53. The function of drum 48 is merely to wind the trolleying cable T back and forth, this cable eing endless and passing over a pulley or sheave 54 in the water-end bogie B. The water-end bogie is, in its general structure, the same as the shop-end bogie B; but it is only equipped with a single motor M of suitable size for operating the traversing drum 41 carrying the traversing cable T. The motor M of this bogie B is controlled from the bogie B in the manner hereinafter described. The hoisting cable H is merely anchored to the bogie B. In the bogie B the hoisting cable H passes in over a sheave 49 onto hoisting drum 50 which is operated through the medium of gearing 51 directly from the .hoist motor M. rThis hoisting cable H passes over sheaves 59 in the trolley C and passes down in a loop around the sheave 59 in the lifting tackle L. It will be seen that the operation of drum will be to raise and lower the lifting tackle, which may be done under perfect control The electrical connections are indicated in Fig. 11. Current is fed to the bogies B through the medium of wires W mounted on the track structure and through the medium of any suitable contact mechanism 75 mounted on the bogie. The bogie B is provided with a series of controllers R1, R2, R3, etc., connected by wires 76 to feed wires W. Controller R1 may be connected by wires 77 to motor M of controller B, and controller R2 may be connected by bars 7 8 to motor M of bogie B (the wires 78 being supported' between the two bogies on a messenger wire indicated at M). By

Y properly actuating these two controllers R1 and R2, the two bogies of each pair may be moved back and forth on their respective ways opposite to each other; or each bogie may be, to a certain-extent, traversed independently of the other. I may, if I so wish, put a mechanical connecting bar or the like, as shown at 80, between the controller handles of controllers R1 and B2 so as to cause these two controllers to work together and cause the two bogies Band B to be traversed in cooperation with each other. The controller R3 to hoist motor M for causing proper operation of that motor.V The mechanical conmay be connected by wires 81 nection at may be of such a nature as to be easily applied and removed (may be a removable connecting bar with eyes 80 at each end adapted to be slipped over the handles 80b of the controllers) so that means is thereby provided for operating the bogies either cooperatively or independently. By independent operation, and by placing the bogies .and cable S in somewhat diagonal relation,

the cable may be tightened. Furthermore, a load may be moved laterally across a slip (especially near either end) by the movement of one bogie.

The operation of my system will now be readily understood. The operator who controls a pair of bogies is situated in the bogie B well above the scene of operations. By proper manipulation of the controllers he can traverse the pair of bogies to any desired position on the track ways. I-Ie may then move the trolley C to any desired position on cable S to pick up a load on the lifting tackle L. Having done this, he may then hoist the load to any desired height, and then, by trolleying and traversing action, he may move the load directly to any point within the limits covered by the system. Having reached the desired point, the load may be lowered and released. No transference of load is necessary in moving from any one point to any other point in the whole system. Each pair of bogies (each cableway) may be moved from slip to slip, past the supporting towers; and any number may be concentrated in any one slip for concentrated, simultaneous or combined use. This is a feature of very great utility.

Great accuracy and despatch of operation and of placement of load is possible. The suspension or track cables are rigidly supported at their ends; and the supporting structures and the track cable itself are preferably suiiciently rigid so as to not have any objectionable amount of resiliency under the heaviest loads carried. Consequently, it is possible and practicable to put the trolley C definitely in any position desired. It is this definiteness of operation, and flexibility of application over a wide area, which is a substantial feature of my invention and to which the following claims are in part directed. These claims are intended to cover broadly the scope of this invention without being limited to the various details herein set forth. I have described these details for the purpose of making my invention readily intelligible rather than for the purpose of specifying limitations to the invention; and I accordingly do not wish my invention to be understood as limited by this detailed description.

Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim:

1. A traveling cableway system, embodying in combination a pair of rigid elevated tessere gli track structures, a traveling bogie on each structure, a track cable suspended between the bogies, and means to either cooperatively or independently control and cause movement of the two bogies.

2. A traveling cableway system, embodying in combination a pair of rigid elevated track structures, a traveling bogie on each structure, a track cable suspended between the bogies, a trolley on the track cable, means in one bogie for moving the trolley back and forthalong the track cable, a lifting tackle on the trolley, means in the same bogie for operating said lifting tackle, and means in the same ldogie to control and cause traversing movement of the two bogies along their track structures.

3. n traveling cableway system, einbodying in combination a pair of rigid elevated track structures, a traveling bogie on each structure, and a track cable suspended between the bogies, motor operated mechanism in each bogie for traversing it along its track structure, a trolley on the track structure, a trolley on the track cable, motor operatcd mechanism in one bogie and a trolleying cable operated thereby extending between the two bogies and connected to the trolley for moving the trolley back and forth along the track cable, a lifting tackle on the trolley, a hoist cable to operate the lifting tackle, a motor operated mechanism in said bogie for operating the hoist cable, and controlling` means in said bogie for con trolling all the motor operated mechanisms.

4t. A traveling cableway system, embodying in combination a pair of rigid elevated track structures, a traveling bogie on each structure, and a track cable suspended between the bogies, motor operated mechanism in each bogie for traversing it along its track structure, a trolley on the track cable, motor operated mechanism in one bogie and a trolleying cable operated thereby extending between the two bogies and connected to the trolley for moving the trolley back and forth along the track cable, a lifting tackle on the trolley, a hoist cable to operate the lifting tackle, a motor operated mechanism in said bogie for operating the hoist cable, and controlling means in said bogie for controlling all the motor operated mechanisms and for controlling in unison the two traversing mechanisms of the two bogies.

5. ln a system of the character described, a trackway embodying two longitudinal rail carrying members spaced horizontally and one lower than the other, supporting rails upon said members and a horizontal thrust rail on the back side of the higher member, a bogie frame having wheels resting on the supporting rails and wheels bearing against the thrust rail, and a suspension cable at- A tached to the bogie frame at a point near the titi lower forward rail.

6. ln a system of the character described, a trackway embodying two longitudinal rail carrying members spaced horizontally and one lower than the other, supporting rails upon said members and a horizontal thrust rail on the back side of the higher member, a bogie frame having wheels resting on the supporting rails and wheels bearing against the thrust rail, and a suspension cable attached to the bogie frame at a point near the lower forward rail; the point of cable attachment, the tread of the lower forward rail and the tread of the rear thrust rail being substantially in a horizontal plane.

7. ln a system of the character described, a traekway eniibodying two longitudinal rail carrying members spaced horizontally and one lower than the other, supporting rails upon said members and horizontal thrust rail on the back side of the higher member, a 'bogie frame having wheels resting on the supporting rails and wheels bearing against the thrust rail, and a suspension cable attached to the bogie frame at a point near the lower forward rail, and a horizontal stress receiving and transn'iittino' structure of which said upper rail carrying member forms a chord.

S. 'ln a system of the character described, a trackway, a bogie adapted to travel on the trackway, a suspension cable attached to the bogie at a point substantially in the horizontal plane of a tread of the bogie on the trackway, and a horizontalthrust means for the bogie situated substantially in said hori zontal plane.

9. ln a system of the character described, a trackway having a rail adapted to receive vertical thrust, a rail adapted to receive horizontal thrust, a bogie on the trackway supported by the vertical thrust rail and bearing against the horizontal thrust rail, the treads of the two rails being substantially in a horizontal plane, and a suspension cable attached to the bogie at a point substantially in the said horizontal plane.

10. ln a system of the character described, a trackway having a rail adapted to receive vertical thrust, a rail adapted to receive hor izontal thrust, a bogie in the trackway supported by the vertical thrust rail and bearing against the horizontal thrust rail, the treads of the two rails being substantially in a horizontal plane, and a suspension cable attached to the bogie at a point substantially in the said horizontal plane, and close to the vertical thrust rail.

11. A traveling cableway system, embodying in combination a pair of rigid elevated track structures, a traveling bogie on each structure, a track cable suspended between the bogies, a trolley on the track cable, and means located in one of said bogies for controlling the trolley and controlling the two bogies,

12. In a system o1 the character described, In witness that I claim the foregoing .a traokway, a bogie adapted to travel on the have hereunto subscribed my naine this 11 {radin/'21u55 e suspension cble attalohell to the day of March, 1918. booe and eXertnO' a su stantial fk orizon- A l y, 7 v H 55 tella pull thereon, z3and a horizontal-thrust HLLIAM Ah mm HEUVEL ineens for the bogie situated substantially Witness: in the plane of the cable pull thereon. VIRGINIA I. BERINGER.

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