US3323842A - Load suspensions - Google Patents

Description

June 6, 1967 .J. s. HANSON LOAD SUSPENSIONS Filed Dec.

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jsepk 5. Hanson f/ls ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,323,842 LOAD SUSPENSIONS Joseph 5. Hanson, Fairlield, Iowa, assignor to The Louder! Machinery Company, Fairlield, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed Dec. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 415,768 6 Claims. (Cl. 308-2) This invention relates to an improvement in over-head suspension systems and more particularly to a device and means for providing flexibility of movement for hanger suspensions for over-head track and the like.

In the construction and erection of over-head track systems, which are used as monorails or runways for overhead cranes, a long standing problem has been the need for a certain amount of flexibility in the hanger assembly so that lateral movement of the track can be accommodated as well as limited longitudinal movement of the track, in order to prevent repeated bending and resulting fatigue of the hanger supports and brackets. As the crane and its load passes over the track, a certain amount of flexibility must be provided as it has been found in actual practice that the continual bending and strain imposed on the hanger rods and supports eventually leads to the failure due to stress and fatigue in the metal.

A means of avoiding this undesirable result has been one which involves a ball and socket construction in the hanger assembly. This construction would appear to allow motion of the track in all planes; however, it has been found that when a considerable load was suspended from the track, friction between the spherical surfaces of the joint would tend to retard the free movement; resulting in some degree of bending in the rods and supports, leading to eventual fatigue and failure.

This invention provides a simple preformed washer or metallic wafer which is provided with an upper bearing surface allowing tilting motion in one direction and a similarly formed lower bearing surface having a pivotal edge which provides tilting motion in a plane or direction 90 displaced from that provided by the upper surface so that the shape of the two surfaces in combination allow tilting motion in all directions. The tilting wafer or member may be rectangular, square, circular or any other suitable outline shape to accommodate its installation, as the shape in no way affects its utility or operation. This tilting washer is economically manufactured and easily installed in hanger assemblies without the necessity of any major alterations or modifications to the existing hanger support and hanger rods.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a tilting washer or wafer for interconnecting a support and a hanger rod to provide flexibility and universal movement of the suspended load relative to the hanger.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a flexible hanger assembly for suspended loads, which is economically and easily manufactured and which, when installed, requires no attention or maintenance of any kind.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a unitary formed wafer member having opposite surfaces, each being provided with a centrally located bevel or pivot edge, and the upper and lower bevels being oriented at right angles to each other, thus providing tilting action in two perpendicular planes.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a metallic tilting washer or wafer which can be easily installed in existing load supports without any necessity of major alteration or modification of .the original installation.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and this invention 3,323,842 Patented June 6, 1967 Too will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and its scope will be pointed out in the appendant claims.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the underside of this invention, partially shown in cross section.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of .the upper surface of the subject matter of this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of the tilting washer forming the subject of this invention.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are end and side views respectively of the tilting washer shown in FIGURE 3, and are shown partially in cross section for a better understanding of this invention.

FIGURE 6 shows a load bearing assembly with a suspension bracket, the hanger rod and washer in place and shows relative movement of the hanger rod in one plane.

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6; however, this shows the same assembly providing unrestricted freedom of motion of the hanger rod and load in a plane rotated from that shown in FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG- URES 1 and 2, there is shown a rectangular body member 10 which is provided with a central aperture for the reception of a rod or other circular load bearing member. The body member 10 is provided on the upper or obverse surface with a bevelled or pivot edge 12 as seen in FIG- URE 2 and also in FIGURE 4, and the degree of bevel of the two upper surfaces formed of the edge 12 may vary anywhere from 1 to 15 degrees with the horizontal, depending on the amount of tilting action desired on the upper surface of the member 10.

The under or reverse surface of the tilting member 10 as seen in FIGURE 3 consists of two bevelled planes having central pivot edge 13 which is also clearly shown in FIGURE 2, as well as FIGURE 5. It is to be carefully noted that the underside pivot edge 13 is oriented 90 from the upper edge 12, and the amount of bevel with respect to the horizontal of the lower surface may also vary from 1 to 15 degrees, depending on the amount of tilting action and displacement of the hanger rod desired.

It is important to note that the central aperture 11 is tapered from top to bottom along the axis of the edge 13 and this feature can be seen in FIGURE 4, as well as in the bottom view, FIGURE 3, and this is necessary to accommodate displacement of the hanger rod when pivoting action takes place along the top pivot edge 12.

In order to insure that the tilting member 10 remains properly centered within a retaining hole in the hanger in which it is installed, a pair of depending arcuate tabs or ears 14 and 14 are provided on the lower surface of the member 10, this feature also being shown in FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 5, and this pair of tabs 14 and 14' will thus serve to center the washer on its support member and prevent lateral displacement in any direction.

Reference should now be had to FIGURE 6 which shows a portion of an overhead hanger assembly consisting of the U-shaped bracket 15 in cross section which is provided with a centrally located hole 16 in its lower portion. A supporting hanger rod 17 is secured suspended from the bracket 15 by means of the threaded collar 18 which may be adjusted as to vertical position by means of the threads 19 on the upper end of the hanger rod 17. Placed on the upper surface of the U-shaped member is the tilting washer 10 and the view as seen of member 10 in FIGURE 6 is the same as that view shown in FIGURE 4. Of course, a load such as crane track, monorail track or other load requiring flexible mounting is suspended at the lower end of the hanger rod 17 and is not shown.

From the view in FIGURE 6, it will be apparent that the fiat under-surface 20 of the threaded collar 18 rests 3 on the pivot edge 12 of the member thus the entire hanger rod 17 and collar 18 is free to pivot or rock from right to left as shown by the dotted line or alternate positions of the rod 17. As seen in FIGURE 4, the internal taper 11 on the member 10 allows for the sideways swing of the hanger rod 17.

Displacement of the hanger rod 17 in a vertical plane 90 from that shown in FIGURE 6' is shown in FIGURE 7 wherein the support bracket 15 is shown partially in cross section, the view being 90 rotated from the view of FIGURE 6. In this position it is to be noted that the hanger rod 17 and threaded collar 18 are free to pivot or oscillate on the lower pivot edge 13 of the member 10. The pivoting action here is shown by the dotted line or alternate positions of the hanger rod 17 and there is no rocking action of the upper surface and pivot edge 12 of the member 10 with respect to the under surface 20 of the collar 18. The position of the centering tabs 14 and 14 are also shown in FIGURE 7 and it will be seen that they function to maintain the tilting washer 10 centrally located within the aperture 16.

From the foregoing description, and particularly with reference to FIGURES 6 and 7, it will be observed that the hanger rod 17 is free to move throughout a complete 360 range to accommodate movement or alignment of the crane track or load supported thereby. Motion is also accommodated in planes or directions intermediate to those shown in FIGURES 6 and 7. For example, displacement of 45 degrees from either side would cause partial tilting on the lower pivot edge 13, as well as partial tilting of the upper pivot edge 12, thus providing complete flexibility of movement of the support hanger.

This tilting member is easily manufactured as it may be forged, cast and finished in any desired degree of finish, and the dimensions of the member 10 are not critical and may easily be varied to satisfy the available space in "the lower portion of the U-shaped bracket 15. In many applications it may be desirable to use a circular washer or member 10, and my invention encompasses the use of circular, square or other shapes of member 10 as well as rectangular. Thus, there is provided a tilting washer which may be easily inserted and added to existing installations without any extensive disassembly being required. In most cases, the only requirement would be that the aperture 16 is large enough to accommodate the sidewise play or motion of the hanger rod 17. In installation, it is only necessary to remove the securing nut 18, place the washer 10 in position as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 and replace the upper collar 18, adjusting it to provide the required support of the load. The angle of the bevel formed on either side of the upper pivot 12 and the lower pivot 13 is likewise not critical and bevel angles ranging from 5 to 15 have all been found to work satisfactorily when installed.

In practice and in use of this invention it has been found highly effective in permitting resilient movement of load supporting hangers and reducing the breakage, bending and fatigue that frequently occurs when such hanger rods are securely fastened at their upper end and subjected to bending stresses at the lower end by variations in the position of the load.

While there have been shown and described particular embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a rectangular body member having a centrally located circular aperture therein, the upper surface of said body member having a pivot edge, the axis of said upper pivot edge being coincident with the long central axis of said body memher, a pivot edge on the lowersurface of said body member, the axis of said lower pivot edge being parallel to the short central'axis of said body member and oriented from said upper pivot edge, a pair of depending tabs adjacent said central aperture on the lower surface of said body member.

2. A load suspension assembly for providing flexibility between a load supporting element and its fixed support, comprising a fixed support and a load supporting element extending from said fixed support, said fixed support having a flat upper surface and said load supporting element having a flat bearing surface at one end thereof arranged to bear on said flat upper surface of said fixed support; a tilting member interposed between said fiat surfaces, said member having a pivot edge on its upper surface, said member having a pivot edge on its lower surface, the horizontal axis of said pivot edges being 90 displaced from each other, and means for centering and maintaining said member in position between .said flat surfaces.

3. A load suspension assembly for providing flexibility between a load supporting element and its fixed support, comprising a fixed support and a load supporting element extending downwardly from said fixed support, said fixed support having a fiat upper surface and said load supporting element having a flat bearing surface at one end thereof arranged to bear on said flat upper surface of said fixed support; a flattened rectangular tilting wafer interposed between said flat surfaces, said wafer having a pivot edge on its upper surface, said wafer having a pivot edge on its lower surface, the horizontal axis of said pivot edges being 90 displaced from each other, and means for centering and maintaining said wafer in position between said flat surfaces, said last named means being a pair of spaced depending tabs engaging an aperture in said fixed support.

4. In combination with an overhead hanger and a centrally located load supporting rod depending there! from through an aperture, a flattened tilting washer positioned in said hanger, a central aperture in said tilting washer, a bevelled upper surface on said tilting washer and a bevelled lower surface on said tilting'washer, the fulcrum of said lower bevelled surface being oriented with respect to the fulcrum of said upper bevelled surface, a load supporting rod extending through said central aperture of said tilting washer and through the aperture of said hanger, and a threaded collar secured to the upper end of said rod, said collar having a fiat under surface wherein said hanger rod is free to move in one plane by tilting said washer on its lower bevelled edge and free to move in a plane 90 from said first plane by tilting on the upper bevelled surface of said tilting washer in contact with said upper collar.

5. In combination with an overhead supporting hanger and a centrally located load supporting rod depending therefrom through an aperture, a flattened tilting member positioned in said hanger, a central aperture in said tilting member, a bevelled upper surface on said tilting member and a bevelled lower surface on said tilting member, the fulcrum of said lower bevelled surface being oriented 90 with respect to the fulcrum of said upper bevelled surface, a load supporting rod extending through said central aperture of said tilting washer and through the aperture of said hanger, a threaded collar secured to the upper 7 end of said rod, said collar having a fiat under surface wherein said hanger rod is free to move in one plane by tilting said member on its lower bevelled edge and free to move in a plane 90 from said first plane by tflting on the upper bevelled surface of said tilting washer in contact with said upper collar; and means for centering said tilting washer in said supporting hanger.

6. In combination with an overhead supporting hanger and a centrally located load supporting rod depending therefrom through an aperture, a rectangular shaped tilting member positioned in said hanger, a central aperture in said tilting member, a bevelled upper surface on said tilting member and a bevelled lower surface on said tilting member, the fulcrum of said lower bevelled surface being oriented 90 with respect to the fulcrum of said upper bevelled surface, a load supporting rod extending 5 through said central aperture of said tilting member and through the aperture of said hanger, a threaded collar secured to the upper end of said rod, said collar having a fiat under surface wherein said hanger rod is free to move in one plane by tilting said member on its lower bevelled edge and free to move in a plane 90 from said first plane by tilting on the upper bevelled surface of said tilting member in contact with said upper collar; and means for centering said tilting member in said supporting hanger, said centering means including a pair of depending tabs on said tilting member arranged to engage the aperture in said supporting hanger.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,621,215 3/1927 Peters 28791 X 2,789,457 4/1957 Allen 8550 X 2,829,904 4/1958 Walter 287-21 X 10 3,095,174 6/1963 Dehn et al. 104111 X ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

I. E. BABER, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR BODY MEMBER HAVING A CENTRALLY LOCATED CIRCULAR APERTURE THEREIN, THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID BODY MEMBER HAVING A PIVOT EDGE, THE AXIS OF SAID UPPER PIVOT EDGE BEING COINCIDENT WITH THE LONG CENTRAL AXIS OF SAID BODY MEMBER, A PIVOT EDGE ON THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID BODY MEMBER, THE AXIS OF SAID LOWER PIVOT EDGE BEING PARALLEL TO THE SHORT CENTRAL AXIS OF SAID BODY MEMBER AND 90* ORIENTED FROM SAID UPPER PIVOT EDGE, A PAIR OF DEPENDING TABS ADJACENT SAID CENTRAL APERTURE ON THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID BODY MEMBER.

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