AU3897701A - Apparatus for transporting a heavy article - Google Patents

Description

TRANSPORTER FOR TRANSPORTING AN ABNORMALLY LARGE ARTICLE SUCH AS A DRAGLINE BUCKET FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a transporter for transporting an abnormally large article on a road. The invention also relates to a method of transporting such an abnormally large article on the road.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION This invention relates particularly but not exclusively to a transporter and a method for transporting a dragline bucket by road both within a mine site and on a public road external to the mine site. It will therefore be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with reference to this example application. However it is to be clearly understood that it is capable of broader application. For example the transporter may be used to transport other large article or loads.

'oo. Dragline buckets are typically used with dragline apparatus to remove top burden in open cast mining operations, eg. open cast coal mining operations. The use of 20 dragline apparatus and dragline buckets is fairly widespread in Australia, South Africa and other mining countries. The basic structure and operation of a dragline is described in Australian Patent Application 34502/89, the entire contents of which are incorporated directly herein by reference.

As would readily be apparent the dragline bucket is subjected to high levels of wear and tear during operation of the dragline. In particular the action of drawing the dragline bucket radially inwardly through broken rock causes high levels of wear on the bucket. As a result the buckets regularly have to undergo maintenance, eg.

every couple of months. To do this the buckets have to be transported from the draglines to a lay-down area near the warehouse. They then have to be transported to a workshop external to the mine site where repairs are made to the buckets.

Typically this may involve road transport of at least 50 miles. Thereafter they are 2 required to be transported back to the mine, more specifically back to the warehouse and then ultimately back to the dragline as and when required.

As each of the buckets weighs 30 to 100 tons, typically 40 to 50 tons, and forms a very heavy and large 3-dimensional object, this poses some challenges.

Currently the buckets are transported on standard road going low-loaders, onto which they are loaded by mobile cranes. This is the practice both for transport within the mine site and transport on roads outside the mine site. The process is complex and costly. Typically up to three cranes have to be called out to perform each of the bucket loading/unloading operations. The buckets are lifted by heavy cranes, eg.

100 ton lift capacity cranes which are very expensive.

There are likely to be four discrete loading and unloading operations involved in getting the bucket from the dragline to the maintenance centre. Similarly there will be a further four such operations before it is back at the dragline after maintenance has been done.

o.o* This process is very inefficient because the capital cost of operating these heavy 20 cranes is substantial. There is a need to reduce the number of crane hours that are used in this operation. In addition, there are other inefficiencies in that the crane is required to lift the bucket a substantial height onto the load surface of the low-loader or other road transport vehicle each time it is to be moved. It would be advantageous if the bucket only had to be lifted to a lower level for road travel than is the case on a 25 low-loader. A secondary benefit of a low ride height is that it would reduce the chance of the bucket being too high to traverse roads having height restrictions.

Clearly it would be advantageous if a less crane intensive or a crane-free method of handling the dragline buckets and moving them between different points could be devised. It would also be advantageous if the buckets could be positioned lower than if they were on a low-loader for the reasons set out above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a transporter for facilitating transport of an abnormally large article on a road, the transporter including a first vehicle capable of supporting part of the load of the article; and a second vehicle capable of supporting the remainder of the load, spaced from the first vehicle, with the article supported above the ground by the first and second vehicles positioned intermediate the first and second vehicles.

In one form said first vehicle has means for operatively mounting the article thereto and said second vehicle also has means for operatively said article thereto at a point on the article spaced from the mounting of the first vehicle thereto.

Preferably at least one of said first and second vehicles further includes hoist means for both lifting the article off the ground to a position suitable for travel and lowering the article for the unloading thereof.

When travelling spare or without a load the second vehicle is pivotally coupled to the 20 first vehicle. However when being used to carry an article, the article is positioned intermediate the first and second vehicles, one end thereof being coupled to and supported by the first vehicle and an opposed end being coupled to and supported by o *the second vehicle. The lifting and lowering of the article is carried out by the transporter itself and no additional cranes are required.

In a particularly preferred form the article to be transported is a dragline bucket having a leading edge and a trailing edge and two sides extending between the leading and trailing edges, and also hoist line trunnions and dragline mounting o S"formations on each side thereof. The dragline mounting formations are positioned on either side of the leading edge and have at least one pair of openings defined therein. The hoist trunnions are located on the sides of the bucket somewhat towards the trailing edge thereof and each trunnion defines at least one opening therein. The 4 bucket has other features that would be well known in the art. However as they are not utilised in this invention they will not be described further in the specification. The bucket has a width in excess of 5 metres and a weight in excess of 30 tonnes, typically 40 to 50 tons.

The first vehicle may include a said hoist means comprising at least one boom capable of being raised or lowered and lengthened or shortened, and said mounting means may comprise a mounting assembly mounted on each boom towards the distal end thereof. Preferably each mounting assembly on the first vehicle is positioned and configured for attachment to a said hoist line trunnion on the bucket.

Each boom may comprise two telescoping boom elements movable relative to each other to lengthen or shorten the boom and a hydraulic drive to drive the elements to move relative to each other.

The first vehicle may have two said booms laterally spaced from each other, one extending down one side of the bucket and the other extending down the other side of the bucket, and each said mounting assembly may include a connecting element, eg a bracket and pin for pivotally mounting the trunnion to the associated boom.

The mounting means on the first vehicle may further include at least one clamping element, preferably two clamping elements, applying a downward pressure to an upper edge of the bucket to help stiffen the attachment of the bucket to the first vehicle.

The mounting means on the first vehicle may also include further clamping elements applying lateral or side pressure to the bucket to enhance the mounting thereof to o:i .the vehicle.

In one particularly preferred embodiment the second vehicle may also include a said hoist means comprising at least one boom capable of being raised or lowered, and the mounting means may comprise a mounting assembly mounted on each boom towards the distal end thereof.

Preferably each mounting assembly on the second vehicle is positioned and configured for attachment to a said dragline mounting formation on the bucket.

The second vehicle may have two said booms laterally spaced from each other, one extending towards one side of the bucket and the other extending towards the other side of the bucket, and each mounting assembly may include a connecting element, eg bracket and pin for pivotally mounting the dragline mounting formation to the associated boom.

The mounting means on the second vehicle may further include at least one clamping element, preferably two clamping elements, for applying pressure in a longitudinal direction to a surface associated with the leading edge or lip of the bucket to tighten the attachment of the bucket to the first and second trailers in an axial direction. Typically the clamping element engages the leading edge at a point .oo.

spaced above the booms and the drag chain mounting formations.

20 The mounting means on the second vehicle may include further clamping elements applying lateral or side pressure to the bucket to enhance the mounting thereof to the vehicle, eg lateral clamping bolts urging against the sides of the bucket proximate to the dragline mounting formations.

In analternative embodiment of the invention only said first vehicle has a said hoist means, and said mounting means on said second vehicle comprises at least one mounting assembly which is directly mounted to the vehicle.

Typically the second vehicle has two said mounting assemblies, one for coupling to the dragline mounting formations on one side of the bucket and the other for coupling to the dragline mounting formations on the other side of the bucket.

Each mounting assembly on the second vehicle may comprise a passive upwardly facing support formation of adjustable height and an active downwardly facing clamping formation, the dragline mounting formation being clamped between the active and passive formations.

In most forms of the invention each vehicle may be capable of interchanging between a loaded expanded condition in which the width thereof broadly corresponds to the width of the article to be transported, eg a dragline bucket, and an unloaded contracted condition in which the width is sized to fit within a standard width vehicle lane on a road.

Each vehicle may comprise a wheel mounted chassis and a support platform mounted on the chassis. The support platform may comprise two platform elements movable laterally relative to each other positioned adjacent each other in the unloaded condition and spaced apart from each other in the loaded condition. Further each wheel mounted chassis may include telescopic slides extending transversely between wheels on the left and right hand sides of the vehicle which are movable between the loaded condition in which the wheels are expanded to substantially the ***oo S. width of the support platform and the unloaded condition in which the outer wheels fit 20 within a normal vehicle lane. Advantageously the slides are two stage telescopic .".slides.

This enables the vehicles including booms and mounting assemblies to be widened when the vehicle is used for actually carrying a dragline bucket and to be contracted or narrowed when the vehicle is not being used to carry a load. Travel of the transporter in the narrow unloaded configuration is considerably simplified as it does not then constitute an abnormally wide vehicle and can travel comfortably within a normal vehicle lane on a road or highway. This is most advantageous from an operational point of view.

At least one vehicle may have a suspension which can be lowered to lower the support platform when the bucket is loaded and unloaded and then raised again for travel. Preferably at least the second vehicle has a said suspension which can be lowered.

The transporter may further include a plurality of safety lines extending between the article and the vehicles for further securing the mounting of the article to the associated vehicles. In a preferred form the lines extend between the clamping elements and the platforms on the first and second vehicles. Each safety line may comprise a heavy duty chain, eg. of robust construction.

In a quite different form of the invention to that described above where longitudinal rigidity is provided by the bucket, the transporter further includes at least one substantially rigid member mounted to each of the first and second vehicles and extending substantially longitudinally between the first and second vehicles, and mounting means on the member for mounting the article to the member/s.

In this form structural rigidity is provided by the longitudinal member/s and the bucket is essentially hung from the member.

V Typically each member is a beam comprising two telescopic beam elements movable 20 longitudinally relative to each other to lengthen or shorten the beam.

The transporter may further include hoist means for raising the beam/s and article off the ground and lowering the beam/s and article for unloading.

The hoist means may comprise at least one first vehicle boom extending from the first vehicle up to the beam to which it is pivotally mounted and at least one second vehicle boom or second vehicle linkage extending from the second vehicle up to the beam.

In a most typical application of the invention the article to be transported is a dragline bucket having a leading edge and a trailing edge and sides extending between the leading and trailing edges, and also hoist line trunnions or hoist pivots and dragline mounting formations or drag pivot links on each side thereof.

The mounting means may comprise at least one mounting assembly positioned on a said beam and configured to be attached to a said hoist line trunnion and at least one further mounting assembly on a said beam spaced from said one mounting assembly along the beam positioned and configured to be attached to a said dragline mounting formation.

Typically there are two said beams, one extending down each side of the bucket, and two said mounting assemblies for attachment to the hoist line trunnions on either side of the bucket and two said further mounting assemblies for attachment to the dragline mounting formations on either side of the bucket. The transporter will also include two said first vehicle booms one for attachment to each beam and two said second vehicle booms or linkages, one for attachment to each beam.

Advantageously each mounting assembly comprises a connecting bracket and locking element for rigidly mounting the trunnions for the hoist lines and the dragline formations to the associated beam. As the bucket does not pivot relative to the 20 beams the mounting can be rigid and indeed this is preferred. Different brackets can be used for different configurations of hoist and drag pivots on different buckets.

Thus the bucket is hung from the beams by the brackets and the beams are supported by the vehicles.

Naturally the first and second vehicles have coupling means for operatively coupling them to each other for travel together when not being used to transport said article.

In one form this comprises coupling formations on the boom/s of the first vehicle and "*complementary coupling formations on the support platform of the second vehicle, eg lateral clamping bolts urging against the sides of the bucket proximate to the drag line mounting formations.

9 Typically the transporter also includes a prime mover providing motive power to the transporter and the first and second vehicles are trailers that are drawn by said prime mover.

Naturally the transporter also includes means for steering the wheels of the trailers in addition to wheels of the prime mover.

The prime mover provides the drive to drive the transporter from a first location to a second location, eg. by road. The prime mover would be powered by a suitably powerful engine, eg. a diesel engine and would have respectively front and rear wheels and be pivotally coupled to the first trailer in the standard fashion.

Typically the load platforms of each of the first and second trailers, particularly towards the rear thereof would be suitable for receiving or supporting part of the bucket thereon and preferably be made of a suitable robust material.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of o transporting an abnormally large article, eg. a dragline bucket using the transporter as described above, the method including interposing the article between the first and second trailers such that it spaces the first and second trailers apart from each other and is also positively attached to each of the first and second trailers.

Typically the method includes supporting the leading end of the bucket on the second trailer, then detaching the first trailer and prime mover from the second trailer and 25 attached bucket, then reversing the first trailer up to the trailing end of the bucket.

Typically the method also includes attaching the mounting means on the second trailer to the chain mounting formations on either side of the leading edge of the bucket. The method may also include attaching the booms, and specifically the attachment means of the free ends thereof, to the trunnions on either side of the bucket towards the rear thereof to attach the bucket at both leading and trailing ends.

Thereafter the booms lift the bucket.

The method may also include the step of retracting the booms to draw the bucket inwardly towards the dolly and then upwardly off the ground so as to provide clearance between the bucket and the ground for transport.

The chain mounting formations towards the front of the dragline bucket are attached to the support means on the second trailer. The trunnions on the side of the bucket towards the rear of the bucket are attached to the support means on the first trailer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A transporter and method for transporting a dragline bucket in accordance with this invention may manifest itself in a variety of forms. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe in detail one preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The purpose of providing this description is to instruct persons having an interest in the subject matter of the invention how to carry the invention into practical effect. However it is to be clearly understood that the specific nature of this description does not supersede the generality of the preceding broad :"'°description. In the drawings: Ooo° FIG 1 is a 3-dimensional view of a dragline bucket of the type transported by 20 this invention; FIG 2a is a plan view of transporter in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention for transporting a dragline bucket in an unloaded condition; FIG 2b is a side view of the transporter of Fig. 2a again in the unloaded condition; FIGS 3 to 7 show progressive stages of loading of a dragline bucket onto the transporter of Fig 2; FIG 8 shows how the wheels of the trailers are capable of turning during travel on a road in addition to the wheels of a prime mover; FIG 9 shows a side view of a transporter in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention in an unloaded condition; FIG 10 shows a side view of the transporter of FIG 9 in a loaded condition; 11 FIG 11 is a side view showing details of the mounting of the second trailer of the transporter of Fig 9 to the drag chain mounting formations of the bucket; FIG 12 is a top plan view of the components shown in FIG 11; FIG 13a is a side view showing details of the mounting of the first trailer of the transporter of FIG 9 to the trunnions for the hoist chains of the bucket; FIG 13b is an end view of the components shown in FIG 13; FIGS 14 to 16 are side views showing the various stages of loading the bucket onto the transporter for road travel; FIG 17 is a side view of the second trailer of the transporter of FIG 9 in a narrow or unloaded condition; FIG 18 is a top plan view of the trailer of FIG 17 in an expanded loaded condition; FIG 19 is a sectional front view of a set of wheels of the trailer of FIG 17 in a narrow unloaded condition (with some detail omitted); FIG 20 is a front view of the set of wheels shown in FIG 19 in an expanded loaded condition; FIG 21 illustrates a number of different buckets in use in the mining industry; FIG 22 are schematic side views of variations on the second trailer to accommodate the different bucket types shown in FIG 21; FIG 23 is a side view of an transporter in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention in an unloaded condition; and FIG 24 is a side view of the transporter of FIG 21 in a loaded condition.

o.o..

o .FIG 1 illustrates a dragline bucket in some detail. In the drawing the bucket is indicated generally by reference numeral 1.

The bucket 1 comprises a leading edge 2 and a trailing edge 3 spaced from and opposed to said end 2 and a pair of spaced sides 4, 5 extending between the ends 2 and 3. The bucket 1 has dragline mounting formations or drag hitches or drag pivots 6 at the leading end 2 towards the sides 4,5 thereof.

The bucket also has hoist trunnions or hoist pivots 7 for mounting hoist lines for the bucket 1 on each of the sides 4, 5 somewhat towards the trailing end 3 of the bucket 1. These components are used to attach the bucket to the transporter in carrying out this invention. The bucket has other components which would be well known to a person skilled in the art. However as they are not used in carrying out this invention they are not described in this specification FIGS 2 to 8 show a transporter in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention for transporting the bucket of FIG 1. The transporter is indicated generally by the reference numeral The transporter 10 is interchangeable between an unloaded narrow configuration and a loaded expanded configuration in which it is expanded to the width of the bucket 1.

FIGS. 2a and 2b show the transporter in a spare or unloaded condition. FIGS 3 to 8 show the transporter in the loaded expanded configuration and how the various components are attached to the bucket.

Broadly the transporter 10 comprises a prime mover 11, a first vehicle which is a first trailer or dolly 12 pivotally coupled to the prime mover 11, and a second vehicle which is a second trailer or jinker 13 which is pivotally coupled to the first trailer 12.

20 Thus the transporter 10 comprises a chain of vehicles attached end to end in the unloaded configuration. This makes it suitable for transporting on a road as a single unit. As shown in FIG 2a the vehicles are sized to fit within a normal traffic lane when in the unloaded configuration.

The structure and function of a prime mover would be well known to persons skilled in the art and accordingly will not be described further. Similarly the basic structure of the first and second trailers and the manner of pivotal attachment of respectively the prime mover and the first and second trailers to each other would be well known S".i to persons skilled in the art and will not be described further. The nature of pivotal connection is very similar to that employed when a trailer is coupled to a tow hitch on a car.

We look now more specifically at the first trailer 12 and second trailer 13 The dolly or first trailer 12 has a chassis 15 on which road engaging wheels 16 are mounted, a support platform 17, and hoist means in the form of a pair of booms 18 extending along the sides 4,5 of the bucket 1. The trailer 12 also includes means for mounting the bucket 1 to the trailer 12 in the form of a pair of mounting assemblies 19.

The support platform 17 is interchangeable by means of a mechanical mechanism.

between the loaded or expanded configuration having a width of over 5 metres, eg.

about 5.2 metres, as shown in FIG 7 in which it is used to physically support the bucket during travel, and the unloaded narrow configuration of about 2.5 metres as shown in FIG 2a This is accomplished by having two platform elements positioned side by side in the unloaded condition and moving them laterally apart from each other in the loaded condition. Similarly the spacing of the left and right hand wheels of the trailers is lengthened from the unloaded to loaded conditions by a telescopic slide. These features are described in more detail below with reference to the second embodiment **of the invention.

0o Each boom 18 comprises a boom member pivotally mounted on the support platform 17 spaced inwardly from the rear of the dolly 3 and a jack 20, eg. a hydraulic jack, spaced a short distance away from the mounting of the boom 18 to the platform 17.

i The jack 20 raises and lowers the boom 18. The boom member itself comprises two -telescoping boom elements 22, 23 which are movable relative to each other to lengthen or shorten the boom 18. The extension and retraction of the boom elements 22, 23 like the jack is effected by a hydraulic drive.

A said mounting assembly 19 is mounted on each boom 18 towards the distal end thereof. The mounting assembly 19 comprises a connecting element or connecting piece which may be a bracket which is attached to the hoist trunnions and a pin which pivotally mounts the bracket to the boom.

14 The second vehicle 13 which is a second trailer or jinker has a chassis 25 on which road wheels 26 are mounted, a load supporting platform 27 mounted on the chassis and means for mounting the bucket 1 to the trailer 13 in the form of a pair of mounting assemblies 29. Each assembly 29 attaches to the bucket 1 towards a said side wall thereof.

As with the first trailer 12, the second trailer 13 is capable of changing between a wide loaded configuration and a narrow unloaded configuration. Further as with the first trailer the chassis 25 and wheels 26 are also capable of interchanging between the loaded and unloaded configurations. This is accomplished in the same manner as for the first trailer 12.

Each mounting assembly 29 has a clamping type action which clamps the drag chain mounting formations 6 described above with reference to Fig 1 thereto. More specifically each mounting assembly 29 comprises an upwardly facing passive load support formation 30 on which the bucket mounting formations 6 are supported and an active downwardly facing clamp formation 32 which bears down the upper surface of the drag chain mounting formation 6. The assembly 29 includes a hydraulic drive driving the clamp formation into firm clamping engagement with the bucket.

The trailer 13 has a suspension that can be lowered to match the height of the formations 6 broadly with that of the assemblies 29 on the trailer 13. This provides a crude height adjustment. The assembly 29 also includes a hydraulic drive for *."adjusting the height of the passive and active formations 30 and 32 on the platform 27. This facilitates fine adjustment of the height.

A major difference between the first and second trailers 12 and 13 is that the second trailer 13 does not have any hoisting capability. It thus relies on the hoisting ability of the booms 18 on the first trailer 12 to actually lift the bucket 1 off the ground and up to a suitable clearance.

In use the transporter 10 is used to load a dragline bucket 1 onto the trailers 12, 13 in a position in which it is secured and has a suitable clearance so that it can then be transported by road from one site to another. This sequence of actions is illustrated in FIGS 3 to 7.

At the beginning of the process the first and second trailers 12, 13 and the prime mover 11 are coupled to each other as they would be when travelling in the unloaded condition.

The first action is to move the trailer 13 from the narrow unloaded condition to the wide expanded loaded condition. This is accomplished by lengthening the slides between the left and right hand wheels gradually as the trailer is reversed backwards and forwards. The platform 27 is expanded at the same time as the wheels move apart.

As shown in FIG 3 the train of vehicles is then reversed up to the leading edge 2 of the bucket 1. The rear end of the trailer 13 is facing the edge 2 and the sides of the trailer are aligned with the bucket 1. This alignment is important for positioning the mounting assemblies 29 for attachment to the drag chain formations 6 on the bucket S 20 1. The height of the passive support and active clamping formations 30,32 are then adjusted as described above to match up with the height of the chain mounting formations 6 on the bucket 1. The passive support 30 is positioned adjacent and beneath the lower edge of the formation 6. This completes the first step of the .*eo loading procedure.

The prime mover 11 and first trailer 12 as a single entity are then detached from the second trailer 13 and driven around to the trailing edge 3 of the bucket as shown in FIG. 4. The rear end of the trailer 12 is positioned adjacent to the trailing edge 3 of the bucket 1. Again the alignment of the sides of the trailer 12 with the sides 4, 5 of the bucket 1 is important to enable the booms 18 to pass just outside the sides 4, of the bucket 1.

16 The booms 18 are then adjusted so that the mounting assemblies 19 on the booms 18 are adjacent the hoist trunnions 7 on the bucket 1. This is accomplished by means of adjustment of the height and optionally also the length of the booms.

Thereafter the mounting assemblies 19 are connected to the bucket 1. This is accomplished by means of the connecting elements or connecting pieces 34 that are attached to the trunnions. Different elements 34 are used for different bucket types as will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS 21 and 22.

Thereafter the booms 18 are raised to lift the trailing edge 3 of the bucket 1 upward as shown in Fig 5. The booms 18 are raised to a point just above horizontally extending and the trailing edge 3 of the bucket 1 is well clear of the ground. While being raised the formations 6 pivot on the passive support formations 30 of the mounting assemblies 29 on the second trailer 13.

The drag chain mounting formations 6 are moved by this pivoting to a forwardly inclined position. The formations 6 are then firmly clamped to the passive support formation 30 by the active clamping formation 32. This completes the attachment of bucket 1 to the second trailer 13.

S° 20 At this point the leading edge 2 of the bucket 1 is physically attached to the jinker 13 and the rear edge 3 of the bucket 1 is attached to the dolly 12. However the bottom of the bucket 1 does not have much clearance above the ground. Further the edge 3 of the bucket is supported only by the booms 18 and not by the platform 17. The final steps in the mounting operation are directed to improving the clearance and 25 resting the edge 3 of the bucket 1 on the platform 17.

The final step is illustrated in FIG. 6. The booms 18 are retracted inwardly or shortened pulling the edge 3 of the bucket 1 upwardly and inwardly onto the platform of the dolly 3. This places the weight of the bucket 1 on the platform 17 of the dolly 3. The booms 18 then also urge downwardly on the trunnions 7 clamping the bucket 1 against the platform 17 of the dolly 3.

17 While it is naturally advantageous to rest the weight of the bucket on the load platform so that it is not borne solely by the boom it is to be borne in mind that this step is not essential. It is quite feasible for the bucket to be suspended solely from the boom as well.

Tie down chains 38 are used to attach the dolly 12 to the bucket 1 and particularly the trunnions 7 thereof, and to attach the jinker 13 to the bucket 1 and more particularly the chain mounting formations 6 thereof. This is a safety measure in the event that the dolly or jinker detach during travel on a road.

The hydraulics on respectively the dolly and the jinker are also pressurised to enhance and strengthen the clamping attachment of the various components to the bucket 1. Further the height of the jinker 13 can be adjusted by raising the height of the suspension as described above and this can also assist in increasing the road clearance.

This then completes the assembly or mounting of the bucket 1 onto the transporter 10. The bucket 1 can then be transported to its destination. When it arrives at its destination it can be lowered to the ground and detached from the transporter 10 by means of the above process in reverse.

S* For travel in an unloaded configuration the dolly 3 and jinker 4 will be changed back S:°i to the narrow unloaded condition to enable the transporter to travel within a single vehicle lane on a road. The trailers are moved back to the unloaded condition by a similar but reverse procedure to that used to expand the trailers.

*9go FIG. 8 illustrates how the prime mover 11 and first and second trailers 12, 13 turn in operation. In essence each set of wheels of the first trailer has an independent rotation point and the different set of wheels are linked to each other. One way of achieving this is for the wheels on the first and optionally also second trailer to be hydraulically steered by a control link to the truck.

18 Clearly the bucket and trailers must form a rigid assembly with the ability to carry bending moments and longitudinal loads for the transporter to transport the buckets safely particularly on public roads.

FIGS 9 to 20 illustrate an transporter in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. This embodiment is structurally and functionally very similar to that described above with reference to FIGS 2 to 8. Accordingly unless otherwise indicated the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components.

The following description will focus on the differences between this embodiment and the first embodiment.

FIG 9 shows the transporter in the unloaded condition and FIG 10 shows the transporter 1 in the loaded condition.

The trailers 12 and 13 are interchangeable between the loaded and unloaded conditions in the same way that the first embodiment is.

The movement of left and right hand wheels away from each other is accomplished by means of telescoping slides extending between the left and right hand wheels.

20 This feature is shown in Figs 19 and 20. The illustrated slide is a two-stage slide the °two stages helping to provide the large difference in length between the loaded and unloaded conditions.

Each support platform 17 and 27 comprise two platform elements 31,32 which are side by side in the unloaded condition and which are laterally spaced some distance apart from each other in the loaded expanded condition. The elements 31, 32 and 4 the manner in which they are expanded and contracted are shown in Figs 17 and 18.

:"*fee The elements 31, 32 are mechanically attached to each other by means of a scissor mechanism comprising two scissor members 33 pivotally attached to each other and the elements. Each element 31, 32 has an elongate slot along which the pivotal attachment of the scissor members 33 can travel.

The wheels 16, 26 and platform are moved to the expanded condition while the trailers 12, 13 are being moved backwards and forwards on the road surface by gradually lengthening the slide between the wheels 16,26. The platform elements move apart form each other in sympathy with the movement of the wheels apart from each other.

The first trailer 12 has a pair of booms 18 extending up from the platform 17 and over the sides 4,5 of the bucket 1 with mounting assemblies 19 towards the distal end thereof much the same way as the FIG 2 embodiment. The engineering of each boom 18 and associated mounting assembly 19 is different to the earlier embodiment but it serves the same purpose.

The attachment of the mounting assemblies 19 to the formations 7 is shown in some detail in FIG 13a. A locking pin or element 35 is passed through the formations 7 and a bracket or connecting piece 34.

In addition the trailer 12 has a mechanical clamping element 40 extending up from the mounting assembly. The clamping element 40 has a pad 41 at the end thereof and applies a downward pressure to the upper edge or rail 42 of the bucket 1. The ~20 clamping element 40 is hydraulically driven. The clamping of the pad 41 to the rail 42 is shown particularly clearly in FIG 13b.

t' ease* The second trailer 13 has two booms 28 extending away from the support platform 0850 27 with the mounting assemblies 29 for mounting to the drag chain mounting formations towards the distal end thereof. These assemblies are different to the active and passive formations 30 and 32 in the first embodiment and comprise brackets 44 which are aligned with the mounting formations 6 and locking pins which are passed through the openings in the brackets 44 and formations 6. This o attachment is shown in some detail in FIG 11. In addition the mounting assemblies 29 have lateral clamping elements 46, eg. bolts, which clamp inwardly against the side 4,5 of the bucket 1 as shown in FIG 12. This assists in laterally stabilising and tightening the attachment of the bucket.

In addition the trailer 13 has clamping elements 50 which extend outwardly away from each boom 28 to the lip of the bucket 1. The element 50 has a pad 51at the end thereof which applies pressure to the lip in a longitudinal direction, eg in a forward direction towards the first trailer.

The coupling of the first and second trailers 12, 13 to each other in the unloaded condition is also worth noting. The mounting assemblies on the first trailer 12 are coupled to coupling formations 54 on the second trailer 13.

In use a bucket is loaded onto the trailers as shown in FIGS 14 to 16. As with the first embodiment the trailers are first expanded to the loaded condition as described above.

In FIG 14 the suspension of the trailer 13 is lowered to enable the mounting assemblies 29 to be attached to the formations 6 on the bucket 1 and the lateral clamping elements 46 are clamped against the sides of the bucket. The clamping element 50 is also extended into pressure engagement with the lip of the bucket. At this stage however the boom 28 is not raised. Thereafter the prime mover and trailer 20 12 are detached and reversed up to the trailing edge 3 of the bucket with the booms 18 extending down each side of the as shown in FIG 15. The mounting assemblies e 19 are then mounted to the hoist trunnions 7. The clamping element 40 is extended upwardly and the pad 41 is brought into pressure engagement with the rail of the bucket.

This completes the physical attachment of the trailers 12, 13 to the bucket 1.

Thereafter the bucket 1 is lifted up by the booms 18, 28 to a suitable clearance.

Either the booms on both trailers may be used or only the booms on one trailer. The pressure elements and hydraulics are then tightened for travel. In this embodiment the bucket 1 is not supported on the platform 17.

In this form the structure is only semi-rigid as it resists downward movement of the bucket but not upward movement. To address this and provide full rigidity the pads 41, 51 on the trailers 12 and 13 are chained together by chains 58 under tension as shown in FIG 16.

FIG 21 shows a number of different buckets commonly used in open cast mining operations. The buckets have a similar general structure and each for example has the desired features for the practising of this invention namely drag chain mounting formations and hoist chain trunnions which are used to lift the bucket. There are several different designs of drag chain mounting formations and trunnions in the different buckets. However the differences amount to differences in fine engineering design.

The transporter caters for this by having differently shaped brackets for the mounting assemblies. Accordingly the appropriate bracket is chosen for the bucket being used.

FIG 22 shows some variations in the fine engineering design of the trailer 13 of the second embodiment to cater for different bucket designs. Again the differences in 20 the designs is a matter of fine engineering detail and the basic structure and function of all the illustrated trailers is the same.

FIGS 23 and 24 illustrate a transporter in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention. Again as this embodiment has some structural and functional similarities to the earlier embodiments, the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same or equivalent parts unless otherwise indicated.

This embodiment is known as the continuous beam embodiment. It has a spaced pair of beams 60 extending longitudinally between the first and second trailers on either side of the bucket. The bucket is hung form the beams 60 and the beams are mounted to the trailers 12,13. This is different to the earlier embodiments where the trailers were attached to the bucket rather than to each other via a beam.

Each beam 60 comprises two telescoping beam elements 61,62 capable of being extended for the loaded condition and contracted for the unloaded condition. The extension and contraction of the beam elements 61,62 is hydraulically driven. Each end of each beam is mounted to the trailer 12,13 by means of a boom or arm 18, 28 which can be raised or lowered. Again the raising and lowering of the arm is hydraulically driven.

Each beam 60 has a mounting assembly 19 for mounting to the hoist trunnion 7 on the bucket 1 and a further mounting assembly 29 for mounting to the dragline mounting formation 6. Each mounting assembly 19, 29 comprises a mounting bracket 44 and a locking element or locking pin 45. As with the earlier embodiments different brackets can be used for mounting to different buckets.

In use the rear trailer 13 is reversed up to the leading edge 2 of the bucket 1 with the beams 60 aligned to pass over the sides 4,5 of the bucket 1. The trailers 12,13 are also moved to the loaded expanded condition as described above.

The trailer 13 is then detached and the front trailer 12 is reversed up to the trailing 20 edge 2 of the bucket again with the beams 60 aligned to pass over the sides 4, The beams 60 are then coupled to the booms or arms 28 on the second trailer 13.

The height of the beams 60 is then adjusted so that the brackets 44 are suitably positioned for mounting to the relevant parts 6,7 of the bucket 1. The mounting assemblies 19, 29 are then mounted to the formations 6 and 7. Thereafter the booms 18,28 are raised to lift the bucket 1 off the ground up to a suitable clearance for road travel.

The loading operation will require some degree of operator skill to pass the beams over and past the sides 4,5 of the bucket 1 and then align the beams 60 with the boom 28 on the second trailer 13.

To move from the loaded condition back to the unloaded condition the trailer 13 is detached from the beams 60. The first trailer 12 is then turned around and re-coupled to the second trailer 13 by means of the beams 60. The distal end of the booms 28 on the trailer 13 is coupled to brackets 65 on the beams 60 provided for that purpose.

The beam length is contracted in the unloaded condition but the beam still extends back over a large part of the trailer 13.

A major advantage of this embodiment is that the strength and integrity of the beam is not dependent on the attachment of the mounting assemblies to the bucket. The mounting assemblies are only required to carry the bucket weight and secondary forces such as racking loads on the structure.

A preferred embodiment provides a bucket transporter with the ability to self load and unload and thereby does not require the use of outside cranes. The bucket is slung between the first and second trailers as low as possible to minimise the work required to lift and lower the bucket for loading and unloading and also to keep the overall height of the bucket as low as possible to minimise problems with over-height limits on roads. This is facilitated by the fact that there is no structure beneath the bucket.

2 The transporter is capable of transporting buckets of 40 to 50 tons. In addition the transporter is able to transport the buckets on public roads as well as mine haul roads. Yet further the transporter is capable of loading/ unloading a bucket using a single operator as a one man operation.

Preferred embodiments of the transporter are also capable of being attached to a wide variety of bucket types that are being used in the industry. This will enable the transporter to be widely applied throughout the industry. Finally the transporter is drawn by a standard heavy-duty prime mover rather than a specialised vehicle.

An advantage of supporting the bucket by the drag chain mounting formations and hoist chain trunnions is that the centre of gravity of the bucket is about halfway between these points. Consequently the transporter transfers about 50% of the load to each of the first and second trailers which is desirable.

A particular advantage of the transporter described above is that it can be used to load and transport a dragline bucket, eg. Of about 50 tons without any heavy crane support. This is a major competitive advantage as the costs of cranes are extremely high.

It will of course be realised that the above has been given only by way of an illustrative example of the invention and all modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims (27)

1. A transporter for facilitating transport of an abnormally large article on a road, the transporter including a first vehicle capable of supporting part of the load of the article; and a second vehicle capable of supporting the remainder of the load, spaced from the first vehicle, with the article supported above the ground by the first and second vehicles positioned intermediate the first and second vehicles.

2. A transporter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first vehicle has means for operatively mounting the article thereto and said second vehicle also has means for operatively said article thereto at a point on the article spaced from the mounting of the first vehicle thereto.

3. A transporter as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of said first and second vehicles further includes hoist means for lifting the article off the ground to a position suitable for travel and lowering the article for the unloading thereof. o 20 4. A transporter as claimed in claim 3, wherein the article to be transported is a dragline bucket having a leading edge and a trailing edge and two sides extending between the leading and trailing edges and also hoist line trunnions and drag line mounting formations on each side thereof.

5. A transporter as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first vehicle includes a said hoist means comprising at least one boom capable of being raised or lowered and wherein said mounting means comprises a mounting assembly mounted on the boom/s towards the distal end thereof.

6. A transporter as claimed on claim 5, wherein each mounting assembly on the first vehicle is positioned and configured for attachment to a said hoist line trunnion on the bucket.

7. A transporter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said first vehicle has two said booms laterally spaced from each other, one extending down one side of the bucket and the other extending down the other side of the bucket and wherein each said mounting assembly includes a connecting element and pin for pivotally mounting the trunnion to the associated boom.

8. A transporter as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein said second vehicle also includes a said hoist means comprising at least one boom capable of being raised or lowered and wherein said mounting means comprises a mounting assembly mounted on each boom towards the distal end thereof.

9. A transporter as claimed in claim 8, wherein each mounting assembly on the second vehicle is positioned and configured for attachment to a said drag line mounting formations on the bucket. A transporter as claimed in claim 9, wherein said second vehicle has two said booms laterally spaced from each other, one extending down one side of the bucket and the other extending down the other side of the bucket, and wherein each mounting assembly includes connecting element and pin for pivotally mounting the 20 drag line mounting formation to the associated boom. 9I

11. A transporter according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the mounting means on the first vehicle further includes a clamping element applying a downward pressure to an upper edge of the bucket to help stiffen the attachment of the bucket to the first vehicle.

12. A transporter according to any one of claims 4 to 11, wherein the mounting means on the first vehicle includes further clamping elements applying a lateral or side pressure to the bucket to enhance the mounting thereof to the vehicle.

13. A transporter according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the mounting means on the second vehicle further includes a clamping element for applying pressure in a longitudinal direction to a surface associated with the leading end of the bucket to tighten the attachment of the bucket to the first and second trailers in an axial direction.

14. A transporter according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the mounting means on the second vehicle includes further clamping elements applying lateral or side pressure to the bucket to enhance the mounting thereof to the vehicle. A transporter according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein only said first vehicle has a said hoist means and said mounting means on said second vehicle comprises at least one mounting assembly which is directly mounted to the vehicle.

16. A transporter according to claim 15, wherein the second vehicle has two said mounting assemblies, one for coupling to the drag line mounting formations on one side of the bucket and the other for coupling to the drag line mounting formations on the other side of the bucket.

17. A transporter according to claim 16, wherein each said mounting assembly comprises a passive upwardly facing support formation of adjustable height and an 20 active downwardly facing clamping formation, and the drag line mounting formation is clamped between the active and passive formations.

18. A transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein each vehicle is capable of interchanging between a loaded expanded condition in which the width thereof broadly corresponds to the width of the article to be transported and an unloaded contracted condition in which the width is sized to fit within a standard width vehicle lane on a road.

19. A transporter according to claim 18, wherein each vehicle comprises a wheel mounted chassis and a support platform mounted on the chassis, and wherein the support platform comprises two support elements movable relative to each other positioned adjacent each other in the unloaded condition and spaced apart from each other in the loaded condition. A transporter according to claim 19, wherein each wheel mounted chassis includes telescopic axles which are movable between the loaded condition in which the outer wheels are expanded to substantially the width of the support platform and the unloaded condition in which the outer wheels fit within a normal vehicle lane.

21. A transporter according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein at least one vehicle has a suspension which can be lowered to lower the support platform when the bucket is loaded and unloaded.

22. A transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein each vehicle further includes a plurality of safety lines extending between the article and the vehicle for further securing the mounting of the article to the associated vehicle.

23. A transporter according to claim 22, wherein each safety line comprises a heavy duty chain. .o oo*o 20 24. A transporter according to claim 1, further including at least one substantially ';;"rigid member mounted to each of the first and second vehicles and extending substantially longitudinally between the first and second vehicles, and mounting means for mounting the article to the member/s. S.. S..

25. A transporter according to claim 24, wherein each member is a beam comprising two telescopic beam elements movable longitudinally relative to each other to lengthen or shorten the beam,

26. A transporter according to claim 24 or claim 25, further including hoist means for raising the beam/s and article off the ground and lowering the beam/s and article for unloading.

27. A transporter according to claim 26, wherein the hoist means comprises at least one first vehicle boom extending from the first vehicle up to the beam to which it is pivotally mounted and at least one second vehicle boom or a second vehicle linkage extending from the second vehicle up to the beam.

28. A transporter according to claim 27, wherein the article to be transported is a dragline bucket having a leading edge and a trailing edge and sides extending between the leading and trailing edges, and also hoist line trunnions and drag line mounting formations on each side thereof.

29. A transporter according to claim 28, wherein the mounting means comprises at least one mounting assembly positioned and configured to be attached to a said hoist line trunnion and at least one further mounting assembly spaced from said one mounting assembly along the beam positioned and configured to be attached to a said drag line mounting formation. A transporter according to claim 29, wherein there are two said beams, one extending down each side of the bucket, and two said mounting assemblies for attachment to the hoist line trunnions on either side of the bucket and two said further 20 mounting assemblies for attachment to the drag line mounting formations on either side of the bucket. .31. A transporter according to claim 30, having two said first vehicle booms one for attachment to each beam and two said second vehicle booms or linkages one for attachment to each beam. S32. A transporter wherein each mounting assembly comprises a connecting bracket and locking element for rigidly mounting the trunnions for the hoist lines and the drag line formations to the associated beam.

33. A transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 32, further including a prime mover and wherein the first and second vehicles are trailers that are drawn by said prime mover.

34. A transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 33, wherein the first and second vehicles have coupling means for operatively coupling them to each other for travel together when not being used to transport said article A transporter according to any one of claims 1 to 34, wherein the apparatus includes means for steering the wheels of the trailers in addition to wheels of the prime mover.

36. A transporter substantially as herein described in the detailed description of the invention with reference to the drawings. DATED THIS TWENTY-SIXTH DAY OF APRIL 2001. i BRAMBLES AUSTRALIA LIMITED BY SoPIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS.