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17 January 2008
John C Wickhart of Washington DC has applied for international and US
patents for a method and apparatus for performing alignment surveys on
overhead cranes.
Summary
The survey apparatus of the invention is alternately pushed or pulled by the
travelling crane. It consists of a wheeled carriage including survey sighting
targets, such as prisms, that are visible to survey personnel standing on the
ground. Using conventional survey instruments, data is collected for X, Y and Z
coordinates to generate, as required, a rail alignment profile, a rail elevation
profile, a rail span profile and a crane skew profile. These profiles can be used
to determine whether the crane confirms to alignment specifications. The skew
data can also be used to determine whether the crane itself may be misaligned.
Previous art
Fig 4
Fig 1
The apparatus of the invention is designed to work with a typical overhead crane
in which the crane spans a distance between two crane rails (Fig 1 - 1302) with
each rail supported by girder which is, in turn, supported by a series of
columns. The crane contacts each of the crane rails with an end truck with two
or more wheels (1316) at each end. The leading and trailing ends of each end
truck are terminated with a rail sweep (1314).
Fig 1 - Schematic side elevation of a first exemplary rail survey carriage attached
to a crane rail sweep
Typically the crane includes a trolley (Fig 4 - 1318) travelling between the two
end trucks on a pair of bridge rails, each with a bridge girder support. The trolley
will carry hoisting mechanisms and load hooks (1324). Thus, as is usual, the
crane operator can move cargo between any two locations between the crane
rails.
Due to the large scale of typical industrial overhead cranes and heavy loads,
proper alignment of crane rails and crane wheels is crucial to safe and efficient
operation. The invention cites alignment standards outlined in the Crane
Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA)'s specification 70 and AISE
technical report No 13.
Fig 2
Fig 3
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personnel, but measuring the span still involves use of a tape measure.
Another instrument is required to check rail elevation.
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