Heavy machinery substructure for traversing and working over ground obstructions

摘要

The present invention includes a load bearing mid-section weldment connected between a pair of telescoping incremental stepper assemblies to create a clearance space beneath the load bearing mid-section weldment and the telescoping incremental stepper assemblies thereby allowing the heavy machinery substructure to move and work over ground obstructions. Each telescoping incremental stepper assembly includes a bridge weldment connected between a pair of telescoping legs. Each telescoping leg includes at least one pair of nested leg sections and a linear actuator to adjust the length of the telescoping leg. Each telescoping leg further includes a fixed foot and an articulating pad assembly. The articulating pad assembly is configured to alternatively lift the foot and itself from the ground and moves the foot and itself relative to one another to move the heavy machinery substructure in incremental steps over the ground and any obstructions. The length of each telescoping leg is user adjustable and defines the height of the clearance space. The width of the load bearing mid-section defines the width of the clearance space. The length of the incremental stepper assembly defines the depth of the clearance space.

主权项

1. An heavy machinery substructure for traversing and working over obstructions projecting away from the ground comprising:
a pair of incremental stepper assemblies configured to support heavy machinery, each incremental stepper assembly comprising:
a bridge weldment;two telescoping legs releasably connected to the bridge weldment at opposing end regions of the bridge weldment, wherein the telescopic legs are configured to position the bridge weldment at a user defined distance above the obstructions, each telescopic leg comprising:
at least one telescopic joint;a foot connected to the lower region of the telescoping leg to make contact with the ground;a linear actuator mounted between an upper region of the telescopic leg and a lower region of the telescopic leg such that altering the length of the linear actuator alters the height of the bridge weldment above a ground obstruction;two articulating pad assemblies, each articulating pad assembly connected to a corresponding telescopic leg, each articulating pad assembly comprising:
a pad;a lifting linear actuator with two ends, the first end of the lifting linear actuator connected to the telescopic leg and the second end of the lifting linear actuator slideably coupled to the pad to alternatively lift the foot and the pad from the ground; anda traversing linear actuator mounted between a lower region of the lifting linear actuator and the pad such that altering the length of the traversing linear actuator moves the pad and foot relative to one another causing stepped movement of the heavy machinery substructure; a mid-section weldment releasably connected between the incremental stepper assemblies, the mid-section weldment configured to support the heavy machinery; a clearance space formed between the ground and the bridge weldments and the mid-section weldment so that ground obstructions may pass or remain under the bridge weldments, the mid-section or a combination thereof unimpeded by the heavy machinery substructure; and a power source to selectively operate the linear actuators, the lifting linear actuator and the transversing linear actuator.