Carriage guided wheel and rail assembly

Claim 2

The combination with parallel horizontally disposed tubular rails each having an upper surface bounded by longitudinal side margins of a vehicle comprising elongate channel members disposed in laterally spaced parallel relation, one channel member overlying each said rail and extending lengthwise along each said rail, each channel member having a horizontally disposed web extending the length thereof and confronting the underlying rail, each channel member having spaced vertically disposed sidewalls depending from said web, said sidewalls each extending horizontally substantially the length of the web from which they depend, said spaced sidewalls of each said channel member cooperating to define a horizontally extending channel under the web from which they depend, said spaced sidewalls straddling the rail underlying the web from which they depend, each said channel receiving a plurality of rollers disposed in spaced relation along the length thereof, axle means, one for each said roller, engaged to the sidewalls defining the channel in which said each roller is received and supporting said each roller for rotation about an axis transverse to the length of the channel receiving the same, said rollers being cylindrical and having rolling engagement with the side margins of the underlying rail, means at each end of each said channel member mounting a rail scraper, and a load-supporting superstructure overlying said channel members and spanning the space therebetween.

Claim 3

The combination of claim 1, in which said rails are hollow tubular members of rectangular cross section.

Claim 4

The combination of claim 2, in which said rails are defined by horizontal upper and lower surface portions and spaced vertically disposed side portions supporting said surface portions in spaced relation, the horizontal separation between said side portions exceeding the vertical extent of said side portions.

Claim 5

The combination of claim 3, including a guide member mounted to said vehicle adjacent one of the side portions of one of said rails, said guide member limiting veering of said vehicle to one side of said rails by contact with said adjacent side portion.

Claim 6

The combination of claim 3, including a horizontally extending sealing strip projectinG outwardly from one side portion of one of said rails, said sealing strip adapted to slidably contact the lowermost edge of one sidewall of the channel member overlying said one rail upon passage of said vehicle over said sealing strip.

Claim 7

The combination according to claim 1, including a drive wheel, one of said means mounting a rail scraper constituting said drive wheel, said drive wheel having traction engagement with the rail underlying a channel member, and means to rotate said drive wheel.

Claim 8

The combination of claim 6, wherein said drive wheel is the rotatable part of a rotary hydraulic motor, said drive wheel encircling and journaled to a nonrotatable part of said motor, said means mounting said drive wheel including means slidably and nonrotatably mounting said nonrotatable part to said first channel member for limited vertical sliding movement relative to said first channel member, said combination including hydraulic piston means acting between said first channel member and said stationary part to bias said nonrotatable part downwardly toward said rail, said means to rotate said drive wheel including a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure, a first conduit to deliver hydraulic fluid from said source to said motor, a second conduit communicating between said first conduit and said hydraulic piston whereby the fluid pressure delivered to said piston is proportional to the fluid pressure delivered to said motor.

Claim 9

The combination with parallel horizontally disposed rails of a vehicle comprising elongate channel members disposed in laterally spaced relation, each rail comprising a hollow tubular member of rectangular cross section, each rail being defined by generally horizontal upper and lower surface portions and spaced vertically disposed side portions supporting said surface portions in spaced relation, the horizontal separation between said side portions exceeding the vertical extent of said side portions, one channel member overlying each said rail and extending lengthwise along said rail, each channel member having a horizontally disposed web extending the length thereof and confronting the underlying rail, each channel member having spaced vertically disposed sidewalls depending from said web, said sidewalls each extending horizontally substantially the length of the web from which they depend, said spaced sidewalls of each said channel member cooperating to define a horizontally extending channel under the web from which they depend, said spaced sidewalls straddling the rail underlying the web from which they depend, each said channel receiving a plurality of rollers disposed in spaced relation along the length thereof, axle means, one for each said roller, engaged to the sidewalls defining the channel in which each said roller is received and supporting each roller for rotation about an axis transverse to the length of the channel receiving the same, said rollers being cylindrical throughout an axial length exceeding the space between said side portions of the underlying rail and having rolling engagement with the upper surface portion of said underlying rail across substantially all of said space between said side portions, and a load-supporting superstructure overlying said channel members and spanning the space therebetween.

Claim 10

The combination with parallel horizontally disposed rails of a vehicle comprising elongate channel members disposed in laterally spaced relation, each rail comprising a hollow tubular member of rectangular cross section, each rail being defined by generally horizontal upper and lower surface portions and spaced vertically disposed side portions supporting said surface portions in spaced relation, the horizontal separation between said side portions exceeding the vertical extent of said side portions, one channel member overlying each said rail and extending lengthwise along said rail, each channel member having a horizontally disposed web extending the length thereof and confronting the underlying rail, each channel member having spaced vertically disposed sidewalls depending from said web, said sidewalls each extending horizontally substantially the length of the web from which they depend, said spaced sidewalls of each said channel member cooperating to define a horizontally extending channel under the web from which they depend, said spaced sidewalls straddling the rail underlying the web from which they depend, each said channel receiving a plurality of rollers disposed in spaced relation along the length thereof, axle means, one for each said roller, engaged to the sidewalls defining the channel in which each said roller is received and supporting each roller for rotation about an axis transverse to the length of the channel receiving the same, said rollers being cylindrical throughout an axial length exceeding the space between said side portions of the underlying rail and having rolling engagement with the upper surface portion of said underlying rail across substantially all of said space between said side portions, and a load-supporting superstructure overlying said channel members and spanning the space therebetween.

Claim 11

The combination with generally parallel horizontally disposed rails of a vehicle comprising elongate channel members disposed in laterally spaced relation, each rail being defined by horizontal upper and lower surface portions and spaced vertically disposed side portions supporting said surface portions in spaced relation, one channel member of said vehicle overlying each said rail and extending lengthwise along said rail, each channel member having spaced vertically disposed sidewalls, each channel member receiving a plurality of rollers disposed in spaced relation along the length thereof, axle means, one for each said roller, engaged to the sidewalls of the channel member in which each saId roller is received and supporting each roller for rotation about an axis transverse to the length of the channel receiving the same, said rollers each being a cylinder of substantially constant diameter throughout an axial length exceeding the space between the side portions of the underlying rail, and having rolling engagement with the upper surface of said underlying rail across substantially all of said space between said side portions.

Claim 12

The combination with generally parallel horizontally disposed rails of a vehicle comprising elongate channel members disposed in laterally spaced relation, each rail being defined by horizontal upper and lower surface portions and spaced vertically disposed side portions supporting said surface portions in spaced relation, one channel member of said vehicle overlying each said rail and extending lengthwise along said rail, each channel member having spaced vertically disposed sidewalls, each channel member receiving a plurality of rollers disposed in spaced relation along the length thereof, axle means, one for each said roller, engaged to the sidewalls of the channel member in which each saId roller is received and supporting each roller for rotation about an axis transverse to the length of the channel receiving the same, said rollers each being a cylinder of substantially constant diameter throughout an axial length exceeding the space between the side portions of the underlying rail, and having rolling engagement with the upper surface of said underlying rail across substantially all of said space between said side portions.