This invention relates to a device for placement between an object and a fixed supporting surface to which the object is mounted, and more particularly to such a device which provides adjustment of the position of the object relative to the fixed supporting surface. In machinery installations, it is common to provide a power source that drives a driven machine. For example, a motor or engine is often mounted adjacent a piece of equipment, such as a pump, gear reducer or the like adapted to be driven thereby. The motor and the driven device are often mounted to the same support plate fixed relative to the supporting surface, for example, a foundation, pad, or floor. In most cases, the height between the motor output shaft and motor mounting structure is different than the height between the input shaft of the driven device and its mounting structure. Placing steel shims between the fixed support plate and the motor and/or the driven device to align the motor output shaft and the input shaft of the driven device customarily accommodates this difference in height. U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,319 to Nielson discloses a mounting device placed between the motor mount and the support plate to make adjustments to this height difference.
However, prior art pumps, such as shown in FIG. 1, are manufactured with several sizes of casings 118, for example, three sizes such as 9-inch, 11-inch and 13-inch casings. When a casing size is increased and the load is also increased, a larger motor may be required. When this happens, this creates a problem. Though the casings can be readily changed, the motor mounts typically do not align with the mounting holes in the support plate for the old motor. Additionally, the height difference may be more significant and requires more than the adjustments provided by prior art devices. This typically requires the installation of a new pump skid to accommodate the new motor size and height difference between pump and motor shafts.
Thus, there exists a need to increase the versatility of a pump skid to accommodate changes to different motors when a pump casing is changed and/or the pump load is increased.