Claims
- 1. The method of depositing granular snow/ice treatment material onto a plane defining highway from a vehicle moving along a given direction at a given velocity, comprising the steps of:
- providing a quantity of said material for transport with said vehicle;
- providing a quantity of a liquid brine for transport with said vehicle;
- providing a transport mechanism mounted upon said vehicle for delivering said material to first and second spaced apart outlets;
- mixing said brine with said granular material within said transport mechanism and delivering said mixed material and brine to said first and second outlets;
- providing a first material accelerating apparatus with said vehicle having a first input for receiving said mixed material and brine from said first outlet and a first output for expelling said mixed material and brine at a principal velocity and along a principal direction;
- providing a second material accelerating apparatus with said vehicle having a second input for receiving said mixed material and brine from said second outlet and a second output for expelling said mixed material and brine at said principal velocity and along said principal direction;
- expressing said mixed material and brine from selected said first and second outputs in a manner wherein substantially all of said expressed material and brine exits from said first and second outputs, said principal direction and velocity having a velocity vector component substantially parallel with said plane of value corresponding with the value of said vehicle given velocity and with a principal direction substantially opposite said vehicle given direction; and
- said material and brine being expressed from said first and second outputs in a manner depositing said material and brine on said highway as respective first and second spaced apart bands each being formed as a compact narrow continuous pile of material evoking a brine formation which maintains a salt concentration effective to break an ice-pavement bond.
- 2. The method of claim 1 in which each said first and second narrow bands has a width of less than about one foot.
- 3. The method of claim 1 in which said principal direction is oriented downwardly at an acute angle with respect to said plane selected as effective to cause said mixed material and brine to be deposited on said highway without being substantially entrained within air turbulence caused by said vehicle.
- 4. The method of claim 1 in which said principal direction is oriented downwardly at an acute angle with respect to said plane of less than about 15 degrees.
- 5. The method of claim 4 in which said acute angle is within a range of about 7 to 10 degrees.
- 6. The method of claim 1 in which:
- said transport mechanism includes a cross auger mechanism extending in material delivery relationship between said first and second outlets;
- said mixing step is carried out by delivering said brine through an unrestricted orifice to said cross auger mechanism to effect said mixing.
- 7. The method of claim 1 in which said step for providing a quantity of a liquid brine includes the steps of:
- providing a brine formation tank mounted upon said vehicle having an upwardly disposed opening and a lower disposed flow outlet;
- adding a quantity of granular salt to said brine formation tank through said opening;
- adding a quantity of water to said brine formation tank to create said brine;
- retrieving said brine from said lower disposed flow outlet.
- 8. The method of claim 7 including the steps of:
- providing a brine holding tank mounted upon said vehicle housing having a holding tank inlet and a holding tank outlet;
- retrieving said brine by circulating said brine from said lower disposed flow outlet to said holding tank inlet, thence from said holding tank outlet to said transport mechanism.
- 9. The method of depositing granular snow/ice treatment material onto a plane defining pavement from a vehicle moving along a given direction at a given velocity comprising the steps of:
- providing a quantity of said material for transport with said vehicle;
- providing a transport mechanism mounted upon said vehicle for delivering said material to an outlet;
- providing a material accelerating apparatus with said vehicle having an input adjacent said outlet for receiving said material delivered thereto, and having an output for expelling said material at a select principal velocity and along a select principal direction;
- expressing said material from said output in a manner wherein said principal direction is oriented downwardly at an acute angle with respect to said plane, and said principal direction and velocity define a vector component substantially parallel with said plane having a direction substantially opposite said vehicle given direction and a velocity corresponding with said vehicle velocity;
- in which said material is expressed from said output in a manner depositing said material on said pavement as a band being provided as a compact narrow continuous pile of material evoking a brine formation which maintains a salt concentration effective to break an ice-pavement bond.
- 10. The method of claim 9 in which said acute angle is selected as effective to cause said material to be deposited on said pavement without being substantially entrained within air turbulence caused by said vehicle.
- 11. The method of claim 9 in which said principal direction is oriented downwardly at an acute angle of less than about 15 degrees.
- 12. The method of claim 11 in which said acute angle is about 7 to 10 degrees.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 09/018,294 filed Feb. 4, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,535.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
018294 |
Feb 1998 |
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