Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicles or carriers movable across roads for the working of the upper surface thereof.
Description of the Prior Art
The maintenance of old asphalt roads can include spraying an emulsion on the top surface of the road. Aggregate may then be dropped onto the emulsion with the aggregate sinking below the top surface of the emulsion. Asphalt roads particularly those in the rural area may not be adequately maintained thereby increasing the deteriation.
A crown may run along the center of the road providing higher elevation in the middle as contrasted to the sides of the road. Further, the road may be undulating and uneven across the width and length thereof. Nevertheless, the emulsion must be evenly applied resulting in a smooth surface. The emulsion could be spread across the road either manually by brushes, scrapers or other devices. Alternatively, a frame with scrapers extending downwardly may be pulled behind a truck in order to attempt to achieve an even surface. It becomes difficult to achieve an even surface due to the varying elevation and deteriation of the road. Disclosed herein is a wheeled frame pullable behind a truck or other vehicle with the frame having downwardly extending brushes that are initially adjusted relative to the road surface as well as being adjusted as the frame is pulled along the road to ensure the brushes contact the emulsion in such a manner to achieve an even top surface. Substantial savings are achieved using the above technique since the life of the road is prolonged and therefore not requiring construction of a new road.
In our U.S. Pat. No. 9,179,588 we disclose a towable vehicle having downwardly extending brushes for brushing top dressing material between grass blades for the proper maintenance of golf greens. A variety of different brush patterns extending down from the vehicle are disclosed. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,833,013; 6,655,469; 8,220,558; and 9,668,397 granted to the co-inventor Michael E. Davis also disclose various vehicles or frames movable across the ground having ground engaging elements.
Early road working machines were disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,142,262 WK Beckham et al. and 2,184,913 CG Fuller. Both patents disclose leveling blades or scrapers extending downwardly from a frame to engage the road.
The main disadvantage of the prior devices is the inability to easily and quickly adjust the devices extending downwardly to contact the emulsion as the road undulates and may result in a very uneven upwardly extending road surface. The device disclosed herein allows for an initial setting and continued adjustment of the positioning of the downwardly extending brushes depending upon the contour of the road surface. Further, the brush frame elevation may be remotely controlled by a transmitter/receiver combination.
The brush frame includes a towbar pivotally mounted thereto that is connectable to the pulling vehicle hitch. The hitch may vary in height from each vehicle to each vehicle. A mechanism is provided to position the towbar onto the hitch while maintaining the set plane of the brush frame.
Typically road working machines are transported to the working site by a flatbed vehicle. As the frame of the road working machine is pulled upwardly to store on a flat bed, the frame is traditionally tilted causing the rear portion of the frame to contact the ground with other portions of the frame contacting the top edge of the ramp as it is pulled onto the bed. The mechanism allows the brush frame to extend horizontally while the device is pulled from ground level up the ramp eliminating the prior problem of contact between the frame and the ground and/or the top of the ramp.
One embodiment of the present invention is a device for spreading and leveling emulsion applied to a road surface and comprising a frame having a longitudinal axis of movement. A towbar is pivotally mounted to the forward portion of the frame. Wheels are mounted to the frame with the axis extending therebetween. Brushes are mounted to the frame and extend transversely across the axis of movement and extend downwardly to spread and level the emulsion applied to the road surface. A first mechanism is connected to the towbar and the frame to pivot the towbar relative to the frame. A source of electrical energy is mounted on the frame. A second mechanism is mounted on the frame and is operatively connected to the source of electrical energy. The second mechanism is connected to the wheels for moving the wheels up and down relative to the frame and positions the brushes relative to the road surface.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for spreading and leveling emulsion applied to a road surface.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved road working device.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a brush frame for leveling and spreading materials atop the ground.
Related object and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
Referring to
A towbar assembly 26 is pivotally mounted to the front end portion 22 of the frame to enable the towbar to be connected to a truck or other vehicle and pulled in the direction of arrow 27 (
A plurality of brushes 29 extends downwardly from the frame to engage the emulsion atop the load surface. The brushes extend transversely across axis 28 and spread and level the emulsion as the frame is moved forward. The brushes mounted to and beneath the front rail 37 and rear rail 36 extend perpendicularly to axis 28 whereas some of the remaining brushes extend from one diagonal corner of frame toward the opposite diagonal corner of frame 21.
Wheels 30 and 31 (Fig.2) are rotatably mounted to brackets, in turn, fixedly secured to an axle 32 rotatably mounted to the centrally extending frame number 33 having its opposite ends connected to the frame. The wheels may be pivoted downwardly to support the frame thereby spacing the brushes apart from the road surface facilitating transportation of the device by another vehicle. Likewise, the wheels can be moved upwardly to not contact the road surface thereby allowing the bottom ends of the brushes to contact the emulsion atop the road surface.
Wheels 30 and 31 are rotatably mounted respectively to members 40 and 41 (
Spaced apart members 46 and 47 have bottom ends fixedly mounted to axle 32 and move when axle 32 rotates thereby pivoting members 46 and 47 about their bottom ends. The top ends of members 46 and 47 are fixedly secured together and, in turn, are pivotally secured to rearward portion of cross link 51 (Fig.1). Thus, forward movement of cross link 51 in the direction of arrow 27 causes counterclockwise rotation of the axle and members 46 and 47, as viewed in
A linear actuator 53 (
In order to provide for continuous adjustment of the brush contact with the emulsion atop the road, a commercially available receiver/transmitter combination is provided to remotely control the linear actuator. For example, a receiver 160 (
The forward end 60 (
A manually operated worm gear 68 (
Towbar assembly 26 includes a central rail 73 (
A plurality of downwardly extending brushes 82 (
Four brush wings 100-103 (Fig.1) are pivotally mounted to frame 21. In the drawings, wings 100 and 101 are shown in the downward position with the brushes attached thereto to engage the emulsion on the road surface, whereas wings 102 and 103 are shown in the upwardly stored position. Wings 102 and 103 are shown in the upward stored position simply to illustrate that the wings may be stored whereas both wings may be pivoted downward for the brushes attached thereto to engage the emulsion such as shown for wings 100 and 101. Likewise, wings 100 and 101 can be pivoted upward to the stored position as shown for wings 102 and 103.
Brush wing 101 will be now be described it being understood that a similar description applies to wings 100, 102, and 103. Wing 101 has rails 106 and 107 pivotally mounted by brackets 108 and 109 to frame 21. Bracket 108 pivotably mounts proximal end 110 of rail 106 to the front rail 36 whereas bracket 109 mounts the proximal end of wing rail 107 to side rail 35. Rails 106 and 107 have brushes 111 and 112 respectively mounted thereto which extend downwardly therefrom. The brushes may be removed by conventional fastening devices for replacement as needed. Wing rails 113 and 114 have their proximal ends attached respectively to brackets 115 and 116. The brackets, in turn, are mounted to the distal ends 117 and 118 respectively of rails 106 and 107. Brushes 120 and 121 are fixedly mounted to and extend downward from respectively rails 113 and 114. An end rail 122 joins the distal ends of rails 113 and 114 together with the rails 113 and 114 then extending divergently outward to the distal ends of rails 106 and 107. Rails 106 and 107 extend divergently outward from their distal ends towards their proximal ends 110. Thus, the wing frame composed of rails 106, 107, 113 and 114 has a generally V-shaped configuration with the outer portion of the wing consisting of rails 113 and 114 along with brushes 120 and 121 being pivotable relative to the inner portion of the wing frame formed by rails 106 and 107 which is also pivotable with respect to frame 21. A U-shaped handle 125 is fixedly secured to rail 106 to facilitate grasping and pivoting the wing upward.
The wing is shown in the stored position in
Each wing 100-103 includes a manual adjustment screw rotatably mounted to the inner cross link of the outer portion of the wing with a screw distal end movable against the outer cross link of the inner portion of the wing to adjust the positioning of the outer wing portion to the inner wing portion. For example, wing 101 has a cross member 140 (
Four adjustment jacks 150-153 (
Jack 150 will now be described, it being understood that a similar description to jacks 151-153. Jack 150 has a housing 158 (
Once the emulsion leveling device 20 is located atop the road, crank handle 85 is manually moved to rotate the worm gear 68 (
With the worm gear 68 fixed in place, the linear actuator may be activated by transmitter 162 transmitting a signal to receiver 160 in turn activating actuator motor 166 to rotate the actuator worm gear causing extension or retraction of the actuator casing 56 (
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred and alternate embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2142262 | Beckham et al. | Jan 1939 | A |
2184913 | Fuller | Dec 1939 | A |
4917533 | Wilson | Apr 1990 | A |
5362178 | Schantz | Nov 1994 | A |
5833013 | Davis | Nov 1998 | A |
6102615 | Wilson, Sr. | Aug 2000 | A |
6655469 | Davis | Dec 2003 | B1 |
8220558 | Davis | Jul 2012 | B2 |
9179588 | Davis et al. | Nov 2015 | B2 |
9668397 | Davis | Jun 2017 | B2 |
20100158608 | Wilson, Sr. | Jun 2010 | A1 |
20170328028 | Chern | Nov 2017 | A1 |