Patent Application
20140037375
The present disclosure relates to paving machines, and more particularly to paving material movement through the paving machine.
A conveyor is present in a front hopper of existing paving machines to convey paving material from the hopper to another unit on the paving machine. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,804 relates to an improved extended auger arrangement and an improved asphalt paver with a tractor unit and a screed assembly, including a main screed and extendable screeds, having such an improved extended auger arrangement, the extendable screeds extending laterally outwardly from the main screed such that the screed assembly spans a width substantially greater than the width of the tractor unit.
In one aspect of the present disclosure a system is provided. The system includes a conveyor and a walking floor. The conveyor is configured to convey paving material from a hopper of a paving machine. The walking floor is immediately adjacent to the conveyor. The walking floor is configured to convey at least a portion of the paving material to the conveyor.
In another aspect, a method for paving material movement in a paving machine is provided. The method provides a conveyor to convey paving material from a hopper of the paving machine. The method also provides a walking floor immediately adjacent to the conveyor. Further, the method conveys at least a portion of the paving material from the walking floor to the conveyor.
Other features and aspects of this disclosure will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
Further one or more slatted conveyors 110 may be present in the hopper 108. The conveyor 110 may serve to move the paving material rearwardly through the hopper 108, through a tunnel 112 defined in the engine compartment 106 and to a spreading or distribution mechanism (not shown in figures). Parameters related to the conveyor 110 such as, for example, length, use of single or multiple conveyors, and the like, may vary without any limitation.
The distribution mechanism may be configured to distribute the paving material to the roadway. To this end, the conveyor 110 may move the paving material from the hopper 108, through the engine compartment 106 and to the spreading mechanism located at a rear end 114 of the paving machine 100. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the distributing mechanism may include a laterally extending trough to receive the paving material from the conveyor 110. Moreover, a pair of augers (not shown in figures) may be rotatably mounted within the trough for spreading the paving material on the roadway forwardly of a screed. The screed may serve to press and level the paving material on the roadway. The paving machine 100 may also include an operator station 116. It should be noted that the paving machine 100 shown in the accompanied figures is on an exemplary basis. The paving machine 100 may include other components not described herein.
The present disclosure relates to a walking floor 120 located at a front end 118 of the paving machine 100. As can be seen in
A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the walking floor 120 may include live floors or reciprocating conveyors known in the art. These live floors are typically used in loading and unloading of load in front end loaders. For example, the walking floor 120 may be made of a series of floor members referred to as floor slats. Typically, the floor slats are powered by a hydraulic drive, usually located underneath the walking floor 120. The floor slats may be disposed in side by side relation to form a flat surface or floor. Further, each of the floor slats is movable fore and aft, either in unison, or in opposition, in order to move the paving material disposed on the walking floor in a fixed direction.
Referring to
Moreover, a direction of movement of the walking floor 120 may be same as a direction of movement of the conveyor 110, as depicted using arrowhead P in
Further, as shown in
A method 300 for movement of the paving material through the paving machine 100 is described in connection with
In the hopper 108 of existing paving machines a non conveying flat area, also referred to as apron, may exist between the inner wall of the hopper 108 and the conveyor 110. Generally, the paving material has a tendency to stick to the apron. Further, as more paving material may be placed in the hopper 108 of the existing paving machine, the apron may continue to build up with the more paving material. As time passes, the paving material built up on the apron may become cold. Large aggregates of the paving material may then begin to separate from small aggregates in a process called material segregation. Segregation of the paving material may lead to mat defects when the paving material is finally laid down on the roadway.
In the present disclosure, as described above, the walking floor 120 may be provided in place of the apron. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the walking floor 120 facilitates in conveying the paving material to the conveyor 110 of the paving machine 100, and may thereby prevent the build-up of the paving material. Also, the walking floor 120 may eliminate need for a hydraulic folding apron as well as ground crew to manually clean out the hopper 108 of the paving machine 100.
At step 302, the conveyor 110 may be provided to convey the paving material from the hopper 108 of the paving machine 100. At step 304, the walking floor 120 may be provided immediately adjacent to the conveyor 110. As described above, the walking floor 120 may be so positioned as to prevent the build-up of the paving material in the area adjacent to the conveyor 110.
Further, at step 306, the portion of the paving material that may fall or collect on the walking floor 120 may be conveyed to the conveyor 110. In one embodiment as the paving material is being delivered to the paving machine 100, the walking floor 120 may operate keeping a continual flow of the portion of the paving material to the conveyor 110. Hence, constant movement of the paving material may prevent the paving material from becoming cold or segregated.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
