CONCRETE CURB LAYING MACHINE

• US 3,749,505 A
• Filed: 09/17/1971
• Issued: 07/31/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/1968
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Allen R. Miller, Charles P. Miller, David Miller
• Original Assignee: Allen R. Miller, Charles P. Miller, David Miller
• Inventors: Miller, Charles P., Miller, Allen R., Miller, David J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Byers, Jr., Nile C.
• Application Number:
  US05/181,514
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 94/46R,46AC,44 404/98
• US Class Current: 404/98
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 55/116 Attitude or position control of chassis by action on suspension, e.g. to compensate for a slope
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/4893 Apparatus designed for railless operation

Abstract

A machine for handling, conveying, compacting and distributing formable material such as concrete upon or along a work location in the desired grade, slope and directional configuration defined by an external reference extending along the path of travel. In one embodiment the machine includes a concrete receiving hopper on one side and a conveyor which elevates the concrete across the machine into a compaction hopper on the other side for gravity feeding to a working tool, such as a mule shoe. The receiving hopper is located on one side and pivotal of the machine and the compaction hopper and working tool are on the other side, with the conveyor in between; an arrangement found to supplement the leveling, traction and steering capabilities of wheels and tractor supported vehicles. The longitudinal side location of the working tool such as a slip-form, in cooperation with the independent front and rear steering of the pairs of ground engagement means maintains the tool in tangential relationship to outside curves and in chordal relationship to inside curves, undisturbed by gradual or abrupt changes in the load of onboard material and irrespective of grade deviations of considerable magnitude.

Claims

1. In a construction machine for the controlled distribution of concrete through a slip-form along a graded ground surface, the combination of:

a main frame;

independently adjustable vertical extensible members carried by and spaced fore and aft along one side of said main frame;

a single independently adjustable vertical extensible member carried substantially central of the other side of said main frame;

a walking beam disposed along said other side of said main frame and piVotally mounted on a horizontal transverse axis from said single extensible member;

a self-propelled fore and aft tractor unit pivotally mounted on a vertical axis from said walking beam and spaced from said horizontal transverse axis thereof;

the pair of fore mounted tractor units being cross-linked to steer in unison about their respective vertical axes and the pair of aft mounted tractor units being cross-linked to steer in unison about their respective vertical axes;

drive means connected to said tractor units and adapted to simultaneously drive the fore and aft tractor units on either side of said main frame in unison;

actuating means supported by said main frame and operatively connected to the extensible members on said one side of said main frame responsive to an exterior grade control reference disposed along said ground surface to control the grade of said main frame;

actuating means supported by said main frame and operatively connected to said single extensible member on the other side of said main frame to control the transverse slope of said main frame;

an open-topped receiving hopper carried by said main frame and disposed for access from a side of said main frame;

an open-topped compaction hopper carried by said main frame and disposed from a side opposite that of said receiving hopper, the open top of said compaction hopper being above the open top of said receiving hopper;

conveyor means carried by said main frame at an angle between the bottom of said receiving hopper with its discharge end over the open top of said compaction hopper;

an elongated slip-form supported by said main frame and disposed along a side thereof;

said slip-form having an open bottom adjacent to said graded ground surface with the fore end thereof in communication with said compaction hopper; and

the longitudinal axis of said slip-form being disposed contiguous to the tractor units on that side of the main frame whereby in turning said pairs of tractors to negotiate a curve defined by said exterior grade reference the longitudinal axis of said slip-form is maintained substantially tangential to an outside curve and substantially chordal to an inside curve.

2. A construction machine in accordance with claim 1 in which:

said receiving hopper and said conveyor means are unified;

said compaction hopper and said slip-form are unified;

said receiving hopper and conveyor means are pivotally supported by said main frame transversely thereof;

the longitudinal axis of said slip-form extends substantially parallel with the pivot axis of said unified receiving hopper and conveyor; and

adjustable means are provided supporting said unitized compaction hopper and slip-form from said side of said main frame.

3. A construction machine in accordance with claim 1 in which:

drive means for actuating said conveyor are provided to carry formable material upwardly from said receiving hopper to said discharge end into said compaction hopper; and

means are provided to control the rate of discharge of said conveyor means whereby the level of formable material in said compaction hopper is maintained substantially constant.