Surface material spreading

• US 4,395,156 A
• Filed: 08/08/1980
• Issued: 07/26/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Henry W. Sprague III
• Original Assignee: Henry W. Sprague III
• Inventors: Sprague, Henry W. III
• Primary Examiner(s): Byers, Jr., Nile C.
• Application Number:
  US06/176,286
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 404/110, 404/108, 404/118, 404/101, 404/75, 172/817, 172/684.5, 37/41, 37/42 R, 37/42 VL, 37/270
• US Class Current: 404/110
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/185 for both depositing and spreading-out or striking-off the deposited mixture laying-down the materials and consolidating them, or finishing the surface, E01C19/48

Abstract

A particulate material spreader suitable for spreading asphalt on roadways and other paved surfaces is formed by a bucket which has a back and side walls but no bottom, and arms by which it may be carried at the rear of a vehicle and lifted or lowered by a hydraulic mechanism. Height adjusters at the sides of the bucket hold the lower edge of the back of the bucket at selected height above the roadway whereby a layer of asphalt is metered from the bottom of the bucket as the remainder of a pile of asphalt is raked away by the bucket.

Claims

1. The method of spreading asphaltic materials using a truck equipped with an hydraulic lift and a rake fixed to side skids and mounted at the rear of the truck on said lift which method comprises the steps of:

depositing a quantity of asphaltic material in said track;

carrying said quantity of asphaltic material to a job site where said material is to be spread over a given area while holding said rake above the road;

lowering said rake and side skids to the road such that the rake rests at a selected level above the level of the road at the sides of said given area and utilizing the weight of said skids to maintain the rake at said selected level;

depositing a quantity of said asphaltic material at one end of said given area ahead of said rake in the direction of forward motion of said truck;

raking said asphaltic material by pulling the rake, using the truck, in the direction to pull the rake toward said quantity of asphalt and over said given area;

after having traversed said given area, lifing the rake from the roadway; and

while the rake is held lifted, driving the truck to a point at which the truck and rake are clear of said given area.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 in which the step of raking is accomplished by pushing on said quantity of asphaltic material to force it to be distributed across the width of the area on which the material is to be spread;

and

pulling the quantity of asphalt, after having been as distributed, in the direction to traverse said given area while permitting material to escape from the rake to a selected depth.

3. A particulate material spreader rake for use with a vehicle already fitted with an attachment lifter or new hydraulic or lifter mechanism in incorporated and capable of pulling it and a pile of particulate material when the spreader rake is disposed at the rear of said vehicle and is mounted on said lifter, said spreader rake comprising:

a bucket formed by a transverse back plate and side plates;

means for attaching said bucket to an attachment lifter such that the back plate is held in a substantially vertical plane transverse to the direction in which it is to be pulled; and

height selection means for holding said transverse plate at a selected minimum height above a roadway independently of the action of said lifting means but held down by side arm hydraulic force.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 in which said back plate includes a rake element which extends over the width of the back plate and one edge of which forms the lower edge of said back plate, the lower edge of said rake element being tapered throughout its length in cross-section to narrower thickness in the downward direction.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 in which said height selection means for holding said transverse plate at a selected height comprises means engageable with the road for holding the ends of said lower edge of said rake element at selected height.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 in which said height selection means comprises a pair of structures, one on each side of said bucket, respectively, fixed to said bucket and including means for engaging a roadway while holding the proximate end of said rake element such that its lower edge is held at a respectively selected distance above said road.

7. The invention defined in claim 3 in which said attachment means comprises a pair of arms, extending substantially in parallel one to the other, each fixed at a first end thereof to a respectively associated one of said end plates.

8. The invention defined in claim 7 in which said arms are fixed at the opposite ends thereof to said lifter for rotation together to carry said bucket upward from a position adjacent to the roadway on which the vehicle rests to a point near the upper rear of the vehicle.

9. The invention defined in claim 7 which further comprises a pair of bucket extensions carried one on each end of said bucket and extending parallel with said arms respectively, and downwardly therefrom, and forward from said end plates.

10. The invention defined in claim 9 which further comprises means for adjusting the height of the lower edge of each of said bucket extensions above the roadway relative to the position of said transverse plate above said roadway.

11. A particulated material spreader rake for use with a vehicle already fitted with an attachment lifter capable of pulling it and a pile of particulate material when the spreader rake is disposed at the rear of said vehicle and is mounted on said lifter, said spreader rake comprising:

a bucket formed by a transverse back plate and side plates;

means for attaching said bucket to an attachment lifter such that the back plate is held in a substantially vertical plane transverse to the direction in which it is to be pulled; and

height selection means for holding said transverse plate at a selected height above a roadway independently of the action of said lifting means but held down by side arm hydraulic force;

said attachment means comprising a pair of arms, extending substantially in parallel one to the other, each fixed at a first end thereof to a respectively associated one of said end plates;

a pair of bucket extensions carried one on each end of said bucket and extending parallel with said arms respectively, and downwardly therefrom, and forward from said end plates;

means for adjusting the height of the lower edge of each of said bucket extensions above the roadway relative to the position of said transverse plate above said roadway; and

said height selection means comprising two height selection structures one at each end of said bucket and each comprising a skid plate and an attachment plate fixed to a respectively associated end of the bucket and a jack having one of its parts connected to the skid plate and the other of its parts connected to the attachment plate.

12. A particulate material spreader rake for use with a vehicle already fitted with an attachment lifter capable of pulling it and a pile of particulate material when the spreader rake is disposed at the rear of said vehicle and is mounted on said lifter, said spreader rake comprising:

a bucket formed by a transverse back plate and side plates;

means for attaching said bucket to an attachment lifter such that the back plate is held in a substantially vertical plane transverse to the direction in which it is to be pulled; and

height selection means for holding said transverse plate at a selected height above a roadway independently of the action of said lifting means but held down by side arm hydraulic force;

said attachment means comprising a pair of arms, extending substantially in parallel one to the other, each fixed at a first end thereof to a respectively associated one of said end plates;

a pair of bucket extensions carried one on each end of said bucket and extending parallel with said arms respectively, and downwardly therefrom, and forward from said end plates;

means for adjusting the height of the lower edge of each of said bucket extensions above the roadway relative to the position of said transverse plate above said roadway; and

said end plates lying in parallel planes perpendicular to the plane of said transverse plate, said arms being fixed to respectively associated ones of said end plates at the outer opposite said transverse plate;

said means for adjusting height comprising two independently acting structures each fixed to a respectively associated one of said arms adjacent to, and at the side of the arm opposite from, the end plate associated with said one arm whereby said arms lie outside the width of the bucket and the height adjusting structures lie outside the width of the arms.

13. The invention defined in claim 12 in which said transverse back plate comprises a means in the form of the upper portions of the back plate for pushing a pile of asphalt before the plate as the plate is moved;

said back plate further comprising rake means for permitting a layer of asphalt to remain on a roadway as the bucket is drawn thereover, said rake means forming the lower margin of said transverse back plate.

14. The invention defined in claim 13 in which said rake means is tapered in cross-section, throughout its length, to a lesser thickness in the downward direction.

15. The invention defined in claim 14 in which said bucket extensions are disposed one on each side of the bucket, between its respectively associated arm and end plate and which comprises means for fixing said bucket extensions to the buckets and arms at a selected height relative to the height of said back plate.

16. The invention defined in claim 15 in which said height selection means comprises two height selection structures one at each end of said bucket and each comprising a skid plate and an attachment plate fixed to a respectively associated end of the bucket and a jack having one of its parts connected to the skid plate and the other of its parts connected to the attachment plate.