Machine for cutting highway rumble strips
First Claim
1. An apparatus for cutting highway rumble strips comprising,a vehicle including a supporting framework,a plurality of ground-engaging wheels rotatably mounted on the framework for supporting the vehicle and allowing the vehicle to move along a highway,a cutter supported on the framework for producing a series of spaced apart cuts in the pavement of the highway which together comprise a rumble strip,a means connected to the cutter to raise and lower the cutter into and out of each cut and to periodically impart retrograde motion to the cutter relative to the framework to cause the cutter to temporarily discontinue its forward motion relative to the highway as each cut is made such that the cutter moves relative to the vehicle at substantially the same speed the vehicle moves along the highway but in the opposite direction as each cut is produced to thereby cancel out the forward motion of the vehicle so that the cutter remains generally stationary relative to the path of the vehicle as each cut is produced,whereby the vehicle as a whole moves along the highway without substantially increasing the size of each of the cuts produced by the cutter relative to a cut produced when the vehicle is stationary.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for cutting highway rumble strips comprises a vehicle that includes a supporting framework, e.g., a framework formed from steel channels welded together and having four ground-engaging wheels, one mounted at each corner of the framework for supporting the vehicle and allowing it to move freely under its own power or to be towed down the highway. A cutter, e.g., a cutting head or cutting wheel with carbide steel cutting teeth, is supported on the framework for producing a series of spaced apart transverse cuts in the pavement as the vehicle travels, usually at a uniform speed along the shoulder of the highway. The cutter can be a toothed wheel that is rotated on an axis at its center by a drive motor, engine, or other prime mover. Connected to the cutter is a mechanism for periodically imparting retrograde motion to the cutter relative to the framework to enable the cutter to temporarily discontinue its forward movement relative to the highway as each cut is made such that the cutter moves bodily relative to the vehicle at substantially the same speed that the vehicle moves on the highway but in the opposite direction. This enables the vehicle as a whole to move much more rapidly down the road without jeopardizing the quality of the cuts being produced. In addition, it enables a cutting wheel of a given size to produce a smaller, more effective and more well defined cut in the pavement than would be produced by an ordinary rumble strip cutter provided with a similar cutting wheel.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus for cutting highway rumble strips comprising,
a vehicle including a supporting framework, a plurality of ground-engaging wheels rotatably mounted on the framework for supporting the vehicle and allowing the vehicle to move along a highway, a cutter supported on the framework for producing a series of spaced apart cuts in the pavement of the highway which together comprise a rumble strip, a means connected to the cutter to raise and lower the cutter into and out of each cut and to periodically impart retrograde motion to the cutter relative to the framework to cause the cutter to temporarily discontinue its forward motion relative to the highway as each cut is made such that the cutter moves relative to the vehicle at substantially the same speed the vehicle moves along the highway but in the opposite direction as each cut is produced to thereby cancel out the forward motion of the vehicle so that the cutter remains generally stationary relative to the path of the vehicle as each cut is produced, whereby the vehicle as a whole moves along the highway without substantially increasing the size of each of the cuts produced by the cutter relative to a cut produced when the vehicle is stationary.
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8. An apparatus for cutting highway rumble strips comprising,
a vehicle including a supporting framework, a plurality of ground-engaging wheels mounted for rotation on the framework for supporting the vehicle and allowing the vehicle to move along a highway, a cutting means supported on the framework for producing a series of spaced apart cuts in the pavement of the highway, an oscillation-imparting drive tube is mounted to revolve upon the framework, a drive assembly is connected between the drive tube and one of the ground-engaging wheels for revolving the drive tube, an offset shaft enclosure is connected to one end of the drive tube, a cutting wheel is mounted for rotation upon the offset shaft enclosure upon an axis that is offset from a center axis of the drive tube, a motive power means is supported upon the framework and a drive means is operatively connected between the motive power means through the drive tube and the offset shaft enclosure to rotate the cutter upon the offset shaft enclosure, whereby the revolution of the enclosure and cutting means imparted thereto by the drive tube periodically imparts retrograde motion to the cutting means relative to the framework for causing the cutting means to temporarily discontinue its forward motion relative to the highway as each cut is made such that the cutting means moves a direction opposite that of the vehicle as each cut is made to thereby cancel out the forward motion of the vehicle so that the cutting means remains substantially stationary relative to the path of the vehicle as each cut is produced.
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10. An apparatus for cutting highway rumble strips comprising,
a vehicle including a supporting framework, a plurality of rotatable ground-engaging wheels mounted on the framework for supporting the vehicle and allowing the vehicle to move along a highway, a pair of cutters mounted upon the vehicle, each cutter is supported on the framework for producing a series of spaced apart cuts in the pavement of the highway, a means connected to each cutter for periodically imparting retrograde motion to the cutter relative to the framework for causing the cutter to temporarily discontinue its forward motion relative to the highway as each cut is made such that the cutter moves relative to the vehicle in the opposite direction from the vehicle as each cut is being made to thereby cancel the forward motion of the vehicle, means for alternately raising the cutters and lowering the cutters into engagement with the pavement and for imparting the retrograde motion to each of the cutters while a cut is being formed, whereby during cutting each cutter moves rearwardly relative to the vehicle at substantially the same speed the vehicle moves along the highway.
Specification