Precision placement spreader
First Claim
1. In a truck having a hopper for holding materials, a conveyor arrangement and a material spreader, said hopper including a base lying in a base plane, two side walls, and a rear wall, said rear wall including a rear opening and a feedgate, said rear opening positioned at least closely adjacent to said base plane to allow said materials to be dispensed from said hopper, said feedgate adapted to regulate said dispensement of said materials through said rear opening, said conveyor arrangement mounted in said hopper base and in longitudinal alignment with said rear opening and including a material mover, said material spreader positioned rearwardly of said hopper and adapted to receive materials dispensed from said hopper and spread said received materials onto a ground surface, the improvement comprising a control mechanism to regulate the speed said conveyor arrangement conveys said materials to said rear opening and to regulate the velocity said materials are ejected from said material spreader, said material spreader including a material guider to guide the trajectory of substantially all said materials received from said hopper in a direction substantially opposite the direction of forward movement of said truck, and a mechanism to move said material guider into and out of engagement with said materials, said control mechanism including a velocity sensor and velocity controller, said velocity sensor adapted to detect the velocity of said truck in said forward direction and to send a signal indicative of said truck velocity to said velocity controller, said velocity controller adapted to receive said signal from said velocity sensor and send a signal to said conveyor arrangement and said material spreader which is dependent on said signal received from said velocity sensor, said signal to said conveyor arrangement controlling said speed of said material mover, said signal to said material spreader controlling said velocity of said materials ejected from said material spreader to obtain a material velocity relative to said ground surface of substantially zero when said truck is moving in said forward direction.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A truck having a conveyor arrangement and a material spreader and a control mechanism to regulate the speed said conveyor arrangement conveys materials and to regulate the velocity the materials are ejected from said material spreader. The material spreader includes a material guider to guide the trajectory of substantially all of the materials in a direction substantially opposite the direction of forward movement of the truck. The control mechanism also includes a velocity sensor adapted to detect the velocity of the truck and to send a signal indicative of the truck velocity to a velocity controller. The velocity controller sends a signal to the conveyor arrangement and the material spreader which is dependent on the truck velocity to control the conveyor arrangement and the velocity of the materials ejected from the material spreader to obtain a material velocity relative to the ground surface of substantially zero when the truck is moving.
64 Citations
51 Claims
- 1. In a truck having a hopper for holding materials, a conveyor arrangement and a material spreader, said hopper including a base lying in a base plane, two side walls, and a rear wall, said rear wall including a rear opening and a feedgate, said rear opening positioned at least closely adjacent to said base plane to allow said materials to be dispensed from said hopper, said feedgate adapted to regulate said dispensement of said materials through said rear opening, said conveyor arrangement mounted in said hopper base and in longitudinal alignment with said rear opening and including a material mover, said material spreader positioned rearwardly of said hopper and adapted to receive materials dispensed from said hopper and spread said received materials onto a ground surface, the improvement comprising a control mechanism to regulate the speed said conveyor arrangement conveys said materials to said rear opening and to regulate the velocity said materials are ejected from said material spreader, said material spreader including a material guider to guide the trajectory of substantially all said materials received from said hopper in a direction substantially opposite the direction of forward movement of said truck, and a mechanism to move said material guider into and out of engagement with said materials, said control mechanism including a velocity sensor and velocity controller, said velocity sensor adapted to detect the velocity of said truck in said forward direction and to send a signal indicative of said truck velocity to said velocity controller, said velocity controller adapted to receive said signal from said velocity sensor and send a signal to said conveyor arrangement and said material spreader which is dependent on said signal received from said velocity sensor, said signal to said conveyor arrangement controlling said speed of said material mover, said signal to said material spreader controlling said velocity of said materials ejected from said material spreader to obtain a material velocity relative to said ground surface of substantially zero when said truck is moving in said forward direction.
- 27. In a truck having a hopper for holding materials, a conveyor arrangement and a material spreader, said hopper including a base and at least one wall, said at least one wall including a wall opening to allow said materials to be dispensed from said hopper, said conveyor arrangement adapted to move said materials in said hopper to said wall opening, said material spreader adapted to receive materials dispensed through said wall opening and spread said materials onto a ground surface, the improvement comprising a control mechanism to regulate the speed said conveyor arrangement conveys said materials to said wall opening and to regulate the velocity said materials are ejected from said material spreader, said material spreader including a material guider to guide the trajectory of substantially all said received materials in a direction substantially opposite the direction of forward movement of said truck, and a mechanism to move said material guider into and out of engagement with said materials, said control mechanism including a velocity sensor and velocity controller, said velocity sensor adapted to detect the velocity of said truck in said forward direction and to send a signal indicative of said truck velocity to said velocity controller, said velocity controller adapted to receive said signal from said velocity sensor and send a signal to said conveyor arrangement and said material spreader which is dependent on said signal received from said velocity sensor, said signal to said conveyor arrangement controlling said speed, said material being conveyed to said wall opening, said signal to said material spreader controlling said velocity of said materials ejected from said material spreader.
- 48. A material spreader adapted to be mounted to a dump body and adapted to receive material from said dump body and to spread said materials onto a ground surface, said material spreader comprising a material projector mechanism, a projector mechanism controller, a material guider, and a mechanism to move said material guider into and out of engagement with said materials from said dump body, said material projector mechanism adapted to project materials received from said dump body toward said material guider, said projector controller adapted to control the velocity of material projected by said material projector mechanism toward said material guider, said material guider including a front end, a dispensement end and a narrowing section positioned between said front end and said dispensement end, said front end adapted to receive materials projected from said material projector mechanism, said narrowing section adapted to narrow the path of said materials passing between said front end and said dispensement end.
Specification