Precision placement spreader
First Claim
1. A truck having a hopper for holding particulate materials selected from the group consisting of sand, salt, gravel, cinders, granular chemicals, and mixtures thereof, a conveying arrangement, a material spreader, and a control mechanism to regulate the dispensement of said particulate materials, said hopper including a rear wall having a rear opening and a feedgate, said rear opening allowing said particulate materials to be dispensed from said hopper, said feedgate at least partially regulating said particulate materials through said rear opening, said conveying arrangement mounted in said hopper and including a material mover to move said particulate materials toward said rear opening, said material spreader positioned rearwardly of said hopper, said material spreader receiving particulate materials dispensed from said hopper and spreading said particulate materials onto a ground surface, said control mechanism including an arrangement to regulate the rate said particulate materials are ejected from said material spreader, said material spreader including a material guider to guide the trajectory of at least a majority of said particulate materials received from said hopper in a direction substantially rearwardly of the direction of forward movement of said truck, said material guider including a varying width passageway and positioned in a substantially fixed position when guiding the trajectory of said materials, said control mechanism including a velocity sensor and velocity controller, said velocity sensor detecting the velocity of said truck and sending a signal indicative of said truck velocity to said velocity controller, said velocity controller sending a signal to said material spreader to control said velocity of said particulate materials ejected from said material spreader.
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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.
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Citations
49 Claims
- 1. A truck having a hopper for holding particulate materials selected from the group consisting of sand, salt, gravel, cinders, granular chemicals, and mixtures thereof, a conveying arrangement, a material spreader, and a control mechanism to regulate the dispensement of said particulate materials, said hopper including a rear wall having a rear opening and a feedgate, said rear opening allowing said particulate materials to be dispensed from said hopper, said feedgate at least partially regulating said particulate materials through said rear opening, said conveying arrangement mounted in said hopper and including a material mover to move said particulate materials toward said rear opening, said material spreader positioned rearwardly of said hopper, said material spreader receiving particulate materials dispensed from said hopper and spreading said particulate materials onto a ground surface, said control mechanism including an arrangement to regulate the rate said particulate materials are ejected from said material spreader, said material spreader including a material guider to guide the trajectory of at least a majority of said particulate materials received from said hopper in a direction substantially rearwardly of the direction of forward movement of said truck, said material guider including a varying width passageway and positioned in a substantially fixed position when guiding the trajectory of said materials, said control mechanism including a velocity sensor and velocity controller, said velocity sensor detecting the velocity of said truck and sending a signal indicative of said truck velocity to said velocity controller, said velocity controller sending a signal to said material spreader to control said velocity of said particulate materials ejected from said material spreader.
- 20. A truck having a hopper for holding particulate materials selected from the group consisting of sand, salt, gravel, cinders, granular chemicals, and mixtures thereof, a conveying arrangement, a material spreader, and a control mechanism to regulate the dispensement of said particulate materials, said hopper including a wall opening to allow said particulate materials to be dispensed from said hopper, said conveyor arrangement moving said particulate materials in said hopper toward said wall opening, said material spreader receiving said particulate materials passing through said wall opening and spreading said particulate materials onto a ground surface, said control mechanism at least partially regulating the speed said conveying arrangement moves said particulate materials toward said wall opening and at least partially regulating the velocity said particulate materials are ejected from said material spreader, said material spreader including a material guider to guide the trajectory of at least a majority of said particulate materials in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of said truck, said material guider including a varying width passageway, said material guider positionable in a plurality of locations on said truck to deposit said particulate material at differing locations about said truck, said control mechanism including a velocity sensor and velocity controller, said velocity sensor detecting the velocity of said truck and sending a signal indicative of said truck velocity to said velocity controller, said velocity controller receiving said signal from said velocity sensor and sending a signal to said material spreader to control the velocity said particulate materials are ejected from said material spreader.
- 42. A material spreader mountable to a dump body, said material spreader spreading at least a majority of particulate materials received from said dump body generally rearwardly of the dump body and onto a ground surface, said particulate material selected from the group consisting of sand, salt, gravel, cinders, granular chemicals, and mixtures thereof, said material spreader comprising a material expelling mechanism, an expelling controller and a material guider, said material expelling mechanism directing said particulate materials into said material guider, said expelling controller controlling the velocity of said particulate materials directed by said material expelling mechanism into said material guider, said material guider mounted in a substantially fixed position relative to said expelling mechanism, said material guider including a front end and a dispensement end, said front end receiving said particulate materials directed from said material expelling mechanism, said dispensement end depositing at least a majority of said particulate materials onto said ground surface, said dispensement end including an end section having a substantially uniform cross-sectional shape.
Specification