Automotive soil treating machine

• US 6,183,159 B1
• Filed: 07/22/1999
• Issued: 02/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Mizuno, Yoshio, Ito, Nobuo, Kusaki, Takami, Yamamoto, Yasuharu, Sato, Fujio, Hirose, Kiyonobu, Fukuzawa, Hideki, Murai, Toshikazu, Sekino, Satoshi, Miura, Tetsushiro, Hashimoto, Hisayoshi, Nakagiri, Fumiki
• Primary Examiner(s): Lillis, Eileen D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hartmann, Gary S.
• Application Number:
  US09/358,417
• Time in Patent Office: 565 Days
• Field of Search: 404/76, 404/83, 404/90, 404/91, 404/92, 241/101.74
• US Class Current: 404/76
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 5/226 with means for processing the soil, e.g. screening belts, separators; Padding machines
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 7/02 Conveying equipment mounted on a dredger conveyors in general B65G
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 7/06 Delivery chutes or screening plants or mixing plants mounted on dredgers or excavators for back-filling E02F5/226 takes precedence; separating equipment in general B03; delivery chutes in general B65G

Abstract

A vehicular automotive soil treating machine having a main frame structure provided on an automotive drive means to support thereon a soil feeding stage including at least a soil hopper and an additive hopper for feeding soil and an additive soil improving material, a soil processing stage including a soil processing trough which is internally provided with a mixing device for mixing soil and additive material while being transferred from one to the other end of the soil processing trough, and a processed soil discharging stage including a soil discharging conveyer for transferring processed soil of improved quality in a predetermined direction. The soil processing trough is provided with an inlet opening on the upper side of its fore end portion to receive soil and additive material therethrough, and an outlet opening on the bottom side of its rear end portion to discharge processed soil of improved quality toward the discharging conveyer.

Claims

1. An automotive soil treating machine, comprising:

a main frame mounted on a vehicular base carrier;

a first hopper provided on one longitudinal end of said main frame to receive soil to be processed;

a second hopper provided on said main frame in a position forward of said first hopper in a soil processing direction to receive a supply of an additive soil improving material;

a first conveyer provided on said main frame and adapted to receive soil and a soil improving material from said first and second hoppers and to transfer same forward in a longitudinal direction of said main frame;

a soil processing mechanism mounted on said main frame in a position forward of said first conveyer in said soil processing direction, and adapted to receive soil and additive soil improving material from said first and second hoppers and mix said soil and additive soil improving material uniformly with each other while transferring same substantially in a horizontal direction toward the other longitudinal end of said main frame;

a second conveyer provided on said the other longitudinal end of said main frame and adapted to transfer treated soil coming out of said soil processing mechanism further toward a predetermined dumping position; and

a drive mechanism for said soil processing mechanism, supported on said main frame by means of a support member and at a position over said soil processing mechanism.

2. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said first hopper is adapted to receive a supply of processing soil intermittently, and provided with a sieve across a soil inlet opening at a top end thereof and a soil outlet at a lower end extended downward toward a soil transfer surface of said first conveyer.

3. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said second hopper comprises

an additive hopper adapted to hold a predetermined amount of additive soil improving material, and

an additive feeder adapted to feed said additive soil improving material from said additive hopper to said first conveyer.

4. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said first conveyer is provided with a sloped soil transfer surface rising gradually upward toward said soil processing mechanism, and said first hopper is located over an upstream end portion of said soil transfer surface and said second hopper is located over a downstream end portion of said soil transfer surface of said first conveyer.

5. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 4, wherein an upstream end of said first conveyer is located at a level lower than said main frame.

6. An automotive soil treating machine is defined in claim 1, wherein said soil processing mechanism comprises

an elongated soil processing trough mounted on said main frame to extend in the longitudinal direction of the latter, and

a mixing transfer means provided within the soil processing trough and adapted to mix said soil and additive soil improving material uniformly with each other while transferring same toward said the other longitudinal end of said main frame.

7. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 6, wherein said soil processing trough is provided with an inlet opening on an upper side of one longitudinal end portion thereof to receive processing soil and additive soil improving material from said first conveyer, and an outlet opening on a lower side of the other longitudinal end portion and beneath said mixing transfer means to discharge treated soil onto said second conveyer.

8. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 6, wherein said mixing transfer means is constituted by a plural number of paddle mixer assembly units each having a plural number of mixing paddles attached on a rotational shaft in a predetermined pitch, said paddle mixer units being located side by side within said soil processing trough, and rotational shafts of said paddle mixer assembly units being adapted to rotate in an opposite direction relative to an adjacently located paddle assembly unit.

9. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 8, further comprising a rotational drive means for said paddle mixer assembly units, said rotational drive means being provided at a downstream end of said soil processing trough away from said inlet opening.

10. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 8, wherein one of said rotational shafts of said paddle mixer assembly units is driven from a hydraulic motor and rotationally coupled with a rotational shaft or shafts of other rotary paddle assembly unit or units.

11. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 10, wherein said rotational shafts of said paddle mixer assembly units are supported in bearings in front and rear end portions thereof, and said inlet and outlet openings of said soil processing trough are located between said bearings.

12. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 8, wherein said soil processing trough is arranged to have a total length approximately three times as large as an axial pitch of paddles on said rotational shafts of said rotary paddle mixer assembly units.

13. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 12, wherein said paddles are arranged to have a diameter corresponding to ⅓

of said total length of said soil processing trough.

14. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 8, wherein said soil processing trough is provided with a gate member for controlling a soil feed rate therefrom.

15. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 14, wherein said gate member is arranged to cover approximately 20% of a rotational area of said paddle mixer assembly units.

16. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said drive mechanism includes at least an engine and a hydraulic pump, and accommodated within a machine chamber mounted on said support member.

17. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 16, wherein said machine chamber is located to overhang above said second conveyer from a position above said soil processing trough.

18. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said vehicular base carrier is a crawler type vehicle having crawler belts on opposite sides of said main frame.

19. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 18, wherein said first hopper and said soil processing trough are located on opposite sides of a center line connecting centers of said crawler belts, and said second hopper is located approximately on said center line.

20. An automotive soil treating machine, comprising:

a main frame provided on a vehicular base carrier;

a soil hopper provided on said main frame to throw in soil to be treated;

a soil charging conveyer located beneath said soil hopper to receive soil and transfer same onward;

an additive feed unit including an additive hopper and a quantitative feeder and adapted to feed an additive soil improving material onto said conveyer at a controlled feed rate;

a soil processing mechanism mounted on said main frame in association with said soil charging conveyer, and provided with a mixing transfer unit within a soil processing trough, said mixing transfer unit being adapted to mix soil and additive soil improving material uniformly with each other while transferring same substantially horizontally through said soil processing trough;

a soil discharging conveyer provided on said main frame in association with a soil outlet end of said soil processing trough to transfer treated soil onward toward a predetermined discharging point;

a mixing ratio control unit adapted to control a feed rate of said additive soil improving material by said quantitative feeder of said additive feed unit according to a soil feed rate by said soil charging conveyer; and

a drive mechanism for said soil processing mechanism, supported on said main frame by means of a support member and at a position over said soil processing mechanism.

21. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 20, wherein said quantitative feeder includes a rotary quantitative container of a predetermined capacity, and said mixing ratio control unit includes a controller adapted to control a mixing ratio by varying rotational speed of said quantitative container for adjusting the feed rate of said additive soil improving material to said charging conveyer according to a soil feed rate to said charging conveyer.

22. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 21, wherein said controller of said mixing ratio control unit includes a soil feed rate detector provided in association with said soil charging conveyer to measure a soil feed rate to said soil processing trough at a point upstream of a position where said additive soil improving material is fed to said charging conveyer by said additive feed unit.

23. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 22, wherein said soil feed rate detector is adapted to measure a soil feed rate on the basis of an amount of treated soil discharged from said soil processing trough.

24. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 23, wherein said soil feed rate detector is adapted to measure a soil feed rate by way of a soil transfer rate by said mixing transfer unit in said soil processing trough.

25. An automotive soil treating machine as defined in claim 24, wherein said mixing transfer unit is constituted by a plural number of paddle mixer assembly units each having a plural number of mixing paddles attached on a rotational shaft in a predetermined pitch, said paddle mixer units being located side by side within said soil processing trough, and rotational shafts of said paddle mixer assembly units being adapted to rotate in an opposite direction relative to an adjacently located paddle assembly unit, and said soil feed rate detector is adapted to detect a soil feed rate by way of rotational speed of said rotational shafts of said mixing transfer unit.