GB1570839A - Devices for adjusting the working width of road making machines - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DEVICES FOR ADJUSTING THE WORKING WIDTH OF ROAD MAKING MACHINES (71) I, KLAUS-GERD HOES,a Ger- man citizen trading as the firm KLAUS GERD HOES, of 93, Ammerländer Strasse, 2906 Wardenburg/ Westerholt, Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particula-rly described in and by the following statement;- The present invention relates to devices for adjusting the working width of road making machines.

Such devices are known which have a main bar with an elongate front wall. For adjustment of the working width, laterally extendable adjuster bars may be arranged behind the main bar, with telescope-like extendable guide tubes being provided which are- supported on the main bar, for guiding the adjus terbars.

A device of the kind referred to is already known from the German Offenlegungsschrift No. 24 48 665 (see U.K.

Patent Specification 770 1,491 777). In the known device, tubes serving as guides are rigidly arranged on the main bar and support rods or support tubes which are flush therewith and are attached to the adjuster bars are displaceably guided therein. In order to obtain an increase of the working width of the main bar, the adjuster bars are laterally extended, the support tubes or support rods being pulled thereby out of the guide tubes.

The known construction has the disadvantage that the support rods cannot be pulled too far out of the guide tubes, because reliable guidance is no longer ensured as soon as the support rods are guided by a guide surface which then amounts td only approximately one third of the length of the guide tubes.

Therefore the full length of the support rods or support tubes and of the guide tubes on the main bar cannot be utilised for the adjustment of the working width of the mounting bar.

Thus as can be seen in Figure 3 othe Offenlegunsschrift, the guide tubes 8 and 9 are welded to inner side walls 10 and 1-i of a main beam. If the supporting rods 14 and 15 -of one of-the adJusting beams are pulled out of the guide' tubes by more thån two-tiids of their iength, the guiding effect iseno loiiger adequate.

According to theinvention, -there ispro- vided a device for adjusting the working width of a road making machine, the device comprising a main bar having an- elongate front wall, a pair of adjuster bars disposed rearwardly of the front wall of the main bar, each adjuster bar being associated with a respective lateral end of the main bar and being reciprocably movable laterally away from and toward the said associated end of the main bar so as to serve as an-extension.for the main bar and to cooperate therewith for adjusting the working width, at least one pair of guide tubes each of which is associated.

with an opposite end of the main bar and in each of which one of said adjuster bars is at least partially and telescopically received and supported therein for - reciprocal sliding movement and the telescopic extension and- retraction from one end thereof, and mounted ing means for- slidably mounting the guide tubes on the main bar for lateral reciprocal movement in the-same direction of extension and retraction- of the adjuster bar supported therein, the mounting means being coupled between the main bar and an end of the tubes remote from the said one end thereof, the slidable guide tubes cooperating with the adjuster bars and the main bar for adjusting the working width.

-In a preferred device, adjustment of the working width becomes possible over a rela tively large range.

It is possible- by means of the present device to enlarge the width adjustment range in that e.g. when a displacement point of the telescope sections is reached at which a secure guidance is no longer ensured, the entire guide tube can be moved still further relative to the main bar. The diplacement relative to the main bar increases the adjustment range.

Moreover the movable connection between the guide tube and the main bar has the further advantage that the extension possibilities of the telescopable sections of the guide tubes need not be fully exploited in every case, whereby the guidance by the guide tubes becomes considerably more rigid and secure.

A preferred construction is one wherein the device includes an additional pair of the guide tubes, wherein the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar are disposed parallel to one another, wherein the mounting means includes a common base plate for each of the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar which is fixed to said remote end of the tubes and the slide-bed-like plate guides mounted on the main bar which slidably support the common base plates and extend in the same direction of extension and retraction as the adjuster bar supported in the guide tubes coupled thereto and wherein the main bar includes two side walls each having slide bearings, each of which slidably support the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar.

In order to guide an end of each adjuster bar facing the main bar guide, guide members can be provided which are displaceable in slide-bed-like guides of the main bar. The slide-bed-like guides of the base plate of the guide tubes and of the end of each adjuster bar facing the main bar, may be constructed as guide grooves formed by spaced-apart guide rails. The guide rails may advantageously be provided with play-adjusting elements for the purpose of compensating manufacturing and assembly tolerances.

Thereby, and adjustment even during the later production employment of the bar is rendered possible, when a reliable guidance appears to be no longer ensured owing to wear effects. The play-adjusting elements may be constructed as clamping members which are adjustable by means of screws.

The guidance of the adjuster bars at the main bar may be improved further. To this end, the device can be one wherein the main bar has a generally hollow upper head portion having a forward end wall and a rearward end wall on which the guide rails are mounted, wherein the adjuster bars each have an upper head section having a forward end and a rearward end on which the guide members are provided and wherein the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar are at least partially disposed within the hollow upper head section of the main bar, one of which is adjacent to the forward end wall thereof.

This construction of the mounting bar has the advantage that the main bar and the adjuster bars are arranged relatively close together. Owing to the forwardly extending head sections of the main bar as well as the adjuster bar, the guide tubes are likewise disposed advantageously at a large spacing from each other, whereby tilting moments about the longitudinal axis of the mounting bar, which may possibly occur and which may occur e.g. when the ground is uneven, cannot lead to twisting. The main bar together with its adjuster bars is grouped together to form a relatively strong mounting bar, wherein the adjuster bars are guided so securely that, upon enlargement of the working width, no disadvantages need be expected in respect of the Ievel control of the road coverings to be assembled.

For adjusting the working width or for the displacement of the adjuster bars, displacer cylinders operable by means of pressure means may be provided, the pistons of which may engage, for instance, at the adjuster bar.

A so-called double acting cylinder may be employed in this case; however, alternatively, separate cylinders may be used respectively for extending and retracting the adjuster bars.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view from above of one half of a preferred device ; and Figure 2 is a side view of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 illustrates one half of a mounting bar in a view from above. It consists of a main bar 1 on which a hydraulic cylinder 2 is supported having a piston rod 3 by means of which an adjuster bar 4 can be pushed laterally out of the main bar. An outer side wall 5 of the adjuster bar 4 has support tubes 6 and 6a attached thereto which may be pulled out of guide tubes 7 and 7a in a telescope-like manner when the adjuster bar is displaced relatively to the main bar 1 by means of the hydraulic cylinder 2 with the piston 3. The ends of the guide tubes 7 and 7a are connected together by means of a common base plate 8. This base plate is movably guided in the main bar 1 so that the guide tubes themselves can be displaced together with the adjuster bar 4 also for adjusting the working width. A side wall 9 of the main bar is provided with slide bearings 10 and 10a supporting the guide tubes 7 and 7a. The end of the adjuster bar facing the main bar has an inner side wall 11 and is likewise guided with respect to the main bar 1 by means of corresponding guide elements.

Figure 2 illustrates a side view of the mounting bar according to Figure 1. Similar construction components are provided with the same reference numerals. It is shown that the main bar 1 comprises a generally hollow, rearwardly-projecting head portion and that also the adjuster bar 4 comprises a projecting head portion and that also the adjuster bar 4 comprises a projecting head portion which is extended nearly to the forward longitudinal wall 12 of the main bar. The head portions of the adjuster bar 4 and the main bar 1 overlap each other, slide rails 13, 13a, 14, 14a and 15, 15a extending in the longitudinal direction of the bars and serving as guide elements being arranged at their respective outer ends.

Whereas the adjuster bar is always guided between the slide rails 13, 14 and 13a, 14a respectively, guidance of the base plate 8 is effected between the slide rails 14 and 15 or 14a and 15a, respectively.

In order to be able to adjust play between the slide rails and to ensure accurate guidance even after wear, the slide rails 13 and 15, or 13a and 15a, respectively, are adjustable by means of clamping screws 16 in a horizontal as well as in a vertical direction.

The lower mounting surfaces of the bars are denoted by 17 and 18, associated tamping blades being additionally marked by 19 and 20.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A device for adjusting the working width of a road making machine, the device comprising a main bar having an elongate front wall, a pair of adjuster bars disposed rearwardly of the front wall of the main bar, each adjuster bar being associated with a respective lateral end of the main bar and being reciprocably movable laterally away from and toward the said associated end of the main bar so as to serve as an extension for the main bar and to cooperate therewith for adjusting the working width, at least one pair of guide tubes each of which is associated with an opposite end of the main bar and in each of which one of said adjuster bars is at least partially and telescopically received and supported therein for reciprocal sliding movement and telescopic extension and retraction from one end thereof, and mounting means for slidably mounting the guide tubes on the main bar for lateral reciprocal movement in the same direction of extension and retraction of the adjuster bar supported therein, the mounting means being coupled between the main bar and an end of the tubes remote from the said one end thereof, the slidable guide tubes cooperating with the adjuster bars and the main bar for adjusting the working width.

2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the device includes an additional pair of the guide tubes, wherein the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar are disposed parallel to one another, wherein the mounting means includes a common base plate for each of the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar which is fixed to the said remote end of the tubes and slide-bed-like plate guides mounted on the main bar which slidably support the common base plates and extend in the same direction of extension and retraction as the adjuster bar supported in the guide tubes coupled thereto and wherein the main bar includes two side walls each having slide bearings, each of which slidably support the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar.

3. A device according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the adjuster bars include guide members and the main bar has slide bed-like guides in which the guide members are displaceable.

4. A device according to Claim 3, wherein the slide bed guides in which the guide members are displaceable comprise spaced-apart guide rails.

5. A device according to Claim 4, additionally including play-adjusting means for adjusting the position of the guide rails.

6. A device according to Claim 5, wherein the play-adjusting means includes adjustable clamping screws which support the rails on the main bars.

7. A device according to any of Claims 4 to 6, wherein the main bar has a generally hollow upper head portion having a forward end wall and a rearward end wall on which the guide rails are mounted, wherein the adjuster bars each have an upper head section having a forward end and a rearward end on which the guide members are provided and wherein the guide tubes associated with the same end of the main bar are at least partially disposed within the hollow upper head section of the main bar, one of which is adjacent to the forward end wall thereof and the other of which is adjacent to the rearward end thereof.

8. A device according to any preceding claim, additionally including at least one displacement cylinder operable by pressure means coupled between the main bar and each of the adjuster bars.

9. A device for adjusting the working width of a road making machine, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A road making machine including a device as claimed in any one of the preceding

Claims (1)

1. claims.