GB2281719A

GB2281719A - Road surfacing vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2281719A
Application number: GB9416212A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William George Lupton
Original assignee: ROTA PIC Ltd
Current assignee: ROTA PIC Ltd
Priority date: 1993-09-14
Filing date: 1994-08-11
Publication date: 1995-03-15
Also published as: GB9318983D0; GB9416212D0

Abstract

A single axle trailer 10 is provided with a hopper 12 for road surfacing material, the contents of the hopper being heated by the combustion gases produced by a burner 62 extending along the length of the hopper. The combustion gases through front and rear ducts (72a, b, figure 1) to flow over the top of the e.g bituminous material in the hopper as indicated by arrows 78. Discharge of the material is through outlets in the base of the hopper, which have discharge control gates (50), 52 to selectively allow discharge from front and rear discharge sections (40, 42). <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements Relating to Vehicles For Use in Road Working Operations This invention relates to a vehicle for use in road working operations, and in particular concerns a vehicle which is provided with a body defining a hopper for containing road surfacing material. The road surfacing material preferably will be of a type which is applied to the road surface whilst hot, and then is spread and rolled in order to complete a road surfacing operation.

The vehicle typically will be for use in connection with patching or repairing road surfaces involving the application of a relatively small amount of the surfacing material for example to a patch recess or the surface of a trench which has previously been cut in the road or pavement.

An object of the invention is to provide a small, versatile vehicle which can be readily utilised for the aforesaid purpose, and such a vehicle is the subject of the present invention. It does in fact have a number of aspects which are usable individually, or together, and in accordance with the first aspect of the invention the vehicle is a trailer vehicle and its hopper contains means whereby road surfacing material contained therein can be heated or kept warm by heating means embodied in the vehicle.

Such heating means typically comprises a burner and ducting or cavities or channels adapted to house and control the flow of the products of combustion from the burner, the said channels, passages and the like being located so as to be contactable with the road surfacing material contained in the hopper for the heating of same. The trailer vehicle may comprise a wheeled single axle arrangement which supports the hopper, and at one end of the hopper there may be a tow bar adapting the trailer for connection to a towing vehicle.

At the base of the hopper, there may be gate means covering outlet aperture means in the hopper base, said gate means being selectively operable in order to control discharge of hot material from the trailer directly onto the road surface.

Typically, there may be two of said outlet means located in front of and behind the axle respectively, and each selectively openable by its own gate means.

The gate means may be operable manually.

The burner preferably is housed in a central manifold extending fore and aft of the interior of the hopper, and from this manifold may extend a funnel through which exhaust gases can pass to discharge aperture means at the top of the funnel. From the discharge aperture means, the exhaust gases may spill over and disperse across the top surface of the road surfacing material to keep the top of same warm.

The hopper preferably has a lid which is selectively openable, to control the discharge of the exhaust gases from the hopper.

Such a vehicle is extremely adaptable and useful in road patching and trench surfacing operations where only small quantities of the heated road surfacing material are required. The batch of material in the vehicle can be kept warm by the heating means, and the hot road surfacing material can be selectively applied over an appropriate patch by control of the appropriate gate means when the vehicle has been positioned correctly in relation to the patch.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein; Fig. 1 is a side view of a vehicle according to the present invention; and Fig. 2 is a end view of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, a trailer vehicle 10 comprises a body in the form of a hopper 12 which, as shown in Fig. 2 is of V-shape and has sloping sides 14 and 16 leading to a discharge region 18.

The hopper is provided with a lid structure 20 formed by two panels 22 and 24 which are mutually upwardly inclined towards a central ridge section 26 which defines a vent 28 having a deflector plate 30 for a purpose to be explained.

Each roof section 22, 24 has a hingeable portion 32, 34 which can be hinged upwardly as indicated by arrows 36, 38 to open the central region of the roof for the loading of the interior of the hopper with the road surfacing material which it is designed to carry.

At the lower end the discharge region 18 is split into a forward discharge section 40 and a rear discharge section 42, these sections straddling the vehicle axle 44 at the ends of which are road engaging wheels 46, 48.

Each of the sections 40, 42 is open at the lower end to define a discharge outlet, but that outlet can be covered selectively by means of a closure gate 50, 52 which is of the curved configuration shown, and has segmental end plates 50A, 50B, 52A, 52B which are mounted for pivotal movement about a common axis 54, and each of the closure gates 50, 52 is connected to an operator handle 56, 58 by which the gate can be swung as shown in Fig. 2 between a closed position (full lines) and an open position (dotted lines).

In the open position, the hot road surfacing material can drop from the discharge opening onto the road surface 60, as will be clearly understood.

The interior of the hopper may be split into two respective compartments for containing different types of road surfacing material e.g. coarse and fine, and the respective compartments may be fore and aft of the axle 44 so that the respective materials can be discharged through the respective openings covered by gates 50 and 52 as required.

The hopper as also shown is provided with a means whereby the material contained therein can be heated and/or kept warm, and such heating means comprises a gas burner 62 which extends for the length of the hopper from the front 64 to the rear 66, and the gas burner is designed to have a flame 68 along the length thereof. The burner is contained in a housing 69 into which air can be drawn through a manifold to provide appropriate combustion, and the products of combustion as indicated by arrows 70 pass up through front and rear ducts 72A, 72B in the hopper and each leads to a distribution head 74A, 74B by which the exhaust gases pass through outlets 76A, 76B and are distributed as indicated by arrows 78 over the top surface of the contained bitumous material. The gases eventually escape under the deflector plate 30 as shown by arrow 80 and into the atmosphere.

In the example shown, a heated hopper in mobile form is shown. The hopper may be single or twin compartment providing for manual control discharge of the road surfacing material. If the hopper is a twin compartment unit, care will have to be taken to ensure controlled discharge from the hopper to keep the trailer in reasonable balance.

The road surfacing material is charged into the hopper by opening the pivotal lid portions 32 and 34, or indeed the entire lid portions 22 and 24 may be adapted to be opened for this purpose.

The bituminous material is supported in the hopper by the side plates 14 and 16 and ends 64 and 66 which preferably are fully insulated with rockwool or similar insulation material.

In the arrangement illustrated the hopper is shown as being carried on the axle 44 via suspension springs 82 and 84, which is the preferred construction.

The trailer is also suitably provided with a draw bar 86 to enable it to be connected to and towed by a prime mover vehicle, and the draw bar 86 may be adapted so as to be adjustable in height.

Any suitable arrangement may be provided for the induction of air to support combustion, but it is preferred that there should be air inlets at opposite ends of the housing 69 whereby air can be drawn into the housing to support the combustion.

Reference numeral 88 indicates how a partition may be utilized to split the hopper into two sections for carrying respective types of surfacing material.

Means (such as legs) may be provided to keep the trailer stable, and upright, when it is not connected to a trailing vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicle for use in road working operations, wherein the vehicle is a wheeled trailer vehicle having a hopper and means whereby road surfacing material in the hopper can be heated or kept warm.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating means comprises a burner and ducting or cavities or channels adapted to house and control the flow of the products of combustion from the burner, the said channels, passages and the like being located so as to be contactable with the road surfacing material contained in the hopper for the heating of same.

3. A vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the burner is housed in a central manifold extending fore and aft of the interior of the hopper.

4. A vehicle according to claim 3, wherein there are funnel passages through which exhaust gases can pass, said funnel passages extending from the manifold and respectively lying at opposite ends of the hopper.

5. A vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the funnel passages have discharge aperture means from which the exhaust gases may spill over and disperse across the top surface of the road surfacing material to keep the top of same warm.

6. A vehicle according to any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the hopper has a lid which is selectively openable, to control the discharge of exhaust gases from the hopper.

7. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the trailer vehicle comprises a wheeled single axle arrangement which supports the hopper.

8. A vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the hopper has a tow bar at one end adapting the trailer for connection to a towing vehicle.

9. A vehicle according to any preceding claim including gate means covering outlet aperture means in the hopper base, said gate means being selectively operable in order to control discharge of hot material from the trailer directly onto the road surface.

10. A vehicle according to claim 9, wherein there are two of said outlet means located in front of and behind the axle respectively.

11. A vehicle according to claim 10, wherein each said outlet means as selectively openable by its own gate means.

12. A vehicle according to claim 5, 10 or 11, wherein the or each gate means is operable manually.

13. A vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the said outlet means of each of them, lies, in a fore and aft direction, between the supporting wheels 9 of the trailer.