US1921712A - Road maintenance machine - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet l M Q m w W m 1% H iii W INVENTOR. klv

1 A TTORNEY.

3, 1933- R. L. WARD ROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE v Filed Jan. 30, 1931 Aug. 8, 1933. R. L. WARD ROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE Filed Jan. 30, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 KN x Q @UAN i -z. .1 Q r mm WNYW .1 \Nmv w\ I 1 8% NW KN QM Q N% NW N% INVENTOR.

By e

ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 8, 19 33 UNITED STATES PATENT? OFFICE 1,921,712 ROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE Rufus L. Ward, Irving, Ten.

, Application January so, 1931. Serial No. 512,395

3 Claims. (01. 37-108) I This invention relates to road and highway maintenance machines and it has particular reference to a scarifying and dirt transferring apparatus and the principal object of the invention resides in the provision of a machine of the character specified adapted primarily for removing superfluous dirt from the, surface of a road, preparatory to paving the same or for reducing the surface to a more desirable form without bringing up a fresh surface and thereby loosening the soil to any considerable extent.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a machine for road maintenance having provisions for removing or transferring the superfluous material to a more desirable location for the proper gauging of a road bed, that is to say, the material may be removed from the sides or drain to the crown without manual effort and thus produce a desirable surface devoid of ripples, holes and other defacements in the road and further provides for more proficient drainage and consequently mak ing for greater permanence thereof.

Yet another and important object of the inventionresides in the provision of a machine of the character specified whose construction permits of its GffiClBIlt, use in spreading dirt or gravel on new paving in the process of curing the same, which affords a desirable substitute for the conventional methods in which the material is spread by manual labor.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of a machine capable of preparing new roads and highways by reason of the improvements for primarily breaking the surface and the cooperative parts which effectively disposed of the superfluous soil and convey it to a point for removal or depositing the same out of the operative rangeof the scarifying blades or scraper blades, as the case may be.

Broadly, the invention comprehends the pro-v vision of a machine capable of attaining the aforesaid and other objects through the medium of a combination of associated and cooperative elements including a conveyer operating to remove the soil broken by the scarifying blades and an elevator cooperating to receive material from the conveyor and deliver the same to a point remote from the point of operations; these together with means for raising and lowering the elevator, adjustments for gauging the depth to which the scarifying blades penetrate the soil and suitable driving mechanism for operating the elements mentioned and their associated parts.

With the foregoing objects as paramount, the" i invention has particular reference to its salient features of construction and arran ement of parts which will become manifest as the description proceeds taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a plan view.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view.

Figure 3 is an end elevation, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view of the scarifying unit. H

Continuing more in detail with the invention, 1 designates a suitable frame, comprised preferably of channel iron and in support of its for ward end, there is provided wheels 2 mounted upon an ax1e3, which is pivotally joined to the frame 1, V of the machine to which may be connected a suitable draft implement.

With reference to Figure 2, it will be noted that the scarifying unit consists of two curved beams 5, suspended at their inoperative ends, by means of arms 6, the upper ends of which are secured at a while the lower ends thereof pivotally receive the ends of the beams 5 at b.

A draft hitch ,4 is provided in front In support of this arrangement, oblique arms '7 i join the transverse pivotal shaft b at one end and have their opposite ends rigidly connected to the frame 1. Thus the beams 5 are capable of adjustment relative to the surface at their operativeends and to these ends is applied a plate 8 carrying a series of spaced scarifying" teeth 9. These teeth, as apparent in the figures are directed downwardly at a slight incline so that they might better penetrate the surface and the position of the plate 8 is such that the soil disturbed by. the teeth 9 will be elevated 13 immediately above the scarifying teeth 9 and which arm is rigidly joined to a transverse shaft 14. On one side of the frame 1, there is affixed to the protruding end of shaft 14 an upwardly extending arm 15 and to which is connected a rod or metal strap 16," which latter extends rearwardly and is joined't'o a lever 17. On the opposite end of the shaft 14, outsideof the frame 1 is a link 18, which joins a'similar link 19, which latter is connected to one beam 5' of the scarifier plate. A link 20 serves the same purpose on the opposite side of the scarifier plate, as shown in Figure 1. By moving the lever 1'7 rearwardly, a pull upon the rod 16 is brought about to rotate the shaft 14 through the medium of the arm 15 to which the said rod 16 is connected and through the cooperation of links 18 and 19, the points of the scarifying teeth 9 are urged into the ground.

It has been-stated previously that the conveyor 10 receives material which has been lifted by the scarifying plate 8. In this connection it is pointed out that while the roller 11 is an idle roller, the belt 10 is driven from its upper end through the medium of roller 21, which may be seen in Figure l, which roller has a protruding shaft 22, upon which is mounted a beveled gear 23. A similar gear 24 meshes with the gear 23 and is mounted upon a shaft 25, disposed at right angles to the axis of shaft 22 and upon the opposite end of shaft 25 is mounted a sprocket wheel 26. 1

' A sprocket chain 27 surrounds this sprocket wheel 26 and passing upwardly, it surrounds a similar sprocket wheel 28, mounted upon the main drive shaft 29 of the motor, situated in the housing 30, mounted upon'a subframe 31. An inter-engaging clutch 32 provides a control of the conveyor drive described.

Itwill be noted that the rear end of the machine is of substantially greater width than the foremost end thereof, hence the wheels 33 are spaced apart and the frame 1' is so constructed .as to accommodate a platform 34, upon which the operator may stand while attending the machine. At the right of the operators position at the machine, there is provided an elevator, which is comprised primarily of a lower guide rail 35 and which guide rail is normally stationary. The frame or trough 36 of the elevator is pivotally joined at 37 to the guide rail 35 and is therefore capable of vertical movement relative to the ground and the manner in which such movement is obtained will be presently described.

Large sprocket wheels 38 are mounted upon shafts 39, whose ends are journaled in the rearmost portions of the frame 1 and these sprocket wheels engage the lower leads of endless sprocket chains 46 which pass over sprocket wheels 41 mounted upon a shaft 42, at the extreme outer end of the elevator and may be seen in Figures 1 and 3. These chains 4c serve a peculiar purpose'in that they afford a means to which a series of spaced blades 43 may be secured to elevate material deposited thereon by the conveyor belt 10. 7

'It will be particularly noted in Figure 1 that the lower lead of the chains 40 operate over a suitable floor 44 and since'the chain moves in the direction shown by the arrows in Figure' 3, the blades 43 are inverted during their movement toward theouter end of the elevator and thus engage and move the material upward toward the discharge end of the elevator. It is important to note in Figure 1 that the floor 44 of the elevator is obliquely cut away at 45. This is done in order that the dirt will fall in increasingvolume as itapproaches the extreme outer end of the elevator, which is a pr requisite in distributing the dirt onto the crown of a road, to build the same up in accordance with specifications and'is a most desirable feature of the present invention.

.,With reference to the means by which the elevator is driven, it will be noted that a stub shaft 46 is journaled in a standard 47, which standard likewise affords a pivotal bearing for upwardly extending arms 48. There are two sprocket wheels carried by stub shaft 46 and while these wheels are unnumbered, a sprocket chain 49 surrounds the largest of these sprockets, as well as a sprocket wheel 50, mounted upon the main drive shaft 29 of the motor, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. A chain 51 surrounds the other sprocket wheel on the stub shaft 46 as well as a sprocket wheel 52, mounted upon a stub shaft 53, between the upper ends of the upwardly extending arms 48. This stub shaft 53 likewise carries two sprocket wheels and the other of these sprocket wheels receives the chain 54, which chain imparts rotation to a sprocket wheel 55, mounted upon the shaft 42 at the extreme outer end of the elevator.

According to the foregoing arrangement of elements, operation of the motor will actuate the chain 49 to rotate stub shaft 46, mounted in the standard 4'7 and which shaft will in turn actute chain 51, surrounding sprocket wheel 52. Stub shaft 53 is thus rotated, which in turn rotates the companion sprocket on the said stub shaft, about which chain 54 operates, thus through the medium of chain 54, sprocket 55 is rotated to thereby rotate the shaft 42 at the extreme outer of the elevator. Sprockets 41 are thereby rotated, which will bring about proper actuation of the elevator by moving chains 40 in the manner heretofore mentioned. 1 To govern the operation aforesaid, a friction clutch 56 is provided on shaft 42 and has a lever 5'? in attendance thereto. In'addition to this clutch 57, a similar clutch 58 is provided on the main drive shaft29 and has a lever and fork mechanism 59, which may be more clearly seen in Figure 1. From this description it is clearly apparent how the motor ac'tuates the conveyor 10, which primarily receives the upturned soil, and causes the same to deposit the soil onto the elevator floor 44 and it further clearly describes the manner in which the chains 40, bearing the blades 43, move the soil upwardly to the cutaway portion 45 of the elevator floor 44 and evenly deposit the soil at a point remote from'the point of operation, to complete the work of the machine. It is apparent from the foregoing, without specific mention'of 'minor mechanical details that the described operation is rendered possible by the combinationof named elements and their cooperation in the order described.

Regarding the means by which the elevator is raised and lowered, reference is primarily made to Figure l, in which is shown a shaft 60, terminating in a crank 61, adjacent the operators position'on the platform .34. ,This shaft 60 is transverse with respect to the axis of the elevator and a cable 63 is wound thereon at 62 and which cable extends over one of two similar sheaves 64, journalled for rotary movement'in a fork 65, the latter being integral with an upwardly extending yoke 66. Braces 67 extend upwardly in an oblique plane and their ends are joined to the fork at a common point at 68,

shown in Figures 1 and 3. Another yoke 691s about shaft 60, it is then passed over sheave 64, around sheave 69a mounted in the yoke 69 near the discharge end of the elevator, thence returning around the companion sheave 64 in fork 65 and back again to a point where it is joined at 69b to the yoke. 69 near the discharge end of the elevator.

The leverage thus obtained erator to raise and lower the elevator manually with comparative ease by revolving the shaft 60 by manipulating the crank 61. In so doing, one end of the cable 63 is wound upon shaft 60, pulling upon the upper lead of cable 63, and since its other end is fast with the yoke 69 a pull is imparted upon the said yoke, which brings the end of the elevator upward.

Since the description of the several elements of which the combination is constituted embodies to a considerable degree thespecific operation the parts and their relationship, it is not considered necessary to enter into a detailed explanation of the operation of the machine described, but only to point out briefly the major functions thereof.

In the preferred operation, the machine is drawn along a road or highway in such manner that the elevator will distributedirt with increasing quantity from a point adjacent the edge of the road or highway to the crown. The lever 17 is actuated to allow the scarifying teeth 9 to penetrate the surface of the road or any part of the soil adjacent the edge and during the while, the conveyor 10 is receiving the upturned soil and conveying the same upwardly, depositing it onto the floor 44 of the elevator, immediately under the main frame 1 at its rearmost end. The endless chains 40, carrying the blades 43 upward and depositing the material through the opening in the floor 44 provided by obliquely cutting the floor in the manner previously described.

Manifestly, the construction shown and described is capable of considerable modification,

and it is understood that the machine is adapted for use in connection with any work of which it is capable and not particularly confined to road maintenance projects and certain changes and modifications may be made from time to time as are considered within the scope and meaning of what is herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a road making and maintenance machine the combination including a main frame and a subframe, a motor carried by said subframe, a series of earth cutting elements suspended by said mainframe and capable of adjustment relative to the earth, an endless conenables the opveyor receiving material dislodged by said earth cutting elements, a second endless conveyor operating at-right angles to said first conveyor and whose lower lead is arranged to receive material conveyed by said first conveyor, an

inclined trough pivotally secured to said main frame and extending outwardly and upwardly therefrom, means for adjusting the angularity of said trough and arranged to sustain material moved by said second conveyor whereby the same may be deposited at a point removed from said machine, and means for driving said conveyor from said motor.

2. In a road making and maintenance machine, the combination including a main frame and a subframe, a motor carried by said subframe, a series of earth cutting elements collectively suspended beneath said main frame, means for adjusting the position of said earth cutting elements relative to the earth at a point removed from their point of engagement with the earth, a conveyor for receiving material dislodged from said cutting elements, an elevator, said elevator comprising a second conveyor operating at right angles to said first conveyor anda trough within which the lower lead of said second conveyor moves, said trough being pivotally connected to said main frame and camain frame, an elevator, said elevator comprising a trough pivoted to said main frame and extending outwardly. and upwardly with respect to said main frame and having a floor whose 1 V outer end is obliquely cut away and an'endless conveyor whose lower lead travels in said trough, means for receiving and transferring ,material dislodged by said .earth cutting elements 'to a point for discharge onto the lower lead of said elevator conveyor whereby said material will be moved along said trough to be dischargedat a point removed from said machine and means for adjusting the drive of said elevator conveyor in accordance with the movements of said trough. v

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