US3490539A

US3490539A - Surface preparation and grading machine including box planer assembly and grade/slope control mechanism therefor

Info

Publication number: US3490539A
Application number: US568179A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marvin L Hilmes; Harold M Hilmes; Ronald W Hilmes; Loren D Hilmes
Original assignee: HAROLD M HILMES; LOREN D HILMES; MARVIN L HILMES; RONALD W HILMES
Current assignee: HAROLD M HILMES; LOREN D HILMES; MARVIN L HILMES; RONALD W HILMES
Priority date: 1966-07-27
Filing date: 1966-07-27
Publication date: 1970-01-20
Anticipated expiration: 1987-01-20

Description

Jan. 20, 1970 1 H s ET AL 3,490,539

SURFACE PREPARATION AND GRADING MACHINE INCLUDING BOX PLANER ASSEMBLY AND GRADE/SLOPE CONTROL MECHANISM THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1966 MARVIN L HHLMES HAROLD M. HILMES RONALD W. HILMES LOREN D. i-HLMES INVENTORS ATTORNE YS Jan. 20, 1970 H|LME$ ET AL 3,490,539

SURFACE PREPARATION AND GRADING MACHINE INCLUDING BOX PLANER ASSEMBLY AND GRADE/SLOPE CGNTROL MECHANISM THEREFOR Filed July 27, 1966 3 Sheets5heet 2 MARVIN L4 HILMES HAROLD M. HILMES RONALD W. HILMES LOREN D. HILMES Jan. 20, 1970 M. L. HILMES ET L 3,490,539

SURFACE PREPARATION AND GRADING MACHINE INCLUDING BOX PLANER ASSEMBLY AND GRADE/SLOPE CONTROL MECHANISM THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 27, 1966 FIG 4 Lil] FIG

MARVIN L. HILMES HAROLD M HI LMES RONALD W HlLMES LOREN D. HILMES FNVENTORS ATTORNEYS United States Patent U.S. CI. 172-45 17 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A surface finishing assembly for use on a wheelmounted grading machine. The surface finishing assembly includes an open-front box assembly having a planing blade secured to a rear portion thereof. An auger is dis-- posed forward of the planing blade and is reversible to distribute material accumulated in the box. A second auger is forward of the rear auger and removes excess material through an opening in the side of the box, which opening is controlled by an hydraulically operated gate. A forward blade is disposed at the forward end of the box structure. The box structure is suspended from the frame of the carrying vehicle by two hydraulic rams disposed at either end of the rear of the box. Control means vertically adjust one of the rams to maintain the blade at a predetermined grade datum as determined by a reference wire placed alongside the surface to be graded. A control means is also provided for maintaining the position of the other end of the blade at a predetermined transverse slope.

The present invention relates to earth surface preparation and grading apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for planing and distributing material, usually in a single pass, to prepare a finished pad or surface to the precise grade and transverse slope. Such surfaces or pads are used as subgrades, finished road surfaces or surface pads for the laying of ditches and the like. The present invention makes it unnecessary to rough grade with several passes of a scraper blade or the like and then to finish by fine grading and spreading windrowed material with multiple passes which has heretofore been necessary. The present invention also provides precise control of the scraping and planing equipment, thereby removing guesswork in establishing a finished grade and transverse slope.

In the past when preparing an earth pad or subgrade it has been the custom to first rough grade with a scraper or other earth moving equipment to bring the surface within close range of the finished grade desired and to then make several passes with surface planing or grading equipment capable of relatively fine adjustment. Such a subgrade or pad could only be at best a rough approximation of the desired grade and slope and was usually obtained either by the sighting of an experienced operator or an observer. Such operations are both costly and inadequate for certain purposes such as preparing pads for installation of irrigation ditches where the finished grade is extremely critical for the proper water flow, and other installations Where it may be necessary to obtain absolutely level or precisely graded surfaces within very fine tolerances.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved surface finishing machine or grader which is capable of simultaneously accomplishing finished grading by selective distribution and spreading or wasting of material and which is controlled for precise grade and transverse slope of the surface being prepared.

3,490,539 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 Another object of the present invention is to provide a surface finishing machine of the character described operable by a single operator which is capable of preparing a surface in a single pass by simultaneous rough and fine grading.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a surface finishing machine of the character described wherein the distributing and wasting of excess material is accomplished selectively at the will of the operator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an earth finishing machine of the character described wherein the opposite sides of the tool are independently controlled to obtain precise transverse slope and grade control.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification and claims and from the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall device;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective showing the relationship between the vehicle main frame and the earth finishing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the earth finishing apparatus; 3 FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the device shown in FIG.

; and

FIG. 5 is a partial cross Section taken along lines 55 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional road grader having steerable front wheels 1, drive wheels 2 and an arched vehicle main frame 3 which provides the support for the tool assembly indicated generally at 4. It will be understood of course that the machine includes a prime mover and an hydraulic pressure system all of which is conventional to many types of road grading apparatus. The grader. including the main frame. support wheels, cab and controls for the vehicle may be of any standard well known design.

Referring to FIG. 2, the vehicle main frame 3 is in the form of an arch which overlies and provides a vertical support for the tool assembly 4 as will be presently described. The steerable wheels 1 provide the ground support for the forward end of the main frame, all of which is conventional in the prior art. Carried beneath the main frame 3 and connected thereto at its forward end by a universal joint 5 is a draft bar 6 which, in this case, is bifurcated, having the legs 7 and 8 connected by the cross bar 9 at the rear end. The legs 7 and 8 and the cross bar 9 serve to support a conventional internally geared circle 10 which enables the tool attached thereto to be rotated about a vertical axis if desired. The circle 10 is conventional with road graders and is supported from the members 7 and 8 and the cross bar 9 by means of shoes 11 and 12 carried on the cross beam 9 and usually a shoe (not shown) carried by the plate 13 located between the legs 7 and 8 of the draft bar, As is conventional, the shoes 11 and 12 include pinion gears in mesh with the internal gear teeth of. the circle 10 and the circle is rotated about the vertical axis by means of a drive pinion 14 which may be driven by the worm 15 through a universally connected drive shaft 16 shown in FIG. 3.

The rear portion of the circle 10 is provided with downwardly directed brackets or

arms

17 and 18 to which is pivoted the transverse beam 19 welded or otherwise connected to a coventional curved scraper blade 20. Each end of the blade 20 is provided with a side panel 21 which may be welded or otherwise fixed thereto. The panels 21 and the blade 20 form a box in effect which is open at the forward end. The upper front portions of the panels 21 are connected by a second transverse beam 22 which is in turn suspended from the circle 10 by means of the hydraulic cylinder 23 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The cylinder 23 may be a conventional double acting hydraulic cylinder which enables the entire tool assembly to be pivoted about the pivot pins 24 on the

brackets

17 and 18.

The blade 20 accomplishes the finished planing while a second blade 25, located forward of the blade 20 and extending between the side blades 21, provides a rough grading means. The blade may be in fixed position with respect to the panels 21 or may be vertically adjustable.

It may be seen from the structure thus far described that the entire tool assembly depends upon the circle 10 for verical support which in turn depends from the draft bars 7 and 8 by means of the shoes 11 and 12. The entire draw bar assembly is vertically supported by means of the transverse beam 26 mounted on the vehicle main frame 3. The beam 26 may be pivotally mounted for movement about the vertical piot pin 27 to better accommodate rotation of the circle 10 if desired. The beam 26 may be held stationary in any position of rotation about the pin 27 by a double acting ram 260 connected between the beam and the frame 3 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The beam 26 is connected to the tool assembly by means of the

hydraulic rams

28 and 29 attached to the ends of the beam 26 and connected adjacent the opposite ends of the rear blade 20. The

rams

28 and 29 have their cylinders connected to the beam 26 by means of universals 30 and the piston rods are conneced to the ends of the ransverse beam 19 by means of the universals 31. The opposite ends of the

blades

20 and 25 may be inde pendently raised and lowered by virtue of the universal pivotal connection 5 at the forward end of the draw bars 6. An important feature of the present invention is the feature of being able to directly control each end of the blade means independently for vertical elevation.

Mounted directly in front and slightly above the blade 20 is a helical auger 32 with its shaft 33 journaled at one end in one of the side plates 21, as shown in FIG. 4, and the opposite end journaled for rotation by the bracket 34 positioned in an opening 35 in the other plate 21, as shown in FIG. 2. The auger 32 is driven by means of the chain drive 36 which passes about a drive pinion 37 on the shaft 33 and a drive gear 38 on the drive shaft 39 of a reversible rotary hydraulic motor 40. Thus the auger 32 may be driven in either direction to distribute excess material evenly in front of the blade 20 as the vehicle advances. In order to remove or waste excess material, the opening 35 is provided with closure means, such as a slide gate 41, which may be selectively operated by the double acting hydraulic cylinder 42 at the will of the operator. FIG. 2 shows the gate 41 in its open position to enable material to be wasted out of one side of the box by the auger. It will also be noted that the plate 21 which mounts the gate 41, as shown in FIG. 2, may may be provided with a curved rear portion 43 for pushing the removal material clear of the side of the box as the machine advances.

A second auger 43 is mounted forward of the front blade 25 and has its shaft 44 journaled for rotation in the side plates 21. The auger 43 is driven by means of the chain 45 trained about the drive pinion 46 and a drive gear 47 on the drive shaft 48 of a second reversible rotary hydraulic motor 49. Thus the two

angers

32 and 43 are independently controlled and each one is reversible in its direction of rotation to move excess dirt from one side to the other of the box in order to evenly distribute excess mtaerial transversely within the box. It is preferable to have the forward auger 43 of a greater diameter in order to quickly distribute the excess material from one side to the other if necessary before the material flows rearwardly to the auger 32.

The control means for preparing a surface to a predetermined grade and transverse slope involves two sensing and control units. The first unit senses a predetermined grade datum and controls one side of the blade 20, through the ram 28, and a second unit senses the transverse slope of the blade 20 and controls the opposite end thereof, through the ram 29, to maintain a constant slop on the blade. A datum wire or grade wire 50 is first set to represent the finished grade for the pad. A signal is produced by a grade sensing unit 51 mounted on the vertical post 52 carried by an outrigger 53 fixed to the brackets 54 extending upwardly from the beam 19 as illustrated most clearly in FIG. 2. The sensing unit 51 has a sensing element 55 which rides on top of the wire 50 in order to reflect the grade information. The grade sensing unit 51 may be any known prior art device, the operation of which is well understood by those skilled in the art, and which functions to create a signal so as to control the hydraulic circuit for operating the ram 28. The right end of the blade 20 as viewed in FIG. 2 is in this manner held at the proper grade elevation and this elevation is adjusted as the grade datum Wire 50 dictates.

In order to maintain the blade 20 in either a level position or at a given constant transverse slope, a slope sensing unit 56, which may be of the dampened pendulum type, is mounted on the transverse beam 22. The unit functions to produce a signal which controls the hydraulic circuit to operate the ram 29 and thus maintain the transverse beam 22 and consequently the blade 20 at a constant slope or in the level position as desired. The details and operation of the unit 56 form no part of the present invention and any known prior art unit which is capable of performing the function is sufficient. Thus the right hand end of the blade 20 is kept at the proper elevation while the left hand end of the blade is raised and lowered by the ram 29 to maintain a constant slope or level attitude of the blade regardless of the elevation.

In practice, a surface to he finished graded is first cleared by conventional earth moving equipment if necessary and the grade wire 50 set at the proper grade by means of grade stakes to provide the datum from which the finished grade is to be taken. It is then merely necessary to use the surface grading equipment of the present invention which simultaneously provides rough and fine grading of the finished surface according to the grade controlled by the sensing unit 51 and the transverse slope controlled by the sensing unit 56. The

augers

32 and 43 may be operated independently when desired by the operator so as to keep an even distribution of the excess material within the box as the machine advances. The quantity of excess material carried within the box may be controlled by selectively opening the slide gate 41 and discharging material when necessary. The waste material is then pushed to the side by the curved portion 43 of the blade 21. If desired, the transverse angle at which the blade is carried in a horizontal plane may be adjusted by rotating the circle 10 to pivot the entire tool assembly about a vertical axis.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A surface preparation and grading machine comprising: a main frame and mobile means supporting said frame at the front and rear ends thereof, a generally transverse surface planing blade, vertical panel members connected to the opposite ends of said blade and extending forwardly, said blade and said panels forming an open front box structure, means to support said box structure from said main frame, an auger disposed forwardly of said blade and journaled for rotation between said panels, selectively operable reversible drive means for said auger, a discharge opening on one of said panels near one end of the auger, closure means for said discharge opening, and means to selectively open and close said closure means to selectively waste excess material from said box structure.

2. The device according to claim 1 including; a second planing blade extending between said panel members forward of said first planing blade, said second blade being so formed as to allow free flow of material thereover toward said first blade, 3. second auger disposed forwardly of said second blade and journaled for rotation by said panels, and selectively operable reversible drive means for said second auger.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein said means to support said box structure comprises; draft bar means connected for universal pivoting at its forward end to the front end of said main frame, a transverse support beam carried on said main frame, means connecting said box structure to said draft bar means and first and second extensible rams connected between the respective ends of said support beam and said blade, whereby the opposite ends of said blade and said box structure may be independently adjusted for elevation.

4. The device according to claim 3 including first sensing and control means for sensing a preset grade datum and controlling one of said extensible rams and a second sensing and control means for sensing the transverse slope of said blade and controlling said second ram to maintain a preset transverse slope.

5. The device according to claim 4 wherein said means connecting said box structure to said draft bar means comprises; a rotatable ring, means to rotate said ring about a vertical axis on said draft bar means, a transverse cross beam connected between the forward ends of said side plates, means pivotally connecting said blade to said ring for rotation about a horizontal axis and extensible ram means connected between said ring and the mid portion of said cross beam.

6. The device according to claim 5 wherein said transverse support beam is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis on said main frame.

7. The device according to claim 1 including control means for vertically adjusting the opposite ends of said box structure independently responsive to a predetermined grade and transverse slope datum.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein said closure means is a slidable gate.

9. In combination, a main frame movably supported to follow the ground surface, an open-front box assembly, a planing blade carried rigidly secured to and forming a part of said box assembly, means suspending said box assembly from said main frame, such suspending means including first hydraulically powered means for vertically adjusting one side of said box assembly relative to said main frame, second hydraulically powered means for vertically adjusting the opposite side of said box assembly relative to said main frame, reversible rear auger means carried in said box assembly forward of said planing blade for transversely distributing material therein, reversible forward auger means spaced forward of said rear auger means, means for driving said rear auger means means for driving said forward auger means independently of the drive means for said rear auger means, grade datum reference means at only one side of said main frame and establishing a predetermined grade datum generally independently of the grade of the ground surface, first control means including grade variation sensing means fixed relative to said planing blade for sensing the variation in height of said grade datum reference means above said ground surface and means for actuating said first hydraulically powered means in response to a variation detected by said grade variation sensing means, and second control means including slope sensing means fixed relative to said planing blade and means for actuating said second hydraulically powered means in response to a variation in slope detected by said slope sensing means for adjusting and maintaining the transverse slope of said blade at a predetermined slope.

10. The combination defined by claim 9, wherein said grade variation sensing means is located substantially laterally of said planing blade.

11. The combination defined by claim 10, wherein said grade datum reference means is of a single Wire type.

12. The combination defined by claim 9, wherein said slope sensing means includes pendulum means for sensing transverse slope variations.

13. The apparatus defined by claim 9, further including a front blade secured to said box assembly and having an upper edge of substantially lesser height than the diameter of said forward auger means to permit material flow thereover toward said planing blade.

14. In combination, a main frame movably supported to follow the ground surface, an open-front box assembly, a planing blade carried by said box assembly, means to support said box assembly from said main frame, reversible rear auger means carried in said box assembly forward of said planing blade for transversely distributing material therein, grade datum reference means establishing a predetermined grade datum generally independently of the grade of the ground surface, first control means for vertically adjusting said planing blade relative to the ground surface in response to a variation in height between said grade datum reference means and the ground surface, second control means for adjusting and maintaining the transverse slope of said blade at a predetermined slope in response to changes in the height of said planing blade, reversible forward auger means located forwardly of said rear auger means to transversely distribute material in either direction, a second blade between said forward and rear auger means and of substantially lesser height than the diameter of said forward auger means so as to allow flow of material thereover toward said planing blade.

15. A surface preparation and grading apparatus designed to pass over an unfinished surface and leave a finished surface having a precise transverse slope and a precise grade relative to preset grade datum means disposed laterally of the path of travel of the apparatus, said apparatus comprising: a main frame movably supported by front wheel means engaging the unfinished surface and rear Wheel means engaging the finished surface; a surface engaging, open front box structure adjustably sup ported by said main frame, said box structure including a side discharge opening and selectively operable gate means to selectively discharge accumulated surface ma terial from said box structure; planing blade means forming a rear part of said box structure and reversible auger means carried in said box structure for transversely distributing surface material therein; slope control means carried by said main frame for adjusting and maintaining the slope attitude of said planing blade and consequently the slope of the finished surface at a desired transverse slope independently of the grade thereof; and grade control means sensing the location of and responsive to said preset grade datum means for automatically maintaining the grade attitude of said planing blade.

16. A surface finishing assembly adapted for use on a grading machine or the like having a wheel-supported main frame carrying an open-front box structure having a planing blade secured to a rear portion thereof, reversible rear auger means carried in said box structure forwardly of said planing blade, reversible forward auger means spaced forward of said rear auger means, means for driving said forward auger means independently of the drive for said rear auger means, grade control means adapted for suspending said box structure from said main frame and adjusting the vertical height of an end of said planing blade in response to variations in a predetermined grade datum reference, and slope control means adapted for suspending said box structure from said main frame and adjusting the vertical height of the opposite end of said planing blade for maintaining said planning blade in a predetermined transverse slope, said slope control means including a slope sensing unit mounted in fixed relation to the said planing blade.

17. The assembly of claim 16, wherein said slope sensing unit is mounted in fixed relation to said box structure substantially near-center thereof, considered laterally of the direction of travel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Rich.

Gardner et al 37108 Bowen et a1. 37108 Colee.

Fisher 172-4.5 10 Bell 37108 Thomas 172-4.5

8 3,346,976 10/1967 Curlett et a1 172-45 2,873,541 2/1959 Eliason 371D8 FOREIGN PATENTS 641,387 5/1962 Canada.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner E. H. EICKHOLT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.