US3801211A

US3801211A - Pavement grooving process and apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3801211A
Application number: US00120636A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Perkins
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-03-03
Filing date: 1971-03-03
Publication date: 1974-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-02

Abstract

Apparatus and method for forming spaced parallel grooves in the surface of newly laid concrete pavement while the concrete is still in plastic condition, characterized by bodily moving over the surface of the plastic concrete pavement a rotating roller having spaced parallel outwardly projecting ribs on its periphery and simultaneously pressing the rotating roller against the upper surface of the pavement to imbed said ribs to their full depth in the pavement and to engage the peripheral surface of the roller with the surface of the pavement.

Description

United States Patent 11 1 Perkins 1 1 PAVEMENT GROOVING PROCESS AND APPARATUS [76] Inventor: Glen E. Perkins, 1428 40th Ave.,

Rock Island, lll. 61207 122 Filed: Mar. 3, 1971 1211 Appl.No.: 120,636

[52] US. Cl. 404/75, 404/89 [51] Int. Cl. E016 11/24 [58] Field of Search 94/45 R, 46, 50 PR, 39, 94/44, 22, 5; 404/75, 89

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 774,005 11/1904 Thies 94/45 R 324,166 8/1885 Riordan I 94/45 R 1,463,979 8/1923 Stubbs 94/24 958,346 5/1910 William son 94/50 PR 3,361,043 1/1968 Beeson 94/39 993,086 5/1911 Malloy 94/45 R 2,252,188 8/1941 Krchbiel 94/45 R 3,382,784 5/1968 Loveland 94/45 R 1 1 Apr. 2, 1974 3,208,361 9/1965 Bidwell 94/45 R 1,764,963 6/1930 Laster 94 50 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 638,497 4/1962 ltaly 94/50 PR Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Gary, .Iuettner, Pigott 8L Cullinan [57] ABSTRACT v 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAVEMENT GROOVING PROCESS AND APPARATUS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In my Pat. Nos. 3,516,339 and 3,516,340, both issued June 23, 1970, I have shown and described methods and apparatus for extruding grooves, either longitudinally or transversely, into newly laid concrete pavement while the concrete is still in plastic condition. As explained in said patents, longitudinal grooving appears at present to offer significant advantages on highways, especially on curves and at exit and entrance ramps, while transverse grooving offers significant advantages at landing and take-off areas of airport runways. Experimentation and experience will ultimately determine the relative advantages of transverse and longitudinal grooving for respective purposes, but it appears now that both types of grooving will be employed to improve both highways and airport runways.

In my co-pending application, Ser. No. 212,256 filed Dec. 27, 1972 I have further shown novel apparatus specifically, recommended for extruding transverse grooves into pavement.

The present invention is directed to another method and means for forming grooves in the surface of plastic concrete pavement, either transversely or longitudinally thereof, which is not reliant on the extrusion principle of concrete finishing, but instead involves manipulation or working of the concrete surface. Specifically, the invention is directed to a ribbed rotating roller, operating somewhat in the fashion of a tube finisher, for working the grooves into the pavement and at the same time maintaining smoothness of the surface of the pavement between the grooves.

Particular features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description, as taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ribbed roller assembly suitable for use in practice of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of a concrete paving machine equipped with the assembly of FIG. 1 as the final concrete working instrumentality thereon for forming grooves longitudinally of pavement;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic side view of a machine equipped with said roller for forming grooves transversely of freshly laid concrete;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentarycross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 4, taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of concrete pavement grooved pursuant to this invention.

DESCRIPTION For the purpose of acquainting those skilled in the art with the manner of making and using my invention, I have shown and will now describe illustrative embodiments of pavement grooving apparatus presently regarded to be the best mode of carrying the invention into practice.

As shown in FIG. 1, the principal instrumentality required for practice of this invention is a cylindrical roller 10 having spaced parallel outwardly projecting ribs 12 on the periphery thereof. The ribs 12 constitute the means for forming grooves in the freshly laid concrete and they therefore are of the size and cross-sectional configuration and mounted at the spacings specified by the highway engineers for the grooves to be formed in the pavement. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a currently recommended form of groove is of V-shape, about it: inch wide and 54; inch deep, and located on 34 inch centers. To form such grooves, the roll 10 would be equipped with circumferential ribs 12 each of V- shape with a base inch wide and a depth of 6 inch and mounted on 54 inch centers. Other forms and sizes of ribs on other centers could be used with equal facility, provided the ribs are of shallow depth, i.e., the depth specified for the grooves to be formed in the pavement.

The roller 10 may be any roller suitable for the purpose and/or conventional in the art, such for example as the roll of tube finishers currently available on the market, which generally range about 8 inches in diameter. The roll is rotatably supported at its ends by bearings 14, and a chain or gear drive 16 or the like is provided for positively rotating the roll from a prime mover 18, such as an electric or hydraulic motor. The direction and speed of roll rotation may be varied within the limits well established in the art for tube finishers, but I recommend that the roll be rotated in such direction that the forward surface thereof (in the direction of bodily movement of the roll) moves upward, and that the peripheral speed of roll rotation be in the order of 40-50 fpm. However, the prime mover 18 is preferably reversibleand of variable speed to accommodate rotation of the roll in such manner as will produce the best results taking into consideration the nature and condition of the paving material and the speed of bodily transport of the roll.

The roll is equipped with appropriate means, such as hydraulic cylinders 20 connected to each of the bear-v ings 14, for raising and lowering the roll, preferably independently at each end thereof, for removing the roll from and engaging it with the surface of the freshly laid pavement and for pressing the roll onto the pavement with the force necessary to imbed each rib 12 to its full depth in the pavement and to bring the intervening areas of the peripheral surface of the roll into engagement with the pavement surface.

In use, the roll is carried by the cylinders 20 on a suitable carriage capable of straddling the freshly laid concrete, such for example as the carriage of the concrete finishers previously referred to, or transverse brooming or surface texturing machines available on the market, or similar carriages specifically designed for the purpose, or even directly on a paving machine. The roll is rotated as aforesaid, then gradually engaged with the fresh concrete pavement and forced downwardly until the ribs 12 are fully imbedded in the concrete and the peripheral surface of the roll is brought into engagement with the surface 'of the concrete. Thereafter, by means of the mounting carriage above referred to, the roll (while rotating) is bodily transported over the concrete whereupon the ribs displace the concrete and form grooves therein and the peripheral surface of the roll between the ribs contacts and continually smooths the outer surface of the concrete between the grooves. When operated independently of a paving machine, a suitable speed of bodily transport for the roll could be in the order of 15 fpm. With the roll rotating upwardly at its forward side, in terms of the direction of bodily movememt thereofia small mound or head of plastic concrete will be developed immediately forwardly of the roll, as is conventional with roll finishers, which will aid in promoting a finely finished pavement surface meeting all requirements of modern highways and airport runways, which surface will have grooves formed therein precisely to specifications, all as illustrated in FIG. 6.

As above stated, the roll may be utilized to form grooves either transversely or longitudinally of the pavement. When used to form transverse grooves, the roll is preferably mounted on a carriage independent of the paving machine, but when used to form longitudinal grooves it may be mounted either on an independent carriage or directly on the paving machine. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, I have shown by way of example a pair of the rolls 10 mounted on a slip form paver for forming longitudinal grooves in the pavement as it is being laid.

The machine illustrated in FIG. 2 comprises a slip form road building or paving machine such as that more fully described in U. S. Pat. No. 2,976,783 and which can be employed with the device of the present invention, namely the grooving roll 10, as its final element. Although not restricted thereto, since my grooving roll can be operatively associated with other paving machines or adapted for use as a separate device, the paving machine of FIG. 2 comprises a frame portion 22 supporting driving mechanism characterized by a primary power source, such as an internal combustion engine 24, for directly driving the operative components of the machine, or for driving a generator to supply power for electric motors used to operate the machine components, or for driving a hydraulic pump to supply pressure fluid to hydraulic motors used to operate the machine components.

The frame portion 22 comprises spaced transverse and spaced longitudinal beams joined to opposite slip forms 26 about which are disposed articulated tracks 28 engaged at their opposite ends about sprocket wheels 30 driven from the engine 24, and which may bedriven jointly or separately as is well known. At the forward portion of frame 22, a transverse beam and strike-off blade assembly 32 is carried with first levels off Portland cement concrete deposited thereat during forward movement of the machine to form a relatively flat mass of concrete having a width equal to the distance between the slip forms 26 and a height which may be substantially flush with the upper edges of said slip forms. The resulting road mass is then densitied by vibrator means 34 which imparts vibrations to the concrete of relatively high frequency and relatively small amplitude. The vibration densifies the road material mass, and if the mass comprises concrete, fines are brought to the surface of the mass and the heavier aggregate is submerged. Thus, the upper surface of the road material mass is brought to a consistency which permits it to be smoothed.

An extrusion meter 36 extending transversely between the slip forms 26 is positioned beneath the frame 12 rearwardly of the vibrator, the same comprising a generally L-shaped plate having a long horizontal leg adapted to be compressively engaged with the surface of the concrete mass. The extrusion meter 36 is adjustably but rigidly connected to the machine frame 22 so as to bring the total mass of the machine to bear on the concrete through the extrusion meter, thereby to compact and smooth the concrete to essentially the final dimensions of the pavement. The leading edge of the meter is raised slightly whereby the vibrated road material will pass with ease beneath the meter and thereafter be compressively extruded to final dimensions.

Disposed rearwardly of the extrusion meter 36 and extending transversely of the machine between the slip forms 26 is the groove forming means of this invention. In this embodiment, wherein the paving machine is required to impart a variety of surface configurations to the pavement, e.g., sloping in either direction or centrally crowned as illustrated in FIG. 3, I prefer to provide two of the rolls 10, one for each half of the pavement being laid, so as to facilitate disposition of the rolls in positions complemental to the surface configuration of the pavement. The rolls are suitably mounted in end to end relation, and each is affixed to the machine frame 22 by at least the respective pair of hydraulic cylinders 20. Also, the bearings 14 are preferably suitably mounted in vertical guides provided on the frame 22 to afford a rigid mounting for the rolls, yet one that accomodates independent vertical adjustment of each end of each roll so that each roll can be positioned parallel to the respective underlying surface portion of the pavement. As previously described, each roll is equipped with a drive assembly 'l6l8 for rotating the roll as the machine moves forwardly and transports the roll bodily with it, whereby longitudinal grooves are formed in the pavement as the pavement is being laid. Specifically, by virtue of the rolls, there is a simultaneous grooving of the pavement in a longitudinal direction while still in plastic condition and a smoothing of the surfaces between the resulting grooves. Although the grooving rolls 10 have been shown as extending over substantially the full width of the paving machine between the slip forms 26, it will be appreciated that they may be disposed over only a portion thereof such as adjacent the outer edges'or in any other suitable patterndesired or required.

Also, the embodiment shown, by virtue of its hydraulic actuating jacks or cylinders 20, lends itself to groov-v ing selected longitudinal portions of a roadway, especially potentially dangerous areas such as curves, intersections, interchanges, etc., while-leaving the rest of the roadway ungrooved. Specifically, the rolls 10 could normally be elevated above the concrete surface and be pressed downwardly, selectively, by said jacks into contact with said surface only in those areas where grooving was specified by the highway engineers.

Should a different form of groove be desired than the one now deemed advantageous, it is apparent that the ribs 12 on the surface of the roll 10 can be of different cross-sectional configuration, different size and different spacing to attain whatever grooving may be specified.

As previously noted, it is preferable that the grooving means be mounted on or comprise the final concrete molding element of the paving apparatus. However, this does not eliminate or render ineffectual conventional texturing or other final surface treatment of the concrete, such as a light burlap or broom drag.-

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, I have illustrated the transverse grooving machine which may for example be used in conjunction with a slip form paving machine such as shown in FIG. 2 hereof or as described in detail in said Pat. No. 2,976,783; the illustrated machine riding on the grade behind the paver and providing a groove forming roll as essentially the final concrete molding element of the assembly. Alternatively, the machine could be one devised to ride on side forms in trailing relation to a form type paver.

The machine of FIG. 4 comprises a frame portion 42 supporting the prime mover 43 for variable speed drive of the machine as a whole and the grooving roll 10. The frame portion 42 comprises spaced transverse and longitudinal beams joined to opposite slip forms about which are disposed articulated tracks, which may be driven jointly or separately, as previously explained in conjunction with HQ. 2.

Adjacent the front and rear thereof, the frame 42 includes parallel transverse beams 44, such as channels or the like, which serve as rails for the opposite ends of the longitudinally extending, transversely reciprocable carriage 45, which may also be in the form of a channel. Mounted adjacent the ends of each beam 44 are a pair of sprockets 46 over which a chain 47 is trained, the chain being connected at its opposite ends to the carriage 45. One sprocket of each pair is coupled to the prime mover, by a reversible mechanical clutch (not shown) in the case of a mechanical drive, or is provided with a reversible hydraulic or electric motor (not shown) in the case of a hydraulic or electric drive, which is under the control of the machine operator whereby the chain may be reversely driven to reciprocate the carriage 45 transversely of the machine frame, and thus transversely of the pavement laid by the immediately preceding paver.

Mounted on and depending from adjacent the front and rear ends of the carriage 45 are a pair of hydraulic or pnuematic cylinders which mount the tube 10 to the carriage and which are adapted to raise the lower the same into and out of contact with the still plastic or moldable concrete. As with the structure of FIG. 2, the roll bearings 14 are preferably slidably carried in vertical guides provided on the carriage 45.

In use, the machine trails immediately behind the paver so as to work on the concrete while it is still plastic. Assuming the carriage 45 to be located adjacent one end of the tracks 44 and the grooving roll 10 to be raised, the machine is moved to a preselected location along the pavement and is stopped. The operator then actuates the cylinders 20 to drive the roll 10 downwardly to force the ribs 12 to their full depth into the concrete adjacent one edge of the pavement, and to bring the peripheral-surface of the roll into contacting engagement with the surface of the pavement, whereupon the roll may be rotated by its own drive train. The drive sprockets 46 are then coupled to the drive means therefor to cause the chain 47 to pull the carriage 45, cylinders 20 and roll 10 transversely across the pavement to adjacent the opposite edge thereof, whereby grooves are formed in the pavement and the surface of the pavement between the grooves is smoothed leave a smooth but grooved pavement surface as shown in FIG. 6.

When the carriage 45 reaches the end of the tracks 44 opposite the starting position, the operator moves the roll 10 clear of the pavement, advances the machine the length of the roll 10 (which may for example be about 8 to 16 or even 24 feet) and then repeats the above described operation, except for rotating and moving the roll in the opposite direction, thereby to groove the next succeeding longitudinal segment of the pavement. The roll preferably is manipulated at the ends of its path of movement in essentially the same manner as described in detail for a transversely operating extrusion meter in my co-pending application Ser. No. 212,256.

The grooves may extend over the full width of the pavement as above described, or may, by appropriate operation of the chain drive 46-47 and/or the cylinders 20, extend over only a selected portion or one or more selected transverse areas of the pavement surface. Similarly, by controlling the sequential advancing movements of the machine, the entirety or only selected longitudinal areas of the pavement may be grooved. Thus, potentially dangerous areas such as landing and takeoff areas, turns, curves, intersections, interchanges, etc. can be protectively grooved while leaving the rest of the pavement ungrooved. Specifically, the roll 10 could normally be elevated above the concrete surface and be pressed downwardly by the cylinders or jacks 20 only in those areas where grooving was specified.

Thus, it is to be appreciated that the present invention provides highly practical and effective means for forming grooves in the surfaces of pavements while they are still in plastic condition, and that the objects and advantages of the invention are attained in a convenient and economical manner.

While I have shown and described what I regard to be the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a series of spaced parallel grooves in the surface of newly laid concrete pavement while the concrete is in plastic condition which comprises progressively moving over the pavement a rotating roller having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, rotating said roller concentrically about its axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement, and simultaneously adjustably pressing the roller against the upper surface of the pavement to embed said circular ribs to their full depth in the pavement and to engage the intervening cylindrical areas of the peripheral surface of said roller against the surface of the pavement.

2. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising an elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressing said roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition to embed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage the intervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the roller against the pavement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically about its axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while the same is so pressed onto the pavement, and means for simultaneously bodily moving said roller over the pavement.

3. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising a plurality of rollers each mounted to extend transversely over respective transverse areas of the pavement for forming grooves longitudinally in selected areas of the pavement, each roller comprising an elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having aperipheral surface concentric with its axis-of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressing said rollers onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition to embed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage the intervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the rollers against the pavement surface, means for rotating said rollers concentrically about their axes in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotation of the rollers relative to the pavement while the same are so pressed onto the pavement, and means for simultaneously bodily moving said rollers over the pavement.

4. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising an elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressing said roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition to embed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage the intervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the rolleragainst the pavement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically about its axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while the same is so pressed onto the pavement, means for simultaneously bodily moving said roller over the pavement, said roller being mounted to extend longitudinally of the pavement for forming grooves transversely in the pavement, means for engaging said roller with the pavement adjacent one longitudinal edge of the pavement, for moving said roller bodily across the pavement transversely thereof and for removing said roller from the pavement adjacent the other longitudinal edge thereof, and means mounting said roller for physical transport longitudinally of the pavement when the roller has been removed from the pavement.

Claims

3. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising a plurality of rollers each mounted to extend transversely over respective transverse areas of the pavement for forming grooves longitudinally in selected areas of the pavement, each roller comprising an elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressing said rollers onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition to embed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage the intervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the rollers against the pavement surface, means for rotating said rollers concentrically about their axes in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotation of the rollers relative to the pavement while the same are so pressed onto the pavement, and means for simultaneously bodily moving said rollers over the pavement.

4. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising an elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressing said roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition to embed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage the intervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the roller against the pAvement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically about its axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while the same is so pressed onto the pavement, means for simultaneously bodily moving said roller over the pavement, said roller being mounted to extend longitudinally of the pavement for forming grooves transversely in the pavement, means for engaging said roller with the pavement adjacent one longitudinal edge of the pavement, for moving said roller bodily across the pavement transversely thereof and for removing said roller from the pavement adjacent the other longitudinal edge thereof, and means mounting said roller for physical transport longitudinally of the pavement when the roller has been removed from the pavement.