US3905587A

US3905587A - Mobile asphalt plant

Info

Publication number: US3905587A
Application number: US498593A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marvin B Preeman
Original assignee: Stansteel Corp
Current assignee: GREEN'S STEEL Co; Stansteel Corp
Priority date: 1974-08-19
Filing date: 1974-08-19
Publication date: 1975-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-16

Abstract

A mobile asphalt plant, or the like, comprising: an elongated mobile chassis having a transverse vehicular passageway therethrough at one end; a drum-type mixer, for mixing aggregates and liquid asphalt, mounted on and extending longitudinally of the chassis, the mixer having inlet means, for the materials to be mixed therein, adjacent the other end of the chassis, and having an outlet adjacent the passageway; a holding bin carried by the chassis at the vehicular-passageway end thereof and movable vertically between a lower position within the passageway and an upper position above the passageway; means for raising and lowering the holding bin between its two positions; and an elevator pivotally mounted on the chassis for movement between a generally horizontal retracted position and an upright extended position, the elevator, when in its extended position, connecting the mixer outlet to the holding bin. The holding bin comprises a lower, downwardly convergent, frusto-conical portion and a cylindrical upper portion in telescopic relationship, such portions being relatively contracted for transport and relatively extended when the plant is in operation.

Description

United States Patent Preeman Sept. 16, 1975 l l MOBILE ASPHALT PLANT [57] ABSTRACT lnvemori Marvin Preeman, L05 Angel, A mobile asphalt plant, or the like, comprising: an

Calif. elongated mobile chassis having a transverse vehicular [73] Assignec: Stansteel Corporation, Los Angeles, passageway thfirpethrough at one end; drum'type Calif mixer, for mixing aggregates and liquid asphalt,

mounted on and extending longitudinally of the chas- Filedi 1974 sis, the mixer having inlet means, for the materials to 21 1 Appl 498,593 be mixed therein, adjacent the other end of the chassis, and having an outlet adjacent the passageway; a

holding bin carried by the chassis at the vehicular- U.S. passageway end thereof and movable vertically be- [51] Int. Cl. 328C 1/22 tween 3 l wer osition within the passageway and an [58] Field of Search l. 259/ 159 R, I59 A, 157, upper ition above the passageway; means f i 259/158, 160, 1655 i 176, 177 ing and lowering the holding bin between its two posi- 177 A tions; and an elevator pivotally mounted on the chassis for movement between a generally horizontal rel l References Cited tracted position and an upright extended position, the

UNITED STATES PATENTS elevator, when in its extended position, connecting the 2,805,052 9/1957 Prceman 259/159 A mixer outlet to the holding The holding bin 3,U7U 358 l2/l962 Heise 259/159 R prises a lower, downwardly convergent, frusto-conical 3,116,051 12/1963 Prccman... 259/159 R portion and a cylindrical upper portion in telescopic .611031 1 1/1 Paris 259/]77 R relationship, such portions being relatively contracted for transport and relatively extended when the plant is in operation.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED SE-P I 6 I975 I SHEET 1 BF 2 PATENTED l 6 3, 905,587

SHEET 2 BF 2 MOBILE ASPHALT PLANT BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The present invention relates in general to mobile mixing plants-and, more particularly, to a mobile asphalt plant similar to those disclosed in my earlier US. Pat. Nos. 2,805,052 and 3,116,051, respectively issued Sept. 3,1957 and Dec. 31, 1963. Attention is also directed to the references cited against my earlier patents.

As further background, a mobile asphalt plant of the type disclosed in my prior patents comprises: an elongated mobile chassis having a transverse vehicular passageway therethrough at one end; a drumtype aggregate mixer and dryer mounted on and extending longi tudinally of the chassis, the mixer having inlet means for the aggregates to be mixed and dried adjacent the other end of the chassis, and having an outlet adjacent the passageway; a vertically movable structure carried by the chassis adjacent the vehicularpassageway end thereof and movable vertically between a lower position within the passageway and an upper, operating position above the passageway; means for raising and'lowering the vertically movable structure between its two positions; an elevator pivotally mounted on the chassis for movement between a generally horizontal retracted position and an upright extended position, the elevator, when in its extended position, connecting the mixer and dryer outlet to the vertically movable structure; and the vertically movable structure being provided with means for mixing liquid asphalt with the heated and dried aggregate mix emanating from the drum-type mixer and dryer.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION A general object of the invention is to provide a mobile asphalt plant which is an improvement on those of my prior patents and outlined in the preceding section of this specification.

More particularly, an important object of the invention is to utilize the drum-type mixer as a means for mixing the aggregates and the liquid asphalt, instead of doing this in the vertically movable structure, and to utilize the vertically movable structure as a holding bin for the resulting asphalt mix so as to provide an asphalt mix reserve permitting the loading of a truck, or the like, in the vehicular passageway more rapidly, or to permit loading a number of trucks in rapid sequence. With the mobile asphalt plants of my prior patents, a truck could be loaded with asphalt mix only as rapidly as such mix could be produced by the relatively small mixing section carried by the vertically movable structure, which incurred undesirable delays.

The invention may be summarized as including, and an important object is to provide a mobile asphalt plant which includes: an elongated mobile chassis having a transverse vehicular passageway therethrough at one end; a drum-type mixer, for mixing aggregates and liquid asphalt, mounted on and extending longitudinally of the chassis, the mixer having inlet means, for the materials to be mixed therein, adjacent the other end of the chassis, and having an outlet adjacent the vehicular passageway; a holding bin carried by the chassis adjacent the vehicular passageway end thereof and movable vertically between a lower position within the passageway for transport and an upper position above the passageway during normal operation; means for raising and lowering the holding bin between its two positions; and an elevator pivotally mounted on the chassis for movement between a generally horizontal retracted position and an upright extended position, the elevator, when in its extended position, connecting the mixer outlet to the holding bin.

The invention may be further summarized as including, and another important object is to provide a mobile asphalt plant wherein the holding bin includes, a lower, downwardly convergent, frusto-conical portion and a cylindrical upper portion in telescopic relationship, the upper portion being telescoped downwardly over the lower portion when the holding bin is in its lower, retracted position, and the upper portion being extended upwardly relative to the lower portion when the holding bin is in its upper, operating position, the mobile asphalt plant further including means for moving the upper portion of the holding bin upwardly and downwardly relative to the lower portion thereof.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the present invention, together with various other objects, advantages, features and results thereof which will be evident to those skilled in the mobile asphalt plant art in the light of this disclosure, may be achieved with the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail hereinafter.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the mobile asphalt plant-of the invention in transport condition;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the mobile asphalt plant in its operating condition;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a mobile aggregate storage unit for use with the mobile asphalt plant; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the mobile asphalt plant in its operating condition.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION The mobile asphalt plant of the invention is designated generally by the numeral 10 and includes an elongated mobile, vehicular chassis 12 of any suitable construction. For example, the chassis 12 may be equipped with trailer wheels l4and a hitch 16 for connection to a tractor, not shown, such tractor elevating the adjacent end of the chassis 12 above ground level for transport. When the plant 10 is in its operating condition, as shown in FIG. 4, its weight is carried by suitable supports 18.

The chassis 12 is provided adjacent one end thereof with a transverse vehicular passageway 20 of a size to permit the passage therethrough of a truck,-or truck and trailer combination, not shown, to be loaded with asphalt mix. The passageway 20 is formed by an open rectangular frame 22 having four legs 24 resting on four of the supports 18 in the operating condition. The open rectangular frame 22 provides a vertical passageway 26 for a purpose to be described.

A drum-type mixer 28, for mixing aggregates and liquid asphalt, is rotatably mounted on and extends longitudinally of the chassis 12 adjacent the frame 22. The mixer 28 is mounted for rotation and is driven in conventional ways which need not be described.

The mixer 28, which slopes downwardly from its inlet end toward its outlet end, is provided adjacent its inlet end with inlet means 30 for an aggregate or aggregates and for liquid asphalt. More particularly, the inlet means 30 includes an aggregate inlet 32 which is supplied by a conveyor 34. As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor 34, in turn, is supplied with an aggregate or aggregates by a conveyor 36 located below individual conveyors 38. These individual conveyors are respectively located below aggregate bins 40 respectively containing different grades of aggregate. The

conveyors

36 and 38 and the bins 40 are carried by a separate elongated mobile chassis 42 which may be transported to the desired site independently of the chassis 12. The conveyor 34 for transferring an aggregate or aggregates from the chassis 42 to the aggregate inlet 32 may also be separately transported.

Heated, liquid asphalt is delivered to the mixer 28 from a suitable source, not shown, through an asphalt inlet pipe 44 extending into the inlet end of the drumtype mixer 28. This pipe is preferably flexible and can be adjusted longitudinally of the mixer 28, depending on the characteristics of the mix. A burner 46 also directed into the inlet end of the drum-type mixer 28 serves to heat the materials delivered into the mixer during the mixing process.

The hot asphalt mix produced in the drum-type mixer 28 is discharged through an outlet into a fixed lower portion 48 of an elevator 50 having an upper portion 52 hinged to the lower portion at 54. As will be seen by comparing FIGS. 1 and 4, the hinged upper portion 52 of the elevator 50 is pivotable between a generally horizo'ntal retracted position, wherein it rests on supports 56, and an upright extended position. When the mobile asphalt plant is in its operating condition, as shown in FIG. 4, the elevator discharges the hot asphalt mix, through a discharge spout 58, into a holding bin 60 of the invention. The holding bin 60 is vertically movable between an upper, extended or erected position, shown in FIG. 4, and a lower, retracted position, shown in FIG. 1.,In its lower, retracted position, the holding bin 60 is disposed substantially entirely within the transverse vehicular passageway 20. In moving between its extended and retracted positions, the holding bin 60 moves vertically through the vertical passageway 26. I The holding bin 60 is mounted on a base 62 which is raised and lowered, to elevate and retract the holding bin, by a suitable raising and lowering means 64. This raising and lowering means may be similar to those disclosed in detail in my aforementioned earlier patents so that no further'description herein is required.

The holding bin 60 comprises a lower, downwardly convergent, frusto-conical portion 66 mounted on the base 62 and a cylindrical upper portion 68 telescopically related to the lower portion. More particularly, when the holding bin 60 is in its lower, retracted position the upper portion 68 thereof is telescoped downwardly over the lower portion 66 to reduce the over-all height of the mobile asphalt plant 10 for transport. However, when the holding bin 60 is in its upper, operating position, the upper protion portion of the holding bin is extended upwardly relative to the lower portion 66 thereof to obtain a large volumetric storage capacity for the hot asphalt mix, sufficient to load one or more trucks or truck and trailer combinations, for example.

Thus, the holding bin' acts, in effect, as a surge chamber.

The lower and

upper portions

66 and 68 of the holding bin 60 are interconnected by telescoping struts 70, the two parts of each strut respectively being connected to the base 62 and the upper portion 68 of the holding bin. The upper portion 68 of the holding bin may be raised and lowered relative to the lower portion 66 thereof by air cylinders, hydraulic rams, or the like, not shown, incorporated in the struts 70.

It is thought that the over-all operation of the invention will be clear from the foregoing description so that a further explanation is not required.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in this embodiment without departing from the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim: 1

1. In a mobile asphalt plant, or the like, the combination of:

a. an elongated mobile chassis having a transverse vehicular passageway therethrough at one end;

a drum-type mixer, for mixing aggregates and liquid asphalt, mounted on and extending longitudinally of said chassis, said mixer having inlet means, for the materials to be mixed therein, adjacent the other end of said chassis, and having an outlet adjacent said passageway;

c. a holding bin carried by said chassis at said one end thereof and movable vertically between a lower position within said passageway and an upper position above said passageway;

d. means for raising and lowering said holding bin between its said upper and lower positions;

e. said holding bin including a lower, downwardly convergent, frusto-conical portion and a cylindrical upper portion in telescopic relationship, said upper portion being telescoped downwardly over said lower portion when said holding bin is in its said lower position, and said upper portion being extended upwardly relative to said lower portion when said holding bin is in its said upper position;

f. means for moving said upper portion of said holding bin upwardly and downwardly relative to said lower portion thereof; and

g. an elevator pivotally mounted on said chassis for movement between a generally horizontal retracted position and an upright extended position, and said elevator, when in its said extended position, connecting said mixer outlet to said holding bin.

Claims

1. In a mobile asphalt plant, or the like, the combination of: a. an elongated mobile chassis having a transverse vehicular passageway therethrough at one end; a drum-type mixer, for mixing aggregates and liquid asphalt, mounted on and extending longitudinally of said chassis, said mixer having inlet means, for the materials to be mixed therein, adjacent the other end of said chassis, and having an outlet adjacent said passageway; c. a holding bin carried by said chassis at said one end thereof and movable vertically between a lower position within said passageway and an upper position above said passageway; d. means for raising and lowering said holding bin between its said upper and lower positions; e. said holding bin including a lower, downwardly convergent, frusto-conical portion and a cylindrical upper portion in telescopic relationship, said upper portion being telescoped downwardly over said lower portion when said holding bin is in its said lower position, and said upper portion being extended upwardly relative to said lower portion when said holding bin is in its said upper position; f. means for moving said upper portion of said holding bin upwardly and downwardly relative to said lower portion thereof; and g. an elevator pivotally mounted on said chassis for movement between a generally horizontal retracted position and an upright extended position, and said elevator, when in its said extended position, connecting said mixer outlet to said holding bin.