WO2008071839A1

WO2008071839A1 - Method of producing a compacting means for use in compacting landfills, various stacks, or the like, a compacting means, a compacting means spike and a roller car

Info

Publication number: WO2008071839A1
Application number: PCT/FI2007/050668
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matti Sinkkonen; Markus Halttunen
Original assignee: Platurus Oy
Priority date: 2006-12-11
Filing date: 2007-12-07
Publication date: 2008-06-19
Also published as: FI20075154L; FI20075154A0; EP2089576A1

Abstract

The object of the present invention is a method of producing a compaction means 20', 20' to be used for the compaction of landfills, various agricultural stacks, and the like, a compaction means, the spikes of the compaction means, and a roller car. The compaction means referred to by the invention is used, e.g., on landfills in order to crush waste, and compress the base or waste layer. It may also be used in agriculture for compacting various stacks, and the like, used for cattle feed or grain storage. This compaction means is intended to be used, e.g., such that it replaces the wheels of a series-produced tractor, a wheel loader, or the like, or such that it replaces cylindrical compaction rollers used in various compaction-roller devices, or such that a separate pulled roller car connected to a proper traction vehicle is obtained. The spike of the compaction means according to the invention is intended to be used either together with the compaction means according to the invention, or alternatively in order to replace the spikes in the cylindrical or differently-shaped compaction rollers or wheels of a compaction device according to the prior art. An especially advantageous pulled roller car according to the invention is suitable for use together with a vehicle or compaction device, whose own mass is insufficient to compact sufficiently the base underneath.

Description

METHOD OF PRODUCING A COMPACTING MEANS FOR USE IN COMPACTING LANDFILLS, VARIOUS STACKS, OR THE LIKE, A COMPACTING MEANS, A COMPACTING MEANS SPIKE AND A ROLLER CAR

(001) The object of the present invention is a method of producing a compaction means to be used for compacting landfills, various agricultural stacks, and the like, a compaction' means, the spikes of the compaction means, and a roller car. The compaction means referred to by the invention is used, e.g., on landfills in order to crush waste, and compress the base or the waste layer. It may also be used within agriculture for compacting various stacks, and the like, used for cattle feed or grain storage. The said compaction means is intended to be used, e.g., such that it replaces the wheels of a series-produced tractor, a wheel loader and the like, or such that it replaces cylindrical compaction rollers used in various compaction devices, or such that a separate towabie roller car in connection with a proper traction vehicle is obtained. The spikes of the compaction means according to the invention are intended for use either together with the compaction means according to the invention, or alternatively in order to replace the spikes in cylindrical or otherwise-shaped compaction rollers or wheels of the compaction-roller device according to the prior art. A towabie roller car according to the invention is especially advantageously suitable for use together with a vehicle or compaction-roller device, whose own mass is insufficient to properly compact the travel base.

(002) A brief discussion of landfill compactors according to the prior art and their various design alternatives is provided below. The prior art teaches that so-called land-fill compactors are built on a robust frame, upon which all the required parts of the compactor are installed. Thus, the cab of the compactor, in which basically afl the instruments needed to control the compactor, and the motor unit, whose capacity is rated in the usual way according to the compactor machine, are found on top of the frame. Similarly, the required amount of hydraulic pumps to be used for the hydraulic motors, bulldozer blade and other conventional parts are installed on top of the frame. The crush and compaction rollers or wheels, on the other hand, are situated below the frame either with chain, cog or hydraulic-motor drives. For landfill maintenance work, experience has shown the advantage of using special compactors with great thrust and equipped with claw wheels or sprocket wheels for efficient crushing and compaction of waste. Relatively few different types of compactors belonging to the category described above are known. In the following description, a compaction roller refers primarily to a rotating unit, the axle of the relevant vehicle having only one of these devices, i.e., in most cases the compaction roller extends substantially along the whole width of the land-fill compactor. The compaction wheel, on the other hand, refers, e.g., to a wheel of a tractor, a shovel loader, or the like vehicle having at least four wheels, that may be attached to a coupling flange or a corresponding member situated on an axle the vehicle, so that each of the axles of the device has at least two of these wheels. It is; indeed, also possible to imagine compaction devices, where two compaction wheels are situated on one axle and the compaction roller on the other.

(003) One typical compactor type described above generally used for crushing, leveling and compacting waste on a landfill site, is disclosed in Finnish patent No. 75015. The compactor shown there has two rollers arranged under the frame, and by changing their lengths, special compactors may be obtained, differing, from one another in addition to their width also as concerns their weight and capacity. According to the dimensioning grounds mentioned in that patent, the weight of the compactor is 4 - 5 tons per meter of roller length, and its power consumption about 7.5 kW per ton. Although the compactor according to said patent is quite advanced in terms of its design, it also has its drawbacks. First, due to its design, only a very limited amount of finished parts in mass production may be used in the compactor. Mainly, the motor and power transmission elements come into question. Second, many types of rollers are needed, primarily in terms of length, in order to obtain the desired design. This increases for example production and storage costs. As another drawback, it may be mentioned that the diameter of the compaction roller must to be kept relatively small (max. approx. 1600 mm) so that the total height of the machine stays within reasonable limits. This is, among other things, due to the fact that the cab, motor, fuel tanks, etc., must be built on top of the roller frame, below which the rolls are placed. Furthermore, the end part connected at the end of the roller frame, comprising the roller drives, needs to be heavily built, which adds width to the compactor, and wide compacters require expensive special transports. The resistance to motion of this type of machines is typically great, adding further to its fuel costs.

(004) In addition to these design issues, as landfills change, additional requirements are placed on existing compactor devices, and especially on existing compaction rollers or wheels. The composition of waste has dramatically changed in recent years.

Previously, all kinds of common household waste products were brought to a landfill, including, unlike now, bottles, cans, and the like, solid waste, even including bedsprings, washing machines, refrigerators, television sets, and junked cars. Thus, the waste specifically had to be crushed, whereby lighter household waste, i.e., mostly plastic and paper-based material, was mixed together with more solid crushed matter, and the landfill was easier to compact. The wide and uniform roller design according to the prior art was eminently suited for this purpose. The design inevitably entailed a relatively heavy construction, which was ideal for crushing, e.g., junked cars, and the like. Moreover, the wide-extending roller was a safety issue, because, even though the compactor was operated in a way that sought to leave the piece to be crushed in the center the roller, the risk of the compactor tilting was always present. When this took place and when the roller was long, one end extended quickly to the base, preventing the compactor from falling over. Nowadays, however, waste is carefully sorted, whereby all metal and glass scrap, not to mention bulky waste, has already been eliminated from it. Only waste sorted according to regulations is delivered to landfill sites, or to paraphrase, to "waste's final destination". This waste contains a great amount of plastic and is therefore difficult to compact. As experienced, compactors currently on the market are unable to do this. Thus, either chipped wood unfit for any other use, excess soil, or even gravel, has had to be transported needlessly to this final destination, in order to maintain traffic there or for plastic or other light matter to be compacted and not become spread around by wind. Naturally, the use of such additional materials gives rise to additional costs. In other words, the problem on current landfills is that wide rollers with a small diameter relative to the weight of the compaction device dig deep into the waste, whereby they are unable to compact it properly, and instead unnecessarily stir up waste. Furthermore, if we examine the roller's surface structure, it is obvious that it is unfit for compacting today's fine-grained and slippery material.

(005) Besides the roller diameter, waste compaction is influenced by other structural features of the roller. For instance, between the spikes on the roller of the compaction device shown in patent application PCT/FI85/00060, there are relatively long smooth areas along both the perimeter and the axle the roller of the compaction device which this type of a compaction roller uses for waste compaction. The roller design according to the prior art, in fact, functions such that the smooth parts of the roller essentially take care of the compacting work, and the spikes of the roller mostly ensure the motion and thrust capability of the compaction means on an uneven and slippery ground. However, with current waste, it is our experience based on tests that we've performed, that such a roller is unable to properly compact plastic waste, because pressing light waste fiat against the ground is not sufficient. Also, the roller according to the prior art has relatively poor tractive power on new types of waste. Since a large part of the roller surface consists of smooth cylindrical steel, it easily slips on top of waste containing largely plastic. Thus, the prior-art roller is only able to provide the required traction or thrust by sinking its spikes into the base. Since there are relatively few spikes, each spike needs to be directed toward' the base with a , relatively large force, which then easily causes the roller to start digging deep into the waste. Consequently, the roller no longer compacts the landfill base, but instead stirs it up.

(006) Another compaction roller of substantially similar structural design per se is described in US patent publication 5,967,242, which quite clearly discloses a structure based on the use of a cylinder casing.

(007) Besides these problems observed in connection with landfill operation, the solutions for the roller and/or compaction device according to the prior art, as already referred to above, are expensive to implement in terms of their structure. The rollers are mostly made from a 15 - 25 mm thick steel plate flame-cut to a fixed size by rolling it into a cylinder. Spikes are welded onto the surface of the roller at desired intervals, whereby on the inner surface of the roller, at the location of the lines of spikes, support ribs of approx. 10 cm are arranged, as well as end plates at each cylinder end. Initially, the spikes are made of a steel plate bent into a V-shape, onto whose sides, triangular side plates are welded such that a spike with one side open is formed. This plate-constructed spike is then welded onto the steel cylinder the open side facing the cylinder surface. However, since high-strength steel could not be used in- the production of the spikes, as it does not sustain the bending at the small bending radius required by the spike, the spikes were quickly worn out, and their replacement was complicated. In some cases, high-strength steel was immediately welded onto the tip of the spikes as a wear part. This, however, did not prevent the whole side surface of the spikes from wearing down. In order to increase the wear resistance of the spikes, it was next decided to produce the spikes by flame cutting from a thick steel plate (about 50 - 150 mm). Even then, although the spikes are of a solid substance, they still wear out. When the spikes during use wear down to a certain height, a new tip part is welded onto their tip, which part is produced from a steel plate of a comparable thickness by cutting or die forging. (008) The prior art discloses a large number of publications that describe the wear problem of the spikes and provide numerous solutions for their exchange. Among these publications may be mentioned US 4,668,122, US-A-5,358,355, US-A-5,795,097, US-A-6,095,717, US-B2-6,652,186, US-B2-7, 108,452, US-A1-2002/0114667.

(009) Moreover, when taking into consideration that the large size of landfill compactors according to the prior art was needed in practice in order to push and crush heavy and bulky waste material, and that in the future, a portion, larger than currently, of light waste presently transported to landfills will be incinerated, large and heavy vehicles will no longer be needed on landfills, instead small machines will essentially suffice. The job of the machines is merely to spread the waste load onto the landfill base and then compact it, crushing is no longer needed- Thus, there is no longer an absolute need for wide machines with iong rollers, instead series-produced tractors, shovel loaders or other similar vehicles may suffice - either by mounting roller compaction wheels to replace their wheel, or by using in some other way a towable rolier car, as an example.

(0010) The problems related to the use of the landfill compactors according to the prior art, as well as their design and price setting based on their production, are being solved with a new type of invention, which aims at constructing a compaction device assembled from as few different components as possible, yet allowing for many variable options and being well-suited for container transport. The object of the invention is obtained by using series-produced machines and by constructing compaction wheels from elements that are suitable for this purpose in terms of both their measurements, dimensions, and other design features. Another further objective is to construct compaction wheels so that they may be equipped with a special power transmission apparatus.

(0011) Another object of the present invention is, furthermore, to achieve a new method that is more efficient and advantageous than the previously known ones for the production of compaction rollers or wheels.

(0012) The sinking of the compaction-roller means deep into the waste mass and the stirring up of the waste material ensuing therefrom is avoided with a device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention by increasing substantially, i.e. by about 25%, the diameter of the means of the diameter of the compaction roller according to the prior art. Thus, the compaction means according to the invention is able to climb more easily on top of the waste mass.

(0013) In another preferred embodiment of the invention, improved compaction of the waste mass is ensured by providing the compaction means with spikes situated substantially more densely than previously, and by arranging the spikes such that the weight of the vehicle is transferred through the spikes to the waste mass, and not at all by means of the smooth surface of the roller as occurs in the prior art. Moreover, the shape of the spikes is chosen such that the waste is compressed between the spikes, becoming compacted already in this step, and compressed further against and partially into the lower layer, as well. With this type of a design, it is virtually impossible for plastic waste to escape from below the compaction means according to the invention, and the inner friction of the compressed waste is sufficient to prevent slipping of the compaction means and thereby hampering vehicle operation, including when waste containing plastic is compacted.

(0014) In a third preferred embodiment according to the invention, the compaction means is made as a modular design such that the length of the means may easily be changed. In fact, the compaction means according to this embodiment comprises relatively thin spike disks that may be connected in parallel in the desired amount for the assembly of the compaction means of the needed length. Characteristic of the invention is that, irrespective of whether the compaction means is made of individual spike disks or units containing several disks, at least three spike disks are needed for each compaction means. This ensures that each compaction means is able to compact waste, and that all the waste cannot slip to the side the compaction means. In an additional embodiment, when spike disks are connected in parallel, a special spacer ring is placed between two spike disks, thereby making it possible to mount these spike disks at desired intervals.

(0015) A fourth preferred embodiment of the invention, moreover, the fact is being taken into account that, e.g., the power transmission of a series-produced vehicle will not last long, if driving occurs at a slow speed with full power. However, for a compaction device provided with compaction wheels, a maximum speed of about 5 km/h, and an operational speed of 3 - 4 km/h, are sufficient. When the diameter of the compaction means needs to be relatively large in order to achieve operating efficiency, the driving speed cannot be reduced by diminishing the diameter of the compaction means, instead it must be done by other means. According to this embodiment of the invention the problem is solved by installing on the drive shaft of the removed drive wheel of each component vehicle a compaction wheel provided with a gear reduction and a counter-torque means.

(0016) A compaction means according to a fifth preferred embodiment of the invention comprises modules, whereby the width of the compaction means may be chosen in an almost continuous manner, primarily through the number of elements in the compaction means and subsequent fine-adjustment by appropriate spacers.

(0017) In a sixth preferred embodiment of the invention, the compaction means consists of compaction elements that are preferably cast.

(0018) In a seventh preferred embodiment of the invention, the compaction means consists of compaction elements that are preferably cut from a plate material suitable for this purpose.

(0019) In an eight preferred embodiment of the invention, the compaction means consists of compaction elements, whose casing is preferably bent from a steel plate and supported from within by concrete or some other material suitable for this purpose.

(0020) In a ninth preferred embodiment of the invention, the compaction means consists of compaction means elements preferably constructed from modules that are in turn made from standard components and supported by concrete or another material suitable for this purpose.

(0021) The solution discussed above in the embodiments may be utilized in practice such that an effective landfill compactor suitable for the requirements of new landfills may be constructed on the basis of a series-produced vehicle. Characteristic of this roller is that special compaction means or wheels especially designed to meet the changed requirements of modern landfills are fastened in place of the rubber wheels on at least the second axle of the aforesaid series-produced vehicle. The landfill compactors described in the above solutions may bring about vehicles as close as possible to being series-produced, making it possible to enjoy the advantages afforded by these vehicles, including, for instance, a more favorable price made possible by the series production compared to the price of special-purpose machines, a more detailed and thorough design, improved ergonomics, a more comprehensive guarantee and improved service options.

(0022) Thus, characteristic of the method according to the invention for producing a , compaction means to be used for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the like, whereby the shape of the compaction means is substantially cylindrical and its surface provided with spikes, is that

a) substantially circular parts provided with spikes along their perimeter the are produced at least partially from a metallic material, and

b) these parts are arranged concentrically and in parallel in order to form the compaction means, whereby at (east three parallel lines of spikes are obtained on the perimeter of the compression means.

(0023) It is characteristic of the compaction means for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the like, whose basic shape is substantially cylindrical and whose surface is provided with spikes, that it comprises at least three spike disks.

(0024) It is characteristic of a compaction means according to a second preferred embodiment for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the like, whose basic shape is substantially cylindrical and whose surface is provided with spikes, that it comprises along the perimeter at least three parallel lines of spikes having a metal wear surface, i.e. three so-called spike disks, and that the interior of the compaction means is at least partially cast from a material suited for this purpose.

(0025) It is characteristic of the spikes of a compaction means according to the invention to be used for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the like, the spikes being basically A-shaped and made of a metal plate, is that each spike

^•. comprises two plates fastened to one another at the tip area such that an angle of point β for the spike is formed between the main parts of the plates.

(0026) Other characteristic features of. the method, compaction means and spike of the compaction means according to the invention appear in the claims attached below.

(0027) The industrial safety specifications for conventional series-produced vehicles were seen as posing a concrete problem, leading to further development of the invention. It bears mentioning, for example, that although a load of 10 tons on the front axle and 16 tons on the rear axle of a vehicle is allowed, the mass of said vehicle may not be 26 tons, since the cab of the vehicle is dimensioned for a total mass of 10 tons. Based on our experience, a total mass of 10 tons split on two axles, and then onto two compaction wheels, is insufficient for compacting the base of even modern landfills, unless the wheels are made sufficiently narrow so as to produce the required surface pressure. However, this arrangement reduces the vehicle's compaction capacity, since compaction runs need to be added for the area to be treated in order to obtain thorough compaction. Thus, to continue being able to offer customers an optimal basic vehicle with adequate compaction capacity, it is impractical to begin designing and approving a heavy-duty cab; instead other ways should be explored to ensure that the customer is afforded a sufficiently heavy compactor.

(0028) In order to avoid the problem described above and further improve the availability of the series-produced vehicle, e.g., on landfills, it was decided to develop a roller car to be used in combination with all types of traction vehicles. In other words, the roller car according to the invention may be used towed by a conventional series-produced rubber-wheel-driven tractor, shovel loader or other similar vehicle, or by a vehicle (tractor, shovel loader, or the like) equipped preferably, but not necessarily, with the compaction means according to the invention on at least one axle. Naturally, as a traction unit may also be used any vehicle capable of towing, provided preferably with a power take-off, so that the roller car according to the invention may be set up optionally as a self-driven unit in order to facilitate roller car operation on soft grounds.

(0029) Another utilization purpose, besides landfills, where a roller car attached behind a vehicle may be used, is agricultural stacks used for storing feed or corn, in which the feed . or corn is tightly packed by using a tractor to compact the stack. For these utilization purposes it would be advantageous to have available a roller car that may be maneuvered by a tractor on top of a stack, and that very efficiently compacts the feed on account of its heavy weight. (0030) A roller car connected to the vehicle was found to be a solution to the problem such as mentioned above, whereby the roller car is connected e.g. to a traction vehicle in the same way as a trailer, while observing at the same time the safety specifications, in such a way that the mass of the said roller car will not impact the requirements of the traction-vehicle cab. Thus, in practice, the trailer is to be connected according to specifications such that the traction vehicle and the trailer will be able to tilt independently of one another. Moreover, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a drive power take-off is preferably arranged in this traction vehicle, so that the power take-off axle rotates according to the operating speed of the traction vehicle. This makes it easy, if required, to get one or more compaction means of the roller car to rotate at the same circumferential speed as the wheels and/or the compaction means of the traction vehicle.

(0031 ) Thus, it is characteristic of a roller car according to the invention to be coupled to a traction vehicle used in the treatment of landfills and the like, which roller car primarily comprises a frame, an axle arranged in connection therewith, one or more compaction means arranged on the axle, and devices arranged in the frame in order to connect the roller car to the vehicle, that the basic shape of the compaction means is cylindrical and its perimeter is provided with at least three parallel lines of spikes in the direction of the perimeter on its perimeter.

(0032) Other characteristic features of the roller car according to the invention appear from the claims attached below.

(0033) The advantages obtained with the present invention include for example the following:

- optimal dimensioning and adjustment of the width of the compaction means and the weight of the roller car according to the operational environment are easy to implement,

- the compaction means allows using a maximum amount of series-produced and already available components in the construction of a landfill compactor or a device to be used for the compaction of stacks, thus reducing substantially capital investments for this device, - inevitable investments related exclusively to the operational purpose relate only to the compaction wheels, the actual vehicle may be a tractor or bucket loader of a municipality, entrepreneur, or a farmer used for also other operational purposes.

- replacing the compaction wheels with rubber wheels or vice versa takes about 30 min. x 4 pieces = 2 hours, ^■

- for the tractors or shovel loaders there are available series-produced additional devices such as bulldozer blades, bucket grabs, excavators, etc.

- the compaction means itself, being a modular designs, is more advantageous to produced than before,

- the compaction wheel may be fastened in place of the wheel of a tractor, shovel loader, and the like, without any special additional equipment,

- the compaction means is designed for the compaction of today's landfills and the waste brought there, while the compaction means also is eminently suitable for the compaction of today's stack storages,

- the number of spikes may be increased to a maximum, and their central angle and shape may be chosen optimally,

- due a larger number of the compaction-roller spikes, the required compaction result is obtained by fewer runs than with current vehicle types,

- while the size and weight of the vehicle, as well its resistance to motion is reduced by about 25 percent for example due to the greater diameter of the compaction means, the fuel consumption is reduced substantially,

- furthermore, vehicle service intervals are increased, and points to be maintained reduced, since vehicles in mass production may be used, whereby optimization of service becomes a main focus during the designing phase,

-. it is no longer necessary to use additional materials on landfills in order to ensure compaction (if additional materials are needed for some other reason, they may of course be used),

- loading peaks on a landfill are easy to leveled off by introducing a vehicle suitable from some other application purpose, whereby only one set of compaction wheels is needed for operation on a landfill,

- the use of steel is reduced substantially in some embodiments as compared with current compaction wheels and rollers,

- the roller car is easily connected to a conventional tractor, and the like, allowing sufficient compaction for many different application purposes without special compaction machines that tend to be expensive.

(0028) A compaction means according to the invention, its spikes, a production method for the compaction means, and a roller car are explained in more detail below in reference to the attached figures, where

Figures 1a - 1f illustrate a comparison between a compaction roller according to the prior art and the compaction means according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows a so-called vehicle component, which is used in a solution according to a preferred embodiment of the invention in order to operate a compaction wheel according to the invention;

Figure 3 shows the front- and rear-axle compaction wheels according to a preferred embodiment of the invention being used together with the vehicle component according to Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a top view of compaction wheels according to Figure 3 attached to the vehicle component according to Figure 2 showing the right front-axle compaction wheel in horizontal section in the axial plane, and the left rear-axle compaction wheel in partial section;

Figures 5a - 5g illustrate the production of the spike disk according to a second preferred embodiment; Figures 6a - 6d show a spike disk according to a third preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figures 7a - 7b show additional preferred embodiments of the compaction means according to the invention;

Figures 8a and 8b show both a side view in partial section, and an end view in partial section of another embodiment of the invention in a situation, where the compaction roller constitutes the compaction means;

Figure 9a shows a roller car according to a preferred embodiment of the invention attached behind an otherwise series-produced tractor using compaction means as described in the figures;

Figure 9b is a top view of a combination according to figure 9a, and in partial section;

Figure 10 shows a detail of the roller car according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, i.e., the fastening of the coupling ring of the roller car to the frame of the roller car;

Figures 11a and 11b show the roller car according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention attached behind an otherwise series-produced tractor using the compaction means described above;

Figures 12a - 12g show a roller-car assembly according to a third preferred embodiment of the invention, and

Figures 13a - 13f show a roller car according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the invention.

(0029) In Figures 1a - 1f, the appearance of the compaction roller and the drive track according to the general prior art and described, e.g., in patent application PCT/FI85/00060, is compared with the appearance and the drive track of the present compaction roller according to invention. More specifically, a landfill compactor of the type described in PCT/FI85/00060 weighing more than 30 tons was compared in trial runs with the vehicle, weighing 10 tons, provided with a compaction wheel according to the invention, (shown in more detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4). The size comparison of the compaction-roller and compaction means in Figures 1a and 1b shows clearly, first of all, that the diameter of the compaction means according to the invention (Fig. 1b) is substantially greater than the diameter of the roller according to the prior art (Fig. 1a). For this reason and reasons to be explained later, the compaction roller according to the invention operates, as is apparent from Figures 1c - 1f, much better on a soft base, i.e., the compaction properties of the roller on today's typical landfill are in fact substantially improved, when compared to a roller according to the prior art. This is explained by the fact that in the device used for the roller means according to the invention, the compaction means are only 2 x 0.72 m + 2 x 0.54 m in size, so that even the smaller weight of the machine suffices to create the required compaction effect. The length of the compaction means on the front-axle of the machine was.54 cm and on the rear axle 72 cm. The weight on the rear end of the roller was considerably greater than on the front end, which gives a clear indication of the thrust and compaction capacity of the machine.

(0030) Figures 1a and 1b will be explained in more detail below, whereby Figure 1a is a cross-section of the compaction roller 10 according to the prior art, and Figure 1b a cross-section of the compaction means 20 according to the invention. The area between the roller casing and the spikes 12 in the plane T1 in Figure 1a is considered to touch the surface to be compaction rolled. In a quite similar fashion, on compaction means 20 according to the invention, plane T1 is situated tangentialfy to its imagined cylinder surface, on which spikes 22 may be considered fastened. The matter may also be expressed such that plane T1 is situated at a distance from the axle of compaction means 20, which is obtained by subtracting the height of the spikes from the radius of the envelope area covered by the tips of the spikes 22 during their movement. The area impacted by the thrust of spikes 12 projected 1 m in the length of the roller, in this case according to the prior art, in which the diameter of the roller 10 is 1680 mm, becomes 1940 cm², and by using the compaction means 20 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention 20, whose diameter is 2000 mm, it becomes 3232 cm², entailing 40% improved anti-slip for the compaction means 20 according to the invention. Planes T2 illustrate a situation, in which the roller and compaction means carry an equally large load on the same landfill base. Thus, the roller and the compaction means each require an equally large supporting surface, and thus the figures illustrate the 1.4 m wide projection of the supporting surface resulting from the roller and casing area of the compaction means sinking into the material to be compacted. The angle of incidence A of roller 10 according to the prior art is then 57 degrees and similarly, the angle of incidence C of compaction means 20 according to a preferred embodiment is 37 degrees. Planes T3 likewise illustrate the sinking of the 1.64 m wide projection of the casing surface (the load of the roller and compaction means being greater, or the base softer), whereby angle B of the roller 10 according to the prior art is 90 degrees, and angle D of the compaction means 20 according to the invention is only 46 degrees. Therefore, the compaction means according to the invention is able to ascend on a thick but soft waste layer more easily.

(0031) It is, furthermore, reasonable to mention with regard to the compaction roller in Figure 1a and the compaction means in 1b, that the surface 14 of the casing remaining between the spikes in the direction of the perimeter of the compaction roller, in this case according to the prior art, on the roller 10 is approximately 134 mm long, and the surface of the casing 24 on the compaction means 20 in the solution according to the invention, 31 mm long. In practice, this fully wedge-shaped structure of the solution according to the invention compacts waste and increases the grip, as more compact waste is more difficult to cut.

(0032) The drive track of the roller 10 of Figure 1 a is shown in Figure 1 c, and the drive track, as seen from above, of the compaction-roller means 20 as shown in Figure 1b according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 1d. In both cases, the 'track' of the roller/means in plane T1 measuring one meter in length is depicted. It can be seen from the figures that, e.g., the 13 spikes of roller 10 according to the prior art (the tip of the spike is designated in both Figures 1c and 1d by the letter t) simultaneously strike the base T1 by the length of the one-meter-long roller. When there are five lines of spikes on one meter of the roller, an average of 2.6 spikes in each line contact the plane T1. When using a compaction means 20 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention in Figure 1d, the corresponding number is 36 (33 spikes stay fully within the said length of one meter, and half of each of the six spikes in the bottom line of spikes in the figure). When there are 6.5 spike perimeters on one meter, an average of 5.1 spikes in one spike perimeter contact the plane T1. Thus, the density of the spikes 22 in the compaction means 20 according to this embodiment of the present invention is nearly threefold calculated for the 'track' area of the roller or the compaction means, or about twofold calculated for the spike perimeter. By comparing Figures 1c and 1d, it is noticeable that the spikes 22 of the compaction means 20 according to the invention are closer to one another in the direction of both the perimeter of the compaction means and the axle. Moreover, when examining Figure 1d more closely, it is noticeable that the weight of the vehicle in the invention is transferred through the spikes 22 such that the waste is compressed between the spikes 22 and further against the layer below. In practice, even plastic waste does not escape from below the compaction means 20, instead the internal friction of the compressed waste is sufficient to' prevent slipping of the compaction means hampering operation of the vehicle, including when waste containing plastic is compacted.

(0033) When examining Figures 1e and 1f, the operating principle of the compaction roller and the compaction means may be understood better, the principle being already referred to briefly in paragraph 0032 above. When studying more closely the operation of the compaction roller or the compaction means, it is apparent that the waste is compressed by a force directed from above downward. If this force acts more or less in a pointed manner through one spike, it is obvious that a large part of the material originally below the spike will slide to a side of the spike. This means in practice that the perimeter, or so-called spike perimeter, of each compaction roller or means formed by the outermost spikes operates at half capacity, since the waste material remaining below the spikes is able to slide sideways and away from the range of the roller or compaction means. The part of the waste material trying to escape to the side against the spike roller or compaction means ends up in the pocket-like space (shown diamond-shaped in Figures 1e and 1f), which the waste material attempts to reach from other directions, as well. In other words, each of the above-mentioned pockets is limited by the two spikes of the second spike perimeter placed staggered relative to the spike of the first spike perimeter along the perimeter of the roller or compaction means, and the spike of the third spike perimeter, which in the solutions shown in Figures 1e and 1f is in the same plane passing through the axle of the roller or compaction means as the spike of the first spike perimeter. Thus, each of the above-mentioned four spikes causes the waste material to be compressed into the said pocket, where the waste is compacted and increases the grip of the compaction means.

(0034) The operating principle described above means that at least three spike perimeters are needed to form closed waste compaction pockets. Mathematically speaking, the total number of pockets in the compaction roller or means, based on the above definition, is as large as the number of spikes of the compaction roller or means subtracted by the number of outer spikes, or in other words by the number of the spikes of two spike perimeters. When examining the "tracks" in Figures 1e and 1f, it is noticeable that, when using a prior art compaction roller (Fig. 1e), , and there are six pieces of the pockets for compacting waste in the length of the one-meter-long roller having a width h, assuming that the roller, in the figure, extends downward with a new spike perimeter. A compaction means (Fig. 1f) according to the invention on the other hand has eighteen of these pockets.

(0035) Moreover, in the tests that we performed, it became clear that as a solution for the prior-art problem, it is not sufficient per se that the spikes of the compaction means are arranged close to one another. The shape of the space remaining between them must be wedge-like for the compressed waste not to get stuck on the spikes. A second important point is that the diameter of the compaction means should be sufficiently large for the wheel to be able to climb on top of the waste at a sufficiently moderate angle. In our studies, we determined that for most application purposes, the diameter of the compaction means should be at least two meters, although for some puφoses, a diameter of even less than 1.5 meter may be appropriate, especially when the compaction means does not pull. In case of a pulling compaction means, the compaction means is preferably connected to an anti-slip system preventing the compaction means from starting to race and stir up waste material due to its small amount of friction. Obviously, another essential dimensioning factor is the length of the compaction means, i.e., the width of the "track" of the compaction means, which is determined by how much compaction capacity is desired. Of course, it follows that a wider compactor will need a heavier and correspondingly more powerful vehicle. In practice, the smallest vehicles may have a capacity of about 120 kW.

(0036) Figure 2 shows as a starting point of the invention a so-called vehicle component, which actually is a vehicle from some tractor or shovel-loader manufacturer, where only the wheels have been removed. Thus, the vehicle component 30 consists of conventional mass-produced parts, such as an engine 32, a frame 34, a power transmission system 36, and a cab 38 with the usual controls. The figure furthermore shows both the coupling flange 40 of the front wheel, and the coupling flange 42 of the rear wheel, whereby the compaction means or wheel according to the invention is fastened to at least one of these. Thus, in practice, a tractor according to the example in the figure may be used in the simplest way as a compaction means, whereby the front wheels are conventional pneumatic rubber tires of a tractor, and compaction wheels are used in place of the rear wheels. The invention exploits the fact that every important manufacturer of component vehicles has many vehicles whose frames are almost identical, but differ in terms of engine power. For example, the Valtra T-series has 26 different power classes, ranging from

125 kWto 155 kW. Furthermore, models without a front-wheel traction may be added to these.

(0037) According to Figures 3 and 4, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the compaction wheel 20 for both the front and rear axle consists of several spike disks 26, and the spacers 28 arranged in between. In a second embodiment of the invention, the above-mentioned spacer 28 is integrated with the spike disk 26 either completely on one side or by halves on both opposite sides. This spacer is needed so that the compaction wheel, or more generally speaking the compaction means, may be kept clean. In other words, the cleaning scrapers designated by reference number 52 in Figure 4 must be able to reach close to the surface of said spacer 28 in order to scrape off any material wedged between the spike perimeters. The desired number of spike disks 26 and spacers 28 are fastened together by bolts so that they form a uniform rotating compaction wheel 20. Such a wheel 20 is fastened to the vehicle component 30 at in place of the conventional the front and/or rear wheel. In the solution shown in Figures 2 and 4, this vehicle component 30 has a four-wheel drive, i.e. also its front wheels are pulling. Thus, in connection with the usual coupling flanges 40 and 42 of the vehicle component there are arranged either planetary gears 46 that are mass-produced or constructed in some other way, or other similar reduction gears, with which the usual 8 - 10 km/h operating speed of the tractor may be reduced to 3 - 4 km/h, which is suitable for operation on landfills. Obviously, such a solution may increase the track width of the front axle, however, this is unimportant in practice, since the compaction wheel of the front axle is mostly wider than the front wheel of a common tractor.

(0038) Figure 4 shows, furthermore, a cleaning element 50 attached to the lift arms 54 or, the like, of the tractor. It comprises a cross bar 56 fastened to the lift arms 54, and extending along the width of both the compaction wheels 20, and comprises cleaning elements 52 extending into the spaces between the spike disks 26 of the compaction wheel 20. These elements 52 are preferably flat steel strips, steel bars, or the like, extending close to the outer perimeter of the spacers 28, thereby removing any solid matter that may be sticking to the spike disks 26 or their gaps.

(0039) Figures 5a - 5g show a solution according to another preferred embodiment of the invention for the construction of the above-mentioned spike disk, starting with the production of the spike covering forming the outer surface or casing. Figure 5a shows the initial phase, in which from a flat steel strip 60, whose thickness is about 20 mm and width in the range 50 - 150 mm, is cut a piece of desired length, indicating on it bending points 62, and by using those, a desired height of the spikes 22, preferably about 150 - 250 mm, is obtained. The first bend point is marked at a distance from the end of the strip 60 equaling half the length S of the side of the spike, and then, the following points always at a distance from one another equaling the iength S of the spike side. Figure 5b shows how, according to a preferred alternative, the first bend 63 is made at a distance of half the spike side S/2 from the end of the strip 60. The bending angle is α, and as bending radius is used either the material thickness of the strip 60, or a slightly bigger radius, e.g., 20 - 35 mm. For the procedure to be illustrated in Figures 5c, and enlarged in Figures 5d, the strip 60 is turned around such that the bend 64 in the strip 60 comes on the opposite side of the strip 60 relative to the first bend 63. By proceeding in this way, the process is continued, until the whole strip 60 is bent alternately in opposite directions in a zigzag fashion, so that, following the bending, there remains at the end of the strip 60 part measuring the length of half the side of the spike 22. In the following stage, as shown in Figure 5e, the bends of the other side of the strip 60, or every other bend, e.g., bends with an odd ordinal number, are bent further to an angle of β, which is less than α, whereby the bending of the strip into a zigzag shape creates the spike covering 66, which is welded together at its ends. When the bending angles α and β, as well as the length of the strip, are properly chosen, the diameter of the spike covering 66 thus formed becomes the desired diameter of spike disk 26. Angle α, which may be used to designate the base angle of the spike, is preferably 45 - 105 degrees or so based on tests that were performed, and similarly, the point angle β of the spike is 35 - 80 degrees. It needs, particularly, to be mentioned that choosing the angle with said ranges may be done freely, as long as the spike covering described above is obtained as the final result. In order to proceed from said spike covering 66 to the required spike disk 26 when assembling compaction wheel 20, in this embodiment of the invention, in -Figure 5f, a substance 67 suitable for this purpose is cast in its interior such that disk 26 obtains a radial measurement providing sufficient strength. In practice, casting may be done such that the spike covering 66 shaping the outer surface of disk 26 is fastened on a base plate, e.g., of water veneer, and an inner ring determining the inside surface 68 of the disk is fastened to the same base plate, whereby said ring and the spike covering 66 are preferably concentric. The inner ring determining the inside surface 68 may either be a part of a casting moid in the same way as the base plate, or it may be a part remaining attached to the cast. In addition, either conduits remaining in the cast, or cores leaving corresponding holes 70 in the cast, may be arranged at the points in the mold corresponding to the assembly bolts for the compaction wheel 20. As the above-mentioned casting compound is used preferably concrete, which may be cast in place either reinforced or non-reinforced. Other suitable casting compounds are ultra-strong concrete or fiber-reinforced concrete, preferably reinforced by plastic or steel fibers. If metal fittings are used, they are fastened on the spike covering 66 shaping the outer surface of the spike disk 26, and naturally on its inside. Moreover, if the inner surface 68 of spike disk 26 receives a second ring remaining attached to the cast, it is advantageous to fasten both the spike covering 66 providing the outer/wear surfaces and the inner ring providing the inner surface to one another by elements strengthening the casting, preferably metal fittings. It is, of course, also possible, if desired, to arrange a ring remaining attached to the casting also on the other side of spike disk 26, which ring is attached by metal fittings to other rings, whereby casting may be done into a mold-like space.

(0040) A metal strip 60 according to an additional embodiment of the invention forming the outer surface or, in other words, the wear surface of spike disk 26, as finished spike covering 66, is reinforced by special end pieces, which may be, e.g., steel bars welded onto the tips of the spikes 22, or plates bent into a V-shape and welded onto the tip area of the spikes 22, or arranged otherwise in order to protect not only the tips t, but also for a short distance, the spike sides parallel to the perimeter of the spikes. Figure 5g shows a further embodiment, in which the reinforcements of metal strip 60 are arranged inside the bend, preferably by welding a metal plate or bar 72 thereon.

(0041) Figures 6a, 6b and 6c show a compaction wheel 20' according to another preferred embodiment of the invention, both in cross-section, and as two more detailed partial sections. This embodiment of the invention took into consideration the property of the high-grade wear-resistant steel, that it cannot be bent much by the small radius, instead the bending radius ought to be at least four times the material thickness. For this reason, in the production method illustrated, e.g., in Figure 5, it is necessary to compromise between the bending radius and the quality of the steel. In the embodiment shown in this figure, it is now possible to use steel that is best suited for the purpose as material for the spikes 22' and, of course, also for the spike covering comprising the spikes, because in this embodiment, the steel does not need a great deal of bending. Now, each spike 22' of the compaction wheel, or to put it more accurately, its wear surface is formed by two side plates 80 fastened together, preferably by welding, at the top, i.e., in the area of their respective end faces. In the alternative shown in the figure, each side plate 80 is slightly bent from the area of the said tip 81, in fact, about half of the angle of point β (as seen in Figure 5g), or about 18 - 40 degrees such that a piece in the shape of the letter A is formed from plates 80, whereby the plates abut for a short distance at their respective end faces. Another alternative naturally is to bent one plate more than the other, whereby the bending angle may vary between 0 - β, provided that the angle of point for the two plates joined together is in the β range. The side plates 80 may be welded together from inside, in the way shown in Figures 6b and 6c, whereby the welded seam 82, for which elements reinforcing the casting to be done later are sufficient, which elements are preferably reinforced using only a so-called tack weld, remains in an area where no abrasion -causing friction, and the like, is directed. The small welding seam 82 also does not generate enough heat, which would impair the wear resistance of the steel. The adjacent side plates 80 of the spikes 22' may in turn be welded to one another at their opposite edges relative to the bend, thereby allowing a spike covering similar to the one in Figure 5e to be formed, from which spike covering the production of the individual spike disk is continued as described in connection with the above Figures 5.

Figures 6a - 6c also describe the reinforcement 84 placed on the casting of the spike disk 84, whereby the side plates 80 are anchored tightly to the filling concrete.

Similarly, if for instance a steel ring is placed inside the spike disk, its fastening to the casting may easily be ensured by extending the metal fittings from the spikes to the inner ring.

(0042) Figure 6c further shows an easy way of repairing the spike disk, or rather its spikes 22' after wear. The figure shows, how, after the tip t of spike 22' has worn down to a certain minimum size, a cap 86 steel is welded onto the tip t, which cap can be obtained directly in bulk from stores specialized in replacing worn-down crawler tracks of a crawler tractor, and is manufactured exactly for this purpose. The hardness of this type of steel is in the 500 HB range, so it is obviously quite suitable for said purpose. The spikes 22' of the wheel described above may be used not only for the production of the whole spike cover, or subsequently, the spike disk, as described above, but also individually in order to replace the spikes of compaction rollers according to the prior art, as they become worn. It is for example easily conceivable that when spikes 12 of the compaction roller according to Figure 1a have worn down to a certain size, on top of them may be welded spikes 22^* produced according to the invention. Likewise, the density of the spikes in compaction rollers 14 according to the prior art may be modified by welding spikes 22' according to the invention either alongside the spikes 12 already present on the same perimeter, or onto the smooth areas of the perimeter situated between the spikes 12 of compaction roller 10, provided that care is taken so that the scrapers cleaning the surface of the compaction means are able to function in the desired fashion. Furthermore, it is possible to make a completely new compaction roller by welding spikes according to the invention onto the cylindrical roller surface. In all these different alternatives, it should be taken into account that the spike should preferably not have open sides in the direction of the axle, as all kind of waste material will then try to enter and fill the spike. To avoid this, it is advantageous, according to the application purpose or situation, to either cast the spike full of a material suitable for the purpose, e.g., common concrete, ultra-strong concrete or fiber-reinforced concrete, or to provide the openings on the lateral surface in the direction of the axle with substantially triangular closing plates in order to cover them, the plates being for instance possibly but not necessarily, of the same wear-resistant material as the rest of the spike. Naturally, it is also possible both to fill the spike with filling material and to fasten side plates thereto.

(0043) Figure 6d shows an alternative embodiment 20" of the compaction wheel 20' displayed in Figure 6c. The difference is the size of the angles between the spikes 22".

In this alternative, the angle of point of spikes 22" is 70°, and their base angle is 90°. In some cases, the base angle may even be somewhat increased from what is shown above, up to 100 - 105 degrees or so. The figures also show that in a preferred embodiment of the invention a half of the spike equals a central angle of 10 degrees on the compaction means, which naturally means that the perimeter of the compaction means contains 18 spikes, 20° each.

(0044) Figures 7a and 7b illustrate yet another embodiment for the construction of a spike of the compaction means. The embodiment described here is relatively close to the one shown in Figures 6a - 6c. In fact, the only difference is that in the design in Figures 7a and 7b, the side plates 80' of the spike are not bent at all, instead they are fastened in an A-shape at the very tip, by a tack weld either on the outside or inside of the tip. The tip of the spike forming the section adjacent to the bent parts of the side plate 80 described in the previous embodiment is replaced in this alternative by a wear piece 86" or 86" situated on the tip of the spike formed by the side plates 80', which piece is preferably of the above-mentioned steel cap. The wear piece 86' or 86" may be shaped as continuation of the side plate 80' according to Figure 7a or into a wider body 86", as in Figure 7b. The figures, furthermore, show the reinforcement 84 inside the spikes already explained in the previous embodiments, allowing both the spike and the whole spike disk and, if required, the inside perimeter of the compaction wheel or roller to be supported to form one single structure.

(0045) As an additional preferred alternative a solution should be mentioned, in which the surface of the compaction means is formed by elements containing several spikes. These elements consist of a curved base plate and spikes fastened to its outside surface, which may be of the type illustrated e.g. in Figures 5a - 7b. Each element carries, e.g., six spikes such that the base parts of the spikes are attached both on the surface of the element and to one another. As for the base plate, its width totals the width of one spike perimeter and one spikeless area remaining between the spike disks. In other words, said element preferably consists of a section, comprising a few spikes in length, to be placed along the perimeter, and the smooth section situated in both its sides. Thus, the compaction means or wheel, or generally speaking the surface of the means, consists entirely of metal, both in the area provided with spikes and in the portion between the spike disk. Fastening of the said elements to the compaction means is preferably done with bolts extending through the concrete casting of the compaction means, for which purpose, each element is provided with a sufficient amount of holes preferably situated inside the spikes and nuts fastened thereon. Thus, the bolts turned from the inside hold the elements in place. If is, of course, also obvious that the width of the said element may be that of not just one but several spike perimeters measured in the direction of the axle of the compaction means, whereby at least the spikeless areas remaining between the spike disks belong to the base plate of the element, and if necessary, the base plate on the outside of the outermost spike disks may have a smooth area.

(0046) According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, compaction means may be produced not only by attaching several spike disks and optional intermediate disks together e.g. with bolts, but also as a single casting. Thus, naturally the type of spike coverings 66 in Figures 5 shaping the surface of the compaction means, or the corresponding spike coverings produced in the same way as in Figures 6 or 7 are produced in quite the same way as previously. The step prior to the casting comes as an exception, in which mold rings must be placed between the spike coverings, whereby the section corresponding the spacers of the coverings and shaping the smooth part between the spike disks of the compaction means may be produced. Each of these mold rings consists preferably of semi-circular shaped halves, and naturally the circular mold may be divided into more than two parts, whereby the halves fill the space between parallel spike coverings such that a separate closing plate is no longer needed at the sides of the spikes. Though, if for any reason, such as the appearance of the compaction means, closing plates are arranged on the side of the spikes, then the circular mold need not fully cover the lateral surface of the spikes. A third part of the mold, besides the base plate, is the inner ring, whose length is substantially that of the whole compaction means.

(0047) As a second alternative, the external end of the compaction means, in its operating position, consists of a closed concrete casing, which is obtained by arranging the inner ring providing the inner perimeter to be closed at its end part, and somewhat lower (50 - 100 mm) than the outer covering of the wheel such that casting may be done directly on top of the inner perimeter mold. Such a part completely closing the end part of the compaction means may be used either merely to close the end part of the compaction means, or as a fastening means, with which the compaction wheel is fastened to the coupling flange of the vehicle or to the compaction roller' own drive.

(0048) As a third alternatively, the inner ring of the mold is designed in two parts such that first the upper end part of the inner ring to be placed on top of the base plate of the mold is closed by the cover plate such that the casting may be done on top of the cover plate, as well. When the casting on the cover plate obtains the desired height, the second inner ring, whose lower end part is closed by the cover plate, is installed centrally relative to the spike coverings on top of the casting, and the casting is completed. By this method, the flange perpendicular to the axle of the compaction means is placed at a desired point on the length of the compaction means and not at its end part, as in the previous embodiment.

(0049) The type of casting explained above may also be varied such that several inner rings shaping the inside of the compaction means are arranged along the length of compaction means. With this procedure, it would be possible to arrange a flange open at a desired point in the middle of the length of the compaction means, but nevertheless extending at a desired distance from the other inner surface of the compaction means. This is done such that the first inner ring closed at least at its top end part by a cover plate is arranged in the usual way on top of the bottom plate of the mold centrally relative to the spike coverings, and the second inner ring on top of the former and centrally relative to the spike coverings. The height of this second inner ring naturally matches the desired thickness of the flange and its diameter the diameter of the opening remaining inside the inner flange of the compaction means. When, furthermore, on top of this second inner ring is installed a third inner ring closed at its bottom end part, and centrally relative to the spike coverings, fill casting of the compaction means may be performed.

(0050) Naturally, if the flange provided with openings is preferably to be arranged on the end part of the compaction means, initially either a conventional inner ring or a second inner ring of the previous example may be placed on top of the base plate of the mold, followed by either the second inner ring of the previous example, or a conventional inner ring.

(0051) When so far, the surface of either the individual spike disks or the surface remaining on the side of the whole compaction wheel or roller produced by casting, has been covered with the casting material, it may be provided with a metallic material, as well. This is done most simply by fastening a strip of a spherical metallic material on the side of the spike coverings, substantially at the inside diameter of the spike covering, and with a width of the strip matching the width of the smooth part of the compaction means in the direction of the axle. If this type of combination of one spike covering and one spherical strip is used in the casting, one may start out by installing the said combination on the base plate of the mold with the strip part facing down, and installing the parts corresponding to the previously described mold ring on the outside of the strip, the intention, however, now being only to cover the free openings remaining at the location of the spikes at the side of the spike covering or to function in the same way as a closing ring. Otherwise, the preparing and implementation of casting is continued in the way described in detail above. A second option, as already indicated, is to arrange closing plates for each spike, whereby a mold is no longer required for the production of the outer perimeter of the compaction means, instead the casting may be done into the space limited by the metallic outer/wear surface (i.e. the spike covering) of the compaction means, the base plate, and one or more inner rings.

(0052) It is possible, if considered necessary, with a quite similar method to ensure the shape, strength and/or usefulness for wheel attachment of the cast part to be fastened on the coupling flange of the vehicle component, by providing a metal surface for these parts. This may be done, e.g., by arranging disk-like or spherical parts provided with desired metal fittings or other fasteners at desired points of the casting, either by replacing the part of the previously described mold solution therewith, or by adding said part inside the casting mold in some other way. It should, furthermore, be noticed that such a metal plate may be used not only on the surface of the part, but also inside it, in the same way as a metal fitting. One preferred alternative is a plate provided with a perforation, whereby this plate does not divide the piece to be cast into parts, but the casting material passes instead through the holes in order to fill the whole space intended for the casting.

(0053) Of course, if it is desired to produce the compaction means as one casting, the required amount of spike coverings and spacer rings are fastened together as a pack, the pack installed on the base plate of the mold, locking rings installed between the spike coverings, inner rings inside the mold, then continuing in the fashion described in detail above.

(0054) Figures 8a and 8b show the compaction means 20 produced in the way described above, which may therefore be either a compaction roller or wheel depending mainly on the way in which the means should be fastened to the drive. Figure 8a shows how the compaction means 20" comprises spike disks 26, and is cast as one unit along with the frame casting 67 of the compaction means 20. The solution shown in the figure uses mainly the way described at the end of the above section 0051 , whereby the outer metal surface of the compaction means 20" serves as the outer-surface mold and consists of the side plates 80 of the spikes 22' and the closing plates 90, as well as of the metal rings 92 situated between the spikes 22' in the direction of the axle. The figure further shows one more metal disk 94 arranged at the end of the compaction means 20" and used to fasten the means 20" to its drive. The enlarged portions of the figure show a preferred way of placing the closing piates in connection with the spikes 22'. In the case shown in the figure, the closing plates 90 are placed inside the spike 22' such that the side or wear plates 80 produced of a wear-resistant material cover the closing plates 90 from a direct wear load. In other words, the closing plates 90 are fastened at a certain distance inside the edges of the side plate 80 or the wear surface of the spike.

(0055) As a further preferred embodiment of the invention may be mentioned the production of the spike disk by cutting from a plate typically consisting of a metal material and suitable for this purpose. An especially advantageous spike disk is formed from one ring that is cut from a steel plate of desired thickness, in the range 50 - 150 mm, on whose outside perimeter spikes are formed, which spikes are substantially fastened to one another at their bases in a way characteristic of the invention. The solution shown in the previous Figure 3, in which the front wheel of the vehicle component is clearly smaller than the rear wheel, provides the option of optimizing the use of the material such that the spike disk of the front wheel is obtained from the piece remaining inside the spike disk of the rear wheel. This may be done either by cutting the spike disk of the front wheel loose directly from the blank of the spike disk of the rear wheel, whereby the inner perimeter of the rear wheel is serrated according to the spikes of the front wheel, or by first cutting the inner perimeter of the spike disk of the rear wheel into a wheel, and subsequently cutting the spike disk of the front wheel from the initial circular blank by removing preferably equilateral triangular parts from the perimeter of the disk. The radial dimension of the spike disk should be at least such that the strength of the disk is sufficient for the intended use, and such that it is possible to provide through the intact part of the disk the necessary bolts or similar fasteners needed for fastening the disk and possibly the spacer rings to be arranged in the spaces between the disks. Moreover, the described structure readily provides the option of arranging the fastening of the wheel assembled from the spike disks on the coupling flange of the vehicle component, or the fastening of the compaction roller on its drive device. This may be done either by extending one of the spike disks until at least almost on the axle of the disk, or by arranging between the disks a disk made of a thinner steel plate and extending the disk to the coupling flange. A second preferred application purpose of the spike disk cut from a steel plate is serving as one or both side surfaces of the compaction means. In other words, although the compaction means may be produced primarily by casting concrete or some other suitable material, it is possible, when assembling the compaction means, to add to the compaction means a spike disk cut from a steal plate either on one or both axial ends, which spike disk protects the compaction means cast of concrete, or the like, from blows and other stress factors.

(0056) And, as yet another preferred embodiment of the invention may be mentioned the casting of one or more spike disks of metallic materials suitable for the purpose, preferably of steel. In other words, one spike disk may be cast at a time, whereby a wheel may be assembled therefrom in the same way as described in the previous embodiment. Only the spacer ring forms an exception, which may be cast together with the spike disk, or separately as an individual part, if desired. A second option is to cast, one at a time, a pack consisting of several spike disks and spacer rings, whereby, of course, more stringent requirements are placed on the casting mold.

(0057) Figures 9a and 9b show application of the compaction means according to previously discussed embodiments to cooperate with a roller car that may be attached behind the above-described tractor, shovel loader, or other similar traction vehicle using the compaction means described above. As already stated in the introduction to this specification, the tractor, shovel loader, or other preferably, but not necessarily, series-produced traction vehicle may be either completely rubber-wheeled or provided at least on one axle with prior art compaction means or the compaction means described above. Therefore, the actual traction device or the details of its construction per se are quite irrelevant for this embodiment of the invention.

(0058) Thus, Figures 9a, 9b and 10 refer only to the parts of the traction vehicle 101 , which in one way or another are linked to the roller car 102 according to the invention. This means that the roller car 102 is coupled to the towing hook 104 of the traction vehicle 101, the vehicle being described in the figures as a series-produced and four-wheel driven tractor equipped with compaction wheels and a bulldozer blade, by a such that the traction vehicle is capable of pulling the roller car 102 in a trailer-like fashion. Moreover, Figures 9 and 10 show how in this embodiment of the invention, a power take-off axle 106 is arranged in the power transmission system 105 of the traction vehicle 101, which power take-off axle is coupled to the roller car 102 through an articulated axle 108 of the power take-off axle 107. This means that in actual fact the take-off axle 108 rotates at a speed proportional to the rotational speed of the compaction wheels of the traction vehicle 101.

(0059) It is apparent from Figures 9a, 9b and 10 that the construction of the roller car 102 is as simple as possible and therefore advantageous both in terms of production and maintenance. In other words, the roller car consists mainly of a simple bar frame and a rigid axle tube attached thereto, on which the compaction means, in this embodiment the compaction wheels are mounted on bearings. More concisely, the roller car 102 according to the embodiment comprises mainly a towing barfastened in the aforesaid towing hook 104, and may be characterized also as a frame situated between the compaction means, which frame in the embodiment of the figures consists of two frame bars i 09 linked together at their front ends, and are fastened to ^• the axle tube 110 of the roller car at their opposite ends. The differential gear 111 of the roller car is arranged inside this axle tube 110, and power is supplied to the gear by the power take-off axle 107 of the roller car. The power from the differential gear 111 is transferred in a known manner to the compaction means 112 of the roller car 102, which means are preferably constructed either according to the embodiments shown in the previous Figures 3 - 8b, or the embodiments otherwise discussed in the specification of the invention. As a practical application example may be mentioned that a conventional rear axle of a heavy truck may be used with minor modifications as the rear axle of the roller car of the invention. It is, furthermore, apparent from Figures 9a, 9b and 10, that bars are fastened to the axle tube 110, extending rearward therefrom, upon which bars spikes or a cross bar 118 carrying similar cleaning elements keeping the compaction means 112 clean are fastened.

(0060) It must be mentioning right away, that in addition to the above, the roller car may, of course, be coupled not only to the towing hook of a tractor, but also to the three-point linkage of a tractor.

(0061) Figure 10 shows a traction-vehicle/roller-car combination according to a preferred embodiment of the invention in a very much stripped-down version. Of the traction vehicle 101, only the power transmission system 105, along with the rear axle, the drive power take-off axle 106, and the towing hook 104 are included. Likewise the roller car 102 is represented only by the frame 109 and the axle with its differential gear 111 and the power take-off axle 107. Figure 10 especially shows the fastening of the coupling ring 113 of the roller car 102, which ring, when the roller car 102 is in use, therefore is linked to the towing hook 104 of the traction vehicle 101, to the frame of the roller car 102. It is characteristic of the fastening of this coupling ring 113 in this embodiment that it is fastened at a point where the frame bars 109 of the roller car are linked to one another. Characteristic of this fastening is that the coupling ring 113 is mounted on bearings in a way, which enables the roller car 102 to turn freely around the longitudinal axle of the coupling ring 113, which in practice means that the roller car 102 and traction vehicle 101 may sway in different directions, or even capsize, without any torque being exerted on the other part of the combination.

(0062) In this step, it also bears mentioning that the roller car 102 need not necessarily be fastened to the towing hook 114 protruding from the frame of the traction vehicle 101 , as shown in Figures 9a, 9b and 10. If the towing bar/frame 114 of the roller car is designed sufficiently narrow, at least at its front part, or the coupling ring 113 sufficiently long in order to ensure a sufficiently large turning angle of the roller car 102, the coupling ring 113 may be fastened directly on a towing hook 115 situated on the frame of the traction vehicle 101 , as shown in Figures 11a and 11b.

(0063) Figures 11a and 11b, moreover, display a second preferred embodiment of a frame structure of the roller car 102. In this embodiment, the frame members 114 of the roller car are, naturally, fastened to the axte tube 115 of the roller car. From there, they continue rearward, as shown also in Figures 9a and 9b, such that they support the horizontal cross bar 118 situated on the rear of the compaction means 112, upon which bar the spikes or similar cleaning elements cleaning the spaces between the spikes of the compaction means 112 are fastened. Moreover, a plate or bar structure 117 encircling almost the whole roller car 102 has been arranged on the frame members 114. In other words, as a part of the cross bar 118 already referred to above, or in addition thereto, the plate or bar structure 117 extending in the whole width of the roller car 102 is fastened to the rear of the frame member 114, which structure turns to the side of the compaction means 112, and back to the front in order to support the frame member 114. Also, in this embodiment, bearings 119 for the compaction means 112 are arranged in said structure 117, so that the axle of the compaction means 112 is arranged to be supported both on the inside and the outside of the compaction means 112.

(0064) Concerning the embodiments shown in the previous different figures, it should be noted that although some of them show a self-pulling roller car, and others a structure relying exclusively on the pulling capacity of the traction vehicle, the frame structures and other structures not directly linked to traction devices shown in the figures are exchangeable from a pulling roller car to a pulled roller car and vice versa. ■ Thus, the roller car in Figure 11a, for example, may be considered as an example only of a pulled roller car, and the roller car in Figure 11b as an example of a device equipped with a hydraulic power transmission, in which a hydraulic motor is placed in the hub of each compaction means, which is why no differential gear, or the like, need be arranged for the axle tube, as in Figures 9b and 10. In other words, Figures 11b show, as indicated by reference number 116, an application solution of a compaction means 112 according to Fl patent 87008 that is suitable as a hydraulic power transmission alternative, wherein the traction vehicle 101 offers only hydraulic hoses/pipes (not shown in the figures) for roller car 102.

(0065) Figures 12a - 12f show, furthermore, a roller-car assembly according to a third preferred embodiment of the invention. Figure 12a shows the frame of the roller car, which in this embodiment comprises two bars 131 and 132 fastened crosswise to one another, whereby the first of them is placed in the longitudinal center line of the roller car so that the traction device of roller car 113 may be attached to the forward end of the bar 131. The opposite end of the bar 131, on the other hand, extends in the finished roller car preferably slightly toward the back of the compaction means. The second bar 132, in turn, is fastened perpendicularly relative to the first bar 131 such that the axle of the roller car mat be supported on the lugs 133 found on said bar.

(0066) Figure 12b, again, shows the axle 134 of the roller car, for which it is possible to use any axle available on the market, e.g., an axle of a heavy lorry, with a differential gear 111, hubs 135 and lugs 136, which initially are intended for fastening of springs.

(0067) The axle 134 is shown in Figure 12c as fastened to the frame member 132, said parts being fastened to each other at their lugs 133 and 136.

(0068) Figure 12d shows the compaction means 112 in partial section, showing a wheel disk 137 corresponding to a conventional wheel located inside the spike disk structure of the compaction means 112.

(0069) Figure 12e shows, furthermore, in partial section how to fasten the compaction means 112 at its disk wheel 137 on the hub 135 of the axle 134 of the compaction means.

(0070) Figure 12f shows the different parts of the device that keep clean the spaces between the spike disks of the compaction means 112, i.e., the scraper device. The scraper device is comprised of the scrapers situated both on the front and rear of the compaction means, which scrapers consist of the scraper sprongs 52' extending between the spike disks of the compaction means and being fastened on the scraper rods 56', 56", The scraper rods 56" and 56" are in turn fastened to the frame member 31 of the compaction means, as shown in Figure 12g. The scraper rod 56' situated on the front of the compaction means 112 has two parts, one on either side of the first bar 131 of the frame. The elbow joint 57 is situated further inside at the end of either scraper rod 56', at which joint the scraper rod 56' is fastened to the first bar 131 of the frame. The rear scraper 56" is fastened directly on the opposite end of the said first frame member 131. The scraper rods 56' and 56" described above are supported on each other by the side pieces 59 at the sides of the compaction means 112 such that a rectangular scraper device is formed.

(0071) In the embodiments Figures 9a, 9b, 10 and 12a - 12g, the power transmission from the traction vehicle 101 to the axle of the roller car 102, and further on to the compaction means 112 is therefore fully mechanical. A second alternative is naturally to set up the operation of the compaction means in the manner disclosed in, e.g., Fl patent 87008, and as mentioned briefly in connection with Figure 12b. The patent discusses a hydraulic motor, which is especially well suited for the operation of a slow-speed wheel or compaction means. Naturally, many other types of hydraulic motors exist and may be used by compaction means. An advantage provided by the use of a hydraulic motor as the power source for the roller car compaction means is that a rotating propeller shaft and protective plates need not be arranged between the traction vehicle and the roller car, instead providing at least two hydraulic hoses and/or pipes in connection with the frame and inside a shield will be sufficient. In other words, the necessary hydraulic pump/s is/are arranged in connection with the traction vehicle. When two hydraulic hoses or pipes are used, it means that the compaction means on the axle of the roller car rotate at the same speed, unless a separate differential gear is arranged between the hydraulic motor and the compaction means. This, of course, is also quite suitable for a uniform compaction roller. A second possibility is to arrange four hydraulic hoses or pipes, whereby either compaction means obtains its own hydraulic motor with an independently adjustable rotational speed. If required, planetary gears or other reduction gears may be arranged together with the hydraulic motors or the compaction means, if the RPM of the compaction means needs changing relative to the hydraulic motor. Moreover, when using hydraulic motors, it is to some extent easier than the mechanical power transmission to arrange the compaction means of the roller car as a roller extending along the whole length of the roller car, if desired. In that case, the frame structure of the roller car becomes a U-shaped framework, whose bars extend on the sides of the roller car and outside the roller, whereby through either or both bars hydraulic hoses/pipes are drawn to the hydraulic motor/s driving the compaction roller.

(0072) Another alternative for the use of the hydraulic motor/s is to carry the power mechanically to a hydraulic pump arranged any suitable point of the frame or the axle of the roller car, the pump driving the hydraulic motor/s of the one or more compaction means.

(0073) A solution, as a preferred construction alternative for the roller car, is shown in Figures 13a -13g, wherein the frame 160 of the roller car according to a fifth preferred embodiment is formed, where appropriate, by a so-called goose neck, in other words, the frame 160 of the roller car soon after connection of the coupling ring 168 to the tow hook 162 of the traction vehicle 101 ascends such that the compaction means 166 of the roller car 102 has space to turn underneath the frame 160, as shown in Figures 13b - 13f. It must also be noticed from said figures that the roller car is displayed in a partial section, i.e., the frame part 174 situated above the compaction means parallel with the roller car axle is cut away. Thus, the frame 160 of the roller car 102 comprises the coupling ring 168, around whose longitudinal axle, the rest of the frame of the roller car 102 is able to turn; a traction arm 170, which in this embodiment protrudes at first substantially in horizontal direction toward the rear of the compaction means 164 of the traction vehicle 101 or the wheels, and then ascends, until turning in the horizontal direction essentially slightly higher than the diameter of the compaction means 146 of the roller car 102; a turntable 172; and a subframe 174 tying the compaction means 166 together. The turntable 172 allows the compaction means to turn at least +/- 90 degrees relative to the traction frame 160. The traction frame 160 is fastened to the top of the turntable 172 and the subframe 174 to the bottom of the turntable. In the design solution shown in Figures 13a -13f, where there are two compaction means 166, the subframe comprises a horizontal bar/bar system 174 extending along the whole width of the roller car 102, a vertical bar/bar system 176 extending downward from opposite ends of said bar/bar system 174 to the axle of the compaction means, the axle of the compaction means 166 being preferably, but not necessarily mounted on bearings 182 on the vertical bar/bar system 176. The bar/bar system 174 is connected to the traction arm 170 via the turntable 172 and, if required, at least one hydraulic cylinder, such that by means of the cylinder, the subframe 174 and the compaction means 166 along therewith may turned in the desired position. Moreover, a horizontal protective plate or bar 178 is connected to the bottom of either vertical bar/bar system 176 of the subframe 174, to support the cleaning device 180 of the compaction means 166, which device is fastened between the rear ends of said protective plate/bar 178.

(0074) Furthermore, the subframe has in this ^' embodiment been provided with a suspension for the axle of the compaction means 166 and the drive substantially straight below the swivel 172. The solution according to this embodiment requires a hydraulic drive for the compaction means, since introducing an articulated shaft on the axie of the compaction means would certainly be complicated. In other words, hydraulic pipes/hoses 186 run from the traction vehicle 101 along the frame 160 onto the axle of the compaction means 166, on which axle there is at least one hydraulic motor. Optionally, each compaction means may have a own hydraulic motor of its own, whereby the steering of the roller car 102 may be boosted by adjusting the hydraulic motors.

(0075) The hydraulic pump or pumps, preferably a hydrostatic twin pump required by the hydraulic power transmission is arranged on the power take-off axle of the tractor either directly or by means of a gear system. Hydraulic oil is carried from the pump/s using hydraulic hoses to the hydraulic motor or motors. When carrying oil from the pumps fastened to the traction vehicle to the traction frame, conventional hydraulic hoses may be used. When carrying oil further from the traction frame to the roller frame the turntable is preferably provided with a rotating hydraulic coupling. The most recommendable way is to use a rotating twin coupling located at the center of the turntable and from the bottom surface of which power transmission oil is transferred preferably by metal pipes to the hydraulic motors driving the compaction means. Since the pumps may adjust the direction and amount of the oil flow completely independently, the hydraulic motors may be driven at different speeds, as well as with different directions of rotation.

(0076) Figure 13b shows a situation in which the motors of the roller car run in different directions at the same speed. Then, the roller car turns but does not move forward, the turntable acting as a joint.

(0077) Figure 13c shows the traction vehicle - roller car combination, when driving in a curve. The onboard driving computer of the traction vehicle is given an instruction, with which the roller car follows the tractor. In other words, the compaction devices of the roller car are driven at somewhat different speeds, whereby the roller car essentially follows the tracks of the traction vehicle. In this version, the surface is compacted partly twice by rolling.

(0078) Figure 13d shows a situation, in which the^'compaction means of the roller car have been driven further forward from the situation of the embodiment in Figure 13b such that the axle of the compaction means is placed in parallel with the traction frame. Thus, the roller car may be able to compact a rather limited area behind the traction vehicle, without the need to move the traction vehicle.

(0079) Figure 13e shows a situation using primarily a setup like the one shown in Figure 13b as the starting position, whereby the roller car is moved to an angular position in relation to the traction vehicle. In Figure 13e, the traction vehicle is moved at a certain speed, and the compaction means of the roller car at a slightly greater speed. Thus, the roller car is driven slightly to the side of the traction vehicle's line of driving.

(0080) Figure 13f shows a situation created when the rotational speed of the upper compaction means as shown in the figure 13e is slightly reduced, and the speed of the lower one accelerated, whereby the compaction means are placed such that one travels inside the 'tracks' created by the traction vehicle, and the other outside the 'tracks' created by the traction vehicle. The situation according to Figure 13f may be pre-programmed in the driving computer onboard the traction vehicle, whereby it fully controls the situation when the roller car is driven either forward or backward, or in a straight or curved line. In practice, the driving computer adjusts the oil output of the pumps as required by the situation. In this version, the surface is rolled such that the area becomes compacted once in the whole width of the combination vehicle.

(0081) Figure 13g shows wheels 184 arranged as auxiliary equipment for the roller car allowing the roller car to be driven on grounds, where compaction means are not needed. The wheels 184 may be used when moving the roller car on farmyards, roads or storage areas, etc. The wheels are preferably arranged hydraulically such that they may be lifted up during regular compaction work. Naturally, the hydraulics should be dimensioned according to the total weight of the roller car, since when lowering the wheels 184 to the driving position for the transport, the hydraulics should raise the whole roller car off the ground.

(0082) A cylindrical compaction means which may even be as wide as the whole roller car was discussed above in many contexts. Actually, a compaction roller refers to a compaction means with only one of them on the same axle. In other words, the compaction roller may be at least three¹ spike disks long, its maximum being limited only by either the pulling power of the traction vehicle or some similar reason not really related to the structure of the roller itself. The structure of the roller, for its part, may be uniform in its entire length, or consist of two or more independently rotating or driven parts. Thus, it is for instance possible for the roller to consist of three parts, whereby all three parts are rotated at their own speed, e.g., when the rolier is making a turn. Said thee-part roller may also be structured such that the outermost parts are driving and the middle one rotating freely.

(0083) As can be observed from the above, a new type of compaction means, its spike and their production method, along with a roller car have been developed, making the treatment of landfills and agricultural stacks substantially more economical than previously. From what has been presented above, it is also to be seen that a roller car, at its simplest, according to the invention comprises only a pulled trailer provided with specially designed compaction means. The other extreme end is a self-drawn and independently controllable compaction device suitable for even the most difficult conditions. Further, it must be understood from what has been explained above that the specification of the invention and the embodiments included there are not intended to limit the invention from what is defined in the attached claims, which alone determine the scope of protection of the invention. At the same time, it should be noted that the various details of the previously described many embodiments varying only slightly from one another may be exchanged for one another, when suitable, as long as the devices remain useable.

Claims

1. A method of producing a compaction means to be used for the compression of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the like, which compaction means is substantially cylindrical in its basic form and provided with spikes on its surface, characterized in that

a) members (26) consisting at least partially of a metallic material provided with spikes on a substantially circular perimeter are produced, and

b) a number of these members (26) is arranged concentrically in parallel in order to form the compaction means (20', 20") such that at least three adjacent lines of spikes are obtained on the perimeter of the compression means (20", 20").

2. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that in step a), either so-called spike disks consisting of a material suitable for this purpose are cast, or so-called spike disks are cut of a plate material suitable for this purpose, which are fastened in parallel in step b).

3. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that step a) comprises several stages as follows

- a11 ) a part with a suitable width and length is cut from a metal strip

(60),

a12) said strip (60) is bent into a zigzag shape such that the bending angle α of every other bend (62) is greater than the bending angle β of the remaining bends, thus creating a perimeter of spikes (66), and

a13) the ends of the spike perimeter (66) are joined together.

4. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that step a) comprises several stages as follows a21) parts (80, 80') with a suitable width and length are cut from a metal strip or plate,

a22) said parts (80, 80') are joined together in pairs such that the angle of point (80, 80') between the parts will be β, and

a23) the pairs of parts formed at point a22), so-called spikes (22', 22"); are joined together at their free edges that are opposed relative to the joint such that an annular body, a so-called spike perimeter, is formed.

5. A method according to Claims 3 or 4, characterized in that, as the last step, a filling material suitable for this purpose is cast inside at least one such spike perimeter.

6. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that step a) comprises several stages as follows

a31) parts (80, 80') with a suitable width and length are cut from a metal strip or plate,

a32) said parts (80, 80') are joined together in pairs such that the angle of point (80, 80') between the parts becomes β,

a33) the pairs of parts, so-called spikes (22', 22"), formed at stage a32) are joined on top of a curved base plate to form an element comprising several spikes, and

a34) said elements are fastened on the perimeter of a compaction means produced of a material suitable for this purpose.

7. A method according to Claims 4 or 6, characterized in that after stage a21) or a31) and before stage a22) or a32), said parts (80) are bent at their end sections (81) alternately at an angle of about 0 - β and an angle of about β - 0.

8. A method according to Claims 4, 6 or 7, characterized in that means (84) reinforcing the casting are added inside the spike perimeter (66).

9. A method according to Claims 3 or 4, characterized in that a casting mold is used in order to assist the casting, which mold comprises a base plate, mold rings, and one or more inner rings such that the spike perimeters (66) formed in stage a13) or a23) are installed on the bottom of the casting mold, several on top of one another, a mold ring formed of at least two parts detachable from one another is arranged in each space between the spike perimeters (66), and an inner ring is placed inside said spike perimeters (66) and concentric therewith.

10. A method according to Claims 3 or 4, characterized in that said spike perimeters (66) are joined together by means of special spacer rings such that the spacer ring is fastened substantially on the radius of the inner periphery of the spike perimeter (66).

11. A method according to Claim 10, characterized in that a casting mold is used in order to assist the casting, which mold comprises a base plate, mold rings, and one or more inner rings, whereby the series of spike perimeters (66) and the spacer rings combining them is installed on the base plate, mold rings formed of at least two parts detachable from one another are installed in the spaces encircling the spacer rings, and an inner ring is placed inside said spike perimeters (66) and concentric therewith.

12. A method according to Claims 9 or 11, characterized in that the inner ring comprises a metallic material.

13. A method according to Claim 12, characterized in that the inner ring is fastened to the spike perimeters (66) by means reinforcing the casting (84).

14. A method according to Claims 9 or 11, characterized in. that the inner ring is provided with a cover plate such that part of the casting is performed on top of the cover plate.

15. A method according to Claims 9 and 14 or 11 and 14, characterized in that two inner rings are used, whereby before casting, a first inner ring provided with a cover plate at its upper edge is installed on the bottom plane of the mold, part of the casting is performed such that the desired thickness of casting material is provided on top of the cover ring, a second inner ring is placed on top of the previous casting, with the cover plate downward, and the casting is completed.

16. A method according to any of the previous Claims 2, 4 - 15, characterized in that casting conduits or cores are arranged at desired points of the cast¹ in order to form holes (70) or openings extending through the cast.

17. A method according to Claims 9 and 14, or 11 and 14, characterized in that two or more inner rings are used when forming inside the compaction means a ffange open in the middle.

18. A method according to any of Claims 1 - 17, characterized in that the base ^' angle α of the spike (22', 22") is 45 - 105 degrees, and the angle of point of the spike (22', 22") β is 35 - 80 degrees.

19. A method according to Claims 5, 8, 13, 14 or 15, characterized in that the casting material is common concrete, ultra-strong concrete, or fiber-reinforced concrete.

20. A compaction means for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the ⁽ike, which compaction means has a substantially cylindrical basic form and is provided with spikes on its surface, characterized in that the compaction means (20, 20', 20") comprises at least three spike disks (26).

21. A compaction means according to Claims 20, characterized in that the spike disks (26) are fastened to each other in parallel such that the spikes of the different disks (26) are placed staggered leaving between them gaps, so-cafled compaction pockets.

22. A compaction means according to Claim 20, characterized in that the spike disks (26) are produced of a suitable metallic material by casting or cutting from a metallic plate-like material suited for this purpose.

23. A compaction means for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, and the like, which compaction means has substantially cylindrical basic form and is provided with spikes on its surface, characterized in that the compaction means (20, 20', 20") comprises at least three parallel lines of spikes, in circumferential direction, the spikes having metal on their wear surface, i.e., three so-called spike disks (26) and that the inside portion (67) of the compaction means is at least partially cast from a material suited for this purpose.

24. A compaction means according to Claim 23, characterized in that at least the surface of the spike disk comprises several elements in the direction of the perimeter of the compaction means (20, 20', 20"), each of which containing several spikes.

25. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 20 - 24, characterized in that a ring-shaped smooth area (28, 92) has been left between the spike disks (26).

26. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 20, 21 , 23 - 25, characterized in that each spike disk (26) comprises at least two parts (66, 67) of a different material fastened to one another, whereby the outer perimeter of the spike disk (26), i.e., its wear surface, is substantially of a metallic material (66), and the inner portion (67) of the outer perimeter is at least partially circular and at least partially cast from a material suited for this purpose.

27. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 20, 21 , 23 - 26, characterized in that the wear surface of the spike disk is formed of a bent metal strip (60), a so-called spike perimeter (66), and the substantially smooth areas (28, 92) in between.

28. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 20, 21 , 23 - 27, characterized in that the wear surface of the spike disk comprises metal plate parts (80, 80') fastened in succession to one another along the perimeter, and substantially smooth areas (28, 92) between the lines in the direction of the axle.

29. A compaction means according to Claims 25, 27 or 28, characterized in that the smooth area (28, 92) of the outer surface of said compaction means (20, 20', 20") is metal-coated.

30. A compaction means according any of the previous Claims 23 - 28, characterized in that means (84) for strengthening the casting is fastened to at least part of the metal portions of the compaction means (20, 20', 20").

31. A compaction means according any of the previous Claims 20 - 30, characterized in that the compaction means (20, 20', 20") is provided with devices (94) for fastening the compaction means (20, 20', 20") on the axle of the vehicle (30).

32. A compaction means according to Claim 31, characterized in that said fastening device is a flange (94) fastened on the means (20, 20', 20").

33. A compaction means according to Claim 32, characterized in that said flange (94) extends closer to the axle of the compaction means (20, 20", 20") as compared to the rest of the components of the compaction means.

34. A compaction means according to Claims 32 or 33, characterized in that said flange (94) is of a metallic material.

35. A compaction means according to Claims 32 - 34, characterized in that said flange is integral with the inside part (67) of the outer perimeter of the compaction means (20, 20', 20"), and thus cast of a material suited for this purpose.

36. A compaction means according to any of the Claims 22, 32 - 34, characterized in that said flange is produced of a metal plate by cutting, and that it at the same time forms one of the spike disks of the compaction means.

37. A compaction means according to Claims 27 or 28, characterized in that the smooth area (28) of the outer surface of said compaction means (20, 20', 20") is of a cast material.

38, A compaction means according any of the previous Claims 20 - 37, characterized in that the inner perimeter (68) of the inner part of the compaction means (20, 20', 20") is of a metallic material.

39. A compaction means according Claims 26 or 27, characterized in that the inner perimeter (68) of the inner part of the compaction means (20, 20', 20") is mainly of the cast material of the inner part (67).

• 40. A compaction means according any of the previous Claims 23, 26 - 28, 35, 38 and 39, characterized in that the inner part (67) of the compaction means (20, 20', 20") has been cast of concrete, ultra-strong or fiber-reinforced concrete.

41 A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 20 - 40, characterized in that the angle of point β of the spikes of the spike disk (66) is 35 - 80 degrees.

42. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 20 - 41 , characterized in that it is fastened on the axle of a tractor, a shovel loader, or a similar series-produced vehicle.

43, A compaction means according any of the previous Claims 20 - 41, characterized in that at least one compaction means (112) is fastened on the axle (115, 134) of a so-called roller car (102).

44. A compaction means according to Claim 43, characterized in that said roller car (102) comprises a frame (109, 114, 131, 160) fastened to the axle (115, 134), and devices (104, 113, 168) for coupling the roller car (102) at its frame to the vehicle (101).

45, A compaction means according to Claim 44, characterized in that said roller car (102) is also coupled to said vehicle (101) by means of power transmission devices (108, 186).

46. A compaction means according to Claim 45, characterized in that said power transmission devices (108, 186) are mechanical and/or hydraulic.

47. A compaction means according to Claim 45, characterized in that the compaction means (112) for each rofler car (102) is provided with a hydraulic motor.

48. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 43 - 47, characterized in that the roller car (102) is provided with control devices.

49. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 43 - 48, characterized in that the roller car (102) comprises several compaction means (112) arranged on the same rigid axle, and the steering of the roller car (102) is designed to be effected by turning the compaction means (112) at different speeds relative to one another.

50. A compaction means according to Claim 49, characterized in that the turning of the compaction means (112) at different speeds relative to one another is effected by designing a hydraulic drive for the compaction means (112).

51. A compaction means according to Claim 48, characterized in that the devices for controlling the roller car (102) comprise a joint (172) arranged in connection with the frame (160) of the roller car (102), and a drive device influencing over the joint (172).

52. A compaction means according to Claim 51, characterized in that said drive means is a hydraulic cylinder.

53. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 43 - 52, characterized in that a tractor, shove! loader, or some other series-produced vehicle is used as the traction vehicle (101).

54. A compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 43 - 53, characterized in that at least one axle of the traction vehicle (101) has been provided with compaction means.

55. A spike of a compaction means to be used for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, or like, the spike being basically A-shaped and produced from a metal plate, characterized in that each spike (22', 22") is comprised of two plates (80, 80') fastened together at the tip area (81) such that an angle of point β of the spike (22', 22") is formed between the main parts of the plates (80, 80').

56. A spike according to Claim 55, characterized in that each plate (80) has been bent at the tip portion at an angle of about β/2.

57. A spike of a compaction means according to Claim 55, characterized in that one of the plates has been bent at an angle of about β, while the other plate remains straight.

58. A spike of a compaction means according to any of the Claims 55 - 57, characterized in that the plates (80) forming the spike (22') are alternately bent at an angle of about 0° - β, and an angle of about β- 0°.

59. A pike of a compaction means according to any of the Claims 55 - 58, characterized in that the plates (80, 80') are fastened to one another by welding from inside.

60. A spike of a compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 55 -

59, characterized in that the angle of point β of the spike (22') is 35 - 80 degrees.

61. A spike of a compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 55 -

60, characterized in that wear-resistant material (86, 86', 86') has been welded onto the tip of the spike (22').

62. A spike of a compaction means according to any of the previous Claims 55 -

61, characterized in that the open sides of the spike (22', 22") are closed by triangular closing plates (90).

63. A spike of a compaction means according to Claims 55 - 62, characterized in that the open interior of the spike (22', 22") has been cast full of material suitable for this purpose, e.g., concrete, ultra-strong concrete, or fiber- reinforced concrete.

64. The use of a spike (22', 22") of a compaction means according to any of the Claims 55 - 63, when adding new spikes to an existing compaction means or wheel, or when replacing existing worn spikes of an existing compaction means or wheel.

65. A spike element of a compaction means to be used for the compaction of landfills, agricultural stacks, or the like, characterized in that it comprises spikes fastened on the curved outer surface of a base plate, whereby several elements may be fastened in succession along the perimeter of the compaction means in order to form one or more so-called spike perimeters.

66. A spike element according to Claim 65, characterized in that the wear surface of the spike consists of a folded metal strip.

67. A spike element according to Claim 65, characterized in that the wear surface of the spikes id formed by parts cut from a metal plate, which parts are fastened together at one edge in order to form the tip of the spike and at the opposite edge to said base plate.

68. A spike element according to any of the previous Claims 65 - 67, characterized in that the spike elements are fastened to the compaction means such that a smooth area remains between the two parallel spike element perimeters in the direction of the axle.

69. A spike element according to Claim 68, characterized in that said smooth area comprises said curved base plate, whose dimension in the direction of the axle is greater than the corresponding dimension of the spike.

70. A spike element according to any of the previous Claims 65 - 67, characterized in that the compaction means consists primarily of a concrete casting, and the spike elements are fastened to the compaction means by bolts extending through the concrete casting.

71. A roller car comprising mainly a frame, an axle arranged in connection therewith, one or more compaction means arranged on the axle, and devices arranged in the frame in order to couple the roller car to the vehicle, characterized in that the shape of compaction means (112) is basically cylindrical and its perimeter provided with at least three parallel lines of spikes along the perimeter.

72. A roller Gar according to Claim 71 , characterized in that said roller car (102) is coupled to said vehicle (101) also by means of power transmission devices (108, 186).

73 A roller car according to Claim- 72, characterized in that' said power transmission devices (108, 186) are mechanical and/or hydraulic.

74. A roller car according to Claim 72, characterized in that each compaction means (112)of the roller car (102) is equipped with a hydraulic motor.

75. A roller car according to any of the previous Claims 71 - 74, characterized in that the roller car (102) is equipped with devices for its control.

76. A roller car according to any of the previous Claims 71 - 75, characterized in that the roller car (102) comprises several compaction means (112) arranged on the same rigid axle (115, 134), and that the steering of the roller car (102) is designed to take place by turning the compaction means (112) at different speeds relative to one another.

77. A roller car means according to Claim 76, characterized in that the turning of the compaction means (112) relative to one another at different speeds is realized by providing a hydraulic drive for the compaction means (112).

78. A roller car according to Claim 75, characterized in that the devices for controlling the roller car (102) comprise a joint (172) connected to the frame (160) of the roller car (102) and a drive device influencing over the joint (172).

79. A roller car according to Claim 78, characterized in that the said drive device is a hydraulic cylinder.

80. A roller car according to any of the previous Claims 71 -79, characterized in that the surface of said compaction-roller means (112) comprises at least on the wear surface of the spikes (22', 22") metal while the inner part (67) is at least partially cast of a material suitable for this purpose.

81. A roller car according to any of the previous Claims 71 - 80, characterized in that said compaction means (112) comprises many spike disks (26) coupled in parallel.

82. A roller car according to any of the previous Claims 71 - 81 , characterized in that said spike disks (26)are either completely, or at least the wear surface of spikes (22', 22"), are of metal.

83. A roller car according to any of the previous Claims 71 - 82, characterized in that the frame (160) of the roller car (102) consists partially of a so-called goose-neck, below which there is room for the compaction means (112), so that it may to turn.