CA1328176C - Concrete floor finisher - Google Patents
Concrete floor finisherInfo
- Publication number
- CA1328176C CA1328176C CA000609241A CA609241A CA1328176C CA 1328176 C CA1328176 C CA 1328176C CA 000609241 A CA000609241 A CA 000609241A CA 609241 A CA609241 A CA 609241A CA 1328176 C CA1328176 C CA 1328176C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- trowels
- rotatable
- finisher
- concrete
- concrete floor
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
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- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 abstract 1
- 235000019753 Finisher Diet Nutrition 0.000 description 47
- 239000002421 finishing Substances 0.000 description 27
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- 239000004570 mortar (masonry) Substances 0.000 description 3
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Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E04—BUILDING
- E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
- E04F21/00—Implements for finishing work on buildings
- E04F21/20—Implements for finishing work on buildings for laying flooring
- E04F21/24—Implements for finishing work on buildings for laying flooring of masses made in situ, e.g. smoothing tools
- E04F21/245—Rotary power trowels, i.e. helicopter trowels
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
- F02B—INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL
- F02B1/00—Engines characterised by fuel-air mixture compression
- F02B1/02—Engines characterised by fuel-air mixture compression with positive ignition
- F02B1/04—Engines characterised by fuel-air mixture compression with positive ignition with fuel-air mixture admission into cylinder
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Architecture (AREA)
- Civil Engineering (AREA)
- Structural Engineering (AREA)
- On-Site Construction Work That Accompanies The Preparation And Application Of Concrete (AREA)
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
The present invention presents a novel concrete floor finisher comprising a body which supports rotatable trowels with trowel blades through radial support members so that the trowels can revolve around a central shaft of the body, the body being equipped further with a driving means of the rotatable trowels, a range of equipments and a traveling means of the finisher, characterized in that the driving means of each of the rotatable trowels is a hydraulic motor connected to an engine-powered unit, and each of the motor is connected in series by hydraulic piping to be driven equally, and also discloses construction of components in detail to improve its mechanical construction adaptable to various conditions of concrete to finish.
The main features of the finisher according to the present appears in the driving system to convert the driving of the rotatable trowels by electric motors or by gasline engines of prior art into a driving of hydraulic motors to eliminate their drawbacks, and moreover, following to the experiences in practical works, in utilizing of the second driving hydraulic system in adjusting the contact pressure on the surface of concrete by raising and lowering the trowels, and as well as controling the revolution of the body around the central shaft positively. That all accom-plish the machine to contribute to the workability and offer a construction of the machine from various aspects of the technology.
Also in the present invention, according to disclo-sures of embodiments, various applications and combinations are available within the scope of technical concept.
The present invention presents a novel concrete floor finisher comprising a body which supports rotatable trowels with trowel blades through radial support members so that the trowels can revolve around a central shaft of the body, the body being equipped further with a driving means of the rotatable trowels, a range of equipments and a traveling means of the finisher, characterized in that the driving means of each of the rotatable trowels is a hydraulic motor connected to an engine-powered unit, and each of the motor is connected in series by hydraulic piping to be driven equally, and also discloses construction of components in detail to improve its mechanical construction adaptable to various conditions of concrete to finish.
The main features of the finisher according to the present appears in the driving system to convert the driving of the rotatable trowels by electric motors or by gasline engines of prior art into a driving of hydraulic motors to eliminate their drawbacks, and moreover, following to the experiences in practical works, in utilizing of the second driving hydraulic system in adjusting the contact pressure on the surface of concrete by raising and lowering the trowels, and as well as controling the revolution of the body around the central shaft positively. That all accom-plish the machine to contribute to the workability and offer a construction of the machine from various aspects of the technology.
Also in the present invention, according to disclo-sures of embodiments, various applications and combinations are available within the scope of technical concept.
Description
: ` ~32817~
The present invention relates to a concrete surface finishing machine comprising rotatable trowels for leveling the surface of deposited concrete, and more specifically to structure of a finishing machine of concrete surface with a plurality of rotatable trowels each with trowel blades rotating on its axis while revolving around a central shaft of the machine, with which the efficiency of automated finishing work on the surface is improvedO
Conventionally, the finishing work of the surface of concrete has changed from the steps consisted of placing ~ concrete, laying mortar on it thereafter and leveling the ¦ surface of the mortar, to a finishing method according to so-, called "Monolithic Method", adopted to finish directly before ~:~ 15 it hardens. As a result, in level finishing work carried out ~ by plasterers after concrete is placed, there have arised ::i problems that high working speed is required in summer .: because of fast setting o~ concrete and that labor ;' ~
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The present invention relates to a concrete surface finishing machine comprising rotatable trowels for leveling the surface of deposited concrete, and more specifically to structure of a finishing machine of concrete surface with a plurality of rotatable trowels each with trowel blades rotating on its axis while revolving around a central shaft of the machine, with which the efficiency of automated finishing work on the surface is improvedO
Conventionally, the finishing work of the surface of concrete has changed from the steps consisted of placing ~ concrete, laying mortar on it thereafter and leveling the ¦ surface of the mortar, to a finishing method according to so-, called "Monolithic Method", adopted to finish directly before ~:~ 15 it hardens. As a result, in level finishing work carried out ~ by plasterers after concrete is placed, there have arised ::i problems that high working speed is required in summer .: because of fast setting o~ concrete and that labor ;' ~
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nlanagement till mîdnight may some-times be necessary in ~inter.
Then, to solve these ne~ problems, -the working conditions have been improved step by step so as to plasterinG work using a tro~el was mechanized, working speed was increased by using a mechanically rotatable single trowel: labor of plas-terers ~as reduced and posture of the plasterers during the work become more : comfortable; a plurality of rotatable trowels were used; and finally a finishing machine of concre-te sur-face was realized in which control devices are inte-grated in the body thereof as well as the rotatable trowels. Owing to these improvements, mechanization of surface finishin~ work of concrete not yet hardened has been realized, which has lead to the reduction of labor of plasterers and to automization of the finish-ing work. However, it is not very long since the robotization of such a finishing machine o~ concrete surface began, and, in general, the working capacity of the machine has not yet fully developed.
~; At present, the concrete floor finisher is auto-, .
'.~ mated to the point that elec-tro-moti-ve rotatable ~ trowels are integrated in a single body so that they `~ are able to move automatically and ~ork on the con-.
~. 25 crete surface by revolution both on its axis and , ,. :
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nlanagement till mîdnight may some-times be necessary in ~inter.
Then, to solve these ne~ problems, -the working conditions have been improved step by step so as to plasterinG work using a tro~el was mechanized, working speed was increased by using a mechanically rotatable single trowel: labor of plas-terers ~as reduced and posture of the plasterers during the work become more : comfortable; a plurality of rotatable trowels were used; and finally a finishing machine of concre-te sur-face was realized in which control devices are inte-grated in the body thereof as well as the rotatable trowels. Owing to these improvements, mechanization of surface finishin~ work of concrete not yet hardened has been realized, which has lead to the reduction of labor of plasterers and to automization of the finish-ing work. However, it is not very long since the robotization of such a finishing machine o~ concrete surface began, and, in general, the working capacity of the machine has not yet fully developed.
~; At present, the concrete floor finisher is auto-, .
'.~ mated to the point that elec-tro-moti-ve rotatable ~ trowels are integrated in a single body so that they `~ are able to move automatically and ~ork on the con-.
~. 25 crete surface by revolution both on its axis and , ,. :
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around -the central shaf-t of the machine. In the course oE step-by-step developlnent so far9 several problems have been encountered and we have naturally recognized that the performance of the machine mus-t '~!' 5 always be adapted to the succeeding workin~ steps by taking into account the nature of concrete.
The first problem relates to the weight of finishing machine. So as to lighten the machine and -~ limit the pressure exerted by the trowels to the con-crete surface, aluminuJ~ members which are not strong enough and high in cost are used as frames and the ;~ number and nature of equipments mounted to the machine ;, are also restricted. Concrete floor finishers so far developed are electro-motive in which a plurality of ~ 15 rotatable trowels are each equipped with an electric ;~ motor, which leads to a too heavy machine.
The second problem originates froln the necessity of supplying electric power to the electric motors ` when the finisher is working. Because the body of the ` 20 finisher always trails cable for power supply, the cables risk not only to damage the concrete surface under finishing treatment but also to get twisted . ~ ~
", ;~ around the rotatable trowels and in the worse they may - be cut by the trowel blades. In order to avoid these .
~ 25 problems, various a-ttemp-ts have been made, However, ."' .. . .
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each a-ttemp-t has generated another new res-tr.iction.
The third problem relates to the improvement of ; precision of the finished surface and the realization of h.igh working speed. For this purpose, the speed oI
revolution of rotatable blades around their axis is chosen to be bet~een 70 and 80 r.p.m. and that of revolution around the axis of the finisher to be about : the tenth of it, and accordingly, the traveling speed ; of the finisher is determined to be about 6 m/min.
.:i `l 10 However, the speed of revolution of the rotatable trowels around their axis is so high that the concrete surface tends to be disturbed in the early stage of finishing as in steps by primary grading by a ~ooden screed. There:fore9 the lifetime of the tro~els is shortened. In addition, the total floor area treated by the fin.isher which is 3,500 m2 is not sufficient.
The fourth problem relates to the noise made by engines when the means for driving each of the trowels is changed from electric motors to sngines~ If the finishing work after th0 placement of concrete is pro~
. longed till midnight, noise made by the engines dis-:.
i turbs the silence in the neighborhood. These problems i~ described just above still remain to be solved.
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As prior arts of concrete floor fini~her, pro-~i; 25 minently directed in the workability 7 a former inven-. , .
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' tion developed by the present applicant is disclosed in a specification of application No.261063/1988 etc. in Japan, and a finisher with a gasoline engine as a dynamic source belongs to public domain~
The present invention was accomplished through intensive researches in view of avoiding the abovementioned drawbacks of the actual elect~ic concrete floor finisher and reviswing the structure of trowels to provide an excellent finisher, which, while being a type of a st~ucture with a gasoline engine as a driving source of rotatable trowels, is a ::;
finishing machine with the output of the engine is converted to hydraulic pressure to drive hydraulic motors each provided on the rotatable trowels and is improved in its capability.
And with the entirely novel and simple system of direct -~ transmission of such driving force through the hydraulic piping, the construction of the central part of the machine is much simplified.
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The present invention provides a concrete floor finisher ~ which, parallel to the driving mechanism described above, ,; comprises the second driving system at the central part of the machine. With a means for adjusting contact pressure in this system, the finisher is capable of exscuting the ;~ .;
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finishing work depending to the degree of hardening of concrete by changing the ratio between the contact pressure with the concrete surface of the rotatable trowel~ and that of the traveling means, and also is capable of rationalize the speed of revolution of the trowels of the maahine around the central shaft of the entire finisher body.
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The present invention also provides a concrete floor :~ finisher which is capable of finishing the surface of deposited concrete with high preci.sion depending on its surface condition and with the driving system mentioned : above, by equippiny the support members which support rotatable trowels with an angle adjusting device so as to change the angle of the plane of rotation of the rotatable trowels with the concrete surface through the support members and accordingly to change the speed of revolution of the trowels around the central shaft of the finisher.
~, Further, the present invention provides a means for . ., -1 20 limiting rocking motion of the trowel blades of the rotatable trowels with an elastic member within the means to improve workability of the finishing trowels, preventing the blades :~" ~
~1 from rocking in its longitudinal direction according to the ,'":
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, surface of the deposited concrete rendering its operatio~ not satisfactory.
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The present invention provides, based on the findings that the number of rotatable blades is preferable to be 5 without restricting it to be 3, a concrete floor flnisher in which the lifetime of the trowels is prolonged and a reduction in cost is realized by increasing the supporting area of the rotatable blades on the concrete surface to increase the total supporting force, which makes it possible not to use lightweight frames, and accordinyly by equipping the finisher with a small engine with smaller rotation rate.
'~:, The basic idea of the present invention is to equip a 15 concrete floor finisher with a gasoline engine as the means for driving rotatable trowels and to transmit its output ilpower through a hydraulic unit toward each of the rotatable . trowels which are arranged radially around the central shaft of the main body. Therefore, the concrete floor finisher . . ~
.. 20 according to the pres~nt invention comprising a body which supports a plurality of rotatable trowels with a plurality of trowel blades through radial support members so that the -ltrowels can revolve around the central shaft of the body, the body being equipped further with a driving means of the `. 25 rotatable trowels, a power generator, ;, ~ 7 , :,', .
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kinds of con-trol means and a traveling means of thc finisher which is loca-ted just below the central shaft, is characterized in that the driving means of each of the rotatable tro~els is a hydraulic Ino-tor driven by a hydraulic uni-t connected ~o a gasoline engine, and each of the motor is connected in series by hydraulic piping and is driven equallyO hnd the transmission of power through the piping system being direct and simple, the construction around the central shaft is improved to have a simple arran~ement of components.
Next, according to the second aspec-t of the invention, there is provided a concrete floor finisher .. comprising rotatable tro~els driven by a series of ..1 `l hydraulic motors, is characterized in that, the fin-isher provides the second driving system comprising i, .
, ~:. a means for adjusting contact pressure to adiust the , ~
~ contact pressure between the traveling means and rota--;:
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. table trowels with the concrete surface, and a sleans , ., . for revolving the body itself around its central shaft utilizing the same hydraulic system. In the driving . -;
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~ system, a horizontal gear of a large diameter is fixed 1 !
~` on the central shaft and engages with a spline fixed on a vertical shaft of another hydraulic motor ~hich ~, `~ is fixed on one of the support members and connected . 25 to the hydraulic unit so as to revolve the body posi-., .
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: -ti.vely around the central shaft, and lower ends of cylinders, which are fixed verticalIy on the base ends of support members of -the rotatable trowels and con-nected to said hydraul.ic unit, contact on the top sur-face of the gear~ through the rollers attached -thereto, to raise and lower the base ends of support melllbers in relation to the traveling means of the bocly, forming a ; means for adjusting contact pressure to adjust sharing - of contact pressure between the traveling means and the rotatable trowels on the concrete surface.
; According to the third aspect of the invention, :~ there is provided a concrete floor finisher compr.ising .;. rotatable trowels driven by hydraulic motors, wherein , ., `: an angle adjusting device is composed to be capable of :', changing slightly the angle between rotating plane of each of rotatable trowels and surface of floor.
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The device is disposed on the support members at , , a position where the support members are devided into `:: two parts so that the t~o parts are connected with a . .~., ~ r , 20 horizontal pin to be able to pivot for angle adiust-.,. j ~ .
.~ ment around the pinO The angle adjusting device may `` comprise, preferably, turnbuckles whose ends are each .:, .
:`, fixed to the two parts of the suppor-t members so as to , ~
change the bending angle of the members around the horizontal pin. Further~ it is possible to divide the ; . , ~ ~,.
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vertical shaft of each rotatable trowel into two parts for connecting them with a horizontal pin so that one o~ the two parts can pivot around the horizontal pin forming another type of the device.
; According to the ~ourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a concrete floor finisher comprising rotatable trowels driven by hydraulic motors, wherein the trowel blades of the rotatable trowels comprise a means for limiting their rocking motion, the means being supported by a pair of upper and lower brackets which are connected together by a pin at the end of a sub-arm extending radially from the vertical ,shaft of the rotatable trowel, and an elastic member being ;~ interposed between these brackets for limiting their relative motion.
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Other characteristics of the present invention will be better understood from the following description referring to the attached drawings which show non~limitative embodiments.
~ Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view to illustrate basic `~ construction of a concrete floor finisher of prior art;
, Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view along the line ,~-"
'I 25 2-2 in Fig. l;
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Fig, 3 i.s a detailed cross-sectional view of the i~portant part o~ the Inachine including a traveling means;
Fi.g. ~ is a schema-tic plan view similar to Fig.
1 to illustrate basic constructiosl of a concrete floor finisher of the present invention;
Fi~. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view along the line 5-5 in Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is a detailed cross-sectional view simi-lar to Fig. 3 to illustrate the central part of the ,:, machine;
Fig. 7 and 8 show piping system for the driving ,.,;, ~ of operation of rotatable trowels and piping system , . for the means for adjusting contact pressure and for '.'.~, `~ 15 the driving of revolution of entire machine, super-:. i ".~ imposed on the plan view of Fig. 4 respectively.
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.: Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing the entire hydraulic sircuit;
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Fig. 10 is a detaile~ elvation view of the fourth aspect o~ the present invention;
. FigD 11 is a vertical cross-sectional vie~ along ,., :. the line 11-11 in Fig. 10;
` Fig. 12 is a schematic side vie~ of prior art corresponding to example sho~n in Fi~. 10.
Fig. 13 is a plan vie~ similar to Fig. 4 with : .
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132~17~3 altered number o~ trowel blades of rotatable trowels.
In the following, before a concrete floor finisher according to the present invention is explained referring to the attached drawings of a preferred embodiment, Fig. 1 shows a schematic plan view to illustrate basic construction of a concrete floor finisher of prior art, and Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view along the center line.
The concrete floor finisher PT called "Power Trowel"
shown in these drawings comprises a body 10 with a traveling ;' means of the machine. Three rotatable trowels 20 are supported operably on the body 10, and equipments for driving and controlling the finisher are also mounted thereon.
~' 15 The main part of the body 10 is a central shaft 11 ~l disposed in the center of the body. The body travels on a `~ concrete surface F not yet hardened and levels and finishes it through the revolution of the rotatable trowels 20 both on their axis of rotation and on the central shaft 11. The body ' 10 is in the form of an inverted cage by assem~ling four radial frames 12 which cross at the central shaft 11 and an ' "1 ! inside and an outside concentric circular frames 13, 13 so that the outside frame 13 is supported by the .
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frames 12 near the concrete surface ~. Furthermore, a pro-tection cover 12a is spread over -the frames as a noise-proof and dust-proof layer.
As shown also in Fig. 3, a deck 14 is supported on the upper surface o~ a fixed seat 15a through a sleeve 15 so that the deck can rotate around -the central sha~t 11 at about its middle height. Jus-t below the fixed seat 15a, a frame 16 is connected detachably thereto by a pin 16aO The frame member 16 !1 10 supports rotatably a pair of right and left traveling '~ rollers 17a independently which searve as the travel-. , ,`~ ing means 17. Each rollers 17 a comprises an electric ~ driving motor 18 therein.
, ., ,` Through the construction explained just above, ,~ .;
i 15 the central shaft 11 and the travelin~ means 17 are .- i ; integra-ted to the body 10. Reference numerals 19 are lamps mounted on the body lQ at the top o~ it along the frames 12 in parallel ~ith them, to indica-te the traveling direction of the machine.
In contrast to the rigid body lQ described above, the rotatable tro~els 20, their drivin~ means 30, a power generator 40 and a control means 50 are mounted on the rotatable deck 14.
Firs-t of all, -the rotatable trowels 20 comprise three radial trowel blades 21. These rotatable :.. ' . . : ., , . ' : .
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trowels 20 are di.sposed, with their axis of ro-ta-tion perpend3.cular to the three suppor-t menlbers assembled with the deck 14, on the ends of support members 22 serving as support arms 22 with their base ends pivot-ally connected to the central shaft 11 with the angle . of 120 degree between them in a horizontal plane.
In this ~ay, the rotatable trowels 20 form an i apparatus of hori~ontal mechanical trowels.
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: At the middle portion, the support arms 22 are devided into t~o parts of inner part 23 and outer part 24, and there an angle adjusting device 60 is -formed.
.~ The device 60 is composed of a hori~ontal pin 61 .,j .
.` connecting the inner part 23 and outer part 24 bend-. able in a vertical direction, a turnbuckle 62 bridged , , `-~. 15 over the both parts, and a lever to operate the turn-."~
i buckle 62 to change its length.
: j / The device 60 operates to change the angle of ....
.~.`. the support arms 22 against the surface of floor ~ by : the elongation and contraction of the turnbackle 62 in ; 20 order to control the speed of revolution of the rota~
. table tro~els 20 around the central shaft 11.
The angle adjusting device 60 can be disposed on a middle part of a vertical part 22a fixed on the tip end of the support arm 22. Reference numeral 25 in the dra~in~s is a device for angle adiustment of the ,., ,~.. 1........ ..
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tro~el blades which enables adiusting the angle of each trowel blade 21 -from its horizontal position (angle of at-tack).
On the other hand, in the present embodiment?
for the driving means 30 on the deck 14, a gasoline engine 30 is adopted. The outpu-t power of the engine .:
- 30 is transmitted to a gearbox 31 through a universal `. shaft 32 on the input side and by means of bevel gears ~ therein the driving force is distributed toward all of ..:
i 10 rotatable trowels 20 through power sha:f-ts 33 on the .... .
~ output sideO The driving force is then transmitted .
;:, through a worm gear 34 at -the end of the shaft 33 to -~..~, -~ rotate the vertical shaft 35 of the rotatable trowels ~ 20. In this way, the driving force from the engine is :, 15 transnlitted to the rotatable trowels 20 and they exe-,." ., ~`' cute the finishing work of the floor surface.
The concrete floor finisher PT described above is supported stably as a whole on the floor surface F
:~ by the traveling rollers 17a and the trowel blades 21 - 20 of the rotatable trowels 20. When the traveling roll-ers 17a travel while the rotatable trowels 20 revolve :
;~ both on their axis and around the central shaft 119 concrete surface is finished by the machine PT.
Next, in Fig. 4 and 5, general view of a prefer-rable embodiment of a concrete floor finisher accord-- l 6 - 132~7~
ing to -the present invention is shown by a plan view and an elevational view, and reference numerals there-in indicates in comnlon with the preceeding drawin~s on the equivalent por-tions described.
The concrete floor finisher PT oE the present invention comprises a body 10 with a traveling means of the machine. Three rota-table trowels 20 are sup-,:, `~ ported operably by the body 10 and equipments for ~.
~ driving and controlling the machine are also moun-ted . :, thereon. The essential part of the body 10 is a cen-,i,...
~ tral shaft 11 positioned at the cen-ter. The body 10 , ~, travels on a concrete surface F not yet hardened and : . , `' levels and finishes it through the revolution of the ., d rotatable trowels 20 both on their axis and on the central shaEt 11. The basic construction of the body ~` 10 is same as the one of prior art described above.
In contrast to the rigid body 10 described above, on the rotatable deck 14, the rotatable trowels 20, ~;
their driving means 30, a power generator 40 and a control means 50 are supported and mounted.
First of all, the rotatable trowels 20 comprise three radially disposed trowel blades 21. These rota-table trowels 20 are fixed ~ith their axis of rotation in the vertical direction on the end of three support members ~hich searve as support arms 22 and whGse base ' : ;:`, ~' ' '' ~ - . .
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ends are ro-tatably connected to the central shaft 11 ~ with the angle of 120 degrees between them in a ; horizontal plane.
l In this way, the rotatable trowels 20 form a . ~.
horizontal mechanical firlishing machine according to .~ , the present invention.
In the present invention9 for the driving means on the deck 14, a gasoline engine 30 is adopted. The output power from the engine 30 is transmitted to a hydraulic unit 70 in a case disposed nearby, and the ,.;
rotatable trowels 20 are drivan hydraulically. Fig. 6 shows an illustration o~ the central part of the , machine in detail, and Fig. 7 to 9 are a schematic block diagram of circuits for hydraulic systems and a lS layout on the machine.
The hydraulic unit 70 co~prises, as shown in Fig.
7 and 9, a pump P~ a relief valve 70a, an on-load . ~
valve 70b and a plurality of change-over valves 70c corresponding to the circuits and these are connected by a pipe line 71 to motors 72 (M1, M2, M3) located in each of the rotatable trowels 20 to form a circuit, :`
The oil in line 71 drives the motors 72 successively in series and returns to an oil tank 73. Meanwhile, : the rotatable trowels 20 are driven by the driving output of the hydraulic unit 70 and finish the surface ~ - .
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of the floor F. For the Dlaterial of -the pipe line 71~
preferrably, plastic pipes wi-th light weight ~hich are easy -to bend and connect are used. The broken line in the dra~ings indicat0s the return line o-f the oil.
The construction described above eliminates a much complicated angular construction of prior art ~, .
i~ where the output shafts 33 connected to the output : :
; shaft from the engine through gearbox 31 and located -i inside of support arms 22 in parallel with the arm 22 including the angle adjus-ting device, to obtain i~-: .i provements to have pipe line only around the central shaft 11 and support arms 22 as well as novel trans-.. `"' DliSSiOn system to represent the present invention~
The total weight of the concrete floor finisher ; 15 PT is exerted to the concrete surface as a contact pressure of -the rotatable trowels 20 and that of the traveling rollers 17a. The ratio shared between these two kinds of contact pressures depends on th0 degree of setting of the concrete. Accordingly, the ratio can be adjusted by changing the contact pressure of the rotatable trowels 20 through changing the height of the support arms 22 in relation to the traveling rollers 17 which support entire wei~ht of body 10, as well as to control the speed of revolution of the rotatable trowels 20 around the central shaft 11.
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On the other hand, the revolution of the concrete -floor -finisher PT around -the central sha:Et 11 i9 in-duced by and relates to -the reac-tion from -the sur:face durlng the rotation of each rotatable trow0:L 20. ln a finisher of prior ar-t, depending to hardening condi-~; tions of concrete, the revolution of the body 10 is - very delicate and opera-tions of the machine requires . , a high technique.
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Then, in the second aspect of the present inven-kion9 the output power of the hydraulic unit 70 is also utilized for the second driving system of the , ., concrete floor finisher PT. As shown in the hydraulic circuit diagram of Fig. 9, a part of the output line system from the unit 70 is constructed so as to form a device to drive the revolution of the entire body 10 by driving a hydraulic motor 75 (M4) fixed on a inner part of one of the support arm 22 throu~h an oil pipe line 74, and another part of the output line system is constructed so as to form a means for adjusting con-tact pressure 77 through a pipe line 76.
As shown in Fig. 4 through 6, the base ends ofthe SUppOI-t arms 22 are fixed to outside surface of a sleeve 15 around the central shaft 11, and below the sleeve 15, a horizontal gear 26 of a relatively large dia~eter is fixed. While, at the inner end of one of :
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the support arms 22 near -the central shaf-t 11, a hydralic motor 75 is disposed on the arnl 22 with i-ts shaft vertically.
, ~ spline 27 is fixed on the shaft -thereof and is ;~ S engaged wi-th -the gear 26 so that the driving of the motor 75 renders the revolution of the supp~rt arm 22 around the central shat 11.
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Further, be-tween the inner ends of the support arms 22 around the central shaft 11, a means for adiusting contact pressure 77 is formed. The means comprises the horizontal gear 26 described above and a pair of hydraulic cylinders 78, 78 fixed on the inner parts of support arms 22 and capable of elongation and contraction vertically. At the lower ends of the cylinders 78, rollers 73 are provided to contact and run circu~ferencially on the upper surface of the gear 26 without friction, and the operation of cylinders 78 results in raising and lowering of the support arms 22 getting reaction from the gear 26 and accordingly to adiust the contact pressure of the rotatable trowels .
20 against the concrete surface sharing the total weight of t}le machine. Engagement of the gear ?.6 and the spline 27 correspnds to the adjus-t~ents described.
The control means S0 is for driving the finisher PT and is fed from the power generator 40. The con-; ~ ..
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trol means 50 comprises a control panel 51, a receiver 52, an antenna 53, a transmitter 54, e-tc. A touch . sensor 55 for detec-tin~ any obstacles in traveling way which is Inounted around the lower circular franle 13 is also connected to this control means 50. Control ;, . operations by CPU contained in the control means 50 ~; include the opration of con-trol panel 51 to drive the .; body 10 of course and to control the gasoline engine ~:~ 30 and the hydraulic unit 70~
'';"'''' Next, a device 25 for adjustment o-f the angle of each trowel blade 21 from its horizontal posi-tion for the direct finishing and leveling of the concrete is explained referring to Fig~ 10.
The rotatable trowels ~0 in this embodiment are same as those in the preceeding embodimen-ts in that ~: they are connected through the vertical shaft 22a to ; and under the outer ends of the three support arms 22 whose base ends are supported by the central shaft 11 :, : ~ith the angle of 120 degrees between them and that each of the trowel blades 21 of the ro-tatable trowels 20 is connected at the outer end of a horizontal sub-arm 21a fixed radially in its longitudinal directions to the lower end of the vertical shaft 22a so as to form a horizontal mechanical trowel.
The vertical shaft 22a is equipped with a means .'`, .: ,,,~_ ,, ~ ~ , '`' ' . ::
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80 for adjusting the angle of the trowcl blades at its ,, ,~
bot-tom end. This vertical shaft 22a is screwed into ~ the body 81 of this mearls 80. By turnirlg a lever 82 :.
-~ in a hori~ontal plane, the bottom 83 of -the body 81 is :., ~ S raised. Then, a cam 84 at the base portion of the ~ ~
horizontal sub-arm 21a also turns round to rotate each ~` sub-arm 21a around its axis. As a result of the ro-ta-;.-~ tion of the sub-arm 21a, the trowel blades 21 which ,, - are supported by the sub-arm 21a rotate slightly to change the angle of a-ttack of the trowel blades 21 ~ith the direction of advance.
In this way, the action of the rotatable trowels 20 against concrete can be adjusted to the degree of setting of the concrete. The device for adjustment of ~; 15 the angle of the trowel blades itself had been already known before the present invention ~as acco~plished.
~- Next, as the fourth aspeet of the invention, a means 90 for li~iting rock motion of the trowel blades `:
21 is explained referring to Fig. 10 through 12.
2QIn the prior art, as shown in Fig. 12 9 the trowel blade 21 was supported for rocking around a shaft c by the support sub-arm 21a through a pair of upper and lower brackets a and b. Therefore, the trowel blade 21 can rock freely according to the pro-file of irregular floor surface and -Follows just as , .
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- 2 3 - ~ 32 ~1 7 :'' the profile of the floor. As a result, the leveling function in its longi.tudinal direction of the trowel blade 21 has no-t been sufficient. According to the ~: present invention, a bracket 21b and a base plate 21c ,.; 5 are fixed to the end of the sub-arnl 21a; and under the ~ bottom face of the base plate 21c, an upper bracket 91 `` in the form of a squared C whose opening faces down-ward is fixed to the lower surface of the base plate 21c; a lower bracket 92 in the form of a squared C
whose opening faces upward is connected to the upper bracket 91 through a pin 93: and the -trowel blade 21 is fixed to the lower surface of the lower bracket 92 .
so that the tro~el blade 21 can rock around the pin 93.
~: For connecting these elements, bolts are generally used. Furthermore, according to the Present aspect of the invention, an elastic member 94 such as a rubber .. I
:~ in the form of a block is interposed in the space ; defined by the facing upper and lower brackets. With this structure9 not only the rocking o the tro~el ~ 20 blade 21 is restricted by the existence of the elastic .. member 94, but also the trowel blade 21 is supported ~ eccentrically from the sub-arm 21a by the bracket 21b, l which increases the ef-fect of the means 80 for adiust~
ing the angle of the trowels.
Fig. 13 shows an embodiment of a concrete floor . ., .
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;. .
-finisher in which the number of the trowel blade 21 of : each rotatable trowels 20 is increased to 5. For the :
: reason of stability, at leas-t -three trowel blades ~1 ~, .
are necessary ~or a rotatable -tro~el 20. If the '!
S number of the blades are four, contac-t sur~ace area increases, which is advantageous for increasing the weight o:E the body to be borne, the speed of revolu-,~ ~
tion of the trowel blades 21, and the dimension of the ; . engine. Five trowel blades 21 are more advantageous and effective, but the disposition of the eccentric cam 34 of the means 80 for adjusting the angle of -the trowels is Gomplicated and the setting of phase difference between the tro~el blades 21 of different rotatable tro~els 20 is difficult when the latter ; 15 revolves around the central shaft 11. In view of the . :
`: construction, the present invention has a novel and `.- significant features to have an ~mple space around the .
central shaft and to use hydraulic system for both of . the traveling motor and the positive revolving motor.
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0 p e r_a t i o n . The operation of the concrete -floor ~inisher PT
according to the present invention is explained refer-ring to the utilization and control method of the ~::; machine.
The adoption of the gasoline engine 30 as the . ~ ~
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~ ~32~1~6 -; driving means of the rotatable trowels 20 in the , present invention is not a mere choice o:f a power .~ supply. Owing to this choice, expenses necessary for .. construc-t.ing a temporary installation for power dis-tr.ibu-tion at the field are completely om.itted. In addition, since the finisher PT does not trail cables for power supp1y in opera-tion, the concrete surface will never be damaged. Furthermore, by using the hydraulic unit 70 dr.iven by the engine 30 so as to . 10 deliver the outpu-t power thereof to hydraulic motor 72 :~ for the rotatable trowels 20 through -the pipe line 71 : connectin~ the motors 72 in series~ although each of which are indispensable to each of the trowels like the electric motors of prior art, the ~eight of the fully equipped machine is considerably reduced. The means of distributing the po~er from the engine 30 .~ only to each of the rotatable tr.owels 20 through the : gearbox 31 is converted to the hydraulic system with ~ one line of the pipe line 71 and the operation of :.- 2D hydraulic pressure is equally distributed to the trowels 20 to have an equal rotating speed.
;. ~hen the concrete floor finisher PT of the .~ present invention is driven, firstly, the generator 40 " . .
is started manually, then, by the signals from the transmitter 54 to the receiver 52, the control means , .: . .~. , ,,, ~ ' , , ~ , . ..
~ 2 6 ~
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S0 starts its operation. Then, -the engine 30 starts to drive -the hydraulic unit 70 to drive -the hydraulic : motors 72 on the tro~els 20 through the pipe line 71.
~inally, the elltire finisher PT, with its traveling, finishes the surface of the concrete F.
The tro~els 20 are operable rotating on i-ts ver-tical shaf-t as well as revolving around the central shaft 11 by the reactions from the floor F. But, according to the invention, the delicate and difficult l~anual control of the revolution is eliminated and can be carried out by -the possitive con-trol o-f the driving ~. system specially consisted of pipe line 74 and the oil motor 75 in the second driving system.
In the meanwhile, during the finishing work, the traveling rollers 17a are controlled independently to run in straight line or toward a desired direction which is indicated by the indicat;ng lamps 19.
` When the finisher PT collides with any obstacles during traveling, the touch sensor 55 becones active ; 20 to make the finisher move backward and then to stop, Since the direction indicating la~ps 19 go on and off repeatedly in these cases, the direction of traveling of the body 10 as a whole is controlled to change or the obstacles are removed.
The protection cover 12a is provided for the . - . . ~ : :
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purpose of attenuating the noise of the machine, pre-venting the pollution of the environment by the scat-tering of mortar paste around, and also protect.ing the operator from the injury by the machine.
Moreover, the arrangements relatine to the oil motor eliminates the complicated angular construction of the universal shaft 32 and the power shaft 33 are eliminated to have an overall simpleness of the entire body 10.
Another characteristics of the concrete floor finisher PT lies in the means 77 for adjusting contact pressure in the second driving system disclosed as the second aspect of the present.
The means 77 operates to raise and lower the support members 22 smoothly by cylinders 78 and - rollers 79 attached on the lower ends of the cylinders . 78 by its elongation and contraction against the top .
~, surface of the gear 26 fixed on the central shaft 11.
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Accordingly, the means per~it to adiust the whole weight of the body 10 as contact pressure with the floor surface at the central shaft 11, sharing with it ..... .
.i ~ between the contact pressure of the traveling rollers ;. 17a and that of the rotatable troweis 20, . That enables the early work of intermediate screeding and pressing as well as the smooth finishing ~i . .
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,-, , when the deposited concrete is not yet sufficiently hardened, using hydrauli.c output from the second driving system, resulting in the i.ncreasing of the workability. While, ~ith the engaging of -the gear 26 and the spline 27 being kept along the longitudinal direction of the spline 7.7, the up and do~n operation of the cylinders 78 never affect on the positive re-volution of the entire body 10, and the second driving system works effectively for both of revolution around the central shaft 11 and the adiustment of contact ~, pressure.
The means for angle adjustment 60 disclosed as the third aspect of the present adjusts the angle of axis of the rotatable trowels 20 by changing slightly the support members 22 carrying the rotatable trowels 20. The adjustment is carried out by the operation of the means 60 through the connecting pin 61 disposed on the deviding portion of support members 22 and length adjusting mechanism of turnbuckle 62. Through such ~echanisms, the means for angle adjustment modi--fies the angle o-f the plane of rotation of the rota-table trowel 20 ~ith the floor surface F, and the speed of revolution of the rotatable trowel 20 around the central shaft 11 is adjusted to be equal or less than the tenth of that on its rotating axis according : ~ .
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: to the degree of setting o-f concrete froJn the time when the concrete is deposited t.ill the starti.ng up of the finisher PT. As a reac-tion, the speed of revolu-tion of the rotatable -trowel 20 as a whole is modified.
; 5 If this works inversely, uniform leveling of the floor surface can be realized by controlling the above-~; mentioned angle and the speed of revolution even for ~ slight irregularities of the floor surface F. The ; means for angle adjustment 60 of the type of manual operation can be used in combination or separately with the hydraulic operation of the means 77 for ad-;~ justing contact pressure and the hydraulic motor 75 in the second driving system.
~: Next, a means 80 for adjusting the angle of the . 15 trowels 20 also contributes to the leveling of con-~: crete according to its degree of setting. If the angle of the tro~el blade 21 with the concrete surface .~ is set small by using this means 80 so as to be adapt-.~ ed to just deposited soft concrete, there occurs no . 20 scratching of concrete to lead to high efficiency of leveling its surface~ On the contrary, -the angle of l attack of the trowel blade 21 is set larger for half-:~ hardened concrete so that its surface is sufficiently pressed, which results in a high precision o the finishing work, . :
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.
In the fourth aspect, the means 90 for lillliting rocking of the -trowel blades 21 which is provided at the supporting por-tion o the trowcl blades 21, is used advanta~eously when there exist local irregu]ari-ties on the floor surface Fo Since an elastic member 94 restricts free rocking of the trowel blade 21 on the pin 93 in this means 90, skillful leveling work of concrete surface can be realized just as if by manual operation of a plastsrer. In addition, the rocking of the trowel blade 21 around this region is at-tenuat-ed so that the improved leveling work by the finisher PT is stably carried out following to the object.
It has been found that appropriate operating pressure of the rotatable trowels 20 of the concrete ~`15 floor finisher PT is about 0.6 kg/ ~ . Corresponding weight of the concrete floor finisher PT ~ith three s~
trowel blades for each rotatable trowels i5 150 kg.
In contrast, when rotatable -trowels 2~ with four or ~:; five tro~el blades are used~ contact surface area of 2~ the trowel blades on the floor surface increases.
Accordingly, the weight of the body can be heavier and the difference of the weight permits the utili~ation of commonly used heavy steel members for the frame~ork such as the body 10. In this way, not only the ex-penses for the framework materials decreas0 but also . ............. ~ . .
- 3 l -~L32~176 the strength of -the framework increases~
Furtherlnore, since the speed of finishing work increases in principle with -the rotatable trowels equipped with Dlore than three trowel blades co~lpared with those with three trowel blades, the speed of revolùtion of the rotatable trowels 20 can be reduced correspondingly. Therfore, the linear velosity of the periphery of the trowel blades 21 is decreased; higher finishing precision of the concrete surface is obtain-ed; the quantities of paste of ~ortar spread around ~ become smaller; and the lifetime of the trowels is : prolonged.- At the same time, the load torque for the rotatable trowels 20 is decreased o~ing to the reduc-- tion of the speed of revolution of three rotatable trowels 20~ which makes it possible to cut down cor-respondingly the output from the engine 30. Therefore, . '':' .
; an engine with smaller output power may be chosen.
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, , Industrial Applicability In the concrete floor finisher according to the :~ 20 present invention comprising a body which is capable of traveling freely on the concrete surface and is equipped with a plurality of rotatable trowels, a gasoline engine is adopted as a driving means. There-fore, the drawbacks cited before for an elsctric fin-~- 25 isher in the prior art are all solved. In addition, , . . .
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132~7~
hydraulic motors provided on rotatable tro~els are connec-ted in series to an hydraulic unit onl~, ~hich is dis~osed freely Oll the body, to operate equal].y and the total weight can be reduced. And the output power of the unit is also utilized for the controlling of the revolution of the entire machine positively to match the function and the workability of the machine wi-th -the conditions of concrete. Further, since the rotatable trowels can comprise 5 radial trowel blades, and the angle of each trowel blade with the floor sur-face is changeable~ in constructing the flnisher, not only usual steel members can be used corre~ponding to ;~ the possibility of reduction of total weight but, with effects of utilizing smaller engine, reduction of cost ,,, `
.~. 15 of fabrication of the machine can be realized to be . about half of those in the prior art. The noise gene-`: rated by the engine is also reduced and lifetime of ~ the machine is prolonged. Moreover, the finisher can :, operate its leveling of deposited concrete surface just as by manual finishing technique by following the ~ irregularity of the concrete surface and by leveling :`` it according to the degree of setting with appropriate speed of revolution of rotatable trowels. In this way;
. the efficiency and precision of the finishing ~ork by the machine is improved by far than before.
.~ ..
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This effect is ~orthy of special nlention because the finishing machine according to the present inven-tion contributes much both to the mechanical indus-try and to the construction industry.
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around -the central shaf-t of the machine. In the course oE step-by-step developlnent so far9 several problems have been encountered and we have naturally recognized that the performance of the machine mus-t '~!' 5 always be adapted to the succeeding workin~ steps by taking into account the nature of concrete.
The first problem relates to the weight of finishing machine. So as to lighten the machine and -~ limit the pressure exerted by the trowels to the con-crete surface, aluminuJ~ members which are not strong enough and high in cost are used as frames and the ;~ number and nature of equipments mounted to the machine ;, are also restricted. Concrete floor finishers so far developed are electro-motive in which a plurality of ~ 15 rotatable trowels are each equipped with an electric ;~ motor, which leads to a too heavy machine.
The second problem originates froln the necessity of supplying electric power to the electric motors ` when the finisher is working. Because the body of the ` 20 finisher always trails cable for power supply, the cables risk not only to damage the concrete surface under finishing treatment but also to get twisted . ~ ~
", ;~ around the rotatable trowels and in the worse they may - be cut by the trowel blades. In order to avoid these .
~ 25 problems, various a-ttemp-ts have been made, However, ."' .. . .
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each a-ttemp-t has generated another new res-tr.iction.
The third problem relates to the improvement of ; precision of the finished surface and the realization of h.igh working speed. For this purpose, the speed oI
revolution of rotatable blades around their axis is chosen to be bet~een 70 and 80 r.p.m. and that of revolution around the axis of the finisher to be about : the tenth of it, and accordingly, the traveling speed ; of the finisher is determined to be about 6 m/min.
.:i `l 10 However, the speed of revolution of the rotatable trowels around their axis is so high that the concrete surface tends to be disturbed in the early stage of finishing as in steps by primary grading by a ~ooden screed. There:fore9 the lifetime of the tro~els is shortened. In addition, the total floor area treated by the fin.isher which is 3,500 m2 is not sufficient.
The fourth problem relates to the noise made by engines when the means for driving each of the trowels is changed from electric motors to sngines~ If the finishing work after th0 placement of concrete is pro~
. longed till midnight, noise made by the engines dis-:.
i turbs the silence in the neighborhood. These problems i~ described just above still remain to be solved.
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As prior arts of concrete floor fini~her, pro-~i; 25 minently directed in the workability 7 a former inven-. , .
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' tion developed by the present applicant is disclosed in a specification of application No.261063/1988 etc. in Japan, and a finisher with a gasoline engine as a dynamic source belongs to public domain~
The present invention was accomplished through intensive researches in view of avoiding the abovementioned drawbacks of the actual elect~ic concrete floor finisher and reviswing the structure of trowels to provide an excellent finisher, which, while being a type of a st~ucture with a gasoline engine as a driving source of rotatable trowels, is a ::;
finishing machine with the output of the engine is converted to hydraulic pressure to drive hydraulic motors each provided on the rotatable trowels and is improved in its capability.
And with the entirely novel and simple system of direct -~ transmission of such driving force through the hydraulic piping, the construction of the central part of the machine is much simplified.
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The present invention provides a concrete floor finisher ~ which, parallel to the driving mechanism described above, ,; comprises the second driving system at the central part of the machine. With a means for adjusting contact pressure in this system, the finisher is capable of exscuting the ;~ .;
~`` 25 `'i '.' ~1 ;, - 5 -, : ': , - : , .
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finishing work depending to the degree of hardening of concrete by changing the ratio between the contact pressure with the concrete surface of the rotatable trowel~ and that of the traveling means, and also is capable of rationalize the speed of revolution of the trowels of the maahine around the central shaft of the entire finisher body.
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The present invention also provides a concrete floor :~ finisher which is capable of finishing the surface of deposited concrete with high preci.sion depending on its surface condition and with the driving system mentioned : above, by equippiny the support members which support rotatable trowels with an angle adjusting device so as to change the angle of the plane of rotation of the rotatable trowels with the concrete surface through the support members and accordingly to change the speed of revolution of the trowels around the central shaft of the finisher.
~, Further, the present invention provides a means for . ., -1 20 limiting rocking motion of the trowel blades of the rotatable trowels with an elastic member within the means to improve workability of the finishing trowels, preventing the blades :~" ~
~1 from rocking in its longitudinal direction according to the ,'":
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, surface of the deposited concrete rendering its operatio~ not satisfactory.
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The present invention provides, based on the findings that the number of rotatable blades is preferable to be 5 without restricting it to be 3, a concrete floor flnisher in which the lifetime of the trowels is prolonged and a reduction in cost is realized by increasing the supporting area of the rotatable blades on the concrete surface to increase the total supporting force, which makes it possible not to use lightweight frames, and accordinyly by equipping the finisher with a small engine with smaller rotation rate.
'~:, The basic idea of the present invention is to equip a 15 concrete floor finisher with a gasoline engine as the means for driving rotatable trowels and to transmit its output ilpower through a hydraulic unit toward each of the rotatable . trowels which are arranged radially around the central shaft of the main body. Therefore, the concrete floor finisher . . ~
.. 20 according to the pres~nt invention comprising a body which supports a plurality of rotatable trowels with a plurality of trowel blades through radial support members so that the -ltrowels can revolve around the central shaft of the body, the body being equipped further with a driving means of the `. 25 rotatable trowels, a power generator, ;, ~ 7 , :,', .
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kinds of con-trol means and a traveling means of thc finisher which is loca-ted just below the central shaft, is characterized in that the driving means of each of the rotatable tro~els is a hydraulic Ino-tor driven by a hydraulic uni-t connected ~o a gasoline engine, and each of the motor is connected in series by hydraulic piping and is driven equallyO hnd the transmission of power through the piping system being direct and simple, the construction around the central shaft is improved to have a simple arran~ement of components.
Next, according to the second aspec-t of the invention, there is provided a concrete floor finisher .. comprising rotatable tro~els driven by a series of ..1 `l hydraulic motors, is characterized in that, the fin-isher provides the second driving system comprising i, .
, ~:. a means for adjusting contact pressure to adiust the , ~
~ contact pressure between the traveling means and rota--;:
.:
. table trowels with the concrete surface, and a sleans , ., . for revolving the body itself around its central shaft utilizing the same hydraulic system. In the driving . -;
. ..
~ system, a horizontal gear of a large diameter is fixed 1 !
~` on the central shaft and engages with a spline fixed on a vertical shaft of another hydraulic motor ~hich ~, `~ is fixed on one of the support members and connected . 25 to the hydraulic unit so as to revolve the body posi-., .
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: -ti.vely around the central shaft, and lower ends of cylinders, which are fixed verticalIy on the base ends of support members of -the rotatable trowels and con-nected to said hydraul.ic unit, contact on the top sur-face of the gear~ through the rollers attached -thereto, to raise and lower the base ends of support melllbers in relation to the traveling means of the bocly, forming a ; means for adjusting contact pressure to adjust sharing - of contact pressure between the traveling means and the rotatable trowels on the concrete surface.
; According to the third aspect of the invention, :~ there is provided a concrete floor finisher compr.ising .;. rotatable trowels driven by hydraulic motors, wherein , ., `: an angle adjusting device is composed to be capable of :', changing slightly the angle between rotating plane of each of rotatable trowels and surface of floor.
: !
The device is disposed on the support members at , , a position where the support members are devided into `:: two parts so that the t~o parts are connected with a . .~., ~ r , 20 horizontal pin to be able to pivot for angle adiust-.,. j ~ .
.~ ment around the pinO The angle adjusting device may `` comprise, preferably, turnbuckles whose ends are each .:, .
:`, fixed to the two parts of the suppor-t members so as to , ~
change the bending angle of the members around the horizontal pin. Further~ it is possible to divide the ; . , ~ ~,.
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vertical shaft of each rotatable trowel into two parts for connecting them with a horizontal pin so that one o~ the two parts can pivot around the horizontal pin forming another type of the device.
; According to the ~ourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a concrete floor finisher comprising rotatable trowels driven by hydraulic motors, wherein the trowel blades of the rotatable trowels comprise a means for limiting their rocking motion, the means being supported by a pair of upper and lower brackets which are connected together by a pin at the end of a sub-arm extending radially from the vertical ,shaft of the rotatable trowel, and an elastic member being ;~ interposed between these brackets for limiting their relative motion.
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Other characteristics of the present invention will be better understood from the following description referring to the attached drawings which show non~limitative embodiments.
~ Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view to illustrate basic `~ construction of a concrete floor finisher of prior art;
, Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view along the line ,~-"
'I 25 2-2 in Fig. l;
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Fig, 3 i.s a detailed cross-sectional view of the i~portant part o~ the Inachine including a traveling means;
Fi.g. ~ is a schema-tic plan view similar to Fig.
1 to illustrate basic constructiosl of a concrete floor finisher of the present invention;
Fi~. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view along the line 5-5 in Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is a detailed cross-sectional view simi-lar to Fig. 3 to illustrate the central part of the ,:, machine;
Fig. 7 and 8 show piping system for the driving ,.,;, ~ of operation of rotatable trowels and piping system , . for the means for adjusting contact pressure and for '.'.~, `~ 15 the driving of revolution of entire machine, super-:. i ".~ imposed on the plan view of Fig. 4 respectively.
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.: Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing the entire hydraulic sircuit;
:
Fig. 10 is a detaile~ elvation view of the fourth aspect o~ the present invention;
. FigD 11 is a vertical cross-sectional vie~ along ,., :. the line 11-11 in Fig. 10;
` Fig. 12 is a schematic side vie~ of prior art corresponding to example sho~n in Fi~. 10.
Fig. 13 is a plan vie~ similar to Fig. 4 with : .
:- . . : . ~ .
.
. . .
132~17~3 altered number o~ trowel blades of rotatable trowels.
In the following, before a concrete floor finisher according to the present invention is explained referring to the attached drawings of a preferred embodiment, Fig. 1 shows a schematic plan view to illustrate basic construction of a concrete floor finisher of prior art, and Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view along the center line.
The concrete floor finisher PT called "Power Trowel"
shown in these drawings comprises a body 10 with a traveling ;' means of the machine. Three rotatable trowels 20 are supported operably on the body 10, and equipments for driving and controlling the finisher are also mounted thereon.
~' 15 The main part of the body 10 is a central shaft 11 ~l disposed in the center of the body. The body travels on a `~ concrete surface F not yet hardened and levels and finishes it through the revolution of the rotatable trowels 20 both on their axis of rotation and on the central shaft 11. The body ' 10 is in the form of an inverted cage by assem~ling four radial frames 12 which cross at the central shaft 11 and an ' "1 ! inside and an outside concentric circular frames 13, 13 so that the outside frame 13 is supported by the .
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:~ .. :
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frames 12 near the concrete surface ~. Furthermore, a pro-tection cover 12a is spread over -the frames as a noise-proof and dust-proof layer.
As shown also in Fig. 3, a deck 14 is supported on the upper surface o~ a fixed seat 15a through a sleeve 15 so that the deck can rotate around -the central sha~t 11 at about its middle height. Jus-t below the fixed seat 15a, a frame 16 is connected detachably thereto by a pin 16aO The frame member 16 !1 10 supports rotatably a pair of right and left traveling '~ rollers 17a independently which searve as the travel-. , ,`~ ing means 17. Each rollers 17 a comprises an electric ~ driving motor 18 therein.
, ., ,` Through the construction explained just above, ,~ .;
i 15 the central shaft 11 and the travelin~ means 17 are .- i ; integra-ted to the body 10. Reference numerals 19 are lamps mounted on the body lQ at the top o~ it along the frames 12 in parallel ~ith them, to indica-te the traveling direction of the machine.
In contrast to the rigid body lQ described above, the rotatable tro~els 20, their drivin~ means 30, a power generator 40 and a control means 50 are mounted on the rotatable deck 14.
Firs-t of all, -the rotatable trowels 20 comprise three radial trowel blades 21. These rotatable :.. ' . . : ., , . ' : .
- l 4 - ~3~ 7~
trowels 20 are di.sposed, with their axis of ro-ta-tion perpend3.cular to the three suppor-t menlbers assembled with the deck 14, on the ends of support members 22 serving as support arms 22 with their base ends pivot-ally connected to the central shaft 11 with the angle . of 120 degree between them in a horizontal plane.
In this ~ay, the rotatable trowels 20 form an i apparatus of hori~ontal mechanical trowels.
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: At the middle portion, the support arms 22 are devided into t~o parts of inner part 23 and outer part 24, and there an angle adjusting device 60 is -formed.
.~ The device 60 is composed of a hori~ontal pin 61 .,j .
.` connecting the inner part 23 and outer part 24 bend-. able in a vertical direction, a turnbuckle 62 bridged , , `-~. 15 over the both parts, and a lever to operate the turn-."~
i buckle 62 to change its length.
: j / The device 60 operates to change the angle of ....
.~.`. the support arms 22 against the surface of floor ~ by : the elongation and contraction of the turnbackle 62 in ; 20 order to control the speed of revolution of the rota~
. table tro~els 20 around the central shaft 11.
The angle adjusting device 60 can be disposed on a middle part of a vertical part 22a fixed on the tip end of the support arm 22. Reference numeral 25 in the dra~in~s is a device for angle adiustment of the ,., ,~.. 1........ ..
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,~
tro~el blades which enables adiusting the angle of each trowel blade 21 -from its horizontal position (angle of at-tack).
On the other hand, in the present embodiment?
for the driving means 30 on the deck 14, a gasoline engine 30 is adopted. The outpu-t power of the engine .:
- 30 is transmitted to a gearbox 31 through a universal `. shaft 32 on the input side and by means of bevel gears ~ therein the driving force is distributed toward all of ..:
i 10 rotatable trowels 20 through power sha:f-ts 33 on the .... .
~ output sideO The driving force is then transmitted .
;:, through a worm gear 34 at -the end of the shaft 33 to -~..~, -~ rotate the vertical shaft 35 of the rotatable trowels ~ 20. In this way, the driving force from the engine is :, 15 transnlitted to the rotatable trowels 20 and they exe-,." ., ~`' cute the finishing work of the floor surface.
The concrete floor finisher PT described above is supported stably as a whole on the floor surface F
:~ by the traveling rollers 17a and the trowel blades 21 - 20 of the rotatable trowels 20. When the traveling roll-ers 17a travel while the rotatable trowels 20 revolve :
;~ both on their axis and around the central shaft 119 concrete surface is finished by the machine PT.
Next, in Fig. 4 and 5, general view of a prefer-rable embodiment of a concrete floor finisher accord-- l 6 - 132~7~
ing to -the present invention is shown by a plan view and an elevational view, and reference numerals there-in indicates in comnlon with the preceeding drawin~s on the equivalent por-tions described.
The concrete floor finisher PT oE the present invention comprises a body 10 with a traveling means of the machine. Three rota-table trowels 20 are sup-,:, `~ ported operably by the body 10 and equipments for ~.
~ driving and controlling the machine are also moun-ted . :, thereon. The essential part of the body 10 is a cen-,i,...
~ tral shaft 11 positioned at the cen-ter. The body 10 , ~, travels on a concrete surface F not yet hardened and : . , `' levels and finishes it through the revolution of the ., d rotatable trowels 20 both on their axis and on the central shaEt 11. The basic construction of the body ~` 10 is same as the one of prior art described above.
In contrast to the rigid body 10 described above, on the rotatable deck 14, the rotatable trowels 20, ~;
their driving means 30, a power generator 40 and a control means 50 are supported and mounted.
First of all, the rotatable trowels 20 comprise three radially disposed trowel blades 21. These rota-table trowels 20 are fixed ~ith their axis of rotation in the vertical direction on the end of three support members ~hich searve as support arms 22 and whGse base ' : ;:`, ~' ' '' ~ - . .
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ends are ro-tatably connected to the central shaft 11 ~ with the angle of 120 degrees between them in a ; horizontal plane.
l In this way, the rotatable trowels 20 form a . ~.
horizontal mechanical firlishing machine according to .~ , the present invention.
In the present invention9 for the driving means on the deck 14, a gasoline engine 30 is adopted. The output power from the engine 30 is transmitted to a hydraulic unit 70 in a case disposed nearby, and the ,.;
rotatable trowels 20 are drivan hydraulically. Fig. 6 shows an illustration o~ the central part of the , machine in detail, and Fig. 7 to 9 are a schematic block diagram of circuits for hydraulic systems and a lS layout on the machine.
The hydraulic unit 70 co~prises, as shown in Fig.
7 and 9, a pump P~ a relief valve 70a, an on-load . ~
valve 70b and a plurality of change-over valves 70c corresponding to the circuits and these are connected by a pipe line 71 to motors 72 (M1, M2, M3) located in each of the rotatable trowels 20 to form a circuit, :`
The oil in line 71 drives the motors 72 successively in series and returns to an oil tank 73. Meanwhile, : the rotatable trowels 20 are driven by the driving output of the hydraulic unit 70 and finish the surface ~ - .
~32~17~
of the floor F. For the Dlaterial of -the pipe line 71~
preferrably, plastic pipes wi-th light weight ~hich are easy -to bend and connect are used. The broken line in the dra~ings indicat0s the return line o-f the oil.
The construction described above eliminates a much complicated angular construction of prior art ~, .
i~ where the output shafts 33 connected to the output : :
; shaft from the engine through gearbox 31 and located -i inside of support arms 22 in parallel with the arm 22 including the angle adjus-ting device, to obtain i~-: .i provements to have pipe line only around the central shaft 11 and support arms 22 as well as novel trans-.. `"' DliSSiOn system to represent the present invention~
The total weight of the concrete floor finisher ; 15 PT is exerted to the concrete surface as a contact pressure of -the rotatable trowels 20 and that of the traveling rollers 17a. The ratio shared between these two kinds of contact pressures depends on th0 degree of setting of the concrete. Accordingly, the ratio can be adjusted by changing the contact pressure of the rotatable trowels 20 through changing the height of the support arms 22 in relation to the traveling rollers 17 which support entire wei~ht of body 10, as well as to control the speed of revolution of the rotatable trowels 20 around the central shaft 11.
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On the other hand, the revolution of the concrete -floor -finisher PT around -the central sha:Et 11 i9 in-duced by and relates to -the reac-tion from -the sur:face durlng the rotation of each rotatable trow0:L 20. ln a finisher of prior ar-t, depending to hardening condi-~; tions of concrete, the revolution of the body 10 is - very delicate and opera-tions of the machine requires . , a high technique.
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Then, in the second aspect of the present inven-kion9 the output power of the hydraulic unit 70 is also utilized for the second driving system of the , ., concrete floor finisher PT. As shown in the hydraulic circuit diagram of Fig. 9, a part of the output line system from the unit 70 is constructed so as to form a device to drive the revolution of the entire body 10 by driving a hydraulic motor 75 (M4) fixed on a inner part of one of the support arm 22 throu~h an oil pipe line 74, and another part of the output line system is constructed so as to form a means for adjusting con-tact pressure 77 through a pipe line 76.
As shown in Fig. 4 through 6, the base ends ofthe SUppOI-t arms 22 are fixed to outside surface of a sleeve 15 around the central shaft 11, and below the sleeve 15, a horizontal gear 26 of a relatively large dia~eter is fixed. While, at the inner end of one of :
... - , ~. , - 2 O -- ~32~ 7 ~
:.
;
the support arms 22 near -the central shaf-t 11, a hydralic motor 75 is disposed on the arnl 22 with i-ts shaft vertically.
, ~ spline 27 is fixed on the shaft -thereof and is ;~ S engaged wi-th -the gear 26 so that the driving of the motor 75 renders the revolution of the supp~rt arm 22 around the central shat 11.
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Further, be-tween the inner ends of the support arms 22 around the central shaft 11, a means for adiusting contact pressure 77 is formed. The means comprises the horizontal gear 26 described above and a pair of hydraulic cylinders 78, 78 fixed on the inner parts of support arms 22 and capable of elongation and contraction vertically. At the lower ends of the cylinders 78, rollers 73 are provided to contact and run circu~ferencially on the upper surface of the gear 26 without friction, and the operation of cylinders 78 results in raising and lowering of the support arms 22 getting reaction from the gear 26 and accordingly to adiust the contact pressure of the rotatable trowels .
20 against the concrete surface sharing the total weight of t}le machine. Engagement of the gear ?.6 and the spline 27 correspnds to the adjus-t~ents described.
The control means S0 is for driving the finisher PT and is fed from the power generator 40. The con-; ~ ..
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~ - 2 1 - ~32g~ 76 , ~
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trol means 50 comprises a control panel 51, a receiver 52, an antenna 53, a transmitter 54, e-tc. A touch . sensor 55 for detec-tin~ any obstacles in traveling way which is Inounted around the lower circular franle 13 is also connected to this control means 50. Control ;, . operations by CPU contained in the control means 50 ~; include the opration of con-trol panel 51 to drive the .; body 10 of course and to control the gasoline engine ~:~ 30 and the hydraulic unit 70~
'';"'''' Next, a device 25 for adjustment o-f the angle of each trowel blade 21 from its horizontal posi-tion for the direct finishing and leveling of the concrete is explained referring to Fig~ 10.
The rotatable trowels ~0 in this embodiment are same as those in the preceeding embodimen-ts in that ~: they are connected through the vertical shaft 22a to ; and under the outer ends of the three support arms 22 whose base ends are supported by the central shaft 11 :, : ~ith the angle of 120 degrees between them and that each of the trowel blades 21 of the ro-tatable trowels 20 is connected at the outer end of a horizontal sub-arm 21a fixed radially in its longitudinal directions to the lower end of the vertical shaft 22a so as to form a horizontal mechanical trowel.
The vertical shaft 22a is equipped with a means .'`, .: ,,,~_ ,, ~ ~ , '`' ' . ::
:,'.. ' , . . -~ - 2 2 - ~32~17~
~:
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;.:
80 for adjusting the angle of the trowcl blades at its ,, ,~
bot-tom end. This vertical shaft 22a is screwed into ~ the body 81 of this mearls 80. By turnirlg a lever 82 :.
-~ in a hori~ontal plane, the bottom 83 of -the body 81 is :., ~ S raised. Then, a cam 84 at the base portion of the ~ ~
horizontal sub-arm 21a also turns round to rotate each ~` sub-arm 21a around its axis. As a result of the ro-ta-;.-~ tion of the sub-arm 21a, the trowel blades 21 which ,, - are supported by the sub-arm 21a rotate slightly to change the angle of a-ttack of the trowel blades 21 ~ith the direction of advance.
In this way, the action of the rotatable trowels 20 against concrete can be adjusted to the degree of setting of the concrete. The device for adjustment of ~; 15 the angle of the trowel blades itself had been already known before the present invention ~as acco~plished.
~- Next, as the fourth aspeet of the invention, a means 90 for li~iting rock motion of the trowel blades `:
21 is explained referring to Fig. 10 through 12.
2QIn the prior art, as shown in Fig. 12 9 the trowel blade 21 was supported for rocking around a shaft c by the support sub-arm 21a through a pair of upper and lower brackets a and b. Therefore, the trowel blade 21 can rock freely according to the pro-file of irregular floor surface and -Follows just as , .
, .. .
, ,; ~ ::
- 2 3 - ~ 32 ~1 7 :'' the profile of the floor. As a result, the leveling function in its longi.tudinal direction of the trowel blade 21 has no-t been sufficient. According to the ~: present invention, a bracket 21b and a base plate 21c ,.; 5 are fixed to the end of the sub-arnl 21a; and under the ~ bottom face of the base plate 21c, an upper bracket 91 `` in the form of a squared C whose opening faces down-ward is fixed to the lower surface of the base plate 21c; a lower bracket 92 in the form of a squared C
whose opening faces upward is connected to the upper bracket 91 through a pin 93: and the -trowel blade 21 is fixed to the lower surface of the lower bracket 92 .
so that the tro~el blade 21 can rock around the pin 93.
~: For connecting these elements, bolts are generally used. Furthermore, according to the Present aspect of the invention, an elastic member 94 such as a rubber .. I
:~ in the form of a block is interposed in the space ; defined by the facing upper and lower brackets. With this structure9 not only the rocking o the tro~el ~ 20 blade 21 is restricted by the existence of the elastic .. member 94, but also the trowel blade 21 is supported ~ eccentrically from the sub-arm 21a by the bracket 21b, l which increases the ef-fect of the means 80 for adiust~
ing the angle of the trowels.
Fig. 13 shows an embodiment of a concrete floor . ., .
. . .
. :.
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;. .
-finisher in which the number of the trowel blade 21 of : each rotatable trowels 20 is increased to 5. For the :
: reason of stability, at leas-t -three trowel blades ~1 ~, .
are necessary ~or a rotatable -tro~el 20. If the '!
S number of the blades are four, contac-t sur~ace area increases, which is advantageous for increasing the weight o:E the body to be borne, the speed of revolu-,~ ~
tion of the trowel blades 21, and the dimension of the ; . engine. Five trowel blades 21 are more advantageous and effective, but the disposition of the eccentric cam 34 of the means 80 for adjusting the angle of -the trowels is Gomplicated and the setting of phase difference between the tro~el blades 21 of different rotatable tro~els 20 is difficult when the latter ; 15 revolves around the central shaft 11. In view of the . :
`: construction, the present invention has a novel and `.- significant features to have an ~mple space around the .
central shaft and to use hydraulic system for both of . the traveling motor and the positive revolving motor.
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0 p e r_a t i o n . The operation of the concrete -floor ~inisher PT
according to the present invention is explained refer-ring to the utilization and control method of the ~::; machine.
The adoption of the gasoline engine 30 as the . ~ ~
- : ~ . .
- 2 5 ~
~ ~32~1~6 -; driving means of the rotatable trowels 20 in the , present invention is not a mere choice o:f a power .~ supply. Owing to this choice, expenses necessary for .. construc-t.ing a temporary installation for power dis-tr.ibu-tion at the field are completely om.itted. In addition, since the finisher PT does not trail cables for power supp1y in opera-tion, the concrete surface will never be damaged. Furthermore, by using the hydraulic unit 70 dr.iven by the engine 30 so as to . 10 deliver the outpu-t power thereof to hydraulic motor 72 :~ for the rotatable trowels 20 through -the pipe line 71 : connectin~ the motors 72 in series~ although each of which are indispensable to each of the trowels like the electric motors of prior art, the ~eight of the fully equipped machine is considerably reduced. The means of distributing the po~er from the engine 30 .~ only to each of the rotatable tr.owels 20 through the : gearbox 31 is converted to the hydraulic system with ~ one line of the pipe line 71 and the operation of :.- 2D hydraulic pressure is equally distributed to the trowels 20 to have an equal rotating speed.
;. ~hen the concrete floor finisher PT of the .~ present invention is driven, firstly, the generator 40 " . .
is started manually, then, by the signals from the transmitter 54 to the receiver 52, the control means , .: . .~. , ,,, ~ ' , , ~ , . ..
~ 2 6 ~
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S0 starts its operation. Then, -the engine 30 starts to drive -the hydraulic unit 70 to drive -the hydraulic : motors 72 on the tro~els 20 through the pipe line 71.
~inally, the elltire finisher PT, with its traveling, finishes the surface of the concrete F.
The tro~els 20 are operable rotating on i-ts ver-tical shaf-t as well as revolving around the central shaft 11 by the reactions from the floor F. But, according to the invention, the delicate and difficult l~anual control of the revolution is eliminated and can be carried out by -the possitive con-trol o-f the driving ~. system specially consisted of pipe line 74 and the oil motor 75 in the second driving system.
In the meanwhile, during the finishing work, the traveling rollers 17a are controlled independently to run in straight line or toward a desired direction which is indicated by the indicat;ng lamps 19.
` When the finisher PT collides with any obstacles during traveling, the touch sensor 55 becones active ; 20 to make the finisher move backward and then to stop, Since the direction indicating la~ps 19 go on and off repeatedly in these cases, the direction of traveling of the body 10 as a whole is controlled to change or the obstacles are removed.
The protection cover 12a is provided for the . - . . ~ : :
..
.. . . . ...
.. ..
.: . . : . . .
, . . .. . .
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~32~7~
purpose of attenuating the noise of the machine, pre-venting the pollution of the environment by the scat-tering of mortar paste around, and also protect.ing the operator from the injury by the machine.
Moreover, the arrangements relatine to the oil motor eliminates the complicated angular construction of the universal shaft 32 and the power shaft 33 are eliminated to have an overall simpleness of the entire body 10.
Another characteristics of the concrete floor finisher PT lies in the means 77 for adjusting contact pressure in the second driving system disclosed as the second aspect of the present.
The means 77 operates to raise and lower the support members 22 smoothly by cylinders 78 and - rollers 79 attached on the lower ends of the cylinders . 78 by its elongation and contraction against the top .
~, surface of the gear 26 fixed on the central shaft 11.
..; ~
Accordingly, the means per~it to adiust the whole weight of the body 10 as contact pressure with the floor surface at the central shaft 11, sharing with it ..... .
.i ~ between the contact pressure of the traveling rollers ;. 17a and that of the rotatable troweis 20, . That enables the early work of intermediate screeding and pressing as well as the smooth finishing ~i . .
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,-, , when the deposited concrete is not yet sufficiently hardened, using hydrauli.c output from the second driving system, resulting in the i.ncreasing of the workability. While, ~ith the engaging of -the gear 26 and the spline 27 being kept along the longitudinal direction of the spline 7.7, the up and do~n operation of the cylinders 78 never affect on the positive re-volution of the entire body 10, and the second driving system works effectively for both of revolution around the central shaft 11 and the adiustment of contact ~, pressure.
The means for angle adjustment 60 disclosed as the third aspect of the present adjusts the angle of axis of the rotatable trowels 20 by changing slightly the support members 22 carrying the rotatable trowels 20. The adjustment is carried out by the operation of the means 60 through the connecting pin 61 disposed on the deviding portion of support members 22 and length adjusting mechanism of turnbuckle 62. Through such ~echanisms, the means for angle adjustment modi--fies the angle o-f the plane of rotation of the rota-table trowel 20 ~ith the floor surface F, and the speed of revolution of the rotatable trowel 20 around the central shaft 11 is adjusted to be equal or less than the tenth of that on its rotating axis according : ~ .
. , , .~ . .
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~ - 2 9 - ~32~
.
: to the degree of setting o-f concrete froJn the time when the concrete is deposited t.ill the starti.ng up of the finisher PT. As a reac-tion, the speed of revolu-tion of the rotatable -trowel 20 as a whole is modified.
; 5 If this works inversely, uniform leveling of the floor surface can be realized by controlling the above-~; mentioned angle and the speed of revolution even for ~ slight irregularities of the floor surface F. The ; means for angle adjustment 60 of the type of manual operation can be used in combination or separately with the hydraulic operation of the means 77 for ad-;~ justing contact pressure and the hydraulic motor 75 in the second driving system.
~: Next, a means 80 for adjusting the angle of the . 15 trowels 20 also contributes to the leveling of con-~: crete according to its degree of setting. If the angle of the tro~el blade 21 with the concrete surface .~ is set small by using this means 80 so as to be adapt-.~ ed to just deposited soft concrete, there occurs no . 20 scratching of concrete to lead to high efficiency of leveling its surface~ On the contrary, -the angle of l attack of the trowel blade 21 is set larger for half-:~ hardened concrete so that its surface is sufficiently pressed, which results in a high precision o the finishing work, . :
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.
In the fourth aspect, the means 90 for lillliting rocking of the -trowel blades 21 which is provided at the supporting por-tion o the trowcl blades 21, is used advanta~eously when there exist local irregu]ari-ties on the floor surface Fo Since an elastic member 94 restricts free rocking of the trowel blade 21 on the pin 93 in this means 90, skillful leveling work of concrete surface can be realized just as if by manual operation of a plastsrer. In addition, the rocking of the trowel blade 21 around this region is at-tenuat-ed so that the improved leveling work by the finisher PT is stably carried out following to the object.
It has been found that appropriate operating pressure of the rotatable trowels 20 of the concrete ~`15 floor finisher PT is about 0.6 kg/ ~ . Corresponding weight of the concrete floor finisher PT ~ith three s~
trowel blades for each rotatable trowels i5 150 kg.
In contrast, when rotatable -trowels 2~ with four or ~:; five tro~el blades are used~ contact surface area of 2~ the trowel blades on the floor surface increases.
Accordingly, the weight of the body can be heavier and the difference of the weight permits the utili~ation of commonly used heavy steel members for the frame~ork such as the body 10. In this way, not only the ex-penses for the framework materials decreas0 but also . ............. ~ . .
- 3 l -~L32~176 the strength of -the framework increases~
Furtherlnore, since the speed of finishing work increases in principle with -the rotatable trowels equipped with Dlore than three trowel blades co~lpared with those with three trowel blades, the speed of revolùtion of the rotatable trowels 20 can be reduced correspondingly. Therfore, the linear velosity of the periphery of the trowel blades 21 is decreased; higher finishing precision of the concrete surface is obtain-ed; the quantities of paste of ~ortar spread around ~ become smaller; and the lifetime of the trowels is : prolonged.- At the same time, the load torque for the rotatable trowels 20 is decreased o~ing to the reduc-- tion of the speed of revolution of three rotatable trowels 20~ which makes it possible to cut down cor-respondingly the output from the engine 30. Therefore, . '':' .
; an engine with smaller output power may be chosen.
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, , Industrial Applicability In the concrete floor finisher according to the :~ 20 present invention comprising a body which is capable of traveling freely on the concrete surface and is equipped with a plurality of rotatable trowels, a gasoline engine is adopted as a driving means. There-fore, the drawbacks cited before for an elsctric fin-~- 25 isher in the prior art are all solved. In addition, , . . .
, - - , .. . . .
~ - . . . ' . .
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hydraulic motors provided on rotatable tro~els are connec-ted in series to an hydraulic unit onl~, ~hich is dis~osed freely Oll the body, to operate equal].y and the total weight can be reduced. And the output power of the unit is also utilized for the controlling of the revolution of the entire machine positively to match the function and the workability of the machine wi-th -the conditions of concrete. Further, since the rotatable trowels can comprise 5 radial trowel blades, and the angle of each trowel blade with the floor sur-face is changeable~ in constructing the flnisher, not only usual steel members can be used corre~ponding to ;~ the possibility of reduction of total weight but, with effects of utilizing smaller engine, reduction of cost ,,, `
.~. 15 of fabrication of the machine can be realized to be . about half of those in the prior art. The noise gene-`: rated by the engine is also reduced and lifetime of ~ the machine is prolonged. Moreover, the finisher can :, operate its leveling of deposited concrete surface just as by manual finishing technique by following the ~ irregularity of the concrete surface and by leveling :`` it according to the degree of setting with appropriate speed of revolution of rotatable trowels. In this way;
. the efficiency and precision of the finishing ~ork by the machine is improved by far than before.
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This effect is ~orthy of special nlention because the finishing machine according to the present inven-tion contributes much both to the mechanical indus-try and to the construction industry.
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Claims (10)
1. A concrete floor finisher, comprising: a frame with a central shaft; a plurality of rotatable trowels, wherein each trowel has a plurality of blades, and wherein each trowel is rotatably supported about said central shaft by radial support means; driving means for said rotatable trowels, wherein each driving means for each rotatable trowel comprises a hydraulic motor driven by a hydraulic power means powered by a gasoline engine, and wherein each of said hydraulic motors is connected in series by hydraulic piping means to be equally driven; and means located below said central shaft for propelling said frame.
2. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 1, further comprising: a horizontal gear on said central shaft which engages with a spline fixed on a vertical shaft of a hydraulic motor on one of said support means and which is connected to said hydraulic power means so as to revolve said frame about said central shaft.
3. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 1, further comprising: a large diameter horizontal gear on said central shaft; and cylinders whose lower ends are fixed vertically on the lower ends of said support means and which are connected to said hydraulic power means, wherein contact on a top surface of said gear through rollers attached thereto raises and lowers base ends of said support means in relation to said propelling means, thereby forming a means for adjusting contact pressure and adjusting the proportion of contact pressure between said propelling means and said rotatable trowels on a concrete surface.
4. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 3, wherein said gear engages with a spline fixed on a vertical shaft of a hydraulic motor on one of said support means and which is connected to said hydraulic power means so as to revolve said frame about said central shaft.
5. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 1, further comprising: an angle adjusting means to change the angle between a rotating plane of each of said rotatable trowels and a floor surface.
6. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 5, wherein said angle adjusting means is disposed at a position where each of said support means are divided into two parts and connects these two parts by a horizontal pin so as to change the bending angle of said support means about the horizontal pin.
7. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 5, wherein said angle adjusting means is disposed at a position where a vertical part of said support means is divided into two parts and connects these two parts by a horizontal pin so as to change the bending angle of the vertical parts around the horizontal pin.
8. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 1, wherein said blades are supported on an end part of each of a sub-arm radially and horizontally supported on a vertical shaft of said rotatable trowels, by means of upper and lower brackets pivoted on said sub-arm, and an elastic means, to regulate the relative motion of said brackets, is disposed between said brackets.
9. A concrete floor finisher as defined in Claim 1, wherein said blades consist of 5 wings and are disposed radially on said trowels.
10. A concrete floor finisher as defined in any one of Claims 1 to 9, further comprising: a power generator, and control means.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000609241A CA1328176C (en) | 1989-08-24 | 1989-08-24 | Concrete floor finisher |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000609241A CA1328176C (en) | 1989-08-24 | 1989-08-24 | Concrete floor finisher |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1328176C true CA1328176C (en) | 1994-04-05 |
Family
ID=4140490
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000609241A Expired - Fee Related CA1328176C (en) | 1989-08-24 | 1989-08-24 | Concrete floor finisher |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1328176C (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE1010310A3 (en) * | 1996-05-28 | 1998-06-02 | B Mac Besloten Vennootschap Me | Finisher FOR FLOORS OF curable material. |
| CN114439238A (en) * | 2022-02-16 | 2022-05-06 | 徐州途远精密设备有限公司 | A floating device of concrete for construction |
-
1989
- 1989-08-24 CA CA000609241A patent/CA1328176C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE1010310A3 (en) * | 1996-05-28 | 1998-06-02 | B Mac Besloten Vennootschap Me | Finisher FOR FLOORS OF curable material. |
| CN114439238A (en) * | 2022-02-16 | 2022-05-06 | 徐州途远精密设备有限公司 | A floating device of concrete for construction |
| CN114439238B (en) * | 2022-02-16 | 2022-12-27 | 徐州途远精密设备有限公司 | A floating device of concrete for construction |
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKLA | Lapsed |