US3893780A

US3893780A - Ejector bucket for earth finishing machine

Info

Publication number: US3893780A
Application number: US483913A
Authority: US
Inventors: Nathan Gutman; Dorwin R Larsen; Everette M Volle
Original assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co
Current assignee: Caterpillar Inc
Priority date: 1974-06-28
Filing date: 1974-06-28
Publication date: 1975-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-08

Abstract

Earth finishing apparatus including a frame, supporting traction assemblies, and horizontally extending arms pivotally connecting each of the traction assemblies to the frame is provided with collecting means for collecting excess road bed material for disposition in below-grade areas. The collecting means includes a collector bucket with a hydraulically operated ejection member for ejecting material from the bucket as required.

Description

Gutman et al. July 8, 1975 [54] EJECTOR BUCKET FOR EARTH 3,561,335 2/l97l Leatherman 404/91 E 3,598,027 lO/l97l Swisher 404/90 FINISHING MACHIN 3,633,292 l/l972 Ulrich 37/l I2 [75] Inventors: Nathan Gutman, Loudonville, N.Y.;

Dorwin R. Larsen, Oswego; Everette Primary Examiner Mervin Stein voile Morton both of Assistant ExaminerSteven Hawkins [73] Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, [IL Attorney, Agent, or FirmPhillips, Moore, [22] Filed: June 28, 1974 Werssenberger, Lemplo &. Strabala [21] Appl. No.: 483,913 ABSTRACT [52] U S Cl 404/9l 404mm Earth finishing apparatus including a frame, support [51] E61: 19/15 ing traction assemblies, and horizontally extending arms ivotally connectin each of the traction assem- 5s Fleld of Search 404/76 90 91 92 96 P g h h blies to the frame is provided with collecting means for collecting excess road bed material for disposition in below-grade areas. The collecting means includes a [56] References cued collector bucket with a hydraulically operated ejection UNITED STATES PATENTS member for ejecting material from the bucket as re- 2,268,0l7 l2/l94l Busick et al. 280/611 uired 3,452,46l 7/1969 Hanson i 404/91 3,540,359 11/1970 Swisher 198/126 9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATEHTKHJUL 8 I975 SHEET m muw 1 EJECTOR BUCKET FOR EARTH FINISHING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to earth-finishing apparatus and to tool assemblies therefor. In particular, this invention relates to an apparatus for preparing and finish ing road beds, including means for filling below-grade depressions in the graded road bed.

Typically, road beds are prepared by apparatus equipped with cutting, spreading and trimming means for making a rough grade cut according to an established reference elevation line, spreading and rolling one or more base layers of material over the rough grade, and then trimming the surface of the base material to a finished grade. Many types of apparatus for accomplishing these and related road-building operations, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,268,017; 2,600,047; 2,796,685; 2,314,888; 3,221 ,425; 3,540,359; 3,540,360; 3,633,292 and 3,396,644, are known in the prior art.

Such apparatus, however, while useful for performing many facets of road-building operations have not solved the vexing problem of efficiently bringing depressions in a graded bed up to grade level. Consequently, it has been necessary to employ alternate means for levelling these depressions at grade, often requiring the relocation of suitable equipment from another construction site. Since the construction equipment utilized in such operations is conventionally cumbersome, slow-moving, and expensive, shifting from one type of apparatus to another can result in time delays and unnecessary expenditures. Further, manipulating several types of construction equipment having minimum maneuverability in a limited area tends to interfere with the operating efficiency of the equipment involved and frequently further delays construction.

While improved road-construction machines have been proposed, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,448 which have substantially alleviated the difficulties attendant to limited function road building machinery, and such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,859 which have provided means for accomplishing limited filling operations, such prior art systems have not been entirely satisfactory in use.

For example, the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,859 to Swisher et al provides means for deflecting excess base material trimmed during a levelling operation and for conveying such excess material across the road bed to fill depressions therein. However, other means are required for filling extensive depressions and for very accurately controlled situations. For example, ifa depression is encountered by a finishing machine directly subsequent to an area whch has been trimmed and from which little or no excess material has been removed, it is unlikely that sufficient material would be available to fill the depression. Thus, conventional auxiliary equipment must be resorted to for filling such special depressions.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide road construction apparatus which is multifarious, and includes means for filling below-grade areas in a graded road bed. The means should be readily mounted and demounted from the apparatus, as required, to avoid utilization of auxiliary equipment and expensive transportation of such equipment.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an earth-finishing ap paratus for road bed construction which includes means for cutting, spreading, trimming and for collecting excess material trimmed from the roadbed during grading operations. The collecting means comprises a bucket having ejector means for ejecting material contained therein. The apparatus further includes a frame supported upon a plurality of traction assemblies, each of which is pivotally connected to the frame by means of a horizontally-extending arm member. Preferably, the frame is provided with means for raising and lowering it with respect to the ground to facilitate mounting and demounting of the collecting means and associated road-construction implements.

It is an object of the invention to provide an earthfinishing machine including means for filling below-grade areas in a graded roadbed.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an earth-finishing machine including means for sequentially performing cutting, spreading and trimming operations, and further including means for the controlled filling of below-grade depressions in a graded road bed.

Another object of this invention is to provide an earth-finishing machine including means for collecting excess trimmed material which means are readily mountable and demountable from the machine.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved earth-finishing machine which will simplify and expedite read construction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the earth-finishing machine of this invention including the collecting means mounted thereupon;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the earth-finishing machine of FIG. I including an illustration of the mounting means for mounting the collecting means thereupon;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the earth-finishing machine of FIG. I showing an elevator and conveyor assembly;

FIG. 4 is a reduced sectional view of the earthfinislring machine of FIG. 3 taken along the line IV-IV;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of the collecting means illustrated in FIG. 2 showing details of the collector bucket and ejector means;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the earth-finishing machine of FIG. I; and

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the earth-finishing machine of FIG. 3.

Detailed Description The drawings illustrate a dual-lane earth-finishing machine generally indicated at 10. The machine includes a rectangular frame 11, four traction assemblies 12, and four horizontally extending arms 13 each of which is pivotally attached at one end thereof to the frame 11 and at the other end thereof to one of the traction assemblies 12 through a bushing assembly I4 of other means for permitting rotation of the traction assemblies about a vertical axis. The direction of the track assemblies may be suitably controlled by associated operator activated hydraulic cylinders (not shown) for steering maneuvers. The arms 13 are secured at the desired angle to the frame 11 by means of a plurality of connecting rods l6. The machine 10 thus far described is generally of the type described, for example, in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,423,859 and 3,664,448, and it further includes a power source, steering and drive means which are conventionally included in these or other prior art devices of this type.

Preferably, leveling means such as the system utilizing a hydraulic cylinder as in US. Pat. No. 2,278,081 to Kramer, would be included. Also, means (not shown) for elevating and lowering the frame with respect to the ground, such as hydraulic cylinders, would be disposed at the junction of the arms 13 and the traction assemblies 12. Such an elevating means would facilitate mounting and demounting of the collecting means and other implements as hereinafter described.

The machine l further includes collecting means generally indicated at 17 comprising a collector bucket 18 provided with a hydraulically-operated ejection means 19 for ejecting material from the bucket 18 as required, conventional cutting and trimming means comprising a rotary cutter 21, and conventional means for spreading road bed material comprising an auger 22. The auger 22 includes a helically-disposed vane member 23 which reverses pitch at the midway point of the auger supporting shaft 24 so that material is distributed from the middle of the dual-lane road bed to either side thereof. Preferably, the machine also includes an elevator 26 and a side discharge conveyor 27 associated with the collecting means 17 for transporting material collected from the bucket 18 away from the trimmed road bed for deposition into a truck or other receiving means.

As most clearly shown in FIG. 5, the collecting means 17 are mounted upon the frame 11 by means of mounting assemblies 28 including a support bracket 29 removably securable to a hydraulic cylinder 31 secured to the frame II. Preferably, the cutter 21, the auger 22, and collecting means I7 comprise a unitary assembly which is secured to the frame 11 by way of the mounting means 28 which are affixed to the frame by suitable means. In the preferred embodiment, this unitary assembly is mounted upon the frame 11 by elevating the frame, disposing the assembly in place thereunder, and securing the assembly in place upon the mounting means 28. The implements secured to the frame 11 may then be raised or lowered for free movement of the machine by activating the hydraulic cylinder 31 by means of suitable operator controlled hydraulic valving.

It is desirable that the dual lane machine illustrated be provided with four separate collecting means 17, two of which are disposed adjacent each side portion of the frame 11 and two of which are disposed on either side of the central longitudinal axis of the frame such that the four collecting means 17 are substantially evenly spaced.

The collector buckets 18 are disposed immediately rearwardly of the auger 22 and are each provided with an operator-controlled hydraulic ejector cylinder 32 which selectively operates the ejection member 19. Material collected within the buckets 18 may thus be selectively ejected by activation ofa suitable hydraulic circuit (not shown) which controls the cylinder 32 for material distribution via the action of the auger 22. Where the machine 10 is equipped with an elevator 26 and conveyor 27, excess material contained within the buckets 18 may be ejected as desired, and the action of the auger 22 will convey this excess material to the elevator 26 and thence to the conveyor 27 for deposition as previously described.

OPERATION For a typical road bed construction, the rotary cutter 21, auger 22, and collecting means 17 are mounted upon the frame 11 and the machine is driven from right to left as illustrated in FIG. 2 over the surface of a road bed which has been previously cut to a rough grade by means of other construction equipment. As the machine proceeds, the final grade cut is made by the rotary cutter 21 and any trimmed material is spread across the surface of the road bed by the auger 22, all in a conventional manner. However, excess trimmed material may also be collected as desired by the operator with the present invention by operating the ejector cylinders 32 to retract the ejector members 19 within the respective buckets 18 as shown in phantom in FIG. 5. The material thus collected may be retained within the buckets 18 until such time as a below-grade area is encountered. Then, the ejector cylinders are operated to eject such material from the buckets into the desired area to fill to grade level or above, and the material is then leveled to grade by the cutting edge of bucket I8 in the usual fashion. If desired, excess trimmed material may alternately be disposed of by employment of the elevator 26 and conveyor 27 as previously described.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the invention provides an improved road construction system for selectively filling below grade areas of the road bed in situ as desired and without auxiliary equipment. While the invention has been described with respect to a particular embodiment, it will be apparent that alternate embodiments and modifications are possible within the spirit of the invention, and no limitations are intended except by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

I. A surface finishing machine including: frame means; a plurality of extending arm means mounted upon said frame means; road traction means for selective movement of said machine mounted upon said ex tending arm means; and collection means for collecting and selectively dispersing surface building materials, said collection means including a bucket member adjustably mounted upon said frame means, said bucket member having a frontal opening for ingress of surface building material, and ejection means for selectively ejecting said materials from said bucket member through said frontal opening for material ingress.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said extending arm means are pivotally mounted upon said frame means for selective disposition of said road traction means in a plurality of locations relative to a central longitudinal axis of said frame means.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said collection means are adjustably mounted upon said frame means by hydraulic jack means for selectively varying the distance between said collection means and said surface to be finished.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said collection means includes four separate bucket member and ejection means combinations.

5. The invention of claim 3 wherein said machine further includes lift means for selectively raising or lowering said frame means for varying the distance between said frame means and said surface to be finished.

6. The invention of claim 1 wherein said machine further includes auger means disposed in front of said bucket member in the direction of finishing machine travel for disbursing said materials across said surface, and further includes cutting and trimming means for removing excess materials from said surface and for smooth trimming said surface.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said machine further includes elevating means and conveying means for transporting said excess materials from said surface to a selected point of disposition.

8. The invention of claim I wherein said bucket member includes a sharp edge portion for smoothly spreading materials ejected from said opening of said bucket member by said ejecting means over said surface.

9. The invention of claim 7 wherein said collection means, said auger means, said cutting means, said trimming means, and elevating and conveying means all comprise a unitary assembly mountable and demountable as a unit upon said frame means and being adjustably mountable upon said frame by hydraulic jack means for selectively varying the distance between said unitary assembly and said surface to be finished.

Claims

1. A surface finishing machine including: frame means; a plurality of extending arm means mounted upon said frame means; road traction means for selective movement of said machine mounted upon said extending arm means; and collection means for collecting and selectively dispersing surface building materials, said collection means including a bucket member adjustably mounted upon said frame means, said bucket member having a frontal opening for ingress of surface building material, and ejection means for selectively ejecting said materials from said bucket member through said frontal opening for material ingress.

8. The invention of claim 1 wherein said bucket member includes a sharp edge portion for smoothly spreading materials ejected from said opening of said bucket member by said ejecting means over said surface.