Mining or in situ disintegration of hard material – Hard material disintegrating machines – Floor-working
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-30
2001-01-23
Lillis, Eileen Dunn (Department: 3673)
Mining or in situ disintegration of hard material
Hard material disintegrating machines
Floor-working
C299S039400, C299S039500, C299S039600, C404S090000, C172S684500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06176551
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a surface preparation apparatus (SPA) for asphalt, concrete and other road surfaces, and in particular to a surface preparation apparatus which can be towed by various vehicles, which can be offset with respect to the direction of towing, and which can be adjusted in three axes. The preferred SPA is an asphalt reclaiming unit for being towed behind a truck of other prime mover.
Road surfaces, particularly asphalt road surfaces form a majority of road surfaces in the United States. Asphalt is also used in other applications, such as parking lots, biking paths and walking paths. A problem with asphalt is that is has a limited, useful life. When that useful life has been exceeded, the surface must be replaced or rehabilitated. Often, it is not desirable or cost effective to rehabilitate the entire road surface, particularly when only portions or segments of a paved section have deteriorated. As a result, the road surface is allowed to continue to deteriorate until use of a conventional full surface resurfacing unit becomes cost effective. The need to wait until the use of conventional resurfacing units becomes cost effective, results in temporary repairs such as patching, which are not as desirable as resurfacing. However, without a more cost effective manner resurfacing small areas, or portions of larger areas, resurfacing which might otherwise be completed if smaller, more flexible resurfacing units were available, will be delayed. Furthermore, there will be a tendency to redo surfaces which might not need to be done because only larger areas can be accommodated by the larger conventional units. Conventional units tend to be very large and heavy. They are often self propelled or attached to existing vehicle frames. The power for such units is generally supplied by one unit which means that some of the power is used to drive the vehicle and some of the power is used in the surface treatment apparatus. For this reason, those units are very slow. In addition, they can only be used to resurface large areas. It will be appreciated, therefore, that a need exists for a device for moving at greater speeds and preparing on a variety of surfaces such as shoulders, crowns, transitions, pipe lines, pot holes and the like.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there is a need for an efficient way of resurfacing asphalt, concrete and other surfaces used for roadways, walkways, parking lots and the like. The present invention provides advantages over the prior devices and the prior methods used to resurface these and other surfaces, and also offers other advantages over the prior art and solves other problems associated therewith.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The surface preparation apparatus of the present invention is compact, easily transportable, and includes a surface treatment unit which has a surface modifier or “cutter drum” powered by its own power source. The apparatus includes transport/support wheels and a tow bar pivotally interconnected with the surface treatment unit so that it may be towed by a truck or other vehicle having an independent power source. The surface treatment unit has a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, with the longitudinal axis being perpendicular to the direction in which the units is towed (towing direction), and the transverse axis is coincident with the towing direction. The cutter drum has a rotational axis and is contained within the surface treatment unit and arranged such that the rotational axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the surface treatment unit. The surface modifier or cutter drum is preferably off-set relative to the transverse axis of the surface treatment unit such that the surface modifier operates substantially to one side of the surface treatment unit. The surface treatment unit is pivotally attached to the tow bar to enable the surface modifier to operate adjacent edges of a surface to be treated e.g., the shoulder of a road surface or the like. The height and sideways tilt of the surface treatment unit may be adjusted as desired to produce surface profiles of different configurations where the depth of the “cut” or the angle of the “cut” are varied.
One objective of the present invention is to provide a surface preparation apparatus which may be towed by various types of vehicles at a broader range of speeds than those which are possible with a conventional surface treatment unit.
Another objective is to create a compact surface preparation apparatus which is easily transported between locations.
Yet another objective is to concentrate weight and power on or to a surface modifier or “cutter drum”.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a surface preparation apparatus which rehabilitates surfaces at a high rate of speed.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a surface preparation apparatus which is easily oriented in different directions with respect to a surface to be prepared.
Still another objective is remote control of a surface treatment apparatus by an individual.
A still further objective is to rehabilitate surfaces of various widths and compositions.
Another objective is to reduce the potential of injury due to flying debris.
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Model 78B Asphalt Recycler brochure, © Maddock Corporation, at least before Sep. 30, 1997.
Industry Advertisement placed by Guest Industries, Inc. in Public Works, Aug. 1997, p. 101.
Industry Advertisement placed by Guest Industries, in Heavy Equipment News, undated.
Lillis Eileen Dunn
Moore and Hansen
Singh Sunil
LandOfFree
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