Roller tube concrete paver with retractable vibrator assembly

A roller tube concrete finishing machine with a front and a frame having spaced apart ends, the machine comprising:

• at least one elongated, driven roller tube disposed beneath said frame for propelling said machine during concrete finishing, said at least one roller tube extending between spaced apart frame ends and riding on forms parallel with a concrete surface to be finished;
• at least one concrete strike-off roller tube disposed at the front of said machine for initially contacting concrete and striking it off during machine propulsion;
• at least one retractable vibrator unit mounted at the front of said frame for selectively vibrating concrete, the retractable vibrator assembly comprising a plurality of spaced apart, individual vibrator units adapted to be immersed in concrete or withdrawn therefrom;
• a parallelogram linkage for deploying the vibrator units by moving them forwardly and downwardly relative to the machine for contacting and vibrating concrete in an operation mode and for retracting the vibrator units upwardly out of contact with concrete and rearwardly to a transport position nested against the frame for reducing the dimensions of the machine;
• at least one cylinder for actuating the parallelogram linkage;
• wherein each retractable vibrator rack assembly comprises a rigid, upper, transverse vibrator suspension header that connects to and drives a plurality of individual downwardly hanging vibrator units, and an elongated, generally horizontally disposed lifting bar that displaces the suspension header;
• and,
• wherein the parallelogram linkage comprises an elevator interiorly housing an extension telescoped therewithin, and a lift cylinder for selectively displacing the extension to expand or contract the elevator to force the individual vibrator units into or out of the wet concrete below independently of the transport retraction cylinder.

A roller tube concrete finishing machine comprising:

• a pair of driven roller tubes disposed beneath said machine for propelling said machine during concrete finishing, said roller tubes extending between spaced apart frame ends and riding on forms parallel with a concrete surface to be finished;
• at least one concrete strike-off roller tube disposed at the front of said machine for initially contacting concrete and striking off concrete during machine propulsion;
• a retractable gang vibrator assembly mounted at the front of said frame, the retractable gang vibrator assembly comprising a plurality of generally vertically oriented vibrator units for selectively vibrating concrete, the individual vibrator units adapted to be immersed in concrete or withdrawn therefrom;
• a parallelogram linkage for deploying the gang vibrator assembly by moving it forwardly and downwardly relative to the machine for vibrating concrete and for retracting the gang vibrator assembly upwardly out of contact with concrete and rearwardly to a transport position nested against the frame;
• wherein the retractable gang vibrator assembly comprises a rigid, upper, transverse vibrator suspension header that connects to and drives the individual downwardly hanging vibrator units and an elongated, generally horizontally disposed lifting bar that displaces the suspension header;
• a cylinder for actuating the parallelogram linkage;
• and,
• wherein the parallelogram linkage comprises an elevator interiorly housing an extension telescoped therewithin, and a lift cylinder for selectively displacing the extension to expand or contract the elevator to force the individual vibrators units into or out of the wet concrete below independently of the transport retraction cylinder.