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AssigneeOrville H. Holz, Jr.
InventorsOrville H. Holz, Sr., Norbert J. Holz
Estimating the term…
In a surface-working machine, as for troweling fresh concrete, the operator rides on a frame which is carried by surface-working rotors, each having evenly spaced tools or trowels. The application of tilting forces to the working rotors to cause movement of the total machine forwardly or rearwardly or to either side, or turning, or any combination thereof, is controlled by the operator through a single control stick, with all movements of the control stick corresponding to the machine movement desired. If, in a troweling machine, there are only two rotors, their trowels intermesh to work overlapping circles, and no gap is left between the working circles when movement is perpendicular to a "biaxial" plane (common to both rotational axes). This gives maximum width of coverage, and the operator's seat faces in that direction of movement. Application of the required tilting forces to both rotors is achieved while nevertheless providing frame stability by providing, for one rotor assembly, only a single pivot disposed to make that assembly rigid with the frame except as to tilting the rotor axis in the biaxial plane. The operator's seat and engine are both approximately centered in the biaxial plane so that no unbalanced forces result from different weights of operators. The main frame serves to shield the rotors.
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame with an operator's seat thereon;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a pair of surface-working power-driven rotors having generally vertical axes spaced apart to provide a working zone equal in width to approximately their joint diameters;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a plurality of surface-working rotors carrying said frame and having axes spaced apart to provide mainly separate working areas;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a plurality of surface-working rotors carrying said frame and having axes spaced apart to provide mainly separate working areas;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a pair of surface-working power-driven rotors having generally vertical axes spaced apart in a biaxial plane to provide a working zone equal in width to approximately their joint diameters;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a plurality of surface-working power-driven rotors having generally vertical axes spaced apart to provide a wide working zone;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a pair, only, of surface-working rotors having generally vertical axes spaced apart in a biaxial plane to provide a working zone equal in width to approximately their joint diameters;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a pair, only, of surface-working rotors having generally vertical axes spaced apart in a biaxial plane to provide a working zone equal in width to approximately their joint diameters;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a plurality of surface-working rotors carrying said frame and having axes spaced apart to provide mainly separate working areas;
A ride-type surface-working machine including a frame carrying an operator's seat and carried by a plurality of surface-working rotors carrying said frame and having axes spaced apart to provide mainly separate working areas;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Rotary power trowels, i.e. helicopter trowels: used by an operator sitting on the trowel, i.e. ride-on power trowels
Finishing work on buildings
Term ended 6 Sep 1994 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The invention of which the present disclosure is offered for public dissemination in the event that adequate patent protection is available relates to ride-type surface-working machines such as machines for troweling freshly laid concrete. The present invention is an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,212 issued to the same inventors.
In some of its aspects, the present invention relates especially to the two-rotor machine, the prior patent having disclosed both two-rotor and three-rotor machines. In other aspects, the present invention relates to simplified controls, regardless of the number of rotors.
The two-rotor machine as disclosed in the prior patent had two main faults, both of which are cured by the present invention. One fault was that with movement in the broadside direction (perpendicular to the biaxial plane) there would be a gap between the two troweled bands. In practice, it was usually possible to avoid this gap by having the machine move at an angle sufficiently different from the true broadside direction so that one rotor would lead the other rotor by enough to cause overlap of their two paths. However, this necessitated some special maneuvering at the end of a run to allow the trailing rotor to catch up with the lead rotor, and to work all areas nevertheless. According to the present invention, this problem with the prior two-rotor machine is overcome by having the rotor circles overlap slightly, the troweling blades of one rotor extending slightly into the arcuate gaps between the troweling blades of the other rotor. The machine can then be made to move in the true broadside direction without leaving any untroweled gap between the two paths of its rotors. Indeed, the operator's seat is placed facing in this direction as it is the intended normal direction of movement. Although intermeshed rotors are not new, they are not believed to have been used previously in a ride-type machine to allow the operator's seat to face broadside.
FIG. 1 is a view looking down on the machine.
FIG. 2 is a view of the machine from the front, which is the lower side in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of the control stick mounting, and connections, as viewed from the front; and is indicated by the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.
Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claims at the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose, as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the illustrated form of the invention includes a frame 11 which supports an operator's seat 12 and is in turn carried by the pair of rotors or rotor assemblies R and L. The rotor assemblies are driven by an engine 16, carried by the frame 11. The rotors R and L are driven in opposite directions, as by illustrated chain 17 and reversal drive 18 for one rotor. Each rotor includes a set (illustrated as 3) of troweling blades 19. The two rotors are close enough together so that their circles of action overlap as seen in FIGS. 6 through 11, with the blades of each rotor penetrating the action circle of the other rotor. The rotors have a constant phase relationship such that the blades may be said to intermesh. Thus, as each blade swings through the vertical biaxial plane 13 (the plane in which the rotational axes for rotors R and L are both located), its tip will be spaced about equally from the nearest blades of the other rotor.
As taught in the said prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,212, a troweling machine of this type, or other surface working machine, can be made to propel itself with any desired movement by selectively applying tilting forces to the rotors. When a tilting force is applied to a rotor, it increases the pressure of the rotor on the supporting surface (the concrete being troweled) at one side of the rotor while reducing the pressure at the opposite side. The increased pressure provides increased driving traction, enabling the rotor to propel the machine in the direction that this traction is effective. Movements of a wide variety are attainable by different choices of pressure points.