Mobile pothole patching vehicle

A mobile self propelled pothole patching vehicle mounted on a chassis supported by front and rear support wheels, said chassis supporting a cab, a source of compressed air, a tack oil storage tank and a fuel storage tank, said vehicle comprising:

• a) a storage hopper mounted on the chassis for storing asphalt;
• b) asphalt dispensing means for dispensing the asphalt from the hopper through a dispensing port;
• c) a conveyor mounted below and forwardly of the hopper for delivering asphalt to a position on the roadway;
• d) conveyor pivoting means coupled to the chassis below the dispensing port for slidingly receiving the conveyor and for pivoting the conveyor about a vertical axis in alignment with the dispensing port, including an access opening in vertical alignment with the dispensing port to enable asphalt to be dispensed onto the conveyor means through the dispensing port;
• e) conveyor extending and retracting means coupled to the conveyor pivoting means and to the conveyor for slidingly extending and retracting the conveyor along the longitudinal axis thereof;
• and,
• f) a tamper operably coupled to the free end of the conveyor and movable therewith, including
• (i) a plate on the underside of the tamper for compacting the asphalt;
• (ii) a vibrator for imparting vibratory motion to the plate;
• (iii) a housing defining and enclosing a lower heated gas chamber above the tamper plate for heating the tamper plate, said housing defining and enclosing an upper air chamber therein immediately above the heated gas chamber and coupled to the compressed air source and provided wt an air discharge nozzle for blowing out compressed air from the upper chamber to expel loose debris from the roadway prior to depositing asphalt thereon, and wherein the two chambers are in contiguous thermal relationship so that the heated gas in the lower chamber heats the compressed air in the upper chamber;
• and
• (iv) suspension means positioned between the conveyor and the housing for damping vibrations of the tamper.

A mobile self propelled pothole patching vehicle mounted on a chassis including a cab, and a source of compressed air, comprising:

• a) storage hopper means mounted on the chassis for storing asphalt, a dispensing tube connected to the hopper means and an asphalt auger for moving the asphalt from the hopper means to a dispensing port through the dispensing tube;
• b) conveyor means mounted below and forwardly of the hopper means for delivering asphalt to a position on the roadway, and wherein the conveyor means includes a housing having an upper panel provided with a slot;
• c) conveyor pivoting means coupled to the chassis below the dispensing port for slidingly receiving the conveyor means and for pivoting the conveyor about a vertical axis in alignment with the dispensing port, including an access opening in alignment with the dispensing port to enable asphalt to be dispensed onto the conveyor means through the dispensing port;
• d) conveyor extension means coupled to the conveyor pivoting means and the conveyor means for slidingly extending and retracting the conveyor means along the longitudinal axis thereof, and wherein the upper panel slot is long enough so that the dispensing port remains within the ambit thereof during extensible and retractible movement of the conveyor means;
• and
• e) tamper means operably coupled to the conveyor means and movable therewith, including vibration means for vibrating a tamper plate on the underside of the tamper means for compacting the asphalt, and suspension means for damping out the vibrations between the tamper means and the rest of the vehicle, and wherein the tamper means includes a first housing portion defining and enclosing a lower heated gas chamber immediately above the tamper plate, and a second housing portion defining and enclosing an upper air chamber immediately above the lower chamber, and coupled to the compressed air source for passing air therethrough to a connected air discharge nozzle for blowing out loose debris from the pothole prior to filling it with asphalt, and wherein the two chambers are in contiguous relationship for thermal contact therebetween.