Road construction apparatus and methods
AssigneeAW-2R, Inc.
InventorRobert A. Sovik
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Discloses methods and apparatus for use with road construction equipment and apparatus (such as, for example, pavers, road millers and cutters, graders, and the like) including sensing apparatus for sensing and determining a selected edge of an existing pavement structure and controlling the road construction equipment or apparatus (or an element of such equipment or apparatus) in a desired manner with respect to such selected edge.
Claims14
The method of forming an improved longitudinal paving joint between first and second mat sections of paving material, comprising:
- laying a first mat section of paving material on a selected substrate, said first mat section having an inboard edge;
- compacting the paving material of said first mat section to achieve a predetermined density in said first mat section, said compacting resulting also in the squeezing of the unsupported inboard edge of the first mat section to form an edge region which angles downward from an edge line at the top inboard edge of the compacted first mat section to said substrate;
- continuously sensing and determining the location of the edge line of said compacted first mat section, and
- laying a second mat section of fresh paving material and laterally controlling the laying thereof in accordance with said sensing and determination so that the inboard edge of said second mat section of fresh paving material is laid at a selected location with respect to the edge line of said compacted first mat section.
A system for producing an improved longitudinal paving joint between an edge line of a first cold mat section of paving material which has been laid and previously compacted on a selected substrate, and the joint edge of a second mat section of fresh paving material to be laid on said substrate by a spreading element of a paver machine moving longitudinally with respect to the first cold mat section, and wherein said first cold mat section includes an edge region extending downward from the edge line of said edge region to said substrate, comprising:
- sensing means carried by said paver machine and arranged and constructed for disposition proximate said edge region for generating an electrical signal representative of the location of the edge line of said first cold mat section;
- electrical circuit processing means responsive to the electrical signal from said sensing means for producing a control signal representative of the lateral position of a selected end of the spreading element of the paver machine with respect to said edge line, and
- control means responsive to said control signal for causing lateral movement of said spreading element so as to position the joint end of said spreading element with respect to the edge line of said first cold mat section to cause the joint edge of the second mat section of fresh paving material to be laid at a selected location with respect to the edge line of said first cold mat section.
The method of making an improved longitudinal paving joint between at least one edge line of a pavement structure and the joint edge of fresh paving material, comprising:
- continuously sensing and determining the location of an edge line of said pavement structure, wherein the edge line of said pavement structure comprises the downwardly sloping edge region of a previously rolled and compacted mat of paving material, and
- controlling the laying of fresh paving material in accordance with said determination so that said joint edge of fresh paving material is laid at a selected location with respect to said edge line of said pavement structure.
The method of making an improved longitudinal paving joint between at least one edge line of a pavement structure and the joint edge of fresh paving material, comprising:
- continuously sensing and determining the location of an edge line of said pavement structure, wherein the edge line of said pavement structure comprises one or both of the edges of a trench previously cut into said pavement structure, the location of which edge lines are continuously sensed and determined, and
- controlling the laying of fresh paving material in accordance with said determination so that said joint edge of fresh paving material is laid at a selected location with respect to said edge line of said pavement structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.