Self-propelled plate compactor having linear excitation
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorThomas M. Congdon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure is directed to a vibratory plate compactor, having at least one contact plate configured to be vibrated. The compactor may also include one or more excitation devices configured to vibrate the at least one contact plate. The compactor may further include a power system configured to supply power to the one or more excitation devices. In addition, the one or more excitation devices may be configured to generate linear excitation of the at least one contact plate to compact material beneath the at least one contact plate, propel the compactor, and steer the compactor. Steering and propulsion may be accomplished by varying the angle of the axis of excitation relative to the contact plate.
Claims35
A vibratory plate compactor, comprising:
- at least one contact plate configured to be vibrated;
- one or more excitation devices configured to vibrate the at least one contact plate;
- and
- a power system configured to supply power to the one or more excitation devices;
- the one or more excitation devices being configured to generate linear excitation of the at least one contact plate to compact material beneath the at least one contact plate, propel the compactor, and steer the compactor;
- wherein the one or more excitation devices include one or more linear actuators.
A method of compacting a stratum, comprising:
- controlling one or more excitation devices to generate linear excitation of at least one contact plate of a compactor against a surface of the stratum, wherein the one or more excitation devices include one or more linear actuators;
- compacting the stratum with vibratory energy created by the linear excitation;
- and
- propelling and steering the compactor with the vibratory energy by controlling a pitch angle of the linear excitation of at least one of the one or more excitation devices relative to the at least one contact plate.
A vibratory plate compactor, comprising:
- at least one contact plate configured to be vibrated;
- at least one excitation device configured to vibrate the at least one contact plate by linearly exciting the at least one contact plate to compact material beneath the at least one contact plate, propel the compactor, and steer the compactor;
- the at least one excitation device being configured to propel and steer the compactor by varying a pitch angle between an axis of linear excitation and a plane including the at least one contact plate;
- a power system configured to supply power to the at least one excitation device;
- and
- a controller configured to control a frequency and an amplitude of the linear excitation generated by the at least one excitation device and the pitch angle of the linear excitation;
- wherein the at least one excitation device includes one or more linear actuators, the linear actuators including linearly oscillating masses and crankshafts associated with the linearly oscillating masses.
A vibratory plate compactor, comprising:
- at least one contact configured to be vibrated;
- one or more excitation devices configured to vibrate the at least one contact plate;
- and
- a power system configured to supply power to the one or more excitation devices;
- the one or more excitation devices being configured to generate linear excitation of the at least one contact plate to compact material beneath the at least one contact plate, propel the compactor, and steer the compactor;
- wherein a pitch angle of at least one of the one or more excitation devices between an axis of linear excitation and the at least one contact plate is variable to propel and steer the compactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.