Geotextile rolling apparatus
OwnerAndrew L. Bishopinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A geotextile rolling and collecting apparatus includes a mounting plate, a pair of outer lower forks arranged laterally, a pair of outer upper forks, at least one linear actuator, at least one lower feed drum, at least one upper feed drum, and at least one first drive motor. The first drive motor is coupled to rotate the lower feed drum on a first horizontal axis and to counter-rotate the upper feed drum on a second horizontal axis. With the geotextile rolling and collecting apparatus in a collecting position, a geotextile liner grasped between the feed drums is fed by counter-rotation of the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum into a collecting volume behind the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum and between the upper forks and the lower forks to form at least one geotextile liner roll in the collecting volume.
Claims19
A geotextile rolling and collecting apparatus comprising:
- a mounting plate having a front side and a back side opposite the front side;
- a pair of outer lower forks arranged laterally, each outer lower fork being substantially L-shaped and comprising a vertical section extending vertically upward from a horizontal section and attached to the front side of the mounting plate;
- a pair of outer upper forks, each outer upper fork being substantially L-shaped and having a first end pivotally attached to the vertical section of one of the pair of outer lower forks and having a second end opposite the first end;
- at least one linear actuator coupled to rotate the outer upper forks with respect to the outer lower forks between a collecting position and an open position;
- at least one lower feed drum mounted on a first horizontal axis between horizontal sections of the pair of outer lower forks;
- at least one upper feed drum mounted on a second horizontal axis between the second ends of the pair of outer upper forks;
- and
- at least one first drive motor coupled to rotate the lower feed drum on the first horizontal axis and to counter-rotate the upper feed drum on the second horizontal axis;
- wherein when the geotextile rolling and collecting apparatus is in the collecting position, a geotextile liner grasped between the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum is fed by counter-rotation of the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum into a collecting volume behind the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum and between the upper forks and the lower forks to form at least one geotextile liner roll in the collecting volume.
A method of collecting a geotextile liner located on a ground surface as at least one geotextile liner roll, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) placing a leading edge of the geotextile liner between at least one upper feed drum and at least one lower feed drum of a geotextile rolling and collecting apparatus in a collecting position, the geotextile rolling and collecting apparatus comprising:
- a mounting plate having a front side and a back side opposite the front side;
- a pair of outer lower forks arranged laterally, each outer lower fork being substantially L-shaped and comprising a vertical section extending vertically upward from a horizontal section and attached to the front side of the mounting plate;
- a pair of outer upper forks, each outer upper fork being substantially L-shaped and having a first end pivotally attached to the vertical section of one of the pair of outer lower forks and having a second end opposite the first end;
- at least one linear actuator coupled to rotate the outer upper forks with respect to the outer lower forks between the collecting position and an open position;
- the at least one lower feed drum mounted on a first horizontal axis between horizontal sections of the pair of outer lower forks;
- the at least one upper feed drum mounted on a second horizontal axis between the second ends of the pair of outer upper forks;
- and
- at least one first drive motor coupled to rotate the lower feed drum on the first horizontal axis and to counter-rotate the upper feed drum on the second horizontal axis;
- b) feeding the geotextile liner grasped between the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum by counter-rotation of the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum into a collecting volume behind the upper feed drum and the lower feed drum and between the upper forks and the lower forks;
- and
- c) rotating the geotextile liner in a predetermined direction within the collecting volume as the geotextile liner is fed to the collecting volume to form the geotextile liner roll in the collecting volume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.