Patent ID: 11933000
Assignee: nan
Field: Civil engineering (Other fields)
Classification: CPC E | IPC E

Claim 19:
20. A depth guide for use on a road paving machine, said road paving machine having a screed attached thereto capable of depositing road paving material onto a roadbed, said screed being adjustable in height to control the thickness of a pavement layer formed from road paving material deposited onto the roadbed, said depth guide comprising
an attachment component, said attachment component adapted to fixedly attach said depth guide to the screed;
an extension arm, said extension arm being elongate and having a proximate end and a distal end, with the proximate end of the extension arm being attached to the attachment component, said extension arm being oriented substantially horizontally, said extension arm being pivotally attached to the attachment component;
a depth control gauge, said depth control gauge being elongate and having an adjustable length and a proximate end and a distal end, with the proximate end of the depth control gauge being attached to the distal end of the extension arm, and with the depth control gauge being oriented substantially vertically,
with said depth control gauge having associated therewith a first length and a second length, with said second length being longer than the first length, and a means for adjusting the length of the depth control gauge to the first length or to the second length or to a plurality of intermediate lengths, each intermediate length longer than the first length and shorter than the second length,
with said depth control gauge having a means for fixing the length of the depth control gauge at the length to which it is adjusted, and
the depth control gauge incorporating markings to assist in establishing the height of the distal end of the depth indicator above the roadbed;
a depth indicator, said depth indicator being elongate and having a length, a proximate end, and a distal end, said depth indicator being attached at its proximate end to the distal end of the depth control gauge, said depth indicator extending in a downward direction from the attachment component towards the roadbed, said depth indicator being a flexible length of chain; and
a distal indicator, said distal indicator being attached to the distal end of the depth indicator, said distal indicator being spherical and having a greater dimension than the distal end of the depth indicator, thereby facilitating viewing by the operator of the road paving machine during operation of the road paving machine, said distal indicator having sufficient mass to extend the depth indicator substantially to its full length;
whereby the extension arm is adapted to swing away from the screed to position the depth indicator away from the screed such that the operator of the road paving machine can more easily visually perceive the distal indicator,
the length of the depth control gauge is adjusted to set the position of the distal indicator a desired height above the roadbed, and
the distal indicator is visually perceived by an operator of the road paving machine during operation of the road paving machine, such that proximity of the distal indicator to the roadbed provides the operator with information regarding the thickness of the road paving material that has been deposited onto the roadbed and formed into the pavement layer by the screed.