Abstract:
A slip-form paver is provided in the form of a tractor ( 2 ) including a machine frame ( 4 ) having substantially parallel longitudinal beams ( 8 ) at opposite ends of which are track assemblies ( 14 ). The machine frame ( 4 ) includes a base frame ( 20 ) and telescopic cross beams ( 18 ) located between the base frame ( 20 ) and the longitudinal beams ( 8 ). An intermediate frame ( 24 ) is located beneath the base frame ( 20 ) and is selectively vertically adjustable. Two working mechanisms ( 28, 32 ) are in transverse relationship to the longitudinal beams ( 8 ), and the latter are transversely shiftable to selectively lengthen or shorten the overall transverse working width of the paver.

Description:
THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a slip-form paver. 
     Such slip-form pavers are required for making concrete road surfaces. Known slip-form pavers comprise a tractor consisting of a machine frame and four track assemblies carrying different working means for spreading and smoothing the concrete. 
     Since the desired width of the concrete lanes can vary, for example at merging lanes, a rearrangement of the slip-form paver is often required which can take a restructuring time of two to three days depending on the necessary extent of the restructuring work. 
     Such interruption of the work is undesirable so that slip-form pavers have been developed which have machine frames that can the widened telescopically (WO95/28525). 
     While ii is relatively simple to change the frame width of the machine frame telescopically, severe problems may arise if at the same time also the working means have to be telescopically changed in the working width. Problems occur, in particular, with the setting of a correct roof-shaped profile of the concrete paving when changing the working width, since a change of the working width simultaneously causes a change in the height of the concrete troughs at the outer edges so that the entire slip-form paver has to be leveled again. 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to improve a slip-form paver of the type mentioned above such that necessary restructuring works for changing the working width are minimized. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention advantageously provides that the machine frame has a base frame in which the telescopically operable cross beams are supported, that an intermediate frame is arranged below the base frame, the distance from the base frame being adjustable, and that the intermediate frame is mounted with a working means divided over the working width and adaptable to the working width without any mounting work. The intermediate frame allows for a vertical adjustment of the working means relative to the base frame, whereby changes occurring due to a changed working width may be compensated by the vertical adjustment. 
     Preferably, it is provided that the working means is stationarily articulated at the longitudinal beams on the outer side and, on the inner side, the working means is articulated and supported for transverse displacement at the intermediate frame. Thus, it can be made sure that with a working means set under an angle, the angle set will be maintained even when the working width is changed so that no new setting of the angular position is required. 
     For example, the working means is made up by two concrete troughs arranged in succession in the working direction and together cover the working width set. The concrete troughs are also provided with a lateral form. When the machine frame is telescoped, the concrete troughs can also be displaced relative to each other. 
     The intermediate frame may be connected to the base frame via a plurality of commonly adjustable vertical adjustment means. The commonly adjustable vertical adjustment means allow for a parallel vertical displacement of the intermediate frame relative to the base frame. Here, the angle of inclination of the concrete troughs can be adjusted between 0° and 3° at most. 
     The longitudinal beams are each connected to the bas frame through two telescopically extendable cross beams and a piston-cylinder unit. Such a structure has a high stability. At the end of the longitudinal beams, the track assemblies may be pivoted through 90°. Thus, the slip-form paver can be moved in the transverse direction and may for example be moved onto a flatbed trailer. 
     The track assemblies may be coupled to the longitudinal beams using a parallelogram suspension. The parallelogram suspension allows for a change of the track width of the slip-form paver without a change of the frame width. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the base frame is mounted with a transverse rail guide having at least two telescopically movable rails, and that a carriage for a working means is movable in the transverse direction on the rail guide. Such a device advantageously allows for the displacement of a working means over the entire working width, with no restructuring work required even when the working width is altered. 
     The carriage has a plurality of rollers with parallel adjacent running grooves corresponding in number to the number of rails so that at least one of the running grooves engages one of the rails. In this manner, the carriage may always be displaced over the entire working width regardless of the working width set. 
     Preferably, the carriage is moved on the rail guide using a traction rope. 
     One traction rope is fastened to beach end of the carriage, a rope winch with a drive being arranged on the longitudinal beams or the track assemblies. Only one drive at a time can be driven on one side of the slip-form paver. 
     In an advantageous embodiment, the carriage is connected to flexible hydraulic lines supplied via a hose reel. The hydraulic connection on the carriage makes it possible to supply hydraulic oil to hydraulic drives of the working means mounted on the carriage. 
     The working means may be, for example, a vertically adjustable distributing knife. 
     At the front of the base frame, a vertically adjustable front wall may be mounted having a telescopically movable wall element on both sides thereof. With the telescopically movable wall elements, the front wall can be adapted to a changed working width of the slip-form paver without any restructuring and, when the machine frame is telescopically widened, it may be automatically extended to the required working width. 
     The front wall elements are articulately connected to the front wall, on the one hand, and to the longitudinal beam, on the other hand, to which they are connected articulately and vertically adjustably. Thereby, the angle of inclination of the front wall elements can be adjusted. 
     The working means mounted on the carriage may also be a longitudinal smoothing board attached to the rear o the base frame. In this case, the lateral ends may be connected with the track assemblies so that the rail guide is longer than the working width of the slip-form paver. 
     The longitudinal smoothing board is coupled to the base frame via two connecting rods so that a longitudinal displacement of the longitudinal smoothing board is possible with a parallel inward or outward displacement of the track assemblies. 
     Further, the base frame may be mounted with a transverse smoothing board consisting of two board segments hingedly connected in the middle of the working width to form a roof-shaped profile. 
     The angle of inclination of the board segments may be adjustable via a piston-cylinder unit acting between the board segments. A stop limits the inclination angle downward so that negative inclination angles cannot be set. 
     The board segments or extension boards fastened thereto may have transversely extending slide rails on which the longitudinal beams can slide in the transverse direction so that the board segments or their extensions can laterally project beyond the longitudinal beams. In this way, it is ensured also for a transverse smoothing board that an adaptation to different working width is possible in a wide range and that with a larger adjustment of the working width, only extension members must be mounted or disassembled. 
     It is provided that the board segments are fastened to the longitudinal beams so as to be vertically adjustable. 
     The following is a detailed description of an embodiment of the invention: 
     In the Figures: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view on the slip-form paver, 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the machine frame, 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the concrete troughs, 
     FIG. 5 illustrates the detail V in FIG. 4, 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the intermediate frame with the concrete troughs fastened there in, 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view on the concrete troughs with vibratory liquefying means, 
     FIG. 8 illustrates a distributing knife, 
     FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the distributing knife, 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the rail guide of the distributing knife, 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a telescopically movable front wall, 
     FIG. 12 is a top plan view on the front wall, 
     FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view along line XIII—XIII in FIG. 12, 
     FIG. 14 is a front view of a transverse smoothing board, 
     FIG. 15 is a side elevational vie of the transverse smoothing board, 
     FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of a longitudinal smoothing board, partly in cross section, 
     FIG. 17 is top plan view on the rail guide of the longitudinal smoothing board, 
     FIG. 18 is an enlarged illustration of the rail guide of the longitudinal smoothing board, and 
     FIG. 19 is a schematic representation of the pivotability of the track assemblies. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The slip-form paver has a tractor  2  consisting of a machine frame  4  with longitudinal beams  8  extending in parallel to the working direction and telescopically movable cross beams  18  extending transverse to the working direction for variably adjusting the working width. The cross beams are supported in a base frame  20 , a total of four cross beams  18  projecting-from a base frame arranged in the middle of the working width and being connected with the longitudinal beams  8 . 
     The cross beams  18  are mutually offset in the base frame  20  so that, for example, the working width may be varied between 3 m and 6 m. The cross beams  18  may also be adapted for double telescopic extension should substantially larger working widths be desired to be set. 
     At the front and the rear end of the longitudinal beams  8 , a respective track assembly  14  is articulately fastened guided in a parallelogram-like manner. The parallelogram guiding that allows for a track width adjustment without changing the working width, two parallelogram connecting rods  16  are provided, respectively, for articulately connecting the track assemblies  14  with the longitudinal beam. 
     Moreover, the track assemblies at the ends of the longitudinal beams  8  can be pivoted through an angle of  90 ° so that the slip-form paver can be loaded onto a flatbed trailer transversely to its working direction without exceeding the maximum allowed transport width (FIG.  19 ). 
     Further, the track assemblies allow for a vertical adjustment of the machine frame in a manner known per se. 
     As best seen in FIG. 6, the base frame  20  is mounted with an intermediate frame  24 , the distance to the base frame being adjustable. Using the intermediate frame  24 , working means such as concrete troughs  28 ,  32  may be adjusted vertically relative to the base frame  20 . As evident from FIGS. 1 and 2, the concrete troughs  28 ,  32  are arranged successively in the working direction, together covering the working width set. The concrete troughs  28 ,  32  are fixedly mounted in an articulated manner on the outside of the longitudinal beams  8 . When the working width is telescopically changed through the cross beams  18 , the concrete troughs  28 , 32  are automatically extended or narrowed as well. In doing so, the upper edges of the concrete troughs  28 ,  32  slide in the intermediate frame  24  that may be provided with four double T profiles, for example, for guiding the concrete troughs  28 ,  32  (FIG.  6 ). The concrete troughs  28 ,  32  are articulately supported at the intermediate frame  24  for transverse displacement. The hinge is formed by a clamping strip  22  clamping one leg of the double T profile  25  with spring bias (FIG.  5  and FIG.  6 ). 
     When changing the working width, the inclination angle of the concrete troughs  28 ,  32  also changes. 
     Using the vertical adjustment of the intermediate frame  24 , the desired inclination angle of the concrete troughs  28 ,  32  can very quickly be set without a new leveling of the slip-form paver being necessary. By means of the vertical adjustment means  38  a roof angle between 0 and 3°, for example, may be set quickly. The vertical adjustment means  36  may be a spindle and nut drive. The nut has a pinion  48  on its exterior and is held fixed in the axial direction relative to the base frame  20 . A continuously running chain  44  driven by a drive motor  42  with a pinion, is coupled with all four spindle nuts so that all vertical adjustment means  36  are driven simultaneously and uniformly. In the embodiment illustrated in the Figs., four vertical adjustment means  36  are provided between the base frame  20  and the intermediate frame  24 . As an alternative, a combination of piston cylinder units and a path measuring system may be used as the vertical l adjustment means  36 . 
     In front of the concrete troughs  28 ,  32 , seen in the traveling direction, liquefying means  26  consisting of several vibratory bottles are provided in a conventional manner, which means are preferably also supported at the in termediate frame  24 . 
     The outer ends of the concrete troughs  28 ,  32  are hinged to a supporting arm connected to the longitudinal beams  8  and have a lateral form  34  at their free ends. 
     FIGS. 8 to  10  illustrate a distributing knife  94  with a vertically adjustable plough-like knife  96  adapted to be displaced over the entire working width by means of a carriage  70  and a rail guide  56 . 
     The carriage  70  is moved using a traction rope  74 , a rope winch  78  with a drive  82  being provided on the longitudinal beam  8 . The rope winch drives  82  are hydraulic motors. Only one motor is driven at a time, the carriage  70  moving to the left or the right in the drawing, depending on which motor is driven. 
     The lifting cylinder  72  is supplied through wound flexible hydraulic conduits  86  which may be wound from a hose reel  90  fastened on the machine frame  4 , for example, and which are kept under tension. Preferably, this hose reel  90  is fastened to the base frame  20 . A schematic cross section of the carriage  70  is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. The rail guide  56  is a hollow central member  64  accommodating a total of four extractable slide rails  60 ,  62 . The slide rails  60 ,  62  can be telescopically extended cross-wise to the left or the right together with the machine frame  6 , since the slide rails  60 ,  62  are screwed at their lateral ends to the longitudinal beams  8  via an end plate. 
     The rails  60 ,  62  each have round rods  65  on their exterior, on which the twin rollers  66  of the carriage  70  roll. 
     The carriage  70  has two laterally and vertically spaced twin rollers  66 , respectively, embracing the upper and lower rails  60 ,  62 . With telescopic rails  60 ,  62 , at least one rolling groove of the rollers  66  is in contact with one round rod  65 . 
     Due to the rope traction drive of the carriage  70 , telescoping the machine frame automatically telescopes the distributing knife  94  without any restructuring needed. 
     FIGS. 11,  12  and  13  illustrate a variable front wall  102  comprising a fixed central member  104  and two telescopically movable front wall elements  108 ,  112  arranged successively in the working direction, as best seen in FIG.  12 . 
     The outer front wall elements  104 ,  108  are connected to the longitudinal beams  8  through a dog and are telescopically displaced when the machine frame is extended during a change of the working width. The central member  104  is vertically adjustable in parallel using two lifting cylinders  116  fastened at the base frame  20 . 
     The telescopically movable front wall elements  108 ,  112  are hingedly supported in elongated holes  110  in the longitudinal beams  8  and can also be lifted or lowered at their outer ends by means of a lifting cylinder  118 . 
     The telescopically movable front wall elements  104 ,  108  embrace, as is best seen in FIG. 13, the central front wall member  104  in form fit, but with sufficient play so that the front wall elements  108 ,  112  are also telescopically movable when a roof profile is set. 
     FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate an embodiment of a transverse smoothing board  150 . The transverse smoothing board  150  comprises two board segments  154 ,  158  of about 2.20 m in width connected at their lower edge by a hinge  156  in the middle of the machine so as to make setting a roof profile possible; Above both board segments  154 ,  158 , a piston-cylinder unit  162  is provided horizontally for pressing both board segments  154 ,  158  apart. To make sure that the two board segments  154 ,  158  do not hang down in a V-profile form, a sleeve  166  limits the distance between two reference points of the board segments  154 ,  158 . 
     On both sides of the board segments  154 ,  148  extension boards  120  may be fastened by screwing. 
     By means of an eccentric drive  160 , an oscillating transverse movement of the transverse smoothing board may be obtained using a push rod  164 . 
     The outer ends of the board segments  154 ,  158  or the extensions  170  (as illustrated in FIG.  14 ), a sliding guide  174 ,  176  may be mounted. The sliding guides  174 ,  176  are fastened to the longitudinal beam  8  by means of a vertical adjustment means  168  and a connecting member  180 . 
     The connecting member  180  can slide for about 700 mm on each sliding guide  174 ,  176 . Thus, the transverse smoothing board allows for a change in width of the tractor  2  of about 1.40 m without any restructuring. When the working width is reduced by 1.40 m, the board segments  154 ,  158  or the extension boards  170  project for about 70 cm beyond the machine frame on the left and on the right. Using the vertical adjustment means  168 , the transverse smoothing board is manually vertically adjustable through a spindle. This adjustment is within the range of millimeters and serves to correct the surface to its desired finishing thickness. 
     FIGS. 16 to  18  illustrate a longitudinal smoothing board  120  mounted, as is best seen in FIG. 1, to the base frame  20  or the intermediate frame  24  by a beam  122  extending in parallel to the working direction. Similar to the distributing knife  94 , the longitudinal smoothing board  120  may be moved with a carriage  128  over the entire working width and beyond, when the track width of the running gears  14  is enlarged. 
     The stationary middle member  138  of the rail guide  142  accommodates two laterally extractable sliding rails  144 ,  148 , as in the embodiment of FIG.  10 . The stationary middle member  138  simultaneously forms a third sliding rail  146 . The four roller  130  of the carriage  128  each have three running grooves, at least one of which is in engagement with one of the rails  144 ,  146 ,  148 .As is evident from FIG. 17, the carriage  128  embraces the downward and upward protruding rails  144 ,  146 ,  148  with the laterally and vertically spaced rollers  130 . 
     The carriage  128  is driven via a traction rope  132  that can be wound up on both sides of the rail guide  142  using a rope winch  136  and the associated drive  140 . Different from the embodiment in FIGS. 8 to  10 , the rope winches  136  are not located on the longitudinal beam  8  but on the track assemblies  14 , as is best seen in FIG.  1 . 
     Upon a parallel displacement of the track assemblies  14 , the rails  144 ,  148  of the longitudinal smoothing board  120  can be extended beyond the working width of the slip-form paver. Since, as evident from FIG. 1, the parallel displacement of the track assemblies  14  entails a change in the distance between the longitudinal smoothing board  122  and the base frame  20 , the longitudinal smoothing board  122  is coupled to the beam  122  by two connecting rods  124 . The connecting rods  124  are guided in elongated holes on the front side of the rail guide  142 , seen in the working direction, so that the relative position of the longitudinal smoothing board  122  to the base frame  20  can adjust when the track width is changed. 
     As in the embodiment of figs. 8 to  10 , the longitudinal smoothing board  122  may also be connected via a hose reel to flexible hydraulic hoses for the oscillating operation of the smoothing board. 
     Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined the appended claims.