Road roller provided with an ergonomic work place for the operator

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for road rollers primarily for the compaction of asphalt coatings, said device providing an ergonomic work place for the operator in the roller's cab (1) and offering an unobstructed view of the road roller's rollers (4 and 12 respectively), the rollers' lateral edges (4a and 12a respectively) in particular. This is of major importance to the positioning of the road roller on the surface to be compacted. This is achieved with an asymmetrical arrangement of the cab, i.e. one side of the cab extends beyond the rollers' edges (4a and 12a respectively), and the swivelling driver's seat (6), with the wheel (7) and controls (8), is laterally displaceable.

Description: The present invention relates to a road roller used primarily for compaction of asphalt coatings on roads, said road roller providing an ergonomic work place for the operator in the road roller's cab and offering an unobstructed view of the road roller's rollers, the lateral edges of the rollers in particular. This view is of major importance to the positioning of the road roller on the surface to be compacted. Compaction of road coatings is achieved by repeated passages back and forth across a stretch whose width is equal to or somewhat less than the width of the road roller's widest roller. It is then essential for the operator to have full control over the exact lateral position of the roller edges, especially in work next to curbs or other raised surface demarcations. The operator must then be able to position her/his head on the vertical plane formed by the rollers' lateral edges in travel roller forward or to the rear. Most prior art road rollers with a cabin do not allow the operator to conveniently obtain the desired view of the edges of the rollers. This is because the cab is not wider than the rollers so road surfaces can be compacted right next up to vertical obstacles, such as curbstones or poles. The operator therefore has to lean out through one of the cab's openable side windows and is then no longer protected against external conditions, such as exhaust fumes, precipitation, wind, noise etc., against which the cab is intended to provide protection. She/he is also forced to assume a highly strenuous and uncomfortable body position. Despite these disadvantages, she/he still does not have a clear line of sight, especially along the edge of the forward roller, as the road roller's frame fork partially blocks her/his view. DE-A-2 830 660 discloses a road roller with a cabin allowing the operator to obtain a view of the edges of the rollers. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages by equipping the road roller with an asymmetrical safety cab giving an operator wearing a seat belt an unobstructed view, e.g. of the right roller edges, in the direction of travel from inside the cab. This is achieved when the cab has sufficient width to the right, without projecting beyond the roller edges to the left to permit compaction with the left side of the roller of the road surface adjacent to vertical obstacles. In addition, at least the front roller fork is devised with a rearward tilt to keep the fork from blocking the driver's line of sight along the edge of the front roller. A prerequisite for achieving an ergonomically sound cab interior, especially with wide road rollers, is that the driver's seat and controls can be swivelled and laterally moved enough to permit a comfortable work position during operation of the road roller forward and to the rear. The invention will now be described in greater detail, referring to attached FIGURES in which FIG. 1 is a front view of a road roller with an asymmetrically arranged cab, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same road roller and FIG. 3 is a view from above of the cab interior with the driver's seat centrally positioned for forward operation of the roller. FIG. 4 is a view from above of the cab interior with the swivelling and laterally displaceable driver's seat giving the operator an unobstructed view of the rollers' right edges during forward operation of the road roller. FIG. 1 shows the asymmetrical safety cab 1 with the section 2 to the right, in the direction of travel, which projects beyond the outer edge 4a of the right front roller 4. Here, the left part 3 of the cab does not project beyond the outer edge of the left roller fork 5. The swivelling and laterally displaceable driver's seat 6, into whose frame the wheel 7 and controls 8 are integrated, is shown in its right position, giving the operator 9 an unobstucted view along the edge 4a of the roller. The driver's seat is also equipped with a seat belt (not shown), and the cab is equipped with roll-over protection, i.e. the cab is devised and attached to the road roller's frame in such a way that it protects the operator if the roller should overturn. FIG. 2 shows the roller from the side with its front roller 4, which is rigidly attached to the frame section 10 via the roller fork 5, and the rear roller 12 is swivellingly attached to the frame section 11 via the roller fork 13. The frame sections 10 and 11 are interconnected with a frame steering joint 18. The front frame section 10 is equipped with an asymmetrical safety cabin 1 in which the swivelling and laterally displaceable driving seat 6, with the integrated wheel 7 and controls 8, is located. The operator's 9 lines of sight along the edge of the front roller are designated 14 and 15, and the ground area visible beyond the roller edge during forward operation is marked with an x. In the corresponding manner, the ground area y, which is visible with the lines of sight 16 and 17, beyond the edge 12a of the rear roller is shown in operation to the rear. FIG. 3 shows a horizontal view from the cab 1 with the driver's seat 6 centrally placed in relation to the roller and pointing straight ahead. The wheel is designated 7, the controls 8 and the operator 9. The asymmetrical part of the cab which projects to the right is designated 2. Finally, FIG. 4 shows the location of the driver's seat 6, with the wheel 7 and controls 8, giving the operator 9 an unobstructed view of the ground along the right edge 4a of the front roller 4 through a window in the asymmetrical part 2 of the cab 1.

Claims: A road roller equipped with a cab (1), for compacting road surfaces made primarily of asphalt, whereby the width of the cab (1) on one side exceeds the width of the road roller's rollers (4 and 12) to a degree giving the road roller's operator (9) an unobstructed view from inside the cab (1) along the rollers' edges (4a and 12a) on this side; characterized in that the width of the cab (1) on the road roller's other side does not exceed the width of the road roller's rollers (4 and 12) on this side; the frame forks (5) of one roller (4) are tilted to the rear enough so they do not block the road roller operator's forward lines of sight (14 and 15) along the edge (4a) of said roller (4). A road roller according to claim 1, characterised in that a driver's seat (6) with controls for the road roller's forward operation (8) and steering (7) are arranged to swivel and move horizontally enough to give the operator (9), in roller operation to the front and to the rear, an unobstructed view of the rollers' (4 and 12) lateral edges (4a and 12a) on the side of the road roller on which the width of the cab (1) exceeds the width of the rollers. A road roller according to claim 2, characterised in that the driver's seat (6) is equipped with a seat belt, and the cab (1) is a safety cab equipped with roll-over protection.

Inventors: LINDGREN JOERGEN, SAMUELSSON SVEN-ERIK, THULIN ANDERS, LINDGREN, JOERGEN, SAMUELSSON, SVEN-ERIK, THULIN, ANDERS, Lindgren, Jörgen
Applicants: SVEDALA COMPACTION EQUIPMENT A, SVEDALA COMPACTION EQUIPMENT AB
Application year: 1995
Main classification: E01C19
IPC codes: E01C19