Abstract:
A pavement diamond grinder used for grinding and/or grooving pavement surfaces as the grinder carriage with a rotating arbor supporting radio blades. A cooling and dust control system delivers water to the arbor. The system includes a spray bar with nozzles that atomizes the water prior to engagement with the blades. The system utilizes a wiper debris removal device to clean the blades. In addition, a device that is utilized to effect turbulence adjacent to the blades and improve contact of the atomized water with the blades.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a pavement diamond grinder and in particular to a grinder having a greatly reduced water flow for sawing and for blade cooling and dust control. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     Pavement diamond grinders are well known and used for grinding concrete and asphalt surfaces. The grinding is performed for a variety of purposes, including removing irregularities in the road surface, to provide texture to the surface and to add antiskid properties. Moreover, grinding and grooving may be performed to groove the surface and facilitate water drainage. Grinding, texturing and grooving are used on pavement surfaces including highways, airport runways, bridge decks, industrial plants, stock pens and barns as well as other concrete or asphalt surfaces that may require a particular surface characteristic. 
     Typically, grinding is performed with diamond tipped blades that grind the concrete or asphalt and are mounted on a rotating arbor. The arbor is typically mounted on an under carriage of the grinder and is power supplied by the grinder. Such grinders typically require large power and great weight to achieve satisfactory grinding of hard materials. 
     In can be appreciated that the grinding and grooving process creates substantial amounts of debris, which is in the form of concrete dust and particles. In addition, the diamond tip blades generate substantial heat that requires cooling. Water is typically sprayed for cooling as well as dust control and lubrication in conventional grinders. Large amounts of water are currently sprayed at the blades on the arbor. This results in a dust-laden slurry that must be removed from the pavement surface. Suction is used to continually remove debris and water from the pavement in the area where grinding occurs. In some operations, the slurry may be simply left in the ditch on the side of the road. However, regulations now typically prohibit leaving the slurry and the grinding debris in the ditch. Therefore, it is necessary to collect the slurry and haul it elsewhere for disposal. Moreover, the large amount of water must be carried with the grinder and provisions must be made for hauling the slurry away. This requires additional equipment and also raises labor costs. 
     It can be seen that a new and improved grinder and grinding method are needed that provides for using substantially less water during grinding and that provides for simple and more convenient disposal of grinding byproduct. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a grinder. In one embodiment, the grinder is a pavement grinder that may be utilized for grinding pavement surfaces, grooving the pavement surfaces or cutting slots in the pavement. The grinder takes on a conventional configuration, such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,146 for example, assigned to Diamond Surface, Inc. incorporated herein by reference. As with conventional grinders, the grinder includes a frame, drive wheels, a grinding carriage, an operator seat and controls, a motor and hydraulic fluid reservoir. The grinder may also include fuel and water tanks. 
     The grinding assembly includes an arbor with radial blades mounted thereon. Moreover, grinders other than pavement grinders may also be utilized and other blades may be utilized with the present invention. In one embodiment, the grinding assembly includes a sprayer assembly having a spray bar with one or more atomizing nozzles mounted thereto. The spray bar may be mounted on a track that arcs about a portion of a periphery of the axially mounted radial blades. The spray bar may be moved along the arcing mounting track so that it may be positioned at various locations relative to the grinder arbor. In addition, in some configurations multiple spray bars may be utilized for spraying at multiple positions on the periphery of the arbor. 
     The spray bar utilizes atomizing nozzles that provide an atomized mist directed at the arbor blades to provide cooling and dust control for the grinding operations. It has been surprisingly found that atomized mist, such as water provides greater efficiency as compared to the same volume of normally sprayed water for cooling. Therefore, much less water may be utilized as compared to conventional cooling and dust control systems. 
     To facilitate even greater cooling, an air manipulator may be utilized in some embodiments to improve the air flow around the arbor and blades so that a greater quantity of atomized air droplets contact the blades, thereby providing improved cooling. The air manipulator is generally mounted along the length of the blades. The air manipulator includes a block that is sufficiently soft to be cut into by the blades and maintain slots for the blades with portions extending between the blades for a close fit between the block of the air manipulator and the blades to reduce the turbulence surrounding the blades in the vicinity of the cooling mist. However, the block is sufficiently soft so that it does not have resistance to the arbor rotation and does not affect the efficiency of the grinding operation. A spring biases the block towards the blades but has a sufficiently small spring constant that it does not unduly affect the arbor&#39;s performance. 
     Moreover, in some embodiments, a cleaner is utilized to remove debris and water from the blades. The cleaner may also be configured as a substantially soft plastic block that may be self cutting by the blades of the grinder to maintain a close fit with notches formed to accept each blade and portions extending between the blades for improved cleaning. The cleaner may include a spring to maintain the cleaner in a favorable use position to maintain its effectiveness for removing the debris-laden slurry from the blades. 
     These features of novelty and various other advantages that characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings that form a further part hereof, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals and letters indicate corresponding structure throughout the several views; 
         FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a pavement grinder according to the principles of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of a grinding assembly for the grinder shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of a grinding assembly for the grinder shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings and in particular to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a grinder, generally designated  20 . Grinder  20  includes a grinder assembly  22 . The grinding assembly typically has a grinder carriage  50  with an arbor  52  having radial blades  54  mounted thereon, along the length of the arbor as shown in  FIGS. 3-5 . In addition, the grinding assembly  22  may take the form of grooving blades, a single blade for cutting slots in the pavement, or other configurations with radial blades that require cooling and/or dust control. In many conventional configurations, the arbor  52  may take on a variety of typical widths, generally extending from 2-4 feet. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the grinder  20  generally includes a frame  24  mounted on wheels  26  and  28 . The frame  24  and the other components of the grinder provide sufficient mass for the forces needed for grinding relatively hard pavement surfaces. An operator seat  30  provides a clear view of the grinding operation area as well as access to controls  40 . An engine  32  provides sufficient power to move the grinder  20  as well as provide power to drive the grinding assembly  22  by hydraulics and/or a series of pulleys. The grinder  20  generally has a hydraulic fluid tank  36  connected to hydraulic lines  92  for powering various components. Fuel tank  38  may be mounted at the rear of the frame  24 . The grinder  20  may include a water tank  100  that is either towed, as shown diagrammatically in  FIG. 1 , or may be mounted directly on the frame  24 . A collector  102  may be towed or incorporated at the rear of the frame  24 . The collector  102  may be a sweeper, vacuum or other collector device to collect the slurry resulting from the grinding operations. As explained hereinafter, the present system uses substantially less water so that the collector  102  may be a smaller capacity device. Referring to  FIGS. 3-5 , the grinding carriage  50  includes an arbor  52  having diamond-tip radial blades mounted along the length of an arbor shaft along a grinding portion. Hydraulic motors  42  at each end of the arbor shaft provide power and are connected by a mounted assembly  44  and an adapter  46 . The arbor  52  may also be driven by pulleys or other drive mechanisms that provide sufficient power and speed for pavement grinding or grooving. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the grinding assembly  22  includes a sprayer assembly  60  that provides water for cooling and dust control. The sprayer assembly  60  includes a spray bar  64  mounted on an arcing track  66 . The track  66  arcs outward from and about a portion of the periphery of the radial blades  54  so that nozzles may be positioned at different locations relative to the blades  54 . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 6 , in one embodiment, the sprayer assembly  60  may include multiple spaced apart spray bars  64 . Each of the spray bars  64  includes atomizing nozzles  62 . The nozzles  62  atomize the cooling fluid directed to the radial blades  54  by atomizing the fluid prior to contact with the blades  54 . It has been found that the amount of water used with the atomized system is decreased by 90% or more. Moreover, it has been surprisingly found that the cooling properties of the fluid mist provide much greater cooling efficiency for the same amount of water as compared to just a conventional spray that is not atomized. The atomized fluid also provides efficient dust control for the grinding operation. The resulting slurry has substantially less mass and volume than the slurry that may be collected using a conventional sweeper, vacuum or other collector  102 , and disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. The use of the atomizing nozzles  62  substantially decreases the amount of material that must be disposed of and eliminates the need for a large cyclone separator. 
     In addition to using a sprayer assembly with atomizing nozzles, to improve the effectiveness of the atomizing spray, an air manipulator  80  is positioned above the sprayer assembly  60 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the air manipulator  80  includes a block  82  in close contact with the radial blades  54 . The block  82  is typically plastic or other relatively soft material that may be easily cut by the blades  54  to form a slot for each blade with the portions  84  extending between the blades for a close fit as the blades  54  rotate relative to the air manipulator  80 . The block  82  is biased by a spring  86  towards the blades so that the tight contact is maintained and the manipulator  80  is self cutting. The spring  86  and the material of the block  82  are chosen so that the resistance to the rotation of the arbor  52  and blades  54  does not adversely affect performance, but is sufficient to maintain contact. The air manipulator  80  changes the air flow around the blades  54  and decreases turbulence so that a high percentage of the atomized fluid reaches the blades and provides improved cooling. It has been found that without the air manipulator  80 , difficulties may arise due to the air flow proximate the blades  54  that decreases the amount of atomized fluid making sufficient contact with the blades and therefore, may not provide sufficient cooling. The air manipulator  80  improves the cooling performance of the sprayer assembly  60  while using much lower quantities of cooling fluid. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the grinding assembly  22  also includes a blade cleaner  70 . A cleaner assembly  72  includes a block  74  and a spring  78 . The cleaner assembly  72  contacts the tips of the blades  54  and removes the cleaning fluid laden with grinding dust and debris from the blades to improve the cutting performance. The cleaner assembly  72  has a block  74  that is sufficiently soft so that it will be cut by the blades  54  to form notches for receiving each blade through the block  74  having portions  76  extending between the blades to provide close contact with the blade surfaces. The block  74  is configured to wipe the material from the blades  54  during each revolution. The spring  78  biases the block  74  towards the blades  54  so that constant contact is maintained. The hardness of the block  74  and the force of the spring  78  are chosen so that sufficient force is maintained to keep the cleaner  72  in contact with blades  54 , but is sufficiently small so that the performance of the grinding assembly  22  is not affected. The cleaning also improves cooling of the atomized mist through increases surface contact and provides for easily collecting the resultant slurry. 
     It can be further appreciated that the use of the sprayer assembly  60  along with the cleaner  72  and air manipulator  80  provides improved performance over conventional cooling systems that use large quantities of water and have large quantities of debris laden slurry that must be disposed in an environmentally safe manner. The present invention provides for much greater efficiency than is possible with the prior systems. The system of the present invention maintains the grinding assembly  22  and blades  54  at a sufficiently cool operating temperature. The present system also provides environmental advantages through improved disposal of the resultant slurry laden with debris than is possible with the prior art systems. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.