Patent GB-190707286-A (GB)
Title: An Improved Apparatus for Tarring and similarly Treating Roads Footpaths and the like
Inventor: AMES RICHARD
Filed: 1907-03-27
Granted: 1908-02-27
Abstract: 7286. Ames, R. March 27. Liquids, distributing; sweeping-machines; refuse, collecting.-In an apparatus for treating roads &c. with tar or other liquids, a tar tank 4 is mounted with a boiler 2 and engine 3 on a vehicle frame 1. Oscillating on the axle 7 of the driving-wheel 6 are levers 8 at the ends of which are mounted revolving brooms 10, which are in sections as described in Specification No. 29,167, A.D. 1906. These brooms, which sweep the road before the tar is applied, are driven from sprocket-wheels 13 on the driving- axle 7. The brooms may be put in and out of gear by clutch mechanism, Figs. 10 and 11. A disk 91 with radial slots is secured to the hub of one of the driving-wheels, and the sprocket-wheels 13 take the form of rings 85, 86 running loose on the hubs of the disks ; either ring can be locked to the disk 91 by a bolt 89 and nut 90 in a slot 88 in the ring. Combs 25, supported from the levers 8, loosen the binding-material of the road to facilitate the penetration of the tar. Fans 26 are connected by flexible pipes 27 to boxes 28 in each of which is a rotating brush to stir up the dust ; the fans draw away the dust and redistribute it over the freshlytarred surface through pipes 29 and distributors 30 ; or the dust instead of being so collected and redistributed may be blown aside by jets of steam. The tar is heated in the tank 4 by steam coils and is prevented from boiling over by providing a top receptacle 61, which has a cradle to receive the tar barrels. The tar passes through a cock to an horizontal pipe, from which descends four vertical pipes each preferably connected to one of four tarspreading pipes 39, joined end to end with movable division plates between them so that the tar can be spread over varying widths of road. The pipes 39 have holes with conical valves 40, Fig. 4, each mounted on a spindle 41 passing through a stuffing- box 42 and secured in a metal bar 43. This bar is secured by links 46 to a lever 47 actuated by a centrifugal governor so that the opening of the valves 40 is proportional to the speed of the vehicle. The lever 47 is slotted at 49 to enable the fulcrum pin 50 to be moved and thus vary the opening of the valve 40. The tar is brushed in by brushes 31 made in sections each loosely supported in a carrier attached to levers 35 which are pivoted to brackets on the axle 7. The levers 35 are connected by links 38 to short levers attache 1 to the levers 8, so that the foremost broom 10 and combs 25 and the rear brushes 31 can be together lowered into action, according to the direction in which the vehicle is moving, by rocking the levers 8 by means of a wire winding on a drum, the second set of apparatus being raised out of action. To prevent the wheels from picking up tar, sand, &c., they have recesses within the rims into which steam, hot liquids, or hot air can be passed through a nozzle and valve. The apparatus is fitted with a distance indicator ; and the quantity of tar distributed is registered on a dial, at the back of which is a spring drum on which is wound a cord 54, Fig. 6, connected to a pulley-block 55. A cord 56 passes round the block 55, round guide-pulleys 57, and over guide-pulleys 58, and is secured to two floats 59 which move in vertical tubes 60 in the tank. The use of two floats corrects for inequalities of level of the tar. In the case of a small single-ended machine drawn by a horse &c., a side brush may be rapidly rotated behind the tar brushes to redistribute the sweepings from the brooms over the freshly tarred surface. An alternative arrangement of brooms is described in which one end of the machine has two brooms oppositely inclined and both are rotated by chain and bevel gearings; two rapidly rotating side brushes are used to redistribute the sweepings over the tarred surface.