Patent Publication Number: US-2007098498-A1

Title: Road shoulder working apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Ser. No. 11/261,465, filed Oct. 15, 2005, currently pending. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to an apparatus for working road shoulders. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus for working road shoulders comprising granular aggregate materials.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Paved and concrete roadways are typically provided with shoulder regions which provide sufficient space to enable vehicles to safely pull off from the roadways for various reasons such as emergency repairs, driver and passenger rest, and parking. Road shoulders are typically supplied in the form of granular aggregate substrates such as gravel, crushed rock, sand, pebbles, crushed shells, crumbed waste rubber and other such materials and mixtures of such materials. Road shoulders comprising such granular aggregate materials must be significantly compacted in order to provide suitably dense matrices to support the weights of vehicles as they transition under some speed from the hard road surfaces to the road shoulders. During construction of new roads or re-surfacing of existing roads, the shoulder regions are prepared and worked by dispensing fresh aggregate materials adjacent the road surfaces after which, the road shoulders are worked to draw the aggregate materials against the road surfaces, then smoothed or groomed, and finally compacted by specialized equipment such as motor graders and self-propelled vibratory compacting rollers. Freshly worked and distributed road shoulders are typically very soft and susceptible to forming deep ruts caused by the wheels of equipment used for the initial grooming steps thereby resulting in uneven compacting and poor shoulder stability after compacting has been completed. Furthermore, the grooming steps often require the mouldboards of motor graders to move spilled or excess granular substrates from the surfaces of newly paved or poured road surfaces to the shoulders thereby often causing gouging, tearing or ripping of the newly paved or poured road surfaces which significantly reduces their durability and longevity. Attempts to solve these problems include the development of devices mountable onto dump trucks or specialized self-propelled equipment as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,304,013, 6,164,866, and 6,612,774, for creating and working road shoulders without requiring the trucks or equipment to leave the road surfaces.  
      Road shoulders are typically positioned adjacent to man-made ditches or gullies to facilitate water egress from the road surfaces. However, excessive rainfalls often result in the formation of rapidly flowing water channels that cut crevices and fissures into road shoulders thereby causing losses of the granular aggregate substrates into the ditches and gullies resulting in destabilization and deterioration of the road shoulders, thus creating hazardous conditions for vehicles transitioning from the road surfaces to the shoulders. Consequently, such road shoulders require regular periodic maintenance with specialized equipment to reclaim road shoulder substrates washed away into adjacent ditches and gullies, followed by their recycling back onto the road shoulder portions which are then reformed and compacted. For example, road shoulder substrates which have washed away into adjacent ditches and gullies may be recovered and transferred onto the road surface by a motor grader equipped with a gang of disc harrows as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,097, and then transferred back to the road shoulder portion by the grader mouldboard. The reclaimed road shoulders may then be worked and groomed by various types of devices as taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,156,466 and 5,332,331, after which the groomed road shoulders may be compacted. However, such road shoulder reclaiming and reforming operations require at least two or more specialized self-propelled equipment such as motor graders that are provided with selected demountable devices adapted for working road shoulders wherein each operation is performed in a separate pass. Consequently, road shoulder forming and reclaiming operations are costly and time-consuming.  
      Another problem often encountered during road shoulder reclaiming operations is caused by the presence of debris or alternatively, vegetation that commonly establishes and proliferates at the outer margins of road shoulder surfaces and along their side edges sloping into the adjacent ditches and gullies. Such debris and vegetation are typically pulled in clumps onto road surfaces during the shoulder recovery operation, then re-distributed across the new shoulder surfaces formed as the granular aggregate materials are transferred back to the road shoulder regions, and then compacted into the newly formed road shoulders. The presence of debris and/or clumps of vegetation on and in newly worked road shoulders results in uneven compaction thereby resulting in unstable road shoulders that quickly deteriorate and subsequently, more frequently require costly and time-consuming road shoulder reclaiming and grooming operations.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The exemplary embodiments of the present invention, at least in some forms, are directed to the working, grooming and compaction of road shoulders.  
      According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, there is provided a deployable retractable apparatus configured for demountably cooperating with a self-propelled operator-controlled machine, for engaging, disrupting and urging granular aggregate materials from an outer portion of a road shoulder region toward and partially onto a road surface, then transferring the granular aggregate materials from the road surface back onto the road shoulder region after which, the granular materials are distributed across the road shoulder region, groomed and compacted to form a densified substrate suitable to bear the weight of a vehicle transitioning from the road surface to the road shoulder region. The self-propelled operator-controlled machine is configured to travel along the road surface wherefrom the apparatus is laterally deployed to engage and work the road shoulder region.  
      According to one aspect of the invention, the apparatus is provided with a first component configured for engaging, disrupting and urging granular aggregate materials from an outer portion of a road shoulder region toward and partially onto a road surface. The first component comprises a frame mounting thereon a plurality of cooperating devices for engaging, disrupting and urging granular aggregate materials. The frame is movable between a retracted upward and inward raised position and a laterally-deployed and lowered position whereby the cooperating devices are arranged to controllably engage the outer portion of the road shoulder region.  
      In a preferred form, the plurality of cooperating devices mounted on the frame of the first component comprises a plurality of substantially parallel spaced apart discs. Each disc is provided with a cutting edge about its periphery arranged to engage a road shoulder for digging up and urging granular aggregate material towards a road surface when the first component is engaged with a road shoulder region.  
      In another preferred form, the plurality of cooperating devices mounted on the frame of the first component comprises a plurality of substantially parallel spaced apart ploughshares. Each ploughshare is configured with a leading cutting edge and a generally inward inclined concave following surface arranged to engage a road shoulder for digging up and urging granular aggregate material towards a road surface when the first component is engaged with a road shoulder region.  
      In a further preferred form, the plurality of cooperating devices mounted on the frame of the first component comprises a plurality of substantially parallel spaced apart elongate plates. Each plate is configured with a leading plate portion for cutting into a road shoulder and a generally inward inclined following plate portion arranged for digging, turning and urging granular aggregate material from the road should towards a road surface when said first component is engaged with a road shoulder region.  
      According to a second aspect of the invention, the apparatus is provided with a second component configured for transferring granular aggregate materials from the road surface onto the road shoulder region. The second component is positioned posterior to the first component.  
      In a preferred form, the second component is provided with a structural support communicating and cooperating with a mouldboard which extends below the structural support. The structural support is movable in a vertical axis between a raised retracted position and a lowered engaged position whereby the bottom edge of the mouldboard slidingly communicates with the road surface.  
      In another preferred form, the mouldboard is provided with a bottom edge having an upward inclined distal end portion.  
      In a further preferred form, the mouldboard is adjustable along the vertical axis by a cable communicating with the structural support.  
      According to a third aspect of the invention, the apparatus is provided with a third component provided for evenly distributing and grooming said granular aggregate materials across the road shoulder region and then compacting the groomed road shoulder region to form a densified substrate suitable for bearing the weight of a vehicle transitioning from the road surface to the road shoulder region. The third component is positioned posterior to the second component.  
      In a preferred form, the third component is provided with a framework mounting therein a plurality of rotatable cooperating devices extending therefrom for evenly distributing and grooming said granular aggregate materials across the road shoulder region and for compacting the groomed road shoulder region. The framework is movable between a retracted upward and inward raised position and a lowered, laterally-deployed engaged position wherein the rotatable cooperating devices are arranged to controllably engage and work the road shoulder region.  
      In another preferred form, the third component is provided with a framework having mounted therein a leading elongate augering roller for movably engaging a worked road shoulder region for distributing and grooming granular aggregate materials across the road shoulder region from a road surface edge to the outer portion of the road shoulder region when the third component is laterally deployed in an engaged position from a self-propelled operator-controlled machine travelling along a road surface adjacent said road shoulder region. A drive means is provided to one end of the augering roller for rotating the augering roller in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the self-propelled operator-controlled machine. The augering roller is additionally useful for removing and discharging from the road shoulder region clumps of vegetation, rocks, debris and litter.  
      In a further preferred form, the third component is provided with a framework having mounted therein a following roller for compacting granular aggregate materials into the road shoulder region. If so desired, the compacting roller may be a vibratory roller. The compacting roller may be optionally provided with a longitudinally extending scraper blade for removing material from an outer surface of the roller. It is preferable the scraper blade is adjustably interconnected with the framework and that the scraper blade slidingly communicates with the compacting roller.  
      According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the apparatus is provided with a fourth component interposed the second and third components for sweeping granular aggregate materials left on a road surface by the second component, onto a road shoulder region in front of the third component.  
      In a preferred form, the fourth component comprises a rotary broom device, said rotary broom device movable in a vertical axis between a raised retracted position and a lowered engaged position for sweepingly engaging a road surface.  
      According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a deployable retractable apparatus configured for demountably cooperating with self-propelled operator-controlled machine, for engaging, disrupting and urging granular aggregate materials from an outer portion of a road shoulder region toward and partially onto a road surface with a first component, then transferring the granular aggregate materials from the road surface back onto the road shoulder region with a second component.  
      In a preferred form, the first component is provided with a frame that is pivotably engaged with a support structure of the second component wherefrom the first component is laterally extendable and pivotable for controllably engaging an outer portion of a road shoulder region and is retractable therefrom. The support structure of the second component is configured to demountably engage the undercarriage of a self-propelled operator-controlled machine.  
      According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus of the present invention when demountably cooperating with self-propelled operator-controlled machine, is provided with a plurality of cooperating hydraulically controlled actuators for concurrently but independently: (a) laterally deploying the first and third components cooperating with self-propelled operator-controlled machine on a road surface therefrom to a road shoulder region, (b) vertically and pivotably controlling the engagement of said laterally deployed components with the road shoulder portion, (c) retraction of said first and third components therefrom, (d) controlling the communication of the second component with the road surface, and (e) retraction of the second component therefrom.  
      In a preferred form, the first and second components are configured to demountably engage the undercarriage of a self-propelled operator-controlled machine, and the third component is configured to cooperatingly demountably engage the undercarriage and drive train components of a self-propelled operator-controlled machine. The third component is optionally configured to emountably engage the undercarriage of a self-propelled operator-controlled machine.  
      According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a self-propelled operated-controllable machine integrally provided with a deployable retractable apparatus configured for demountably cooperating with self-propelled operator-controlled machine, for engaging, disrupting and urging granular aggregate materials from an outer portion of a road shoulder region toward and partially onto a road surface, then transferring the granular aggregate materials from the road surface back onto the road shoulder region after which, the granular materials are distributed across the road shoulder region, groomed and compacted to form a densified substrate suitable to bear the weight of a vehicle transitioning from the road surface to the road shoulder region. The self-propelled operator-controlled machine is configured to travel along the road surface wherefrom the apparatus is laterally deployed to engage and work the road shoulder region. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will be described in conjunction with reference to the following drawing, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a bottom view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown mounted on a tractor in deployed positions for engaging, working, and grooming road shoulders;  
       FIG. 2  is a bottom view of the embodiment from  FIG. 1  shown in raised retracted positions;  
       FIG. 3   a  is a perspective view from the front, of a preferred embodiment for a road shoulder-engaging component of present invention, shown in a deployed position;  
       FIG. 3   b  is a perspective view from the front of the embodiment from  FIG. 3   a , shown in a retracted position;  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view from the side, of an alternative embodiment for a road shoulder-engaging component of present invention, shown in combination with a road shoulder transfer component;  
       FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  are perspective views of alternative embodiments for a road shoulder transfer component of the present invention shown in  FIG. 4 ;  
       FIG. 6   a  is a partial front view of a preferred embodiment configured for raising and lowering the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b;    
       FIG. 6   b  is a partial rear view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6   a;    
       FIG. 7   a  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment for a road shoulder-grooming component of the present invention, shown from the right rear;  
       FIG. 7   b  is perspective view of the embodiment from  FIG. 7   a , shown from the left rear;  
       FIG. 8   a  is a rear view showing the embodiment from  FIG. 4  in a laterally-deployed position with the outer edge in a raised position, while the embodiment from  FIG. 7   a  is in a retracted position;  
       FIG. 8   b  is a rear view showing the embodiments from  FIGS. 4 and 7   a  in laterally-deployed positions; and  
       FIGS. 9   a  and  9   b  show the embodiment from  FIG. 7   a , pivotably positioned in opposing directions;  
       FIG. 10   a  is a perspective view from the rear showing a preferred embodiment for a rear-ward facing grading blade in a retracted position;  
       FIG. 10   b  is a perspective view showing the embodiment from  FIG. 10   a  in a deployed position;  
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view from the front showing a preferred embodiment for a device configured for enabling precise positioning adjustment of the road shoulder-grooming component of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 12  is a close-up perspective view of an aspect of the positioning adjustment device shown in  FIG. 11 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The accompanying drawings show an exemplary embodiment of the road shoulder working, grooming and compacting apparatus attached to a self-propelled operator-controllable machine, wherein the apparatus is generally referred to by the numeral  15  and the self-propelled operator-controllable machine is generally referred by the numeral  10 . As can best be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2  which are bottom views looking up at the undercarriage of the machine  10 , the apparatus  15  comprises a first component  20  configured for engaging an outer portion of a road shoulder region  11  by digging into, turning over and urging granular aggregate materials toward and onto a road surface  12 , a second component  30  configured for transferring granular aggregate materials from the road surface  12  back onto the road shoulder region  11 , a third component  50  configured for distributing and grooming granular aggregate materials across the surface of the road shoulder region  11 . The apparatus  15  is optionally provided with a rotary broom device  45  preferably positioned between the road-shoulder transfer component  30  and road-shoulder grooming component  50  for sweeping granular aggregate materials left behind on the road surface  12  by the transfer component  30 , onto the road shoulder region  11 . The apparatus  15  may also be optionally provided with a packing wheel assembly  73  configured to cooperate with the fixed tractor-mounting framework  61  of the road-shoulder grooming component  50  (shown in  FIGS. 1 and 11 ) to firm into place the granular aggregate material transferred to the road shoulder region by the transfer component  30  prior to grooming and further packing by the road-shoulder grooming component  50 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the road-shoulder engaging component  20  and road-shoulder grooming component  50  are laterally-deployable and outwardly-extendable from the operator&#39;s right side (shown on the left side in the bottom-up views of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) beyond the outside wheel base of the self-propelled machine  10  so that machine  10  can travel along on the surface  12  of a paved asphalt or poured concrete roadway while the road-shoulder engaging component  20  and road-shoulder transfer component  30  are controllably manipulated by the operator to engage, work and transfer granular aggregate materials situated in the road shoulder region  11  adjacent the roadway  12 . The road-shoulder transfer component  30 , the rotary broom device  45 , and the packing wheel assembly  73  are controllably movable in a vertical axis whereby, when in lowered positions, the road-shoulder transfer component  30  slidingly engages the road surface  12  to transfer granular aggregate materials deposited thereon by the road-shoulder engaging component  20  to the road shoulder region  11 , while the rotary broom device  45  brushes the road surface  12  to sweep granular materials left behind by the road-shoulder transfer component  30  onto the road shoulder region  11 . The road-shoulder transfer component  30 , the rotary broom device  45 , and the packing wheel assembly  73  are vertically retractable from the road surface  12  when required or desired.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , the road-shoulder engaging component  20  is laterally retractable to a position adjacent the machine  10  with only a small portion of component  20  extending beyond the wheelbase of machine  10 , while the road-shoulder grooming component  50  is laterally retractable to a position directly behind machine  10 . If so desired, the road-shoulder engaging, transfer and grooming components  20 ,  30  and  50  may comprise separate units that may be individually demountably coupled to a suitable self-propelled operator-controlled machine which, for example, may be a tractor, a motor grader, a dump truck or other such machine. Alternatively, it is possible within the scope of the present invention to combine two or more of the road-shoulder engaging, transfer and grooming components into one or more multifunctional components as will be described in more detail below. When the road-shoulder engaging, transfer and grooming components  20 ,  30  and  50  components are demountably coupled to a suitable machine, they can be independently and concurrently deployed, operated and controlled by various types of actuators communicating with one or more hydraulic, pneumatic, electronic, electrical and mechanical control systems known to those skilled in this art. When the road-shoulder engaging, transfer and grooming components  20 ,  30  and  50  are retracted, the self-propelled machine  10  may be driven away from the job site by the operator or, alternatively, may be driven onto a flat-bed trailer for conveyance away from the job site.  
      A particular embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 3   a ,  3   b  and  4  showing the road-shoulder engaging component  20  mounted on the right side of a machine (for simplicity represented by a rectangle with broken lines) and viewed from the front right-side of the machine  10  (not shown). It is to be noted that  FIG. 3   a  shows the road-shoulder engaging component  20  in the deployed position and  FIG. 3   b  shows the road-shoulder engaging component  20  in the retracted position as indicated by the arrows in the drawings. The road-shoulder engaging component  20  comprises an articulating frame  25  provided with a rear mounting beam  27 , two opposing articulating side rails  28   a  and  28   b  hingedly interconnected with the rear mounting beam  27  via hinge units  29 , while the other ends of the opposing articulating side rails  28   a  and  28   b  are hingedly interconnected with an enlongate beam, shown by the numeral  26  via hinge units  29 . The elongate beam  26  is laterally deployable and retractable relative to rear mounting beam  27  by a hydraulic cylinder  130  as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      Referring again to  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b , the road-shoulder engaging component of the present invention is provided with a plurality of spaced-apart downward projecting plates  21  mounted on an elongate beam  26  for engaging and working road shoulder regions. Each plate  21  comprises a vertically-oriented leading edge plate portion  22  for cutting into and slicing through a road shoulder comprising granular aggregate materials, and a vertically-oriented following plate portion  23  integrally adjacent to and interconnected with leading-edge plate portion  22  at an inclined angle selected such that granular aggregate materials cut into by leading-edge plate portion  22  are turned over and urged toward the road surface. The bottom edge  24  of the following plate portion  23  may be optionally inclined at an angle toward the road surface to enhance and facilitate the turning over and urging of the granular aggregate road shoulder materials by following plate portion  23 . It is to be noted that the plurality of spaced-apart shoulder-engaging plates  21  may be substituted, for example, by a plurality of spaced-apart ploughshare-shaped units (not shown) within the scope of the present invention.  
      The road-shoulder engaging component  20  may be optionally provided with a plurality of spaced-apart rotatable concave discs  121  axially attached to elongate beam  26  by support elements  127  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Each rotatable disc  121  is provided with a leading edge portion  122  configured for cutting into, turning over, and urging granular aggregate material from a road shoulder region toward a road surface.  
      Preferred embodiments for the road-shoulder transfer component  30  are shown in  FIGS. 4, 5   a ,  5   b ,  6   a  and  6   b , wherein the road-shoulder transfer component  30  comprises a mounting plate  31  configured for cooperating with a mouldboard  32 . The mouldboard  32  may be directly interconnected with the mounting plate  31  as shown in  FIG. 4 , or alternatively, the mouldboard  32  can be lowered from and retracted to mounting plate  31  by an actuator-controllable cable  36  (as illustrated in  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b ) interconnected with a yoke  37  mounted onto a flange  38  to which the mounting plate  32  is securely fixed. A stabilizer bar  39  is pivotably interconnected with the yoke  37  and the mounting plate  31  to stabilize the mouldboard  32  when lowered from mounting plate  31  by cable  36  for road surface working operations. As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5   a , the mouldboard  32  may be provided with an upwardly inclined distal portion  33 . An optional upwardly inclined distal tip  34  may be detachably engaged with the mouldboard  32  to extend the length of the upwardly inclined distal portion  33 . In operation, the machine  10  is preferably operated so that the juncture of the bottom edge of mouldboard  32  and the upwardly extending portion  33  runs along the juncture of the road surface and the road shoulder region thereby causing an upwardly sloping edge or ridge of granular aggregate materials to be formed immediately adjacent the road surface, the benefits of which will be explained in more detailed below. Alternatively, if so desired, the mouldboard  32  may be provided with a straight bottom edge which is extendable by a tip  35  also provided with a straight bottom edge, as illustrated in  FIG. 5   b . It has been surprisingly found that, in contrast with the prior art which teaches that mouldboards for working road shoulders and road surfaces should have lengths ranging from at least 1.8 m to 2.4 m (i.e., 6 ft. to 8 ft.) or longer for satisfactory working of road shoulders and road surfaces, relatively short mouldboards from within the range of 45 cm to 102 cm (18 in. to 40 in.) are suitable for transferring granular aggregates urged onto road surfaces during road shoulder working operations, back onto road shoulder regions. Such short mouldboards weigh significantly less than the commonly known prior art mouldboards and therefore are significantly less bulky and easier to manipulate during road shoulder and road surface working and grooming operations. Furthermore, such lightweight short mouldboards minimize and, for the most part, eliminate gouging and ripping damage commonly encountered with the prior art mouldboards when they are used on paved or poured road surfaces.  
      It is to be noted that  FIGS. 4, 6   a  and  6   b  illustrate means for combining the road-shoulder engaging and transfer components  20  and  30  into a single demountable unit configured for coupling to a suitable self-propelled operator-controlled machine. The articulating frame  25  is pivotably interconnected to the mounting plate  31  via a yoke  136  wherein the rear-mounting beam  27  of the articulating frame  25  is securely engaged with one end of a pivotable strut  137 , while the other end of the pivotable strut  137  is pivotably connected with the yoke  136  by a hinge pin  141 . The articulating frame  25  can be controllably pivoted around a fulcrum point formed by the interconnection of the yoke  136  and the pivotable strut  137  with the hinge pin  141 , by extension of hydraulic cylinder  138  interconnected with a yoke  140  provided on the mounting plate  31  and a second yoke  139  provided near the top of the pivotable strut  137 , thereby lowering the distal end of articulating frame  25 , i.e., shown as articulating side rail  28   a  while raising the proximal end shown as articulating side rail  28   b  (refer to  FIG. 8   a ). Retracting the hydraulic cylinder  138  raises the distal end of articulating frame  25  while lowering the proximal end (refer to  FIG. 8   b ). The mouldboard  32  can be concurrently yet independently operated, i.e., lowered and raised from the mounting plate  31  with cable  36  as shown in  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b . A mounting beam structure  155  which is configured for demountably coupling to a suitable self-propelled operator-controlled machine, is provided with a lower yoke  151  for hingedly interconnecting with the mounting plate  31 , the lower yoke  151  interconnected with a support beam  150  to an upper yoke  152 . A hydraulic cylinder  153  interconnects the upper yoke  152  of the mounting beam structure  155  with yoke  154  integrally situated on a top portion of the mounting plate  31 , thus enabling controllable concurrent raising and lowering of the road-shoulder engaging and transfer components  20  and  30  while they are independently and concurrently operated for engaging road shoulders with the hydraulic cylinder  138 , and for transferring granular aggregate materials from road surfaces to road shoulders by cable  36 .  
      Yet another particular embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  7 ,  8  and  9  wherein the road-shoulder grooming component  50  is configured for distributing and grooming granular aggregate materials across a road shoulder region and for compacting the granular aggregate materials into the road shoulder region. As shown in  FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b , the road-shoulder grooming component  50  comprises a rectangular framework  51  interconnected by articulating side rails  62  to a support beam  61  from which extends a mounting framework  63  configured to demountably couple to the rear of a self-propelled machine in cooperation with a 3-point hitch  67 . A hydraulic cylinder  65  interconnects one articulating side rail  62  with support beam  61  for lateral deployment of the road-shoulder grooming component  50  outside the rear wheel of machine  10  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 8   b , and for retraction of the road-shoulder grooming component  50  to a position directly behind machine  10  as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 8   a.    
      As best seen in  FIGS. 2, 7   a  and  7   b , a leading roller  52  is rotatably mounted within the front section of framework  51  wherein the leading roller  52  is integrally provided with an augered surface  53  for working, distributing and grooming road shoulders. One end of the leading roller  52  is fitted to a hydraulic drive mechanism  54  mounted to the framework  51 . The hydraulic drive mechanism  54  is interconnected to a hydraulic oil reservoir  66  with hydraulic hoses  55  along with suitable requisite pumps, valves, actuators and instrumentation (not shown) known to those skilled in this art. The hydraulic drive mechanism  54  is configured to rotate leading roller  52  in a direction opposite to the direction of whereby the configuration of the augered surface  53  moves materials transferred to the road shoulder from the road surface, outward from the inboard side of framework  51 , i.e., the side closest to the hydraulic oil reservoir  66 , to the outboard side of framework  51  thereby providing means for evenly distributing granular aggregate materials transferred from the road surface across the road shoulder region, and for transferring and clumps of vegetation from the road shoulder surface and discharging the clumps from underneath the outboard side of framework  51  adjacent the outer edge of the road shoulder region. A smooth-faced following roller  56  is rotatably mounted within the back section framework  51  behind the leading augered roller  52 . It is preferable that a scraper plate  57  is adjustably mounted onto the rear of the framework  51  so that it slidingly communicates with the smooth-faced following roller  56  for removing any granular aggregate materials adhering thereto the smooth-faced following roller  56 . Those skilled in this art will understand the smooth-faced following roller  56  can be a vibratory roller having one end fitted to a hydraulic drive mechanism mounted onto the framework  51  (not shown) configured and interconnected with the hydraulic oil reservoir  66 . As best can be seen in  FIGS. 8   a ,  8   b ,  9   a  and  9   b , one side element of the three-point hitch  67  is preferably a hydraulic cylinder  68 . Extension of the hydraulic cylinder  68  will cause one lateral side of the articulating framework  51  to be lower than the opposite side as shown in  FIG. 9   a , while retraction of the hydraulic cylinder  68  will cause the same lateral side to be elevated with respect to the opposite side as shown in  FIG. 9   b.    
      As shown in  FIGS. 10   a  and  10   b , the road-shoulder grooming component  50  may be optionally provided with a rearward facing grader blade  80  that is hingably mounted to the framework  51  with hinge elements  81 . A hydraulic cylinder is interposed the grader blade  80  and the framework  51  to enable operator-controlled raising and lowering of the grader blade  80 . The optional rear-ward facing grader blade  80  is particularly useful for additional working and grooming of deeply rutted or pot-holed portions of road shoulders.  
      It is desirable when grooming road shoulders to provide a firmly compacted shoulder surface that is level with the road surface. A compacted shoulder surface that is lower than the adjacent road surface may cause vehicles to sharply vear toward and off the road shoulder as they pull off the road surface. Compacted road shoulders with surfaces that are slightly higher than the adjacent road surfaces will over a period of time and use, result in the road shoulder materials deflecting onto the road surface thereby creating potentially hazardous road surface conditions. Therefore, as shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the road-shoulder grooming component  50  of the present invention may be further optionally provided with an apparatus  90  configured and positioned to enable the operator to precisely adjust the height of the augured leading roller  52  so that the granular materials worked by the augured leading roller  52  are raised to a preferred height above the road surface to enable the smooth-faced following roller  56  to compact the granular material to a height that is level with the adjacent road surface. The road shoulder height adjusting apparatus  90  is mounted at the upper end of a generally vertically orientated support element  91  securely interconnected at its bottom end to the framework  51 . The road shoulder height adjusting apparatus  90  comprises an electrical motor  95  mounted proximate the top of the support element  91 , said electrical motor  95  controllable by the operator via wiring  96 , said electrical motor interconnected to an electrically controlled actuator (not shown) configured to controllably cooperate with a height-adjusting assembly (not shown) mounted on the framework  51 , said height-adjusting assembly configured to controllably raise and lower the augured leasing roller  51 . The road shoulder height adjusting apparatus  90  further comprises a gauge  92  cooperating with an indicator  93  interconnected to the height-adjusting assembly by a sending device  94 . The operator is able to determine “on-the-fly” from the position of the indicator  93  relative to the gauge  92 , the height of the augured leading roller  52  relative to the road surface, and may controllably manipulate the electrical motor  95  to raise or lower the augured leading roller  52  as required to provide a compacted road shoulder surface that is level with the adjacent road surface.  
      In operation, the first component  20  of the road shoulder working, grooming and compacting apparatus  15  is laterally deployed from a machine  10  travelling along a road surface adjacent to a road shoulder region, by actuating hydraulic cylinder  130 , and then is pivotably engaged with the road shoulder by concurrently and independently actuating hydraulic cylinders  153  and  39  thereby causing the road-shoulder engaging component  20  to work the road shoulder and urge granular aggregate materials toward and onto the road surface. The mouldboard  32  of the second component i.e., the road-shoulder transfer component  30  is lowered to slidingly communicate with the road surface thereby transferring the granular aggregate materials deposited onto the road surface by the road-shoulder grooming component  20 , back onto the road shoulder region. The optional rotary broom device  45  may be lowered to brushingly communicate with the road surface to brush any granular aggregate materials left behind the second component  30  back onto the road shoulder region. The third i.e. the road-shoulder grooming component  50  is laterally deployed outboard of machine  10  by actuating hydraulic cylinder  65  and then lowered by three-point hitch  65  to rotatingly engage the road shoulder with leading roller  52  provided with augered surface  53  to evenly distribute and groom granular aggregate materials across the surface of the road shoulder region. Any clumps of vegetation and other large objects such as rocks, debris, cans etc. present on or near the road shoulder surface will be transferred by the augered surface  53  of the leading roller  52  to the outboard edge of framework  51  and then will be discharged sideways therefrom beyond the outer edge of the road shoulder region. The height of the worked road shoulder provided by the augured leading roller  52  may be controllably adjusted with an optional road shoulder height adjusting apparatus  90 . The following smooth-faced roller  56  will compact the groomed road shoulder. We have found that providing an upwardly inclined slope of granular aggregate material on the road shoulder region immediately adjacent the edge of the road surface prior to compacting results in a very densified portion of road shoulder immediately adjacent the road surface after compacting. Such a densified road shoulder portion facilitates safer egress of vehicles onto the road shoulder region at speed and also, is more resistant to damage caused by heavy rainfalls and weathering. If so desired to provide a firmer road shoulder, an optional packing wheel assembly  73  may be provided in front of the road-shoulder grooming component  50 . After the road shoulder working, grooming and compacting operations are completed, the four components are raised, then the first and third components are laterally retracted for transport. It is to be understood that the individual components comprising the road shoulder working, grooming and compacting apparatus  15  of the present invention are useful when used alone and therefore it is within the scope of this invention, for example, to demountably couple the road-shoulder grooming component  50  to the rear of a suitable machine for grooming and compacting road shoulders. Alternatively, it is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a unit comprising the road-shoulder engaging component  20  interconnected and cooperating with the road-shoulder transfer component  30  as described herein for demountably coupling to a suitable machine for working road shoulders.  
      While this invention has been described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that various alterations and modifications can be made to components of the road shoulder working, grooming and compacting apparatus within the scope of this invention, which are limited only by the scope of the appended claims.