Patent Publication Number: US-9850627-B2

Title: Road finishing machine with variable screw suspension

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims foreign priority benefits under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) to German patent application number DE 20 2012 003 792.7, filed Apr. 13, 2012, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a road finishing machine. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In practice, a spreading screw is fixed to a road finishing machine by a screw bearing arrangement. The screw bearing arrangement is needed to position the spreading screw at an appropriate distance to the foundation. A correct positioning of the spreading screw relative to the foundation is important to spread the laying material at preferably high efficiency and possibly prevent segregations in the laying material. 
     Conventionally, for different models of road finishing machines, different screw bearing arrangements were used. This gave rise to an increased warehousing demand. Moreover, due to the manufacture of different screw bearing arrangements, manufacturing costs increased. 
     SUMMARY 
     It is an object of the present disclosure to improve a road finishing machine by means of simple constructive technical features such that different screw bearing arrangements can be easily attached to it. 
     The disclosure relates to a road finishing machine with a chassis and a screw bearing arrangement for receiving a spreading screw, comprising a first and a second perforated support at the chassis to fix the screw bearing arrangement to the chassis. 
     According to the disclosure, the first and the second perforated supports each comprise a first and second hole patterns to fix different screw bearing arrangements to the road finishing machine by means of the first hole pattern or by means of the second hole pattern. 
     The inventive road finishing machine offers the technical advantage that, independent of the series, different screw bearing arrangements can be attached to it e.g., depending on the engine output of the finishing machine. 
     Preferably, it is provided for the first and the second hole patterns to each comprise a group of bores. This permits to arrange the screw bearing arrangement at different heights relative to the foundation. 
     According to another design, the bores of the first and the second hole patterns are each equidistantly spaced apart. Thereby, an operator can simply fix the screw bearing arrangement to the road finishing machine as he desires. 
     The vertical adjustments for the screw bearing arrangement can be particularly easily differentiated if the first and the second hole patterns extend to be offset in parallel with respect to each other. 
     It is also advantageous for the first and the second hole patterns to each be connectable by means of a lifting cylinder to thereby fix the screw bearing arrangement to the chassis of the road finishing machine. Thereby, the screw bearing arrangement can be continuously lifted to different heights relative to the foundation. 
     To be applicable in a particularly flexible manner, it is preferably provided for the screw bearing arrangement to be fixed to the first hole pattern when a spreading screw with a first screw flight diameter is arranged in the screw bearing arrangement, and to be fixed to the second hole pattern, when a spreading screw with a second screw flight diameter which is smaller than the first one is arranged in the screw bearing arrangement. Thereby, the screw bearing arrangement can be excellently used with different spreading screws. 
     The present disclosure will be illustrated more in detail with reference to the below described drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a screw bearing arrangement for a road finishing machine according to the disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  shows the screw bearing arrangement at the chassis of a first road finishing machine model according to the disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  shows the screw bearing arrangement at the chassis of a second road finishing machine model according to the disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  shows the lifting cylinder at the first road finishing machine model; and 
         FIG. 5  shows the lifting cylinder at the second road finishing machine model. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a screw bearing arrangement  1  which can be attached to a road finishing machine in accordance with the disclosure. A spreading screw  2  is mounted at the screw bearing arrangement  1 . The screw bearing arrangement  1  comprises a crossbar  3 . A drive  4  is fixed on the crossbar  3 . The drive  4  can be a hydraulic motor. The drive  4  is functionally coupled to the spreading screw  2  via a gear  5  to achieve the desired spreading power. 
     In  FIG. 1 , the spreading screw  2  is fixed to the crossbar  3  by a first and a second screw conveyor support  6 ,  7 . A first and a second guide  8 ,  9  provided for fixing the screw bearing arrangement  1  extend from the crossbar  3 . The first and the second guides  8 ,  9  each comprise pins  30  to fix the screw bearing arrangement  1  to the road finishing machine. 
       FIG. 2  shows the screw bearing arrangement  1  which is fixed to a chassis  10  of a road finishing machine  100 , in particular to a chassis  10  of a first road finishing machine model  11   a.  The screw bearing arrangement  1  is fixed to the chassis  10  of the road finishing machine model  11   a  by a first and a second lifting cylinder  12 ,  13 . 
     The first and the second lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  each comprise a retaining plate  14 ,  15 . The two retaining plates  14 ,  15  are permanently or detachably screwed to the chassis  10 . A fastening projection  16 ,  17  extends from the retaining plates  14 ,  15 , which is inclined relative to the respective retaining plate  14 ,  15 . In  FIG. 2 , in the first road finishing machine model  11   a,  each inclined fastening projection  16 ,  17  is inclined upwards relative to the respective retaining plate  14 ,  15 . 
     The first lifting cylinder  12  comprises a first cylinder  18 , and the second lifting cylinder  13  comprises a second cylinder  19 . Moreover, the two lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  each comprise a piston  20 ,  21 , where in  FIG. 2 , only the piston  20  of the first lifting cylinder  12  is visible. Each piston  20 ,  21  is fixed to a respective guide  8 ,  9  of the screw bearing arrangement  1  via a coupling member C. 
     In the first road finishing machine model  11   a  according to  FIG. 2 , the first and the second lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are each fixed to the chassis  10  such that the fastening projections  16 ,  17  each point upwards, so that the lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are fixed to the respective guides  8 ,  9  such that the screw bearing arrangement  1  is positioned at a first level. 
     A first bearing  22  is provided at the first fastening projection  16 , and a second bearing  23  is provided at the second fastening projection  17  to movably fasten the first and the second cylinders  18 ,  19  to the respective fastening projections  16 ,  17 . 
       FIG. 2  also shows a first and a second perforated support  28 ,  29  at the chassis  10  in which each a first hole pattern  24  and a second hole pattern  25  are embodied. In the first road finishing machine model of  FIG. 2 , the first and the second lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are fixed to the first hole pattern  24 . The first hole pattern  24  comprises several equidistantly spaced apart bores  26 . The second hole pattern  25  comprises equidistantly spaced apart bores  27 . The bores  26  of the first hole pattern  24  are provided at the respective perforated supports  28 ,  29  offset in parallel relative to the bores  27  of the second hole pattern  25 . 
       FIG. 3  shows the screw bearing arrangement  1  fixed to the chassis  10  of a second road finishing machine model  11   b,  while in contrast to  FIG. 2 , the first and the second lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are arranged relative to the chassis  10  in a way different from that in  FIG. 2 . Indeed, the first and the second fastening projections  16 ,  17  are inclined downwards here. Thereby, the first and the second bearings  22 ,  23  are arranged relative to the chassis  10  deeper compared to the representation of  FIG. 2 . 
     In the second road finishing machine model according to  FIG. 3 , the two lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are fixed in the second hole pattern  25  of the respective perforated supports  28 ,  29 . While according to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , different road finishing machine models  11   a,    11   b  are shown, the screw bearing arrangement  1  can be easily arranged at both road finishing machine models  11   a,    11   b  by means of the two provided hole patterns  24 ,  25 , even if the lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are fixed in different mounting positions at the chassis  10  of the first and the second road finishing machine models  11   a,    11   b.    
     Moreover,  FIG. 3  shows that the first and the second lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  are each mounted along an orientation axis A to fix the screw bearing arrangement  1  to the chassis  10 . Relative to the orientation axis A, the lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  of the first road finishing machine model  11   a  are rotated by 180 degrees compared to the lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  of the second road finishing machine model  11   b.  By the rotation of the respective lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  by 180 degrees about axis A, the lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  of the first road finishing machine model  11   a  with the first hole pattern  24  of the respective perforated supports  28 ,  29 , and the lifting cylinders  12 ,  13  of the second road finishing machine model  11   b  with the second hole pattern  25  of the respective perforated supports  28 ,  29  can be connected. This permits to attach the screw bearing arrangement  1  to different road finishing machine models, where a spreading screw can be each positioned at a desired distance above the foundation. 
       FIG. 4  shows an enlarged detail of  FIG. 2  according to which the second lifting cylinder  13  is fixed to the first hole pattern  24  of the second perforated support  29  to support a spreading screw  2  arranged in the screw bearing arrangement  1  and having a first screw flight diameter. The fastening projection  17  of the second lifting cylinder  13  is inclined upwards. 
       FIG. 5  shows an enlarged detail of  FIG. 3  according to which the second lifting cylinder  13  is fixed in the second hole pattern  25  of the second perforated support  29  to support a spreading screw  2  arranged in the screw bearing arrangement  1  and having a second screw flight diameter which is smaller than the first one. According to  FIG. 5 , the fastening projection  17  is inclined downwards. 
     While  FIGS. 2 to 5  relate to first and second road finishing machine models  11   a,    11   b,  respectively, the use of the screw bearing arrangement  1  is not restricted to it. The disclosure rather provides a road finishing machine to which different screw bearing arrangements can be attached at a desired level relative to the foundation independent of their series. 
     While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.