Patent ID: 7950874

Claim:
A paving kit for a paving machine moving in a travel direction for spreading, leveling and finishing concrete into a form having a generally upwardly exposed, finished concrete surface and terminating in lateral sides, the paving kit comprising a substantially rigid center portion oriented substantially perpendicular to the travel direction terminating in lateral ends, and a variable length terminal paving kit secured to each lateral end of the center portion, each terminal paving kit comprising an end frame configured to be secured to a respective one of the lateral ends of the center portion, including at least one male support tube fixed to the end frame and extending laterally away from the center portion, a sideform including at least one female support tube fixed to the sideform, arranged to telescopingly receive the male support tube therein, and permitting relative movement of the tubes and of the end frame and the sideform laterally towards and away from each other, a hydraulic actuator having a cylinder and a piston section arranged inside the cylinder, the cylinder and the piston section having respective ends operatively connected to the end frame and the sideform so that activation of the actuator moves the end frame and the sideform relative to each other as guided by the tubes, a plurality of upright spacers removably attached to the female tube at front and aft sides of the terminal paving kit relative to the travel direction, cooperating pairs of spacers being aligned in the travel direction, and a finishing pan for finishing a portion of the concrete surface removably attached to lower ends of the cooperating pairs of upright spacers, the end frame, the spacers, the pans and the sideform being compressed against each other following actuation of the hydraulic actuator of each terminal kit to thereby form rigid terminal kits, and at least some of the weight of the spacers, the pans and the sideform being supported by the male and female support tubes when the hydraulic actuator does not compress the sideform against the end frame.