| Guntert & Zimmerman Const. Div., Inc. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20140161528 | ADJUSTABLE BOLSTER SWING LEGS FOR MOUNTING AND ALIGNING AND REORIENTING CRAWLERS FOR SLIPFORM PAVING MACHINES - A paving machine for spreading, leveling and finishing concrete having a main frame, center module, bolsters laterally movably, and a crawler track associated with respective aft and forward ends of the bolsters. A bolster swing leg for each crawler track supports an upright jacking column. A worm gear drive permits rotational movements of the crawler track and the jacking column. A hinge bracket is interposed between each swing leg and a surface of the bolsters to enable pivotal movements of the swing leg. A length-adjustable holder engages the pivot pin on the hinge bracket and pivotally engages the swing leg. The holder permits pivotal motions of the swing leg in its length-adjustable configuration and prevents substantially any motion of the swing leg in its fixed-length configuration. A feedback loop cooperates with transducers keeping the crawler tracks position. The paving machine can be reconfigured into a narrowed transport configuration. | 06-12-2014 |
| 20140023437 | Paver Having Dowel Bar Inserter with Automated Dowel Bar Feeder - A paver for laying down a strip of concrete and inserting therein dowel bars parallel to the strip. A dowel bar inserter orients the bars and places them into the concrete. A pair of transport chains transverse to the travel direction extends across a width of the inserter. Pairs of generally L-shaped opposing cups hold the bars so that they can drop downwardly from the cups towards the strip. The chains move in a single direction. A dowel bar holding magazine, above the chains, stores bars, and gravitationally moves the bars towards the chains for pick-up by cups as the chains move the cups past a bar loading station. Elastic bands extend about a bar engaging surface defined by a wheel and resiliently bias the bars moving along the chain turn-around section against the wheel. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20110236129 | Adjustable Bolster Swing Legs for Mounting and Aligning and Reorienting Crawlers for Slipform Paving Machines - A paving machine which is configured to move in a paving direction for spreading, leveling and finishing concrete into a form having a generally upwardly exposed, finished concrete surface and terminating in lateral concrete sides. The paving machine has a main frame, including a center module, bolsters laterally movably connected to respective lateral sides of the center module for changing a spacing between the bolsters, and a crawler track associated with respective aft and forward ends of the bolsters. A bolster swing leg for each crawler track supports an upright jacking column secured to the swing leg proximate a free end thereof. A worm gear drive between the jacking column and the crawler track permits rotational movements of the crawler track and the jacking column about an upright axis. A hinge bracket is interposed between each swing leg and an associated surface of the bolsters and includes a fixed, upright pivot shaft that pivotally engages the swing leg to enable pivotal movements of the swing leg about an upright axis in a substantially horizontal plane. The hinge bracket further includes a pivot pin that is laterally spaced from and fixed in relation to the pivot shaft. A length-adjustable holder capable of being held at a fixed length has a first end pivotally engaging the pivot pin on the hinge bracket and a second end that pivotally engages the swing leg. The holder permits pivotal motions of the swing leg about the hinge pin when it is in its length-adjustable configuration and prevents substantially any motion of the swing leg when the holder is in its fixed-length configuration. A feedback loop cooperates with angular position transducers and automatically keeps the crawler tracks oriented in the paving direction of the machine when the swing legs move in a horizontal plane relative to a remainder of the paving machine. The paving machine can be reconfigured between its paving orientation and a road transport orientation by activating the crawlers to move the swing legs and the crawlers into a narrowed transport configuration. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110194898 | Slipform Paving Machine With Adjustable Length Tractor Frame - A paving machine that moves in a travel direction and spreads, levels and finishes concrete into a form having a generally upwardly exposed, finished concrete surface that terminates in lateral sides. The paving machine has a main frame with first and second bolsters arranged at opposite ends of the main frame. Each set of bolsters has two hydraulic jacking columns used to raise and lower the machine frame. Crawlers attached to the bottom of the jacking columns engage the ground and move the paving machine in the travel direction. A pair of support beams is attached to the inner surface of each bolster and supported in passageways of a center module of the tractor frame. To extend the maximum width of the paving machine without having to extensively disassemble it, the free ends of the support beams extend beyond outer sides of the bolsters when the distance between the inner sides of the bolsters is at its minimum. This paving machine width adjustment can be performed in the field by moving the bolsters and the support beams attached to them inwardly or outwardly with the crawlers of the paving machine. Also provided is a laterally extendable/retractable cross beam for movably supporting a dowel bar inserter kit on the paving machine. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110058899 | Paver Having Dowel Bar Inserter With Automated Dowel Bar Feeder - A slipform paver for laying down a strip of concrete over a ground surface and for intermittently inserting into the strip spaced-apart dowel bars that are oriented substantially parallel to the length of the strip that is being laid down. The paver has a dowel bar inserter unit that orients the dowel bars substantially parallel to the travel direction of the paver and places the dowel bars into the concrete as the strip is being laid down. The inserter has a pair of spaced-apart, endless transport chains oriented transversely to the travel direction that substantially extends across a width of the inserter unit. Each chain defines upper and lower strands with turn-around chain sections at respective ends of the chain strands. A plurality of pairs of generally L-shaped opposing cups carried by exterior sides of the chain hold the dowel bars so that they can drop downwardly from the cups towards the concrete strip when the pair of cups holding the dowel bar are on the exterior chain side that faces downwardly. The chains move in a single direction, and a dowel bar holding magazine is located above the upwardly facing sides of the chains. The magazine stores a multiplicity of dowel bars and is configured to gravitationally move the dowel bars towards the chains for pick-up by pairs of L-shaped cups as the chains move the cups past a dowel bar loading station defined by the magazine proximate one of the chain turn-around sections. Elastic bands having ends fixedly attached to the magazine extend generally about a portion of a convexly curved dowel bar engaging surface defined by a wheel and resiliently bias the dowel bars moving along the chain turn-around section against the wheel. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20100266339 | Slipform Paving Machine With Adjustable Length Paving Kit - A paving machine that moves in a travel direction spreads, levels and finishes concrete into a form having a generally upwardly exposed, finished concrete surface that terminates in lateral sides. The paving machine has a main frame with first and second bolsters arranged at opposite ends of the main frame. Each set of bolsters has two hydraulic jacking columns used to raise and lower the machine frame. Crawlers attached to the bottom of the jacking columns engage the ground and move the paving machine in the travel direction. A paving kit is secured to the machine frame and has a substantially rigid center portion oriented transverse to the travel direction. It terminates in lateral ends and is disposed between the bolsters. A variable length terminal paving kit is secured to each lateral end of the center portion. Each terminal kit has an end frame secured to the center portion, a sideform defining the lateral end of the paving kit, and an adjustable length support structure between the end frame and the slipform. The support structure includes a hydraulic actuator connected to the end frame and the sideform, respectively, for moving both towards and away from each other. Spacers are interposed between the end frame and the slipform, and their combined width defines the distance between the sides of the concrete strip being laid down. A finishing pan between opposing pairs of spacers finishes the concrete surface, and the hydraulic actuator is operatively coupled to the end frame and the sideform for applying a compressive force to the spacers and the finishing pans that rigidly connects the end frame to the sideform, with the spacers and the finishing pans between them. The paving machine further includes an additional plurality of spacers of differing widths for different concrete slab widths. All replaceable components of the terminal are constructed and arranged so that they can be manually exchanged due to their relatively light weight for varying the length of the terminal unit by one or two persons without removing the paving kit from the main frame and without needing the help of lifting equipment. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100129151 | Strike-Off Beam And Spreader Plow Assembly For Placer/Spreader - In combination with a placers/spreader having a frame including at least two side bolsters standing parallel to the subgrade path and at least two cross beams spanning the subgrade path forming a conveyor supporting structure. A rail system is attached spanning the frame, and has a roll in/roll out conveyor with a cantilevered support at one of the side bolsters and a support for attachment to and support from the rail system. The conveyor moves in traversing motion across the frame to distribute concrete. The improvement comprises a strike off beam and spreader plow assembly for trailing attachment to the frame of a placer/spreader. We thus disclose a strike off beam with spreader plow assembly which can be removably attached to either side of a placer/spreader to avoid the necessity of relocating the receiving conveyor when the location of the access road changes from one side to the other or direction of spreading changes. We additionally disclose a method of operation the strike off beam from a placer/spreader to prevent the accumulation of excess concrete the path of the following paver. | 05-27-2010 |
