Device for compacting a substrate

Abstract

A device for compacting a substrate, comprising an under carriage with a base arranged on the under carriage; a superstructure which is connected to the under carriage so as to transmit a force; a vibration exciter, by means of which at least the base of the undercarriage can be caused to vibrate and a contact plate, which is arranged on the base, said contact plate being arranged on a base lower face facing away from the superstructure such that the contact plate directly contacts the substrate to be compacted during the operation of the device. The contact plate and the base are connected together in a non-destructively releasable manner so as to transmit a force.

Claims

1. A device for compacting a substrate, the device comprising: an under carriage with a base arranged at the under carriage; a superstructure which is connected to the under carriage so that a force is transferable between the superstructure and the under carriage and a vibrator by which the base plate of the under carriage is excitable to vibrate; and a contact plate which is arranged at bottom side of the base plate which bottom side is oriented away from the superstructure so that the contact plate directly contacts the substrate to be compacted during an operation of the device, wherein the contact plate and the base plate are connected with each other so that the contact plate and the base plate are disengageable from each other without damaging the contact plate or the base plate, wherein the contact plate includes at least one connection portion that is configured to engage the base plate through direct form locking so that a force transmitting connection between the contact plate and the base plate is establishable exclusively by the connection portion, and wherein the at least one connection portion is formed at the contact plate so that the at least one connection portion extends in an installed position of the contact plate from a bottom side of the base plate to a top side of the base plate that is oriented towards the super structure and engages the super structure with the topside at this location.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the force transmitting connection between the contact plate and the base plate is free from additional connection devices.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the contact plate and the base plate are connectable with each other and disengagable from each other without tools.

4. The device according to one of the claim 1, wherein the contact plate (6) is integrally provided in one piece.

5. The device according to one of the claim 1, wherein the contact plate includes at least one outer collar that s oriented perpendicular to a base surface of the contact plate, wherein the outer collar forms a stop surface for a corresponding outer edge of the base plate in an installed condition of the contact plate so that a movement of the base plate relative to the contact plate in a direction towards the collar of the contact plate is blocked.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the contact plate is formed from a synthetic material, whose stiffness is significantly less than a stiffness of the base plate, wherein a stiffness of the contact plate is at the most 0.1% of the stiffness of the base plate.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the contact plate includes a plurality of connection portions, wherein the connection portions engage the base plate overall so that a movement of the contact plate relative to the base plate is blocked in a forward direction of the device as well as in a reverse direction of the device.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one connection portion is arranged at a forward end section of the contact plate, and wherein the at least one connection portion cooperates with the base plate so that the at least one connection portion covers a front edge of the base plate at least partially.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least one locking element is arranged at the contact plate, and wherein the contact plate is lockable at the base plate by the locking element.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least a rear edge side of the contact plate is configured flat so that the device is configured to run with its base plate at the rear edge side onto the contact plate, wherein a thickness of the contact plate at least at the rear edge side is not not more than 4 cm.

11. A method for mounting a contact plate at a base plate of a device for compacting a substrate, the method comprising the steps: positioning the base plate and the contact plate relative to each other so that the base plate contacts the contact plate at least substantially completely; connecting the base plate and the contact plate with each other in a force transferring manner, so that a movement of the contact plate relative to the base plate is blocked at least in a forward direction of the device; and moving the base plate relative to the contact plate so that the base plate moves into at least one connection portion of the contact plate so that the base plate and the contact plate are connected with each other by direct form locking after inserting the base plate into the connection portion.

12. The method according according to claim 11, further comprising steps: after positioning the base plate on the contact plate elastically expanding the contact plate at least in a connection portion by a mounting force; and moving at least a portion of the expanded connection portion over an edge of the base plate and subsequently reducing the mounting force so that the contact plate is applied at least with a portion of the connection portion to a top side of the base plate due to an elastic springback of the contact plate so that the contact plate engages the base plate by direct form locking.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The device and the method according to the invention are subsequently described in more detail based on an embodiment with reference to drawing figures, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a device according to the invention in a perspective view;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of an undercarriage of the device according to the invention wherein the undercarriage includes a base plate with a contact plate arranged thereon; and

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a contact plate according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) The embodiment that is illustrates in FIGS. 1-3 includes a device 1 for compacting a substrate. The device 1 is formed by a hand operated vibrating plate. The device 1 includes a superstructure 4 and an under carriage 2, wherein the superstructure 4 and the under carriage 2 are connected with each other in a force transmitting manner. A vibration exciter is arranged at the super structure 4 and configured to force the super structure 4 and the undercarriage 2 to vibrate due to the force transmitting connection. A substrate that respectively has to be compacted is compactable by the vibration that is excited by the vibration exciter. The super structure 4 cooperates with a tow bar 5 which is arranged at the superstructure 4 with buffer elements arranged there between. The device 1 is controllable overall by the tow bar 5 by a person operating the device 1. In particular a movement direction of the device 1 can be influenced by the tow bar 5.

(6) A base plate 3 is arranged at the undercarriage 2 and configured to come into direct contact with the respective substrate to be compacted. The base plate 3 is typically formed by a particularly wear-resistant material, in particular steel, is appreciated that the base plate 3 is exposed to significant operating forces during operation of the device 1 according to the invention which leads to a strong wear of the base plate 3. Due to its particularly high stiffness, the substrate to be compacted is subjected to significant forces, In typical applications where the device 1 is used for compacting lose ground, e.g., sandy ground, an impact of the force on the ground, in particular a friction force imparted by the baseplate, is irrelevant. However, in situations where a substrate is processed whose surface properties are to comply with optical requirements directly using the base plate 3 on the substrate can lead to undesirable damages to the surface. In order to prevent damages, the substrate 3 is provided with a contact plate 6 in the illustrated embodiment which acts as a damper plate. The contact plate 6 is formed from a polyester urethane rubber. Due to reduced stiffness of the material of the contact plate 6 compared to the material of the base plate 3, the contact plate is configured to evenly distribute forces that are applied from the base plate 3 to the substrate to be compacted and thus to avoid a punctiform loading of the substrate and in particular of its surface.

(7) The base plate 3 and the contact plate 6 are connected with each other in a force transmitting manner. Thus, the contact plate 6 includes two forward connection portions 8 that are arranged in a forward end section 11 of the contact plate 6. The connections portions 8 are configured to engage corresponding form locking portions 10 of the base plate 3 through form locking. In the illustrated embodiment this is facilitated in that the connection portions 8 reach around the base plate 3 in forward corner portions of the base plate 3. Thus, the material of the contact plate 6 is run in the connection portions 8 over a front edge 12 of the base plate 3 to a top side 9 of the baseplate 3. There the material extends above the topside 9 of the base plate 3 and thus envelopes the base plate 3 in its form locking portions 10 through form locking. Put differently, the contact plate 6 is provided as a negative of the base plate 3 in connection portions of the contact plate 6, so that the base plate 3 engages the connection portions 8 of the contact plate 6 with form locking portions 10 of the base plate 3 precisely fitting.

(8) This creates a form locking connection between the contact plate 6 and the base plate 3 which provides form locking according to the instant application. This form locking between the connection portion 8 of the contact plate 6 and the form locking portions 10 of the base plate 3 provides that the base plate 3 is not movable in a forward direction 17 of the device 1 relative to the contact plate 6. Put differently, the contact plate 6 is dragged along due to the forward movement of the base plate 3 during the forward movement of the device 1.

(9) It is appreciated that no tools are required to form the form locking connection between the contact plate 6 and the base plate 3 described supra. Advantageously the contact plate 6 is placed on a substrate form mounting and then the remaining device 1 is run onto the contact plate 6 through a forward movement until the base plate 3 completely engages connection portions 8 of the contact plate 6 with forward form locking portions 10. As soon as this is the case, mounting the contact plate 6 at the base plate 3 is substantially completed.

(10) As evident in particular in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the instant application the contact plate 6 is provided with a circumferential collar 15 adjacent to the connection portions 8 wherein the circumferential collar 15 extends perpendicular to a base plate 14 of the contact plate 6. The collar 15 is configured along an outer portion of the contact plate 6 so that it is configured to engage with a corresponding outer edge 16 of the base plate 3 through form locking. This cooperation of the contact plate 6 with the base plate 3 is evident in particular from the illustration according to FIG. 2.

(11) The circumferential collar 15 of the contact plate 6 provides that in addition to blocking a relative movement between the base plate 3 and the contact plate 6 in the forward direction 17 of the device 1 relative movements in the backward direction 18 and in the sideward direction are blocked. This way it is possible to move the device 1 according to the invention in any direction without causing an unintentional disengagement of the contact plate 6 from the base plate 3.

(12) In a rear end portion of the contact plate 6 the contact plate 6 includes a total of two locking elements 13. The locking elements 13 are configured to provide reversible form locking between the contact plate 6 and the base plate 3. For this purpose the locking elements 13 are respectively provided with a form locking section 19 extending towards a center of the contact plate 6 wherein the form locking section is configured to engage a top side 9 of the base plate 3 in a form locking manner. Differently from the forward connection portions 8 of the contact plate 6 the form locking sections 19 are provided significantly smaller so that it is possible to move a respective form locking section 19 by displacing the respective entire locking element 13 so that it does not engage the base plate 3 through a form locking engagement anymore. Thus, the interlocking elements 13 include a transmission section 20 that extends away from the contact plate 6 and which can be displaced in a particularly simple manner by stepping on it with a foot.

(13) During dismounting of the contact plate 6 the directly form locking connection between the contact plate 6 and the base plate 3 can be disengaged in a particularly simple manner wherein the remaining device 1 can be moved in the backward direction 18 relative to the contact plate 6 after disengageing the locking elements from the base plate 3 until the contact plate 6 and the remaining device 1 are provided separate from each other again. Thus, it is appreciated that the material of the contact plate 6 is elastic enough so that it can deform under the mass of the remaining device 1 so that the device 1 can move over the contact plate 6 in spite of an upward curved configuration of the contact plate 6 in its rear end portion 21 without damaging the contact plate 6.

(14) Alternatively or in addition to the form locking portions 8 illustrated herein, it is conceivable that the contact plate 6 has one or plural connection portions at least in sections along its outer edge, advantageously circumferentially wherein the connection portions are configured so that they can be expanded by elastic deformation and can be placed in this manner over the base plate 3 in a manner that is similar to the locking elements 13 described supra. As a result, it is only relevant for achieving the success according to the invention that the contact plate 6 and the base plate 3 are connected with each other in a force transferring manner by providing direct form locking so that a movement of the base plate 3 relative to the contact plate 6 is locked in the forward direction 17, advantageously also in the backward direction 18, further advantageously in all movement directions of the device 1.

(15) The features described supra for the illustrated embodiment are usable independently from each other as a matter of principle as deemed appropriate by a person skilled in the art. The individual features of the device 1 according to the invention, therefore, do no depend upon each other.

REFERENCE NUMERALS AND DESIGNATIONS

(16) 1 Device

(17) 2 Undercarriage

(18) 3 Base plate

(19) 4 Super structure

(20) 5 Tow bar

(21) 6 Contact plate

(22) 7 Sideways direction

(23) 8 Connection portion

(24) 9 Topside of base plate

(25) 10 Form locking portion

(26) 11 Forward end section

(27) 12 Forward edge

(28) 13 Locking element

(29) 14 Base surface

(30) 15 Outer collar

(31) 16 Outer edge

(32) 17 Forward direction

(33) 18 Backward direction

(34) 19 Form locking section

(35) 20 Transmission section

(36) 21 Rear end section