Paving screed for a road finisher

Abstract

A paving screed to be employed on a road finisher comprises a base screed, the operating width of which may be modified by protractable extending units and/or separate removable bolt-on extensions. The paving screed also includes a plurality of side plates, each being mountable on an outer end of the base screed or an extending unit or a bolt-on extension and which delimit the operating width. At least one reference element for determining the operating width is provided on one of the side plates, and that the at least one reference element is detectable by one or more sensor units when the side plates are each mounted on the outer ends of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension.

Claims

1. A paving screed to be employed on a road finisher, the paving screed comprising: a base screed, an operating width of which may be modified by protractable extending units and/or separate removable bolt-on extensions; a plurality of side plates each being mountable on an outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension and which delimit the operating width; and at least one reference element for determining the operating width provided on at least one of the side plates, such that the at least one reference element is positionable on a lateral portion of the paving screed, the at least one reference element being detectable by one or more sensor units when the side plates are each mounted on the outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension; wherein a sensor unit of the one or more sensor units is provided on at least one of the side plates, the sensor unit being configured to measure a distance to the at least one reference element on another of the side plates.

2. The paving screed according to claim 1 wherein the one or more sensor units comprise multiple sensor units, and at least one of the sensor units is provided on the base screed and is configured to measure distances to the at least one reference element.

3. The paving screed according to claim 1 wherein the at least one reference element comprises multiple reference elements that are attached directly to the side plates.

4. The paving screed according to claim 1 wherein the at least one reference element comprises multiple reference elements that are indirectly attached to the side plates through adapters.

5. The paving screed according to claim 1 wherein the at least one reference element is aligned with an associated sensor unit of the one or more sensor units when the side plates are each mounted on the outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension.

6. A paving screed to be employed on a road finisher, the paving screed comprising: a base screed, an operating width of which may be modified by protractable extending units and/or separate removable bolt-on extensions; a plurality of side plates each being mountable on an outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension and which delimit the operating width; and at least one reference element for determining the operating width provided on at least one of the side plates, such that the at least one reference element is positionable on a lateral portion of the paving screed, the at least one reference element being detectable by one or more sensor units when the side plates are each mounted on the outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension; wherein the one or more sensor units comprise multiple sensor units that are configured for determining the operating width by triangulation.

7. The paving screed according to claim 1 wherein one of the at least one reference element is positioned on an inner side of one of the side plates.

8. A road finisher comprising the paving screed according to claim 1.

9. The road finisher according to claim 8 further comprising a control system configured to utilize the determined operating width as an input variable.

10. The road finisher according to claim 8 wherein at least one of the one or more sensor units is provided on a portion of the road finisher.

11. A method for determining an operating width of a paving screed, which may be employed on a road finisher, wherein the paving screed comprises a base screed, an operating width of which may be modified by protractable extending units and/or separate removable bolt-on extensions, a plurality of side plates each being mountable on an outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension and which delimit the operating width of the paving screed, the method comprising: determining the operating width of the paving screed using at least one reference element provided on at least one of the side plates, such that the at least one reference element is positioned on a lateral portion of the paving screed; wherein the at least one reference element comprises multiple reference elements, and wherein the method is performed such that respective distances or a distance between the reference elements are/is measured by triangulation.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein a distance to one of the reference elements, which one reference element is attached to a respective one of the side plates, is measured by at least one sensor unit associated with the respective side plate.

13. The method according to claim 11 wherein the multiple reference elements comprise a reference element attached to a first one of the side plates, and wherein a distance to the reference element attached to the first one of the side plates is measured by a sensor unit attached to a second one of the side plates.

14. The method according to claim 11 wherein, when the paving screed is employed on the road finisher, the road finisher comprises at least one sensor unit, and wherein determining the operating width of the paving screed comprises detecting at least one of the reference elements with the at least one sensor unit.

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein the at least one sensor unit comprises multiple sensor units that are each provided on a portion of the road finisher.

16. The method according to claim 15 wherein a first reference element of the multiple reference elements is provided on a first one of the side plates, and a second reference element of the multiple reference elements is provided on a second one of the side plates.

17. The method according to claim 11 wherein one of the reference elements is positioned on an inner side of one of the side plates.

18. A paving screed to be employed on a road finisher, the paving screed comprising: a base screed, an operating width of which may be modified by protractable extending units and/or separate removable bolt-on extensions; a plurality of side plates each being mountable on an outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension and which delimit the operating width; and at least one reference element for determining the operating width provided on at least one of the side plates, the at least one reference element being detectable by one or more sensor units, without direct contact with the one or more sensor units, when the side plates are each mounted on the outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension.

19. The paving screed according to claim 18 wherein each of the at least one reference element is positioned on a lateral portion of the paving screed when the side plates are each mounted on the outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension.

20. The paving screed according to claim 18 wherein a sensor unit of the one or more sensor units is provided on at least one of the side plates, the sensor unit being configured to measure a distance to the at least one reference element on another of the side plates.

21. The paving screed according to claim 18 wherein the at least one reference element comprises multiple reference elements for determining the operating width by triangulation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1a shows a perspective view of a paving screed according to the disclosure with extending units protracted;

(2) FIG. 1b shows the screed from FIG. 1a with extending units retracted;

(3) FIG. 2 shows as side plate of the paving screed from FIGS. 1a and 1b;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of a paving screed with extending units protracted and mounted bolt-on extensions according to a first embodiment of the disclosure;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a schematic top view of a paving screed according to a second embodiment of the disclosure;

(6) FIG. 5 shows the paving screed from FIG. 3 with two protracted extending units but with only one mounted bolt-on extension, resulting in an asymmetrical configuration of the paving screed;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a schematic top view of a paving screed according to a third embodiment of the disclosure, in which the reference elements are mounted on the side plates with the aid of adapters;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a schematic top view of a paving screed according to a fourth embodiment of the disclosure;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a schematic rear view of a paving screed according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosure;

(10) FIG. 9 shows a schematic rear view of a paving screed according to a sixth embodiment of the disclosure; and

(11) FIG. 10 shows a road finisher on which a paving screed according to the disclosure may be mounted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(12) As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.

(13) FIG. 1a shows a paving screed 1. It comprises a base screed 2 which may be widened by first and second extending units 3, 4. Mounted on the outer ends of the first and second extending units 3, 4 are a first and a second side plate 5, 6. They prevent the road construction material from being distributed beyond a desired width. Provided on the base screed 2 are mounting devices 7 with which the paving screed 1 may be mounted on a road finisher 8 (see FIG. 10). According to a first embodiment, the paving screed 1 includes a first sensor unit 9 as well as a second sensor unit 10 (see FIG. 3). In this embodiment they are mounted on the base screed 2. The first sensor unit 9 measures a distance a to a first reference element 11, which is affixed to the first side plate 5. The second sensor unit 10 measures a distance b to a second reference element 12, which is affixed to the second side plate 6. The measured distances a and b are then added to the width of the base screed 2, taking into account the overhang of the sensor units 9, 10, by means of which an operating width 26 of the paving screed 1 is obtained.

(14) The mounting positions of the sensor units 910 and the reference elements 11, 12 are by way of example merely schematically indicated. The mounting positions of sensor units 9, 10 may be varied arbitrarily. The reference elements 11, 12 may be affixed at any arbitrary position on the respective side plates 5, 6. When positioning the sensor units 9, 10 and when positioning the reference elements, however, it must be ensured that the signal flow between sensor unit 9, 10 and the associated reference element 11, 12 is not adversely affected. In addition, the screed 1 may include, in addition to the extending units 3, 4 an arbitrary number of rigid bolt-on extensions 13, 14 which are mounted on the extending units. It is equally conceivable that the paving screed 1 includes a fixed base screed 2 with no extending units 3, 4 and may be widened with the aid of rigid bolt-on extensions 13, 14. In any case, both symmetrical as well as asymmetrical screed configurations are conceivable.

(15) FIG. 1b shows a perspective view of the screed from FIG. 1a, but in this case the extending units 3, 4 are retracted and therefore not visible.

(16) FIG. 2 shows by way of example the first side plate 5. Just like the second side plate 6 or else all side plates of the paving screed 1 according to the present disclosure, it is designed to be mountable at each outer end of the paving screed 1.

(17) FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the paving screed 1, but widened in this case by first and second bolt-on extensions 13, 14. In this arrangement, the bolt-on extensions 13, 14 are exemplary of all screed configurations which may be implemented with the aid of an arbitrary number of bolt-on extensions 13, 14, which may be arbitrarily dimensioned. As previously mentioned above, the sensor units 9, 10 measure the two distances a and b to the reference elements 11 and 12. In the embodiment shown, the dimensions of the sensor units 9, 10 must also be taken into consideration when summing up the width of the base screed 2. This can be avoided not by mounting the sensor units 9, 10, as shown, on the lateral surfaces of the base screed 2, but rather by attaching them flush with these same lateral surfaces. For example, mounting on an upper surface of the base screed 2 is conceivable. It is equally feasible to integrate the sensor units 9, 10 in the base screed 2 in such a way that they close flush with the lateral surfaces.

(18) FIG. 4 shows the paving screed 1 according to a second embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment the first sensor unit 9 is mounted on the second side plate 6. The first reference element 11 is still mounted on the first side plate 5. The first sensor unit 9 measures the distance to the first reference element 11. As a result, only the measurements of the first sensor unit 9 and the first reference element 11 need be considered in order to obtain the operating width 26 of the paving screed 1. To avoid this intermediate step, it is conceivable to mount both the first sensor unit 9 as well as the first reference element 11 on the respective side plates 5, 6 in such a way that they lie in the same plane as the side plates 5, 6. This may be achieved, for example, with the aid of adapters 15, 16 (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

(19) FIG. 5 shows a variant of the first embodiment of the disclosure. Here only the first bolt-on extension 13 is mounted. This gives rise to an asymmetrical screed configuration. This changes nothing in terms of determining the operating width 26 of the screed 1.

(20) FIG. 6 shows a schematic top view of a third embodiment of the paving screed 1. In this configuration the reference elements 11 and 12 were mounted on the first and second side plate 5, 6 with the aid of a first and a second adapter 15, 16. On the one hand, this may offer the advantage that, as previously mentioned above, the reference elements 11, 12 may be arranged in the same plane as the side plates 5, 6, thereby enabling a corrective step to be eliminated when ascertaining the operating width of the paving screed 1. As a further advantage, the reference elements 11, 12 may possibly be better aligned with the respective sensor units 9, 10. The same applies to the mounting of the sensor units 9, 10 with the aid of fastening units 17, 18. Here too, it is possible to select a configuration which improves the alignment of the sensor units 9, 10 with the reference elements 11, 12. Moreover, it is also possible here to arrange the sensors 9, 10 in such a way that their dimensions need not be taken into consideration when determining the operating width 26 of the paving screed 1.

(21) FIG. 7 shows schematically a top view of the paving screed 1 according to a fourth embodiment. The configuration is essentially the same as that of the preceding embodiment. However, instead of the two sensor units 9, 10, only one single sensor unit 19 is provided. It is located along a straight line between the reference elements 11, 12 and measures both the distance to the first reference element 11 as well as the distance to the second reference element 12. Thus, these two measured distances need only be added together in order to obtain the operating width of the paving screed 1. The only correction is the addition of the width of the sensor unit 19. In processing the measured values, this corresponds to the addition of the measured widths a and b to the width of the base screed 2 from the first embodiment. Hence, existing systems could be retrofitted in a simple manner.

(22) FIG. 8 shows schematically a rear view of the paving screed 1 according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosure. This embodiment also provides a single sensor unit 19. The, latter, however is not positioned along a straight line between the reference elements 11, 12 as in the previous embodiment, but rather is mounted on the base screed 2 with the aid of a holding unit 20. The holding unit 20 allows the sensor unit 19 to be positioned at an exposed location and thus to prevent a disruption of the signal path (represented by a dotted line) by objects positioned in the latter. This may be advantageous, particularly in systems that rely on direct visual contact such as, for example, optical methods or else acoustic methods. In this arrangement, the holding unit 20 and the sensor unit 19 mounted thereon may be provided on the paving screed 1 as well as on a road finisher 8 pulling the paving screed 1. Only one sensor unit 19 is provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. Since this sensor unit is not located along a straight line between the reference elements 11, 12, the vertical distance between the sensor unit 19 and the reference elements 11, 12 and, if necessary, the horizontal distance in the direction perpendicular to the straight line between the reference elements 11, 12 must be known or set in order to calculate the operating width of the paving screed 1.

(23) FIG. 9 shows schematically a rear view of the paving screed 1 according to a sixth embodiment. Here a second two-sided sensor unit 21 is provided. The vertical distance of these sensors 19, 21 to the reference elements 11, 12 need no longer be known in this embodiment. Instead, the operating width of the paving screed 1 may be determined by means of triangulation. In this arrangement, the sensor units 19, 21 may be implemented in a structural unit. They may also be mounted on the base screed 2 as well as at any arbitrary location on the road finisher 8 with the aid of the holding unit 20. The number of sensor units used for triangulation may also be greater than two. This makes it possible to determine more precisely the position of the reference elements 11, 12 and to also increase the robustness of the system to disruptive objects in the signal path.

(24) FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of the road finisher 8. The road finisher includes mounting devices 22 which may be connected to the mounting devices 7 of the screed 1. The road finisher includes a control system 23. It can be used to control the operation of the road finisher, for example, the conveying speed of various conveyor systems. Shown in FIG. 10 are transverse augers 27 exemplary of all the conveyor devices of the road finisher. The control system 23 may use the operating width 26 determined with the aid of one of the above mentioned methods and devices as an input variable. It is also conceivable to affix one or several of the previously described sensor units 9, 10, 19, 21 or additionally provided sensor units on the road finisher 8, for example, on the roof structure thereof, or else to a mast 25 mounted on the road finisher 8.

(25) As distance measuring methods it is possible in all embodiments to use laser, ultrasound or radar measurement methods, for example. Accordingly, various types of reference elements 11, 12 are conceivable, for example, different reflectors or transceiver units which receive a distance measurement signal and send it back, optionally supplemented with auxiliary information such as, for example, time stamp, position or identification information.

(26) The embodiments described may represent merely a selection of possible combinations of the described features. The features described may be combined in any arbitrary manner, while also omitting individual features, in order to obtain additional advantageous embodiments of the disclosure.

(27) 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.