Material management system and method for continuous cold in-place recycling of pavement

Abstract

There is provided a material management system for continuous cold in-place recycling of pavement, the system comprising a crusher vehicle for crushing pavement on the ground surface, the crusher vehicle comprising a first conveyor for evacuating crushed pavement material rearwardly from the crusher vehicle; a paver vehicle located rearwardly of the crusher vehicle for repaving the ground surface using the crushed pavement material; and a material feeder located between the crusher vehicle and the paver vehicle, the material feeder comprising: a container for receiving the crushed pavement material; and a second conveyor for moving the crushed pavement material rearwardly from the front container end towards the rear container end of the container in order to enable the paver vehicle to repave the ground surface using the crushed pavement material. There is also provided a method for performing cold in-place recycling of pavement and a method for manufacturing the material feeder.

1 . A material management system for continuous cold in-place recycling of pavement, the system comprising:
 a crusher vehicle for crushing pavement material on a paved ground surface, the crusher vehicle comprising a first conveyor extending rearwardly from the crusher vehicle for continuously evacuating crushed pavement material rearwardly from the crusher vehicle;   a paver vehicle located rearwardly of the crusher vehicle for repaving the ground surface using the crushed pavement material; and   a material feeder located between the crusher vehicle and the paver vehicle for supplying the paver vehicle with the crushed pavement material from the crusher vehicle, the material feeder comprising:   a container for receiving and temporarily storing the crushed pavement material, the container having an open top container end and a closed bottom container end, the container further having a front container end located near the first conveyor and a rear container end in communication with the paver vehicle; and   a second conveyor extending between the front container end and the rear container end for continuously moving crushed pavement material rearwardly from the front end towards the rear end in order to enable the paver vehicle to repave the ground surface the crushed pavement material.   
     
     
         2 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crusher vehicle extends between a front end and a rear end; further wherein the first conveyor comprises a first conveyor end connected to the rear end of the crusher vehicle and a second conveyor end located rearwardly and upwardly relative to the first conveyor end. 
     
     
         3 . The system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the second conveyor end is located above the open top container end, near the front container end to enable crushed pavement material to fall from the first conveyor into the container through the open top container end. 
     
     
         4 . The system as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the second conveyor end is located rearwardly of the front container end when the front container end is near the crusher vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the material feeder comprises a live bottom truck including a trailer mounted on wheels for receiving the container and a mover vehicle mounted on powered wheels and coupled to the trailer for displacing the live bottom truck. 
     
     
         6 . The system as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the live bottom truck comprises a controller secured to the mover vehicle forwardly of the container, the controller being operatively connected to the second conveyor to enable adjusting a conveying speed of the second conveyor. 
     
     
         7 . The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the controller is sized and shaped to fit under the first conveyor while remaining spaced from the first conveyor. 
     
     
         8 . The system as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the first conveyor extends upwardly and rearwardly from the crusher vehicle, the first conveyor thereby defining a first conveyor angle relative to the paved ground surface. 
     
     
         9 . The system as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the material feeder further comprises a guard plate extending above the controller, the guard plate being angled relative to the paved ground surface at the same angle as the first conveyor angle. 
     
     
         10 . The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the controller is operatively connected to the powered wheels of the mover vehicle. 
     
     
         11 . The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the live bottom truck further comprises a steering system operatively connected to at least one of the wheels of the trailer and the powered wheels of the mover vehicle, the controller being operatively connected to the steering system to enable an operator to steer the live bottom truck using the controller. 
     
     
         12 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the second conveyor comprises:
 a plurality of axles rotatably mounted to the container, near the closed bottom container end, the plurality of axles extending transversely relative to the container, each axle having a first axle end, a second axle end and a pair of sprockets, each sprocket being secured to one of the first and second axle ends;   spaced-apart left and right chains, each chain engaging the sprocket secured at a corresponding one of the first and second axle ends of each one of the plurality of axles;   a plurality of transverse members extending between the left and right chains, the plurality of transverse members being spaced from each other to form a support structure; and   a belt received on the support structure.   
     
     
         13 . A method for performing cold in-place recycling of pavement comprising:
 providing a crusher vehicle comprising a first conveyor extending rearwardly from the crusher vehicle;   providing a material feeder comprising:   a container having an open top container end and a closed bottom container end, the container further having a front container end and a rear container end; and   a second conveyor extending between the front container end and the rear container end;   locating the front container end near the first conveyor;   locating a paver vehicle near the rear container end such that the rear container end is in communication with the paver vehicle;   crushing pavement material on a ground surface using the crusher vehicle;   continuously moving crushed pavement material from the crusher vehicle into the container using the first conveyor;   continuously moving crushed pavement material from the container to the paver vehicle using the second conveyor;   repaving the ground surface with the paver vehicle using the crushed pavement material supplied to the paver vehicle.   
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , further comprising:
 adjusting a debit of crushed pavement material supplied to the paver vehicle according to a forward travel speed of the paver vehicle.   
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein adjusting the debit of crushed material comprises adjusting a conveying speed of the second conveyor. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , further comprising:
 after crushing pavement material on the ground surface, mixing the crushed pavement material with a binder material.   
     
     
         17 . A method for manufacturing the material feeder of the material management system claimed in  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 providing a live bottom truck comprising a container and a cab located forwardly of the container;   removing the cab from the live bottom truck;   securing a controller to the live bottom truck forwardly of the container to thereby form the material feeder, the controller being sized and shaped to fit under the first conveyor when the front container end is near the crusher vehicle;   operatively connecting the controller to the second conveyor to enable controlling a conveying speed of the second conveyor.   
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 17 , further comprising operatively connecting the controller to powered wheels of the live bottom truck.