Apparatus and method for cold paving

Abstract

An apparatus for spreading, screeding and/or compacting cold paving material to a surface to be paved including a frame of a width substantially equal to the width of the surfaced to be paved. The frame has first and second sides that define the width of the frame. The apparatus includes a pile breaker that has one or more pile breaking rollers that are shorter than the full width of the frame and are connected to the frame. Behind the pile breaker, there is a height-adjustable screed roller for screeding the paving material. There may also be a compacting roller behind the screeding roller to compact the paving material. The cold paving material can be cold asphaltic mixture or similar material, Portland cement concrete or similar material or other paving material at ambient temperature.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for spreading and screeding cold paving material to a surface to be paved, comprising: 
 a frame having first and second sides defining a width to be paved;    a pile breaking assembly having at least one pile breaking roller,    wherein the pile breaking roller has a width, and wherein the width of the pile breaking roller is smaller than the width to be paved; and    a height-adjustable screed roller for screeding the cold paving material,    wherein the screed roller is connected to the frame and positioned behind the pile breaker.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a plurality of drag shoes coupled to the frame for confining the cold paving material, wherein each of the drag shoes extends from the pile breaker to a position ahead of the screed roller in the direction of movement, and the drag shoes are connected to the frame so that the drag shoes are free to move up and down to facilitate traversing small obstacles while retaining the width of the cold paving material.    
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 at least one sprayer connected to the frame for spraying a releasing agent onto the pile breaking roller; and    at least one cleaning pad connected to the frame for removing paving material from the pile breaking roller after application of the releasing agent.    
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 at least one sprayer connected to the frame for spraying a releasing agent onto the screed roller; and    at least one cleaning pad connected to the frame for removing paving material from the screed roller after application of the releasing agent.    
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an actuating handle operatively coupled to the frame and the pile breaking roller for raising or lowering the pile breaking roller within the apparatus.    
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a plurality of steerable wheels for controlling the direction of the apparatus; and    at least one front axle for coupling the steerable wheels to the frame.    
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 at least two gauge wheels coupled to the screed roller, wherein at least one gauge wheel is located on each side of the screed roller, and wherein the size of the gauge wheels determines the height of the screed roller.    
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the gauge wheels are selectably replaceable to adjust the height of the screed filler.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the gauge wheels are unequal in size so as to make the screed roller substantially level when the gauge wheels ride over uneven terrain.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 at least one sprayer connected to the frame to spray release agent onto the pile breaking roller;    at least one sprayer connected to the frame to spray release agent onto the screed roller;    at least one cleaning pad connected to the frame for removing cold paving material from the pile breaking roller;    at least one cleaning pad connected to the frame for removing cold paving material from the screed roller; and    a drag shoe on each side of the frame to confine the cold paving material within the width, wherein each of the drag shoes extends from the pile breaker to just before the screed roller in the direction of movement, and each front end of the drag shoes is pivotally connected to the frame and each rear end of the drag shoes is free to move up and down to facilitate traversing small obstacles while still retaining the width of the cold paving material.    
     
     
         11 . An apparatus for spreading, screeding and compacting cold paving material to a surface to be paved, comprising: 
 a frame having first and second sides defining a width to be paved;    a pile breaking assembly having at least one pile breaking roller,    wherein the pile breaking roller has a width, and wherein the width of the pile breaking roller is shorter than the width to be paved;    a height-adjustable screed roller for screeding the paving material,    wherein the screed roller is connected to the frame and positioned behind the pile breaker in the direction of movement; and    a compacting roller behind the screed roller.    
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising at least one starting wheel, wherein the starting wheels are adjustably connected to the frame so that the starting wheels can be raised or lowered.  
     
     
         13 . A screed roller assembly for use in an apparatus for spreading and screeding cold paving material to a surface to be paved, the screed roller assembly, comprising: 
 a screed roller coupled to the apparatus for screeding and partially compacting cold paving material; and    a plurality of gauge wheels removably coupled to the screed roller for adjusting the height of the screed roller within the apparatus.    
     
     
         14 . An apparatus for spreading and screeding cold asphaltic mixture to a surface to be paved, comprising: 
 a frame having first and second sides defining a width to be paved;    a pile breaking assembly having at least one pile breaking roller,    wherein the pile breaking roller has a width, and wherein the width of the pile breaking roller is shorter than the width to be paved; and    a height-adjustable screed roller for screeding the paving material,    wherein the screed roller is coupled to the frame and positioned behind the pile breaker in the direction of movement.    
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for spreading, screeding and compacting cold asphaltic mixture to a surface to be paved, comprising: 
 a frame having first and second sides defining a width to be paved;    a pile breaking assembly coupled to the frame having at least one pile breaking roller, wherein the pile breaking roller has a width, and    wherein the width of the pile breaking roller is shorter than the width to be paved;    a height-adjustable screed roller for screeding the paving material,    wherein the screed roller is connected to the frame and positioned behind the pile breaker in the direction of movement; and    a compacting roller coupled to the frame and positioned behind the screed roller.    
     
     
         16 . A method for applying cold paving material to a surface, comprising: mixing the cold paving material; 
 dumping the cold paving material in front of a cold paving apparatus;    flattening the cold paving material using the cold paving apparatus;    spreading the cold paving material using the cold paving apparatus; and    compacting the cold paving apparatus using a compacting device.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the cold paving material is mixed in a mixing tow truck, and the cold paving apparatus is towed behind the mixing tow truck.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the mixing tow truck measures the cold paving material and dumps the cold paving material at a predetermined rate and volume to achieve a desired thickness of cold paving material.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the cold paving material is flattened by a pile breaking assembly within the cold paving apparatus.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the cold paving material is spread using a screed roller assembly within the cold paving apparatus.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the compacting device is a conventional compacting machine.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the compacting device is a compacting roller within the cold paving apparatus.