Samuel W Chambers

US Patent:

44935862, Jan 15, 1985

Filed:

Feb 16, 1982

Appl. No.:

6/348781

Inventors:

Lee W. Miles - Corinth MS
Samuel W. Chambers - Boise ID
Mathias F. Rice - Cascade ID

Assignee:

Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc. - Boise ID

International Classification:

E02B 312

US Classification:

405 17

Abstract:

A rip-rap laying machine designed to lay approximately 270 tons of rip-rap per hour resembles a huge steel bridge frame. The self-propelled unit overlies an acutely angled bank of a waterway, channel, or canal and moves along the bank (40) to lay rip-rap uniformly. The machine uses two cable-controlled hoppers (34 and 36) mounted on rails (20 and 22). An operator rides with the feeder hopper (36) and controls a loading hopper (34) to run between a dump hopper (32) on one end of the bridge and the feeder hopper (36). The loading hopper (34) transfers rip-rap from a dump hopper (32) to the feeder hopper (36). The rip-rap is transferred from the feeder hopper (36) to a vibratory feeder (38), which vibrates the rip-rap onto deflector plate (44) before rolling gently onto sheets of filter cloth placed upon the bank (40). Uniform placement of the rip-rap on the bank (40) occurs as the vibratory feeder (38) travels from the bottom to the top of the bridge. The machine is propelled on four independently powered crawler tracks (46).