Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ ~71 3~i
The presenk inven-tion relates to a concrete floor ~lnishing
machine for smoothing out concrete floor surfaces a~ter concrete
is deposited and compacted and water oozed to the surEaces is
removed in a construction work known as concrete floor direct
finish which is for placing carpets, elongate flooring materials
or the llke as an indoor floor finlshing material on a concrete
floor slab without mortar coating.
More particularly, the invention relates to a concrete floor
finishing machine comprising finishing apparatus for smoothing
out concrete floor surfaces in hal~-set state~ which is coupled
through a coupling mechanism to lie outwardly of propelling
apparatus, and a drive mechanism for rotating the finishing
apparatus round the propelling apparatus.
The above-noted concret2 floor direct finishing work
conventionally is carried out by a method in which a plasterer
gives finishing touches to the concrete floor surfaces with a
trowel while observing the hardening state thereof, and by a
method in which
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an operation up to interim finish is effected using a
finishing machine (srandname: Trowell) which is moved
by a worker holding a handle extending from a main
body, with several Einishing trowel-like members
driven by an engine mounted on the main body placed in
contact with the concrete floor surfaces, and
thereafter a plasterer gives finishing touches with a
trowel.
However, the above methods invariably require
skills of the plasterer and may make his working
conditions too severe particularly in wintertime when
the work tends to be time-consuming because of the
slowness of concrete hardening.
In the case of the lat-ter method, the finishing
machine is steered by controlling the handle to
incline the main body while maintaining the finishing
trowel-like members in contact with the floor thus
utilizing reaction forces resulting from the contact
of the finishing trowel-like members with the floor.
Therefore, the steering control is difficult and the
concrete surfaces are likely to be marred at steering
times. Moreover, vibrations of the engine are
conducted to the worker, who may be exhausted after
working for hours.
It has recently been proposed to carry out
concrete floor direct finishing work by using a
finishing apparatus mounted on a self-propelled
vehicle as noted below. According to the proposal, a pair of
right and leEt crawler propelling apparatus, for example, is
provided at an approximately central por-tlon of the vehicle body,
and one finishing apparatus comprising a plurality of finishing
trowel-like member, for example, is provided to be rotatable
clrcumferentially of the propelling apparatus.
Although the concrete floor finlshing machine disclosed in the
above prior application is capable of effecting concrete floor
finishing with considerably high preclsion and of alleviating the
fatigue of the worker, the machine may entail the following
inconveniences and therefore has room for improvement.
Since the finishing apparatus rotates round the propelling
apparatus in one direction and receives a reaction force from the
concrete floor surface, the propelling apparatus during an
operational run is sub~ected to a moment acting rightward or
leftward with respect to its running direction. This tends to
make it difficult to control the machine to advance straight.
On the other hand, where the propelling apparatus comprises a
pair of right and left crawler propelling apparatus, lt is
conceivable to differentiate drive speeds of the right and left
crawler propelling apparatus beforehand in order to
counterbalance the moment acting rightward or leftward with
respect to the running direction as des~ribed above. In this
case, however, one of the crawler propelling apparatus tends to
leave a trace behind and deteriorate finishing precision.
In view of the above state of the art~ the present invention
improves the concrete floor finishing machine to be capable of
effecting concrete floor direct finish with higher precision and
to have good stability when running.
~ concrete floor finishing machine according to the present
invention is characterized by comprising a plurality of finishing
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A ~ ~ 7 1 ~
apparatus provlded outwardly of a propelllng apparatus for
smoot.hlng out concrete floor surfaces in half-set or half-
hardened state, and the plurality of flnishlng apparatus are
operatively connected to a drive mechanism such that at least one
of the flnishlng apparatus is rotatable about the propelling
apparatus ln a direction opposite to a directlon of rotation of
the other finishing apparatus.
10 In one preferred embodiment of the present invention two
finishing apparatus are provided outwardly of the propelling
apparatus for smoothing out the concrete floor surfaces in half-
set state, and
the two finishing apparatus are operatively connected
to one motor such that one of the finishing apparatus
is rotatable about the propelling apparatus in a
direction opposi-te to a direction of rotation of the
other finishing apparatus.
Since one of the plural finishing apparatus
rotates about the propelling apparatus in a direction
opposi-te to a direction of rota-tion of the other
finishing apparatus, the reaction forces these
finishing apparatus receive from the concrete floor
surfaces at times of concrete floor direct finishing
work are offset, whereby the propelling apparatus is
free from a moment acting rightward or leftward with
respect to the running direction.
Therefore, the running stability is little
affected during an operational run, and this
facilitates running controls of the machine.
Consequently, a concrete floor finishing machine is
provided which is capable of finishing concrete floor
surfaces ~ith high precision, easy to control and
excellent in both operability and controllability.
In addition, since these two finishing apparatus
are driven by a single motor in the preferred
embodiment noted above, the number of motor is minimum
compared with the case of driving the finishing
apparatus with separate motors and this arrangement
has an advantage from the point of view of mounting
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:
space. Moreover, the entire weight can be reduced and a
rotationa:L frequency ratio between the finishing apparatus may be
maintained constant at all times even if a diEference occurs
between the reaction forces acting on the finishing apparatus.
The accompanying draw~ngs illustrate ernbodiments of the present
invention, in which:
Fig. 1 is a partly broken away side elevation of a concrete floor
finishing machine according to one embodiment,
~ig. 2 is a partial plan view of the concrete floor flnlshing
machine,
Fig. 3 is a partly broken away rear view of the concrete floor
finishing machine,
~ig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a principal portion,
Fig. 5 is a view taken on line V-V in Fig. 1,
Fig. 6 is a partly broken away side elevation of a concrete floor
finishing machine according to another embodiment, and
Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a principal portion
thereof.
~mbodiments of the present inventio~ will be described
hereinaftsr with references to the drawings.
As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a concrete floor finishing machine for
use in concrete floor direct finishing work comprises finishillg
apparatus X for
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smoothing out concrete floor surfaces, connected to a
chassis 1 having a pair of ri~ht and left crawler
propelling apparatus A.
Each of the two crawler propelling apparatus A
comprises a drive wheel 2 and a guiding free wheel 3
attached to opposite ends of the chassis 1, and an
endless belt-like member 4 extending between the two
wheels 2, 3 and including a floor engaging surface
formed of flat rubber. The right and left drive
wheels 2 are operatively connected to respective
reversible propelling motors 5, and are adapted to
propel the machine backward and forward and to turn
the machine round by a combination of backward and
forward rotations of the two motors 5. A sledge-like
member 6 extends downwardly from the chassis 1 at a
fore and aft intermediate position between the two
.wheels 2, 3 and presses against an inner peripheral
sur~ace of the belt-like member 4 to contact the
floor, causing the crawler propelling apparatus A to
engage a wide area of the floor in order to prevent
the machine from sinking into a concrete surface that
has not hardened yet. Number 4a in the drawings
denotes scrapers for scraping off concrete that has
adhered to an outer peripheral surface of the belt-
like member 4.
The finishing apparatus X comprises an innerfinishing apparatus Xa and an outer finishing
1~7~34~
apparatus Xb arranged on concentric circles around the
chassis 1 as shown in Eigs. 1 and 2. ~he two
finishing apparatus Xa, Xb include four trowel-like
members 7a, 7b, respectively. In plan view, the
trowel-like members 7a and trowel-like members 7b,
respectively, are attached to extreme ends of four
steel pipe frames 8a, 8b extending radially from a
center of the chassis 1 with a 90 phase difference
between each other. The outer finishing apparatus Xb
is provided with a circular pipe frame 19 having a
radius approximately equal to a radius of gyration of
outermost portions of the trowel-like members 7b,
bolted through support rods 20 to the extreme ends of
the pipe frames 8b carrying the trowel-like members
1.5 7b, so that the trowel-like members 7b and other
constituent members are prevented from colliding with
other objects when moving and finishing the concrete
floor.
As shown in Fig. 5, each of the trowel-like
2~ members 7a, 7b is attached, through brackets 9a, 9b
secured to an upper surface thereof, to be
oscillatable about a horizontal axis P1. Each trowel-
like member 7a or 7b is set at a selected angle to the
concrete floor surface by turning a bolt 11 screwed
into a nut 10 welded to the pipe frame 8a or 8b and
causing a stepped portion 11A at a forward end of the
bolt 11 to abut against the brackets 9a, 9b and
1~'7~3f~L
oscillate them abou-t the axis P1~ Graduations 21
indicated by a pointer 9A extending from the brackets
9a, 9b enable visual confirmation as to a deyree of
inclination of each trowel-like member 7a or 7b.
As shown in Fig. 4, each of the pipe frames 8a
constituting the inner finishinc~ apparatus Xa has a
root end thereof secured to a periphery of an annular
coupler 12a above the chassis 1. ~his coupler 12a is
attached, for relative ro-tation about an axis P2, to a
ball-surfaced mountiny seat 14a vertically slidably
fitted on an upstanding finishing apparatus side
tubular member 13. A pair of bar members 15a are
provided to be opposed to each other across one pipe
frame 8a, and a bracket 16a to which the pair of bar
lS members 15a are fixed is fitted on the finishing
apparatus side tubular member 13 to be relatively
rotatable likewise. Furthermore, this bracket 16a is
operatively connected through a reduction mechanism
18a to a motor 17a attached to a lower portion of the
finishing apparatus side tubular member 13, and
rotations of the motor 17a cause each of the trowel-
like members 7a of the inner finishing apparatus Xa to
revolve round the chassis 1 to smooth out the concrete
floor surfaces in half-set state.
Each of the pipe frames 8b constituting the outer
finishing apparatus Xb has a root end thereof secured
to a periphery of an annular coupler 12b further
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~27~34~
upward from the annular coupler 12a Eor tlle inner
finishing apparatus Xa. This coupler 12b also is
attached, for relative rotation about the axis P2, to
a ball-surfaced mounting seat 14b vertically slidably
fitted on an upstanding finishing apparatus side
tubular member 13. A pair of bar members 15b are
provided to be opposed to each other across one pipe
frame 8b constituting the outer finishing apparatus
Xb, and a bracket 16b to which the pair of bar members
15b are fixed is fitted on the finishing apparatus
side tubular member 13 to be ~elatively rotatable.
Furthermore, this bracket 16b is operatively connected
through a reduction mechanism 1~b to a motor 17b
attached to an upper portion of the finishing
apparatus side tubular member 13, and rotations of the
motor 17b cause each of the trowel-like members 7b of
the outer finishing apparatus Xb to revolve round the
chassis 1 in a direction opposite to a direction in
which each trowel-like member 7a of the inner
2~ finishing apparatus Xa revolves to smooth out the
concrete floor surfaces in half-set state in
cooperation with the inner finishing apparatus Xa. In
this example the two motors 17a, 17b constitute a
first drive mechanism 17.
When the finishing apparatus Xa, Xb smooth out the
concrete floor surfaces in half-set state while
rotating about the propelling apparatus A, the
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finishing apparatus Xa, Xb receive reaction forces
from the concrete floor surfaces~ By arranying that
these finishing apparatus Xa, Xb rotate in opposite
directions, the reaction forces which the finishing
S apparatus Xa, Xb receive from the concrete floor
surfaces are offset and the propelling apparatus A is
free from a moment acting rightward or leftward with
respect to its running direction, whereby the machine
can run in a stable manner.
The trowel-li]ce members 7a, 7b constituting the
described pair of finishing apparatus Xa, Xb may be
~djusted such that the inner trowel-like members and
the outer trowel-like members have different
inclination angles with respect to the concrete floor
1~ surfaces, or the two finishing apparatus Xa, Xb may be
rotated at different speeds. This permits the inner
finishlng apparatus Xa to be used for interim finish
and the outer finishing apparatus Xb to be used for
final finish, for example, to enable hiyh precision
finishing work.
~ coupling mechanism 23 coupling the finishing
apparatus X to the chassis 1 is vertically extendible
and contractible by a second drive mechanism 25. The
coupling mechanism 23 comprises a chassis side tubular
member 22 fixed to and extending upward from a
substantially central portion of the chassis 1, on
which the finishing apparatus side tubular member 13
is fitted through a li.near hearing 23a permittirly
relative slidiny between the two tubular members 13,
22. A second drive mechanism 25 comprises a motor 25a
having a head portion 25A fixed to the chassis I and
an end of a rack portion 25B fixed through a bracket
24 to the finishing apparatus side tubular member 13,
the motor 25a being operable to cause relative sliding
between the two tubular members 13, 22 thereby to
cause relative vertical movement between the chassis 1
and the finishing apparatus X.
This concrete floor finishing machine is capable
of making a turn b~ utilizing the described coupliny
structure for the two tubular members 13, 22 and the
motor 25a. More particularly, for turning the machine
the trowel-like members 7a or 7b of either finishing
apparatus Xa and Xb are placed in engagement with the
concrete floor surfaces first so that the machine is
stably supported by the trowel-like members 7a or 7b
at four positions, and then the motor 25a is operated
to raise the chassis 1 relative to the inishiny
apparatus X. When either finishing apparatus rotating
motor 17a or 17b is operated in this state, conversely
the chassis 1 will turn about the axis P2. When the
chassis l faces a predetermined direction, the
finishing apparatus rot~ting motor 17a or 17b is
stopped and the motor 25a is operated to lower the
chassis 1 to the concrete floor surface, which
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completes a turn of the machine.
Thus, compared witl the case of turning the
machine simply by means of a difference in moving
speed between the right and left crawler propelling
apparatus A, this machine is turned causing almost no
damage to the concrete floor surface, with a small
radius of swivelling, and accurately to a
predetermined position.
On the other hand, springs 28, 29 fitted on the
finishing apparatus side tubular member 13 are
interposed between a first flange 26 provided inkegral
with the tubular member 13 and a lower end of the
ball-surfaced mounting seat 14a for the inner
finishing apparatus Xa and between a second flange 27
loosely:fitted on the tubular member 13 and an upper
end of the ball-surfaced mounting seat 14a,
respectively. A nut 30 is screwed onto the tubular
member 13 at a position above the second ~lange 27.
The ball-surfaced mounting seat 14a is vertically
moved together with the second flange 27 by turning
the nut 30 while confirming a pressure given by three
pressing force adjusting load cells 31 interposed
between the second flange 27 and the nut 30. Thus a
pressing force applied to the concrete floor surfaces
by the trowel-like members 7a of the inner finishing
apparatus Xa is adjustable to a predetermined
pressure.
7~34~
Springs 34, 35 fit-ted on the finishirlg apparatus
side tubul~r member 13 are interposed between a third
flange 32 provided integral with the tubular member 13
and a lower end of the ball-surfaced mounting seat 14b
S for the outer finishing apparatus Xb and between a
fourth flange 33 loosely fitted on the tubular member
13 and an upper end of the ball-surfaced mounting seat
14b, respectively. A nut 36 is screwed onto the
tubular member 13 at a position above the fourth
flange 33. The ball-surfaced mounting seat 14b is
vertical~y moved together with the fourth flange 33 by
turning the nut 36 while confirming a pressure given
by three pressing force adjusting load cells 37
interposed between the fourth flange 33 and the nut
36. Thus a pressing force applied to the concrete
floor surfaces by the trowel-like members 7b of the
outer finishiny apparatus Xb also is adjustable to a
predetermined pressure.
Therefore, in -the case of differentiating the
inclination angles with respect to the concrete floor
surfaces between trowel-like members 7a of the inner
finishing apparatus Xa and the trowel-like members 7b
of the outer finishing apparatus Xb or differentiating
the rotating speeds between the two finishing
apparatus Xa, Xb as described hereinbeforer for
e~ample, in order to carrying the interim finish and
final finish simultaneousl~, the reaction forces the
14
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two finishing apparatus Xa, Xb receive from l:h~
concrete floor surfaces may be sufficiently offset by
suitably adjusting the pressing forces of the two
finishing apparatus Xa, Xb respecti~ely.
The adjustment of the pressing forces applied to
the concrete floor surfaces by the trowel-li]ce members
7a, 7b may be carried out by using the described motor
25a to vary positions of the pair of finishing
apparatus Xa, Xb relative to the chassis 1 while
confirming the pressure given by the pressing force
adjusting load cells 31, 37, instead of the described
mode relying on turning of the nuts 30, 36. Number 3~
in the drawings denotes a load cell for detecting a
rotational torque.
Cabtyre cords 53 for transmitting control signals
to the described pair of propelling motors 5,
finislling apparatus rotating motors l7a, 17b and motor
25a are contained in a batch in the two tubular
members 13, 22 and are connected to a control unit ~0
in a relay box 39 mounted on top of the finishing
apparatus side tubular member 13. As shown in Fig. 1,
this control unit 40 is connected to an operating unit
44 through a connector 41 on top of the relay box 39
and a relay cord 43 coiled on a rod 42 extending to
the connector 41 to enable a worker to handle the
operating unit 44 and remote-control the operations of
this concrete floor finishing machine.
L.3~
Another embodiment will be described next with
reference to Figs. 6 and 7. In this e~ample the ~rive
mechanism 17 comprises a single motor 17a.
As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, each of the pipe Erames
8a constituting the inner finishing apparatus Xa
driven by the single motor 17a has a root end thereof
secured to a periphery of an annular coupler 12a above
the chassis 1. This coupler 12a is attached, for
relative rotation about an axis P2, to a ball-surfaced
mounting seat 14a vertically slidably fitted on a
tubular sleeve 60 rotatably and slidably fitted on an
upstanding finishing apparatus side tubular member 13
through a pair of upper and lower bearings 59.
Furthermore, this sleeve 60 has a bevel gear 51a fixed
to a lower end thereof which is operatively connected
through a free rotation bevel gear 51b attached to the
finishing apparatus side tubular member 13, to a bevel
gear 51c fixed to the hracket 16a. Thus, rotations of
the single motor 17a cause each of the trowel-like
members 7b of the outer finishing apparatus Xb to
revolve round the chassis 1 in a direction opposite to
a direction in which each trowel-like member 7a of the
inner finishing apparatus Xa revolves to smooth out
the concrete floor surfaces in half-set state in
cooperation with the inner finishing apparatus Xa.
By arranging that the two finishing apparatus Xa,
Xb are driven by the single motor 17a as described
16
~L~7 ~1 3~1
above, the entire weight is reduced and a rotat:iGnal
.Ereyuency ratio between the two f:inishing apparatus
Xa, Xb is maintained constant at all times even if a
difference occurs in the reaction forces acting on the
S two finishing apparatus Xa, Xb.
On the other hand, as particularly shown in Fig.
7, springs 28', 29' fitted on the sleeve 60 and
tubular member 13 and are interposed between the bevel
gear 51a attached to the sleeve 10 and a lower end of
the ball-surfaced mounting seat 14a for the inner
finishing apparatus Xa and between a flange 27'
loosely fitted on the tubular member 13 at an upper
position of the tubular member 13 and an upper end of
the ball-surfaced mounting seat 14a, respectively. A
nut 30' is screwed onto the tubular member 13 at a
position above the flange 27'. The two mounting seats
14a, 14b are vertically moved together with the flange
27' by turning the nut 30' while confirming a pressure
given by three pressing force adjusting load cells 37
interposed between the flange 27' and the nut 30'.
Thus a pressing force applied to the concrete floor
surfaces by the trowel-like members 7a, 7b o~ the
inner and outer finishing apparatus Xa is adjustable
to a predetermined pressure.
It will be clear that the following varied
modifications may be made to the above two
embodiments.
t7~34~
First, the pair of ri.ght ~nd le~t craw:l.er
propelling apparatus A may be replaced by a plurality
of righthand side drive rollers and a plurality of
lefthand side drive rollers. These are called
propelling apparatus A.
The structure for permitting a ver-tical rela-tive
movement between the chassis 1 to which the propelling
apparatus A are attached and the finishing apparatus X
may be varied as appropriate. .For example, the linear
bearing 23a in the preceding embodiment may be
replaced by a combination of rack and pinion gear for
use in connecting the chassis 1 and the finishing
apparatus B, with a reversible motor operatively
connected to the pinion gear~ Also in the preceding
embodiment a double acting hydraulic cylinder may be
employed in place of the motor 25a, and these are
called the drive mechanism 25. Furthermore, the
preceding embodiment has been described as having the
chassis 1 and the ~inishing apparatus X vertically
movable relative to each other by action of the drive
mechanism to permit the machine to turn round with a
small turning radius and causing little damage to the
concrete surfaces. The finishing apparatus side
tubular member 13 relatively rotatably carrying the
finishing apparatus X may be fixable to the chassis 1
simply by a bolt. This bolt, the above described
combination of rack and pinion gear, and the linear
18
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713~il.
bearing 23a ln the preceding embodiment are
collectively called the coupling mechanism 23.
The shape, mounting structure and number of the
trowel-like rnembers 7a, 7b constituting the inner
finishlng apparatus Xa and outer finishing apparatus
Xb may be varied as appropriate. For example, the
trowel-like members 7a, 7b may revolve round the
chassis 1 while themselves rotating about axes by
which they are attached to the pipe frames 8a, 8b.
For rotating the finishing apparatus X about the
chassis 1, the mode as employed with the preceding
embodiment including the inner finishing apparatus
rotating motor 17a and outer finishing apparatus
rotating motor 17b may be replaced by an arrangement
in which rotors are mounted in the annular couplers
12a, 12b carrying the pipe frames 8a, 8b and stators
are mounted in the ball-surfaced mounting seats 14a,
14b such that this coupling structure per se
constitutes electromotors.
The arrangernent for adjusting the pressing force
of the two finishing apparatus Xa, Xb may also take
various forms. For example, a concrete hardness
detector comprising a load cell and a steel bar or the
like attached to an extreme end of the load cell, so
that the load cell detects a load requir~d for causing
a certain length of the steel bar to project into the
concrete floor in half-set state, the detected load
19
127~ 3~
providing a basis for deriving a proper pressing force
which is to be indicated~ Or the proper pressing
force value obtained by this concrete hardness
detector and the pressure values given by the pressing
force adjusting load cells 31, 37 may be input to a
control circuit of the linear head motor 25a, whereby
this motor 25 automatically adjusts the pressing
force. Instead of the load cells 31, 37 varied types
of pressure sensors may be used for the purpose of
confirming the pressing force
The foregoing embodiments have ~een described as
having one inner finishing apparatus Xa and one outer
finishing apparatus Xb, the two finishing apparatus
Xa, Xb being rotated in opposite directions, but in
practising the present invention three or more
finishing apparatus X may be provided. More
particularly, three finishing apparatus X may be
provided, for example, one o~ which is rotated in a
direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the
other two, or four finishing apparatus X may be
provided and two of them are rotated in a direction
opposide to the direction of rotation of the other
two. In such a case the reaction forces the finishing
apparatus X receive from the concrete floor surface
may be offset to free the propelling apparatus A of a
moment, by appropriately diEferentiating the numbers
of trowel-like members constituting the respective
Einishing apparatus X or, as described hereinbefore,
appropriately differentiating the pressing forces of
the respective finishing apparatus XO In short, it
serves the purpose to cause at least one of the
S plurality of finishing apparatus X to rotate about the
propelling apparatus A in a direction opposite to a
direction of rotation of the other finishing apparatus
X.
Furthermore, the method of machine control may be
varied as appropriate. For example, a radio receiver
may be provided in place of the relay box 39 in the
foregoing embodiments so that signals are sent from a
radio transmitter handled by a worker to the radio
receiver for controlling the machine. Alternatively,
completely automatic controls may be provided by
equipping the concrete floor finishing machine with a
position detecting sensor to recognize a position
where the machine actually stands, whereby the
operation is carried out as running courses are
determined based on information from this sensor and
from the hardness detector.
Industrial Applicability
As described hereinbefore, the concrete floor
finishing machine embodying the present invention is
well suited for efficiently smoothing out concrete
floor surfaces in half-set state.
