Apparatus for conveying asphalt concrete mixtures

Claim 1

In a road surfacing machine comprising a self-propelled vehicle, a conveyor apparatus on said vehicle for moving material from a loading station adjacent a front end of said vehicle rearwardly to a dispensing station comprising, a hopper at said loading station for receiving said material from a source of supply such as a truck, said hopper having opening means at the bottom thereof at a first relatively low elevation through which said material passes, a fixed platform mounted beneath said opening means and terminating at locations adjacent forward and rear margins of said opening means for receiving said material, a continuous conveyor having an upper return run passing over said platform and a lower active run passing beneath said platform, said continuous conveyor including a pair of spaced parallel endless flexible elements and a plurality of spaced apart transverse pusher bars extending between said flexible elements at spaced intervals and providing pusher members for sequentially positively advancing substantially all of the material received from the hopper in a first direction to said lower active run and then in an opposite direction to said dispensing station, an open top trough disposed beneath said continuous conveyor, said trough including a bottom wall beneath said lower active run for supporting material being moved therealong by said lower active run, said trough bottom wall including a first generally horizontal portion beneath said platform, an intermediate diagonally upwardly inclined portion extending rearwardly from said first portion to an elevation above said first mentioned elevation, and a second generally horizontal portion extending rearwardly from said intermediate portion substantially to said dispensing station, and a plurality of discrete guide elements spaced above said intermediate and second horizontal bottom portions for engaging and guiding upper runs of said endless flexible elements above material being moved by said lower active run to the dispensing station.