Self-propelled continuous concrete pipe-laying machine

Claim 1

A self-propelled continuous concrete pipe-laying machine using a fluid pressure inflatable core comprising: a guide portion having a semi-cylindrical bottom and vertically disposed sides slidably engaging a mating semi-cylindrical bottom pre-dug trench to receive the pipe, a laterally disposed vertical baffle fixed to the rear end of said guide portion, an elongated horizontally disposed arcuate core support member fixed in spaced position from the inside surface of the bottom and sides of said guide portion and extending through a circular opening in said baffle and rearwardly of said baffle so as to define a space between the bottom of said trench and the underside of said core support member for troweling the lower half of the bore of said pipe to be formed, a hopper fixed to and extending rearwardly of said lateral baffle and located above said core support and troweling member, a top troweling member fixed to and extending rearwardly of said hopper, an intermediate transverse partition extending between the sides of said hopper forming a front and rear compartment in said hopper, a core receiving tunnel in the lower portion of said front compartment communicating with an opening in said transverse baffle and an arcuate cutout in the bottom of said partition. passageways each side of said tunnel and the sides of said hopper connecting said front compartment to said space below said core support member including a guide portion sloping upwardly and rearwardly from said baffle to said partition each side of and spaced from said core receiving tunnel, said rear compartment being in direct communication with the top half of said core carried on said core support member upon emergence from said partition cutout and with the top edges of the poured bottom half of said pipe and including a material discharge passageway above said core and top edges for supplying material under said top troweling member upon movement of said machine in the trench, winch means mounted atop the forward end of the machine comprising a cable connected at one end to the winch means and the other end connected to a deadman, said winch means comprising a frame detachably mounted on said machine and a hydraulically operated internal combustion engine driven apparatus mounted on said frame, a deadman for mounting in the pre-dug trench forward of the machine for providing a temporary anchor for the other end of the cable so that the winch means, upon actuation, may wind up the cable, thereby pulling the machine along the trench toward the deadman, said deadman comprising a pair of plates that are vertically oriented to each other and arranged substantially vertical to the walls of the trench, lever means forming a jackknife configuration comprising at least a pair of levers pivotally interconnected at common ends and each pivotally connected at its other end to a different one of said plates, an elongated draw bar connected at one end to said lever means and at the other end to said other end of said cable, whereby when said bar is pulled on and said jackknife configuration of said lever means is biased toward its straightened position, said deadman will anchor itself to the side walls of the trench.