US-12618203-B2 - Machine, system and method for road construction

US12618203B2US 12618203 B2US12618203 B2US 12618203B2US-12618203-B2

Abstract

A machine is disclosed for use building a road. The machine may include a vehicle, and a distribution arrangement mounted to the vehicle and configured to distribute a material on to a surface as the vehicle moves over the surface. The machine may also include at least one sensor mounted to the vehicle and configured to generate a signal indicative of a texture of the surface during movement of the vehicle over the surface, a locating device configured to detect a location of the texture, and a controller. The controller may be specially programmed to determine an amount of the material to be applied to the location of the texture based on the signal, and to automatically cause the distribution arrangement to distribute the amount of the material on to the surface at the location of the texture as the vehicle moves over the surface.

Inventors

Huachun Zhai
Scott McGowan
Alejandro ROSALES
Douglas R. Olsen

Assignees

IDAHO ASPHALT SUPPLY, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230310

Claims (20)

1 . A road building machine, comprising: a vehicle; a distribution arrangement mounted to the vehicle and configured to distribute a material on to a surface as the vehicle moves over the surface; at least one sensor mounted to the vehicle and configured to generate a signal indicative of a texture of the surface during movement of the vehicle over the surface; a locating device configured to detect a location of the texture; and a controller in communication with the distribution arrangement, the at least one sensor, and the locating device, the controller being specially programmed to: determine an amount of the material to be applied to the location of the texture based on the signal; and automatically cause the distribution arrangement to distribute the amount of the material on to the surface at the location of the texture as the vehicle moves over the surface.
2 . The road building machine of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to determine a time required for an application area of the distribution arrangement to pass from a current location to the location of the texture, wherein to automatically cause the distribution arrangement to distribute the amount of the material to the surface includes selectively activating an application component of the distribution arrangement after the time required for the location of the texture to pass into the application area has expired.
3 . The road building machine of claim 1 , wherein: the at least one sensor is mounted at a leading end of the vehicle; and the distribution arrangement is located at a trailing end of the vehicle.
4 . The road building machine of claim 3 , wherein: the material is an asphalt material; and the distribution arrangement includes a plurality of nozzles arranged across a width of the vehicle and configured to spray the spray the asphalt material.
5 . The road building machine of claim 4 , wherein: the plurality of nozzles are grouped into a plurality of groupings that are independently controllable; and a number of the at least one sensor is equal to a number of the plurality of groupings of the plurality of nozzles that are independently controllable.
6 . The road building machine of claim 5 , wherein: the at least one sensor is configured to generate a plurality of signals indicative of the texture and at least one additional texture detected at different location of the surface; the amount of the material is a volumetric amount per area of the surface over which the vehicle is moving; and the controller is programmed to determine the amount of the material to be applied by each of the groupings of the plurality of nozzles based on the texture and the at least one additional texture of the surface detected at a plurality of different locations by the at least one sensor.
7 . The road building machine of claim 6 , wherein the controller is further programmed to: group different locations of the surface into a plurality of groups based on different textures detected at the different locations; and determine a different base application rate of the volumetric amount per area for each of the plurality of groups.
8 . The road building machine of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further programmed to: receive at least one of environmental data and historical data for the different locations; and selectively adjust the different base application rates according to at least one of environmental data and historical data.
9 . The road building machine of claim 8 , wherein the controller is programmed to cause the distribution arrangement to automatically apply the selectively adjusted different base application rates to the different locations based on the grouping.
10 . The road building machine of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further programmed to generate a virtual map of the surface based on the different locations, the textures and the plurality of groups.
11 . The road building machine of claim 8 , further including at least one additional sensor mounted on the vehicle and configured to generate the at least one of environmental data and historical data in real or near-real time as the distribution arrangement is caused to distribute the amount of the material.
12 . The road building machine of claim 8 , wherein the controller is programmed to receive the at least one of environmental data and historical data from a database.
13 . The road building machine of claim 8 , wherein environmental data includes at least one of geographical information, climate information, weather information, or traffic information.
14 . The road building machine of claim 13 , wherein the geographical information includes an exposure of the surface to at least one of the sun, a wind, a body of water, or a heat sink.
15 . The road building machine of claim 13 , wherein the climate information includes at least one of a historical temperature, a humidity, or precipitation parameter experienced at the surface.
16 . The road building machine of claim 13 , wherein the weather information includes environmental conditions at least one of anticipated or experienced at a time that the distribution arrangement is caused to automatically apply the amounts of the material.
17 . The road building machine of claim 8 , wherein the historical data includes information regarding historical performance of an existing road previously built at the location of the surface.
18 . The road building machine of claim 8 , wherein the historical data includes at least one of an application rate used to build the existing road, a recorded failure of the existing road, recorded vehicular damage caused during travel on the existing road, or maintenance records for the existing road.
19 . The road building machine of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further programmed to selectively cause the distribution arrangement to automatically apply at least one of a primer or a hardener to the surface based on the at least one of environmental data or historical data.
20 . The road building machine of claim 1 , wherein: the material is an asphalt material; the amount of the material is selected at least in part based on a specified parameter of aggregate to be subsequently applied on top of the material; the distribution arrangement further includes at least one additional sensor configured to detect an actual parameter of the aggregate during application of the aggregate onto the material; and the controller is further configured to selectively adjust the amount of the material being applied based on the actual parameter of the aggregate.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/323,803 that was filed on Mar. 25, 2022, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to road construction and, more particularly, to a machine, system and method for constructing a road. BACKGROUND For the purposes of this disclosure, a road can be considered a durable surface (e.g., a route, way, path, drive, street, lane, lot, or similar thoroughfare or park) that has been prepared on land or over water to support any one or more of various types of traffic (e.g., vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic, railway traffic, aircraft ground traffic, bicycle traffic, etc.). While roads can be constructed in a variety of different ways, most of these ways involve the application of a specialized material to an existing or newly prepared surface. Asphalt is one example of a material specially prepared for use in building roads. Asphalt, also known as bitumen, is a binder used to adhere filler or reinforcement (e.g., sand, aggregate, etc.) together and to the underlying surface. An asphalt road is durable and flexible, allowing expansion and contraction without damage. The asphalt can be asphalt cement (AC), polymer modified asphalt (PMA), cutback, and emulsions. Other materials (e.g., primers, hardeners, additives, etc.) may be used together with asphalt when building roads. Many different methods exist for applying asphalt (and/or other building materials) to an underlying surface during the making of a road. One method is known as Chip Sealing. During the Chip Sealing process, an asphalt mixture is prepared and loaded into a spray truck (e.g., the Blacktopper Centennial Distributor by E. D. Etnyre & Co. or the Asphalt Distributor BC-502 by Bearcat Manufacturing). The spray truck is equipped with a vessel that holds the emulsion, and a spray bar at a trailing end of the vessel that extends transversely across a width of the road. Any number of nozzles are mounted to the spray bar. An engine-driven pump presses the asphalt mixture from the vessel through the spray bar and nozzles and onto the underlying surface behind the spray truck, while the spray truck travels along a length of the surface. In some applications, another machine follows behind the spray truck and applies aggregate over the layer of asphalt, while yet another machine compacts the aggregate into the asphalt. During the building of a road, it is possible to apply an incorrect amount of asphalt. When too much asphalt is applied, the asphalt can flush up through the aggregate and form a smooth upper surface that is slippery. An excessive amount of asphalt is also wasteful and expensive. When too little asphalt is applied, the aggregate may not stick to the road and can cause damage to vehicles traveling the road as the aggregate unravels from the underlying surface. Typically, the asphalt is applied by the nozzles of the spray truck at a predetermined rate (e.g., a set volumetric amount per area of roadway) based on a plan generated in advance for a particular road. The road plan is manually prepared by an engineer based on average measurements previously captured over a broad stretch of the road (e.g., over an entire length of the road being constructed). The measurements can include an average texture of the underlying surface. The rate of asphalt application required by the plan is electronically transferred into a distribution controller mounted on the spray truck. The controller monitors a travel speed of the truck along the road, and responsively adjusts operation of the pump such that an actual rate of discharge from the nozzles provides the planned rate along the length of the road. While the conventional machine, control system and method discussed above may be adequate for some applications, it can also be less than optimal. For example, relying on only an average measurement of texture to determine the application rate for the entire road may result in over application in some areas and under application in other areas. In addition, the average texture measurements typically used to generate the plan may not consider all factors affecting performance of the road. Further, the conventional process for manually taking the texture measurements (e.g., using sand circles) and thereafter developing and implementing the plan may be slow, labor-intensive and expensive. The disclosed machine, system and processes are directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art. SUMMARY In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a machine for use in building a road. The machine may include a vehicle, and a distribution arrangement mounted to the vehicle and configured to distribute a material onto a surface as the vehicle moves over the surface. The machine may also include at least one se