The invention relates to a method for the successive application of a stripe on an under layer, such as a road surface, by the laying-out of a material which is fluid at the moment of application, and a laying -out apparatus for the execution of the method.

In the laying-out of stripes, particularly on road surfaces, in practise there are used two different methods, depending on the kind of stripe.

For continuous lines, the apparatus generally used has a slot from which is pressed out a band of ther¬ moplastic material which slides down on to the road surface, and to which it adheres. By suitable "regu¬ lation of the slot breadth and height and the speed of laying-out, the dimension of the stripe can be determined and synchronized with the feed rate of the apparatus.

This method demands a complicated apparatus which can only lay out coherent stripes. This means that a considerable consumption of material is demanded, which results in a high laying-out cost. Moreover, the speed of laying-out is relatively low, usually around 5 km per hour, because the stripe cannot be pressed out more quickly without losing its uni- formity.

Another method of striping is executed by means of an apparatus having a series of nozzles directed to¬ wards the under layer, from which nozzles a number

of blobs are discharged in the desired stripe width. Thus during the feeding forward of the apparatus, a stripe will be formed consisting of a pattern of in¬ dividual blobs.

By a suitable choice of speed, discharge frequency and feed rate for the apparatus, a stripe with the desired structure can be produced. This apparatus is likewise very complicated and, because of the large number of nozzles, is particularly difficult to op¬ erate and maintain. Moreover, the rate of advance of the apparatus is relatively low.

By another method, the stripe material is thrown on to the road surface by means of a rotating brush, which is fed via a liquid receptacle comprising ro¬ tating brushes or rollers. This method has limited application possibilities, the reason being partly that it requires a relatively thin-flowing material, and partly because it is limited to a relatively low rate of advance.

Finally, it is known for the stripe material to be sprayed out under pressure through one or more noz- zles. The method is used both in the small, hand-op¬ erated trolleys mounted with one or more spray cans, and in large self-propelled units. With spray cans, only a quite thin and not particularly hard-wearing layer can be applied, and the large self-propelled units use a very complicated technique. None of these methods can be used to effect patterned stripes.

It is the object of the invention to remedy the men-

tioned disadvantages of the known methods, and this is achieved by a method whereby the material is sup¬ plied from a position raised above the underlayer, from which position a number of slats, by a movement from above the material to down through the mater¬ ial, convey said material and deposit it on the underlayer.

First and foremost, the possibility is thus achieved of effecting patterned striping at high rates of ad¬ vance without the stripe material having to be sup¬ plied under pressure. Furthermore, an adjustment can be carried out of the distance between the laid-out blobs, since this will depend on the speed of the slats, the closeness of the slats and the rate of advance over the underlayer. One can hereby produce stripes consisting of single blobs with any ^' desired blob distance. This means that one is able to select precisely that pattern which provides the most ex- pedient stripe with regard to traffic and safety as¬ pects. Moreover, the laying-out can be effected with the lowest possible consumption of material, and thus at the lowest possible price.

By letting the slats be mounted on a rotating axle, as presented in claims 2 and 6, the throwing-out can easily be controlled by a suitable choice of rota¬ tional speed of the brush.

By letting the direction of rotation of the slats be such that the slats fling the blobs backwards during the laying-out, as presented in claim 3, blobs of material can be laid out on the underlayer even at relatively high rates of advance, and this

without the blobs being too low for reasons of smear¬ ing out.

By letting the slats rotate raised above the under- layer, as presented in claim 4, a stripe pattern can be formed which consists solely of blobs which are not smoothed out by the brush.

By laying-out a thin layer of stripe material on top of and between the blobs, as presented in claim 5, a more hard-wearing stripe is achieved, even though the blobs are worn severely down, and also the re- striping is made easier since new blobs can be de¬ posited at random in the stripe track.

By using an apparatus which is driven by a wheel, running on the underlayer, as presented in claim 7, the driving and the synchronization of the throwing -out can be ensured.

By providing the brush axle with a motor which is independent of the drive wheel, as presented in claim 8, one can use the apparatus at very low rates of advance, and with any desired blob distance corα- pletely independently of the rate of advance.

By staggering the slats on the axle, as presented in claim 9, one can produce stripes in which the blobs on the underlayer are staggered in rows in relation to one another. This provides a very uniform pat¬ tern.

By using flexible slats, as presented in claim 10, one can produce a stripe consisting of small blobs

which, in many cases, is expedient, particularly with narrow stripes.

By letting the slats be stiff, as presented in claim 11 , a considerable blob speed can be achieved, and therewith a high rate of advance, even with very viscous stripe materials.

Finally, as presented in claim 12, it is expedient to let the slats have a U-shaped profile, in that one can hereby lay out blobs of a relatively large volume, and thus produce a stripe consisting of lar¬ ger blobs.

The invention will now be described in closer detail with reference to the drawing, where

fig. 1 shows a cross-section through a lay¬ ing-out apparatus with flexible slats,

fig. 2 shows a second laying-out apparatus seen from the rear and with stiff slats,

fig. 3 shows a cross-section through this ap¬ paratus,

fig. 4 shows a section through a slat seen in the direction IV-IV in fig. 3, and

fig. 5 shows the rearmost of the apparatus seen from above.

In fig. 1 is shown a preferred embodiment of a lay-

ing-out apparatus with flexible slats 4, 5, which are staggered.

The apparatus comprises a material delivery part and a throwing-down part.

The material delivery part comprises a container 12, which is supplied with the material which is to be laid. Preferably, this will be a hard-wearing stripe paint to which reflecting glass beads or coarse mat¬ erial for non-skid security is added. The apparatus can also be mounted with a heating element 13 for striping with thermoplastic masses. By a suitable regulation of the temperature, the viscosity of the material can be adjusted to suit the conditions.

The delivery from the container is effected through a slot, this being formed between the bottom of the container 12 and a vertically movable gate 10. This gate is structured to comprise a guide 7, 9, which extends in a sliding manner around a part of the container. By sliding the gate 10 in the vertical direction by means of a wheel 8, the height of the slot - and thereby the material thickness 11 - can be adjusted.

The material 11 flows out or is pressed out on to a shelf which is positioned a suitable distance above the roadway 14.

The throwing-down part comprises an axle 2 with a hub 3 to which a number of flexible slats 4, 5 are secured to form a rotating brush.

During rotation in the direction of the arrow, the slats will pass through the supplied material 11 , whereby a blob 15 is loosened from the shelf, car¬ ried down by the slat and thrown down onto the road- way to form a stripe 15.

Since it is the slats 4, 5 which form the stripe, by a suitable choice of slat number, slat width and their positioning, one can obtain any desired struc- ture. The slats can thus be mounted in a staggered manner in a longitudinal direction on the axle, whereby a pattern as shown in fig. 5 can be formed. The stripe produced in this way, when seen at an an¬ gle from above, will appear as a coherent stripe.

This gives a considerable saving in material, and also provides good draining possibilities, which means that it is not so easy for a dangerous cover¬ ing of water to arise on the stripe. Moreover, a stripe of this kind will more easily keep itself clean, because the polluted water will drain be¬ tween the blobs.

The brush is driven by a friction wheel 1 , which runs on the roadway 14 during the advance of the ap¬ paratus. This advance can be effected by manual movement with smaller units, or by the mounting on self-propelling devices of any suitable kind.

A second embodiment is shown in figs. 2-5. This ap¬ paratus also comprises a material delivery part and a throwing-down part.

In fig. 3, the delivery part is shown in section. It

comprises a container 21 for the material 6. The material is introduced via a channel system or the like. Also this container can be provided with heat¬ ing elements for the heating of the material 6.

A gate 22 can be moved up and down to determine the height of the slot, and thereby the thickness of the material 11 which is delivered through the slot.

The apparatus is mounted with a frame 20, see fig. 2, whereby it can be secured to a tractor or similar self-propelled unit.

Also here the throwing-down part comprises a rotat- ing axle 17 which is provided with slats 18.

The slats are shown mounted in a staggered manner on the axle 17, see fig. 2. Each slat, as shown in sec¬ tion in fig. 4, is made of a U-profile of metal. The profile is mounted on the axle in such a way that the open side of each slat faces forwards in the direction of rotation, as will appear from the arrow in fig. 3.

Each slat, when it passes down through the pressed -out material 11 , will thus carry with it a blob 15 which can be of a relatively large volume.

By a suitable choice of slat width, material thick- ness and length, the blob 15 can attain the desired dimension.

On this embodiment, there is also mounted a motor 1 , which will normally be an electromotor. This

motor can be coupled to the axle 17, and thus inde¬ pendently of the rate of advance over the roadway, one can give the axle 17 and thereby the slats 18 the desired speed of rotation, and hereby achieve the desired stripe pattern.

In figs. 3 and 4, the slats 18 are shown mounted on the axle 17 in a staggered manner in relation to the centre of the axle. The slats should form an angle of less than 90° to the material 11, so that this is thrown off against the roadway 14 in an unfailing manner.

As will appear from the drawing, the slats 4, 5, 18 will pass through and convey stripe material 6 in the lowest foremost part of the slats' rotational movement, which is the same ^" as the apparatus' wheel 1 , whereby the blobs will be thrown backwards during the laying-out. Even at relatively high rates of ad- vance right up to around 50 km per hour, this prov¬ ides a relatively low laying-out speed for the blobs when they hit the roadway, which ensures that the blobs can attain sufficient height and not spread out on the roadway.

In practice, the electromotor will be allowed to drive the axle 17 at low rates of advance, which in practice will be lower than 15 km per hour. At high¬ er speeds, the motor 19 can be decoupled and the turning taken over by a drive wheel 16 which is then coupled to the axle 17.

This laying-out apparatus provides the possibility of optional stripe patterns at all rates of advance.

In fig. 5 is shown an example of a laid-out pattern which comprises a confluence of blobs for the forma¬ tion of a coherent stripe 23, forward to a stripe with distance between the individual blobs.

Finally, the laying-out apparatus can be provided with equipment (not shown) for a subsequent laying down of a thin, coherent layer of stripe material on top of and between the blobs, so that the stripe ap- pears as a uniform stripe with the blobs as eleva¬ tions in the stripe. In principle, this equipment corresponds to that shown in fig. 1, but where the stripe material 6, however, is more free-flowing, and where the slats 4, 5 can be more flexible and mounted closer together, almost as a brush.

Such a stripe is safer for traffic, in that even when it has worn down, it remains white, and it will be relatively easier to renew, since new blobs can be laid down on the stripe in an arbitrary manner.