In particular, the present invention is concerned with a spool assembly for holding the roll of material, which is arranged to facilitate the delivery of the material, by means of a suitably adapted vehicle.

In one well known system of this kind, the roadway system comprises an assembly of transversely extending rigid slats of metal, which are joined together in such a way that the whole assembly has sufficient flexibility to allow it to be rolled up, the roll being held on a spool which can be mounted on the back of a truck. The truck is generally provided with a suitable turntable mechanism, and drive motors which allow the roadway to be unspooled on site, and subsequently rewound after use. However, the conventional arrangement requires that each section of the roadway, of which there may be a large number needed for any particular site or occasion, is provided with its own individual spool assembly which must be transported with the roll, and stored separately on site whilst the roadway is in use, so that it can be used subsequently to rewind the roadway material.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved portable roadway storage and delivery system, which greatly reduces the complexity and costs of a system of this kind.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides a portable roadway storage and delivery system, comprising an expanding spool assembly which is so arranged that its effective external diameter can be reduced to allow it to be inserted into the centre of a roll of roadway material, and subsequently increased so as to engage tightly inside the roll.

Preferably the spool is provided with flexible connecting bands adapted to be connected to the inner end of the roll, so as to allow the roll to be unrolled completely onto the ground while remaining connected to the spool.

Preferably, the spool assembly comprises a central core provided with radially outwardly movable grippers which engage the inside surface of the roll, in their outward position.

Preferably, the grippers are urged to a disengaged position, by means of tension springs mounted in the core, or by means of counterweights, but can be moved radially outwardly by means of camming devices mounted on a delivery machine, which are adapted to enter the ends of the core.

Preferably, the camming devices form part of a drive mechanism, which also acts to rotate the core and the roll, when the spool is engaged, and to this end, the core is preferably formed with a hexagonal section, and the camming devices are coaxially mounted on drive members which carry hexagonal drive sockets to engage the opposite ends of the spool.

Accordingly a second aspect of the invention comprises a portable roadway storage and delivery system, comprising an expanding spool assembly which is adapted to be fitted into a roll of roadway material, and a delivery machine comprising a rotatable drive mechanism which is adapted to engage the ends of the spool assembly to expand the spool so as to engage the inside of the roll.

By using this arrangement, it is possible to deliver a large number of rolls of roadway material to a site, in a "spool-less"condition, and to very simply insert the removable spool into each roll, to allow it to be unwound from the delivery vehicle. The spool is then simply dismounted from the vehicle, and inserted into the next roll which is to be laid down.

The invention also extends to a portable roadway assembly comprising a plurality of laterally extending planks whose long edges are adapted to fit together so that the assembly forms an elongate strip, with a degree of flexing possible between the adjacent planks so that the whole assembly can be rolled up. Preferably, one edge of each plank comprises a slot having beaded edges while the other comprises a beaded flange which is adapted to be slid into the slot of an adjacent plank, on assembly, in a direction parallel to the length of the plank, so that the co-operation of the beads then acts to retain the flange in the slot.

The roadway assembly itself may comprise a number of alternative constructions. For example, it may comprise a series of extruded aluminium slats, which extend transversely across the width of the roadway assembly, with their adjacent edges pivotally connected. Alternatively, the edges of the sections may be more rigidly connected together, but in such a way as to allow a suitable degree of flexibility, along the length of the whole strip.

As a further possible construction, it is envisaged that the roadway could be a composite aluminium/elastomer structure, the elastomer being particularly suitable to form a usable surface for pedestrians and light wheeled vehicles such as bicycles.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which ; Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle adapted for delivery of a portable roadway system in accordance with the invention ; Figure 2 is a side elevation of an "expanding spool" in the retracted position ; Figure 2a is a schematic view of the spool/roll connecting bands ; Figure 3 is a cross-section on the line III-III of Figure 2 ; Figure 4 is a cross-section on the line IV-IV of Figure 2 ; Figure 5 is a side elevation of the spool assembly of Figure 2 in the engaged condition ; Figure 6 is a cross-section on the line VI-VI of Figure 5 ; Figure 7 is a vertical cross-section through a first type of roadway construction element in accordance with the invention ; Figure 8 is a vertical cross-section through two interconnected roadway elements ; Figure 9 is an enlarged, partial cross-section corresponding to Figure 7 ; Figure 10 is a vertical cross-section through an alternative type of roadway element ; Figure 11 shows two interconnected elements of the kind shown in Figure 10 ; Figure 12 is a cross-section through another alternative type of roadway element, and Figure 13 is a partial cross-section through the joint between two elements of the kind shown in Figure 12.

Referring to Figure 1, a flat bed truck 2 is provided with a turntable mounted assembly 4, for delivering and unwinding portable roadway sections as will be described in more detail below, as well as a crane, illustrated diagrammatically at 6, which is used for manipulating the rolls of roadway material. As will be appreciated, long lengths of such material are of considerable weight, typically hundreds of kilograms in the case of a 3 metre wide roadway. Preferably, a special"crane beam" (not shown) is used to lift and manipulate the rolls of roadway material so as to keep them level.

The turntable assembly is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis 8, so t'hat a roll 10 of roadway material can be carried with its axis 12 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the truck, when the latter is being manoeuvred to a delivery position, and can then be rotated through 90°, so as to be transverse to the axis of the truck, when the roll is to be delivered. The turntable carries spooling machinery including a drive motor 14, which is used to unwind the roll 10, and subsequently, to wind it up again after use, in a basically known fashion. Typically, this will involve releasing the outer end of the roll of material and anchoring it in position on the ground, and then unreeling the material, using the drive motor 14, whilst at the same time reversing the truck so that it runs backwards over the unspooling roadway, at a corresponding speed.

In the conventional system of this kind, the roll is carried on an internal spool which typically comprises a central spindle carrying three disc shape spool supports, one of which supports each end of the roll, whilst one supports the middle. It will be appreciated that the roll must be mounted on this spool in advance (or permanently stored on such a spool) before it can be transported to the site, and thus one such spool is required for every roll of material which is to be delivered to a site for use.

By contrast, as. illustrated in Figures 2 to 6 as an example of the present invention, an expanding spool or "master spool"is provided, comprising a hexagonal core 16 (Figure 3) which is of significantly smaller overall diameter than the internal diameter of the rolled up roadway material, illustrated diagrammatically by the dotted chain lines 18 in Figure 2.

As shown diagrammatically in Figure 2a, the master spool 16 carries a pair of flexible bands 80,82 whose other ends are connected to the ends of a plank member 84. As explained in more detail below, (see Figures 7-13), the roadway material will normally comprise an assembly of such planks which are adapted to be linked together by their long edges, by sliding a tongue or flange formation on the edge of one plank, into a co-operating groove on the adjacent plank. Thus the plank 84 can be slid into engagement with the end plank of the roll of roadway material so as to connect onto it, when the spool is inserted into the roll, as explained below. Each end of the master spool carries a set of three retractable grippers 20, which are arranged to pivot in planes which are spaced 120° apart around the axis, so that in the retracted position, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4, the grippers 20 rest on corresponding surfaces of the core 16.

As can be clearly seen from the partially broken away view of Figure 5, each gripper is mounted on the outer end of an arm 22 which extends through a slot 24 in the body of the spool, whilst the. inner end 26 of the arm is pivotally mounted to a flange fixed to the inside surface of the core. A tension spring 28, whose other end is also attached to a fixed point inside the core, is connected to the innermost corner 3C of the pivot arm 22, so as to urge the pivot arm and thus the gripper 20, into the inner, or retracted position, illustrated in Figure 2 and by the dashed lines 32 in Figure 5.

The axially opposed ends of the spooling machine of the delivery truck 2 comprise a pair of discs 34, each of which carries an axially mounted hexagonal drive socket 36 which engages with the corresponding end of the core 16 as illustrated in Figure 5, and also a coaxial camming nose 38 which is generally bullet shaped in profile, and this is adapted to engage with a flanged outwardly facing edge 40 of each pivot arm 22, as it is moved axially into the core, from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 5.

In use, the rolls 18 of roadway material can thus be delivered to the site where they are to be laid, in a "spool-less"condition. The master spool assembly 16 is then slid into the interior of the roll, in the retracted condition as illustrated in Figure 2, with the flexible bands 80,82 rolled up around it so that the connecting plank 84 is adjacent its surface, and at the same time the edge of plank 84 is slid into engagement with the innermost edge of the inner end plank of the roll. The opposed drive members 34 of the spooling machine are then retracted outwardly. The roll, carrying the loose spool inside it, is then lifted into position by means of a suitable crane beam (not shown) mounted on the crane 6, and the drive members 34 are closed around the ends of the spool, so that the camming noses 38 move into the ends, whilst at the same time, the hexagonal drive sockets 36 engage in the ends of the core 16.

The axially inward movement of the camming noses 38 thus causes the pivot arms 22 carrying the grippers 20 to move axially outwardly, so as to engage the inside of the roll, thus effectively engaging the drive from the spooling machine with the roll, to allow subsequent unspooling of the roll to take place.

Thus when the first roll has been completely dispensed, the drive members 34 can again be retracted, and the expanding spool can be removed to allow it to be inserted into another roll of roadway material, and to be reused as many times as necessary.

Figure 7 illustrates a first type of roadway construction which is adapted to be rolled, in such a way as to be used with the above described expanding spool arrangement. As shown, it comprises an extruded aluminium "plank"50, which is hollow in section, but with transverse strengthening members 52 to improve its structural rigidity.

The upper and lower surfaces are ribbed in a direction along the length of the plank, i. e. transverse to the roadway, to improve the traction of vehicles moving along it.

One side edge 54 of the plank is formed with a longitudinally extending slot 56, whilst the opposite edge is formed with a specially shaped flange 58, which engages in the slot 56 of an adjacent plank as illustrated in Figure 8. The shape of the slot 56 and flange 58 are such that a degree of pivoting can be achieved between two such interconnected planks 50 and 60, as illustrated in Figure 8, so as to enable an assembly of a large number of such planks to be rolled up, as required for storage and delivery of the portable roadway system. The profiles of the section which enable this to be achieved are shown in more detail in Figure 9, which shows how the upper edge of the slot 56 is formed with a"nose"section 62 which cooperates with a corresponding recessed trough 64 running along the upper surface of the tongue 58, where it joins the main section of the plank body. Similarly, a protruding bead 66 formed on the under-surface of the flange 58 limits the upward and outward movement of one plank 50, relative to the other 60, by engaging with corresponding bead 68 on the other side of the slot 56.

Figure 10 illustrates a variation of the construction of Figure 7, in which the cross-section of the plank has a"zig-zag"form, rather than being hollow. This arrangement provides a more deeply grooved surface, and is once again provided with one edge 70, carrying a beaded slot, whilst the other edge comprises a corresponding beaded flange 72 which is a loose fit in the slot of an adjacent plank. Once again, the co-operation of the extension 76 and slot 70, as shown in Figure 11 is such that the assembly can be rolled up, the extension 72 carrying longitudinally extending beads 74 and 76 on its upper and lower surfaces which retain the extension in the slot.

Figure 12 shows a further alternative construction in which the corresponding parts have been given the same reference numerals as those of Figure 7. In this case the slot 56 on one edge of each plank, and the co-operating flange formation 58 on the other edge, are so shaped as to provide a constantly aligned hinging action between them.

In order to achieve this the flange 58 is formed with a part-cylindrical cross-section while the mouth of the slot 56 is formed with a first co-operating bead 86 having a convex profile on one side, and a second bead with a concave profile 88 on the other side. It will thus be clear from Figure 13, which shows the co-operation between the two parts, that a smoothly hinging connection can be achieved whose range is suitably limited by the formation of a suitable bead 90 on the edge of the tongue 58, which is adapted to butt against the inner edge of the bead 88.

The rolls of roadway material will normally be held in the coiled condition by means of a pair of ratchet straps (not shown) for storage, which also allow them to be easily attached to the crane beam to ensure level loading and unloading. In particular this ensures that the master spool can be accurately insert. ed or withdrawn.