3D printer for repairing crack in asphalt-concrete pavement and the asphalt binder used for the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement, comprising: a container for receiving asphalt binder; a heating pad connected at one end to the container and heating the asphalt binder introduced into the interior to a set temperature; a spray nozzle equipped with a spray hole for spraying the asphalt binder that has passed through the heating pad into the cracked part of the asphalt concrete pavement; a scanner for scanning the asphalt concrete pavement in three dimensions; a storage unit for storing an image of the asphalt concrete pavement scanned by the scanner; and a control unit for calculating the location and volume of the cracked part of the asphalt concrete pavement from the image of the asphalt concrete pavement in the storage unit, and controlling the location and amount of spraying of the spray nozzle so as to spray the asphalt binder into the cracked part.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavements using an automated device and an asphalt binder used therein. Background Technology

[0003] Asphalt is widely used on roads due to its viscoelastic properties. While these characteristics contribute to safe driving, they also pose a significant risk of cracking and / or potholes due to load and temperature fluctuations. Depending on the structural damage occurring in the asphalt, driver safety can be compromised, either due to the damage itself or external factors such as water ingress. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically maintain and repair asphalt concrete pavements to address these issues.

[0004] However, existing methods for repairing cracks in asphalt concrete pavements have the problem of requiring significant time and labor, as workers must personally locate and repair cracks formed throughout the road. In addition, cracks may not be recognized if they are not easily visible to the naked eye, and excessive asphalt binder may be used because it is difficult to predict the volume of cracks formed during the repair process.

[0005] Therefore, technology is needed to accurately measure the location and volume of cracks in asphalt concrete pavements and to automate the resulting repairs.

[0006] The aforementioned background technology is technical information that the inventor possessed or acquired during the process of deriving the embodiments of the present invention, and it cannot be considered as prior art disclosed to the general public prior to the filing of the embodiments of the present invention. The problem to be solved

[0008] To solve the above problem, the present invention provides a 3D printer that accurately measures the location and volume of cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement using a LiDAR scanner and repairs them by spraying asphalt binder with a 3D printer based on the calculated data, and an asphalt binder used in the device. means of solving the problem

[0010] A 3D printer for repairing a cracked portion of an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention may include: a container for receiving an asphalt binder; a heating pad connected to one end of the container to heat the asphalt binder introduced into the interior to a set temperature; a spray nozzle equipped with a spray hole for spraying the asphalt binder that has passed through the heating pad into a cracked portion of the asphalt concrete pavement; a scanner for scanning the asphalt concrete pavement in three dimensions; a storage unit for storing an image of the asphalt concrete pavement scanned by the scanner; and a control unit for calculating the location and volume of the cracked portion of the asphalt concrete pavement from the image of the asphalt concrete pavement in the storage unit, and controlling the location and amount of spraying of the spray nozzle so as to spray the asphalt binder into the cracked portion.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the scanner may be characterized as being a LiDAR sensor.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, it may further include a motor that provides power, a rotating shaft that rotates around a predetermined axis by the power of the motor, and a spiral-shaped rotating blade connected to the rotating shaft within the injection nozzle to transport asphalt binder to the injection hole.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may be characterized by designating a point cloud in an image of an asphalt concrete pavement, connecting the point clouds to form a 3D mesh, and identifying a cracked part of the asphalt concrete pavement according to the 3D mesh.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may be characterized by setting the temperature of the heating pad according to the ratio of the asphalt binder.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a transfer rail may be further included to be connected to at least one of a scanner and a spray nozzle, for transferring asphalt concrete pavement along x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis formed perpendicular to each other for scanning and repairing.

[0016] An asphalt binder according to one embodiment of the present invention is an asphalt binder used in a 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement, and may include asphalt, aggregate and waste glass.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the proportion of waste glass may be characterized as being in the range of 10% or more and 50% or less of the combined weight of asphalt and aggregate. Effects of the invention

[0019] The present invention can accurately calculate the location and volume of cracked parts requiring repair in asphalt concrete pavement and repair them.

[0020] In addition, the present invention can automate the repair of cracked parts of asphalt concrete pavement.

[0021] In addition, the present invention is economical because it can repair cracked parts of asphalt concrete pavement with a single device.

[0022] The effects obtainable from the invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other unmentioned effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention belongs from the description below. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a photograph of a 3D printer for repairing a cracked part in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the control sequence of a control unit in a 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a 3D mesh obtained by scanning a cracked portion of a control unit in a 3D printer for repairing a cracked portion in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0025] The present invention will become clear from the embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below but may be implemented in various different forms. These embodiments are provided merely to ensure that the disclosure of the present invention is complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. Meanwhile, the terms used in this specification are for describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0026] Throughout this specification, the singular form includes the plural form unless specifically stated otherwise in the text.

[0027] Throughout this specification, the terms “comprises” and / or “comprising” as used mean that the mentioned components, steps, actions and / or elements do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components, steps, actions and / or elements, and that, unless specifically stated otherwise, they do not exclude other components but may include additional components.

[0028] Additionally, terms such as "...part" as used throughout this specification refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0029] Furthermore, throughout this specification, when a part is described as being "connected" to another part, this includes not only cases where they are "directly connected," but also cases where they are connected "with other components in between."

[0031] The present invention will be described in more detail below.

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a photograph of a 3D printer (1) for repairing a cracked part in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 1, a 3D printer (1) for repairing a cracked part in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a container (10), a heating pad (20), a spray nozzle (30), a scanner (40), a storage unit, and a control unit. Each component may be configured on a single main body or each may be configured on separate main bodies.

[0034] The container (10) is configured to accommodate asphalt binder, which is a material for repairing cracked areas in asphalt concrete pavement (AP). The shape and material are not particularly limited, but in one embodiment, it may be a ring shape with an open top and bottom surface and a radius that narrows toward the bottom surface, and the material may be made of stainless steel. In this case, the asphalt binder may be configured to be introduced through the open top surface and then transferred along the open bottom surface to the heating pad (20) described below.

[0035] The heating pad (20) is configured to heat the asphalt binder to maintain it at a set temperature. Asphalt in the asphalt binder is particularly sensitive to temperature, and if it is below a certain temperature, it hardens, which can cause problems that make it difficult to spray. Therefore, in order to maintain fluidity according to the type of material and mixing ratio in the asphalt binder, it is necessary to heat it to a set temperature, and there is an advantage in being able to maintain this through the heating pad (20). Accordingly, one end of the heating pad (20) is connected to the container (10), so that the asphalt binder contained in the container (10) flows into the heating pad (20), thereby heating it to maintain the set temperature.

[0036] The spray nozzle (30) is configured to spray asphalt binder, and can repair cracked parts of asphalt concrete pavement (AP) by spraying asphalt binder introduced through the heating pad (20) into a spray hole formed at the other end. In one embodiment, the spray nozzle (30) may be an extruder nozzle.

[0037] In particular, the present invention may further include additional internal components for effectively transporting asphalt binder.

[0038] In one embodiment, an asphalt binder can be transported to a spray hole through a motor (60), a rotating shaft that rotates by power provided by the motor (60), and a spiral-shaped rotating blade connected to the rotating shaft within a spray nozzle (30). Here, the motor (60) may be configured as a step motor (60), and the flow rate of the asphalt binder can be controlled by changing the rotational speed and rotational angle of the motor (60) according to the material, mixing ratio, temperature, etc. of the asphalt binder.

[0039] A scanner (40) is configured to scan the surface of an asphalt concrete pavement (AP) to identify defects such as cracks and / or potholes in the asphalt concrete pavement (AP). Generally, asphalt concrete pavements (AP) are manually repaired by visually inspecting their condition. However, this requires significant time and labor, and the problem arises that workers are exposed to potential dangers from moving vehicles because they must find the defects themselves.

[0040] Therefore, the present invention can solve the above-mentioned problem by automatically setting a process to detect defects such as cracks in asphalt concrete pavement (AP), measure the degree of defects, and repair them.

[0041] In particular, in the present invention, the scanner (40) may be a LiDAR sensor as one embodiment. The LiDAR sensor can more effectively obtain an image of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) by irradiating a laser toward the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) and receiving the reflected laser to obtain data.

[0042] In one embodiment, the scanner (40) can be operated in a range of 150mm to 700mm, the single point precision can be set to 0.1mm or less, and the scan speed can be set to a maximum of 30FPS.

[0043] The storage unit (not shown) and the control unit (not shown) are configured to store an image of an asphalt concrete pavement (AP) scanned by a scanner (40), extract a cracked part in the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) through image data processing, and control a spray nozzle (30) to repair it. In one embodiment, the storage unit and the control unit may be composed of one of the components of a central processing unit, and may be configured to process, analyze, and direct operations of images stored through the main memory via the control unit.

[0044] In particular, the storage unit can store at least 20 images of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) scanned by the scanner (40) at each location.

[0045] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the control sequence of a control unit in a 3D printer (1) for repairing a cracked part in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 illustrates a 3D mesh obtained through scanning of a cracked part by a control unit in a 3D printer (1) for repairing a cracked part in an asphalt concrete pavement according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0046] Referring to FIG. 2, the control unit can calculate the location and volume of the cracked portion of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) from an image stored in the storage unit. More specifically, a point cloud of a set point in the image of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) can be designated and analyzed using an algorithm of a Matlab program, and then the points of the point cloud can be connected. In this process, the surface of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) can be represented, or the intersection points between the image and the plane can be removed to form a 3D mesh of the cracked portion of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP), as shown in FIG. 3.

[0047] According to the above process, cracked parts of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP) can be identified, and the volume of the cracked part requiring repair can be calculated through the location, width, and depth. This 3D model data can be converted into G-code, and after moving the spray nozzle (30) to the location of the cracked part according to the value, the amount of asphalt binder sprayed can be controlled to match the volume of the part.

[0048] In particular, to more effectively scan for cracks in asphalt concrete pavement (AP) and repair them, additional configurations are required to move each configuration in three dimensions. In the present invention, a scanner (40) for scanning in three dimensions and a spray nozzle (30) for spraying asphalt binder at a location requiring repair may be further included, and a transfer rail (50) that moves the nozzle to a required location according to the instructions of a control unit.

[0049] The transfer rail (50) may be formed such that three axes (x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis) are formed perpendicular to each other, and the rail may be formed so that each component of the present invention can move freely in the three axial directions. Here, the rail may be formed as a tube with a predetermined cylindrical shape as in one embodiment with reference to FIG. 1, and may be coupled with a coupling member that contacts the outer surface of the tube, so that the coupling member can be moved along the three axes according to a certain electrical signal and stop at a required position.

[0050] In addition, the scanner (40) and the spray nozzle (30), as well as other components of the present invention such as the container (10) and / or the heating pad (20), can also be transported along the transport rail (50). The components that can be transported along the transport rail (50) can be adjusted according to the characteristics of the device.

[0052] Meanwhile, the control unit can set the temperature of the heating pad (20) according to the ratio of the asphalt binder. As previously mentioned, in order to effectively repair cracked parts of the asphalt concrete pavement (AP), it is necessary to maintain the asphalt binder at a set temperature. Below, the asphalt binder used in the 3D printer (1) of the present invention will be described in more detail.

[0053] The asphalt binder used in the 3D printer (1) of the present invention may include asphalt, aggregate, and waste glass. Asphalt may be PG 58-22 (AP3) and / or PG 64-22 (AP5) as in one embodiment, and may be configured as shown in Table 1 below for more details.

[0055] Specification PG 58-22 (AP3) PG 64-22 (AP5) Test Method Specific Gravity 1.037 1.039 AASHTO T 228 Absolute Viscosity at 60 ℃, Poises 1,120 2,030 AASHTO T 202 Penetration at 25℃, dmm 110 70 AASHTO T 40

[0057] Waste glass can be used by mixing it with an asphalt binder in a predetermined ratio. In one embodiment, the size can be set by sieving according to AASHTO T 27, and more detailed specifications can be configured as shown in Table 2 below. In particular, it is desirable to form the ratio of waste glass to the combined weight of asphalt and aggregate in the range of 10% to 50%.

[0059] Sieve size (mm) 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.425 0.3 0.15 0.075 Passing (%) 100 100 100 55.34 41.68 24.30 8.65 1.69

[0061] Asphalt binder can be manufactured, in one embodiment, by heating asphalt and aggregate in an oven at 150°C for about 2 hours, mixing them with waste glass, and then heating the mixture in an oven for an additional 30 minutes.

[0063] Although the present invention has been described above by limited embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is obvious that various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention and the equivalent scope of the claims described below by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. Explanation of the symbols

[0065] 1: 3D printer for repairing cracks in asphalt concrete pavement 10: Container 20: Heating pad 30: Spray nozzle 40: Scanner 50: Transfer rail 60: Motor AP: Asphalt concrete pavement

Claims

Claim 1 A 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement, comprising: a container for receiving asphalt binder; a heating pad connected at one end to the container to heat the asphalt binder introduced into the interior to a set temperature; a spray nozzle equipped with a spray hole for spraying the asphalt binder that has passed through the heating pad to the cracked part of the asphalt concrete pavement; a scanner for scanning the asphalt concrete pavement in three dimensions; a storage unit for storing an image of the asphalt concrete pavement scanned by the scanner; and a control unit for designating a point cloud in the image of the asphalt concrete pavement in the storage unit, connecting the point clouds to form a 3D mesh to identify the cracked part of the asphalt concrete pavement according to the 3D mesh, calculating the location and volume of the cracked part of the asphalt concrete pavement, controlling the location and spray amount of the spray nozzle so as to spray the asphalt binder to the cracked part according to the calculated location and volume, and setting the temperature of the heating pad according to the mixing ratio of asphalt, aggregate, and waste glass constituting the asphalt binder. A 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement, characterized in that the proportion of waste glass is in the range of 10% to 50% of the weight of the asphalt binder composed of the asphalt and aggregate. Claim 2 A 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement, characterized in that, in claim 1, the scanner is a LiDAR sensor. Claim 3 A 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement according to claim 1, further comprising a motor providing power, a rotating shaft rotating about a predetermined axis by the power of said motor, and a spiral-shaped rotating blade connected to said rotating shaft within said spray nozzle to transport said asphalt binder to said spray hole. Claim 4 delete Claim 5 delete Claim 6 A 3D printer for repairing cracked parts in asphalt concrete pavement according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer rail connected to at least one of the scanner and the spray nozzle, for transporting the asphalt concrete pavement along x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis formed perpendicular to each other for scanning and repairing. Claim 7 delete Claim 8 delete

Images