Transfer machine, system and paving material transfer method

Abstract

A machine system for use in paving a surface includes a supply unit configured to load a transfer machine with paving material from a hopper, and a transfer machine for supplying paving material to a paving machine. The transfer machine includes a receptacle having a recirculation system configured to recirculate paving material and a live floor having a conveyor for discharging paving material to a paving machine. The transfer machine may be compatible for road transport, and may be towed by the supply unit which may be configured for transport within the transfer machine.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to machine systems and material transfer strategies used in paving operations, and relates more particularly to a machine system and material transfer strategy wherein a high-volume transfer machine having surge capacity and a unique paving material supply and recirculation system is used to supply paving material to a paving machine.

BACKGROUND

Paving of surfaces with a mix of aggregate and residual petroleum material, commonly referred to as asphalt, is a familiar construction practice. In larger scale paving jobs, such as roads, parking lots and the like, a variety of machines may be involved in obtaining, transferring, and depositing paving material. It is common for haul trucks fully loaded with asphalt to arrive at a paving work site, unload their cargo into transfer machines or onto the ground, then return to an asphalt plant to acquire additional loads, while paving machines perform their intended work. The variety of machines at a given paving work site, including trucks, pavers, compactors, etc., tend to be relatively expensive to operate, hence maintaining operating efficiency and reducing machine downtime is often of paramount concern to project managers. Coordinating the operation of the numerous machines, and in particular orchestrating the delivery and deposition of relatively large quantities of paving material can determine the economic and practical success of many paving jobs.

It was common in prior paving practice to re-supply working paving machines with asphalt directly from a haul truck. While this approach is relatively efficient, it has proven to be less than ideal. When laying hot asphalt the uniformity of the asphalt mat can be affected by relatively minor bumps to the paving machine, easily done with a large haul truck attempting to dump directly into a paving machine's front hopper. In recent years, dedicated material transfer vehicles or “MTV's” have been increasingly used in many paving operations. MTV's are typically mobile machines which obtain asphalt from a supply machine such as a haul truck, or collect it from windows, then transport the asphalt for offloading to paving machines as needed. A single MTV may be used to service multiple paving machines. MTV's offer a number of advantages over conventional paving practices, and are now required for at least certain jobs in a number of jurisdictions, but have various drawbacks.

On the one hand, MTV's provide an improvement over attempting to load asphalt into a paving machine directly from a haul truck, as MTV's typically include extendable and/or swinging conveyors, making them inherently capable of more delicate and precise loading than from an elevated truck bed. Rather than dumping relatively large quantities directly into a paving machine hopper, and risking bumping the paving machine and affecting the integrity of the asphalt mat, MTV's typically extend their conveyor from a position laterally of a paving machine and relatively quickly and precisely replenish the supply of paving material in the machine's hopper.

A shortcoming of many MTV's, however, is that they tend to be quite complex, expensive and difficult to transport, often requiring over-width permits. They also do not typically have large capacities for paving material, limiting their ability to accommodate surges in supply as well as surges in demand. Most of the storage/transport volume of a typical MTV consists of the area of their conveyors. Without substantial capacity for accommodating surges in supply, haul trucks end up waiting in line to unload their large volumes of cooling asphalt. With regard to increases in demand, operation of a paving machine may need to slow or stop when an MTV cannot accommodate the surge.

While certain MTV's have a storage bin or the like, and a re-mixing system therein, they generally do not have any means for actually recirculating stored asphalt. Thus, older, cooler asphalt may continuously be mixed with fresher, hotter asphalt coming into the storage bin. The mixing augers proposed to address this problem in certain MTV's tend to mix substantially cooled chunks of relatively solid asphalt with relatively more fluid, hot asphalt in the MTV, and subsequently supply it to the paving machine. The end result in such instances can be a relatively less uniform asphalt mat, and poorer overall paving job.

One machine for use in a manner similar to that of the aforementioned MTV's is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,450 to Spears et al. (“Spears”). In the Spears design, entitled Mobile Conveyor For Paving Vehicles, a conveyor assembly is provided which is capable of supplying paving material to a paving machine. While Spears' design provides a number of separate units which may be positioned in a variety of ways to receive and discharge paving material in an apparently flexible manner, the apparatus is quite complex and unwieldy. Moreover, it lacks substantially in its potential storage volume for paving material and can therefore provide little, if any, ability to accommodate surges in supply or demand.

The present disclosure is directed to one or more of the problems or shortcomings set forth above.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a transfer machine for paving material. The transfer machine includes a frame, ground engaging elements mounted to the frame and a paving material receptacle also mounted to the frame. The receptacle includes a front end having a feed opening and a back end having a discharge opening, the receptacle further including a floor that comprises a conveyor for feeding paving material in a feed direction toward the discharge opening. The machine still further includes a recirculation system located within the receptacle which is configured to transfer paving material in a second direction opposite the feed direction.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a machine system for use in paving a surface. The machine system includes a supply unit having a hopper and a loading system configured to load a transfer machine with paving material from the hopper. The machine system further includes a transfer machine for supplying paving material to a paving machine. The transfer machine includes a paving material receptacle mounted to a frame, the receptacle including a front end having a feed opening, a back end having a discharge opening and a floor that comprises a conveyor configured to feed paving material in a feed direction toward the discharge opening. The transfer machine further includes a recirculation system located within the receptacle configured to transfer paving material in a second direction opposite the feed direction.

In still another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of transferring paving material with a transfer machine that includes a paving material receptacle having a floor that includes a conveyor and a recirculation system position therein. The method includes a step of transferring paving material with the conveyor in a feed direction toward a discharge opening of the receptacle. The method also includes a step of recirculating paving material at least in part by moving paving material within the receptacle in a second direction opposite the feed direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side diagrammatic view of a machine system according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the machine system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side diagrammatic view of a material transfer machine according to one embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a partially open back view of a transfer machine according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a side diagrammatic view of a machine system 10 according to one embodiment. Machine system 10 may include a plurality of machines, in the illustrated embodiment a supply unit 12 and a transfer machine 14. Machines 12 and 14 are also depicted as they might appear working in cooperation with a paving machine 16 and a haul truck 18. Machine system 10 may be used to supply paving material to paving machine 16 in a manner different from and providing advantages over, the state of the art. As will be further apparent from the following description, transfer machine 14 is capable of accommodating surges in paving material supply from haul truck 18, as well as surges in paving material demand from paving machine 16. System 10 will typically include a sufficiently large storage capacity that paving material may be stored when supply exceeds demand, for instance when haul truck 18 arrives with a full load, and the stored material used to accommodate a demand that exceeds supply, for example, where a paving width increases.

As mentioned above, supply unit 12 may be configured to supply paving material to transfer machine 14. In one embodiment, supply machine 12 may include a hopper 20 configured to receive paving material dumped therein from haul truck 18. Supply unit 12 may further include a supply system 22 having an elevator 24 configured to transfer paving material from hopper 20 and elevate the paving material to a feed opening 38 of transfer machine 14. Supply unit 12 is shown having a configuration similar to a conventional paving machine, including tracks 26 and an operator station 28. In one embodiment, operator station 28 might comprise a swing-out station enabling an operator to view either side of the system of machines. As further discussed herein, supply unit 12 may also be configured to tow transfer machine 14 and could be equipped with a 5th wheel plate or hitch for this purpose. Supply unite 12 may thus serve as a means for receiving offloaded paving material from haul truck 18, and supplying the paving material to transfer machine 14, which in turn can transfer the paving material to paving machine 16 as needed. In other embodiments, loading of transfer machine 14 might take place by some other means, such as by loading transfer machine 14 at an asphalt plant, then transporting transfer machine 14 to a job site. Transfer machine 14 might also be self-propelled, and could be controlled directly by an on-board operator, or indirectly via remote control from another machine.

Paving material supplied to transfer machine 14 may be loaded into a paving material receptacle mounted to a frame 15. A front set of ground engaging elements 30, which could be tracks, are shown coupled with frame 15, as are back ground engaging elements 32. Feed opening 38, adapted to receive paving material from supply unit 12 via elevator 24, may be located proximate to a front end 36 of receptacle 34. A discharge opening 42 may be located at a back end 40 of receptacle 34 to enable discharging of paving material into a hopper 17 of paving machine 16. In some embodiments, hopper 17 may be relatively smaller than in conventional paving machines, as less storage capacity is needed given the relatively large volume of receptacle 34. Paving machine 16 will typically deposit paving material onto a work surface for conventional working with a screed apparatus 21. In other embodiments, transfer machine 14 might include a screed apparatus similar to apparatus 21 mounted directly thereon. Transfer machine 14 might also be equipped with a movable conveyor or elevator at back end 40 to provide further flexibility in supplying paving material to a paving machine from various relative locations and/or orientations.

Transfer machine 14 may further include a recirculation system 50 located within receptacle 34 and configured to recirculate paving material therein. In one embodiment, recirculation system 50 may include a capture component 52 configured to capture paving material at a location adjacent discharge opening 42 and elevate the captured paving material. Elevated captured paving material may then be transferred via a transfer component 54 in a direction from back end 40 toward front end 36 to effectively roll the captured paving material on top of other paving material within receptacle 34. The configuration of recirculation system 50 can therefore provide true recirculation of paving material, as opposed to simply mixing paving material within a hopper, as is conventional in other paving machines. Where paving material supply exceeds demand, paving material which is not discharged via opening 42 to paving machine 16 may be elevated via capture component 52, then transferred via transfer component 54 back toward feed opening 38. Typically, excess paving material may build up toward back end 40, and recirculation system 50 can be actuated as needed to recirculate the excess for eventual deposition.

Referring also to FIG. 2, there is shown a top view of machine system 10, also with paving machine 16. Receptacle 34 of transfer machine 14 may comprise a storage volume for paving material, entirely enclosed but for feed opening 38 and discharge opening 42. For ease of illustration and description, portions of recirculation system 50 are visible in FIG. 2, as is a portion of a floor 44 of receptacle 34. Floor 44 may be a “live” or “living” floor comprising a conveyor for feeding paving material within receptacle 34 in a feed direction toward discharge opening 42. It will be noted that the feed direction is approximately opposite a transfer direction for paving material transferred via transfer component 54 of recirculation system 50. In one embodiment, capture component 52 may comprise one or more vertically oriented augers which elevate paving material vertically from floor 44 at a location adjacent discharge opening 42 to an elevation at which the paving material can be leveled and transferred back toward feed opening 38 via transfer component 54.

In one embodiment, a plurality of parallel floor elements or slats 46 may together comprise floor 44. Each of floor elements 46 may be reciprocable in a back and forth manner to incrementally move paving material within receptacle 34 toward discharge opening 42. In particular, floor elements 46 may be moved as a group in a first direction, toward discharge opening 42 at a first speed, then moved in subsets in reverse back toward feed opening 38 at a relatively more rapid speed. The result is serial pushing of paving material via floor 44 toward discharge opening 42. A variety of suitable designs and operating strategies for floor 44 are known and commercially available. In other embodiments, a different type of conveyor system such as a chain conveyor or the like might be used, however, a live floor system tends to be well suited to aggregate materials, quite durable and, hence, may provide a practical implementation strategy.

It may also be noted from FIG. 2 that receptacle 34 may include an interior width dimension W₁ whereas supply unit 12 may have an exterior width dimension W₂. In some embodiments, supply unit 12 may be adapted for transport and/or storage within transfer machine 14, and width dimension W₂ may be less than W₁. This feature would allow transfer machine 14 to be transported to a job site via highway-compatible transport, with supply unit 12 located inside. Once at the job site, supply unit 12 can be unloaded, transfer machine 14 decoupled from a transport machine, and supply unit coupled with transfer machine 14 such that it can receive and supply paving material to transfer machine 14. While transfer machine 14 may be self-propelled, as mentioned above supply unit 12 may also serve as a tow unit for transfer machine 14.

Turning to FIG. 3, there is shown an alternative transfer machine 114 equipped with a coupling 102. Coupling 102 may be configured for connecting with a hitch such as a fifth wheel hitch or the like, suitable for use in transporting transfer machine 114 as a trailer unit in the manner described above. Machine 114 may also include at least one swiveling support 60a for a first set of ground engaging elements 32a and may further comprise another swiveling support 60b for its other set of ground engaging elements 32b. Use of one or more swiveling supports 60a, 60b will enable transfer machine 114 to receive and/or supply asphalt from or to, respectively, a machine positioned in an adjacent travel lane, as well as imparting additional flexibility. Thus, while machine system 10 might operate with the general arrangement of machines shown in FIG. 2, it might also operate, using swiveling supports 60a, 60b similar to those shown on machine 114, with an arrangement wherein supply unit 12 is positioned in a first travel lane of a work surface, but paving machine 16 is positioned in an adjacent travel lane. Transfer machine 14, 114 could extend at an angle across the adjacent lanes, between machines 12 and 16.

Transfer machine 114 is also shown having a discharge chute 53 extending from its discharge opening 42 to assist in directing discharging asphalt as desired, as well as a lift gate 51 to control a relative size of discharge opening 42. Discharge opening 42 may be between about eight and about twelve inches in height in certain embodiments. Embodiments are contemplated wherein lift gate 51 is coupled with actuators (not shown) and electronically controlled to move up and down in response to a paving material feed demand of an associated paving machine such as machine 16. Thus, a floor 44 of transfer machine 114, similar to that shown with regard to machine 14 in FIG. 2, might be utilized to feed paving material at substantially a constant rate within a receptacle 134 of transfer machine 114. Control over discharge rate might be achieved by raising or lowering lift gate 51 as needed to enlarge or decrease discharge opening 42. Feed rate may also be controlled by adjusting a speed of movement of floor elements 46. Floor elements 46 could also be actuated only at certain intervals, as necessary to meet a demand from machine 16. A recirculation system 50 may also be positioned within receptacle 134 to recirculate paving material in a manner similar to that described above.

Turning to FIG. 4, there is shown a partially open back view of transfer machine 14 illustrating further features thereof. As mentioned above, capture component 52 may consist of vertically oriented parallel augers, for example two side-by-side augers as shown. Augers 52 may be spaced from floor 44 by a height “H” corresponding approximately to a height of discharge opening 42. Spacing of augers 52 from floor 44 could be adjusted in certain embodiments. A lift gate (not shown) might further be provided and used to control the size of discharge opening 42. Also shown in FIG. 4 are floor elements 46, which may have a triangular cross section as shown. Six floor elements 46 are shown, however, a greater or lesser number, or floor elements having a different configuration might be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Paving material may flow out of discharge opening 42 via the described action of floor elements 46. Where paving material is supplied in excess of that which can flow out of discharge opening 42, augers 52 may be actuated to capture and elevate the excess paving material. Captured paving material may thus be elevated toward horizontally oriented transfer component 54, also consisting of side-by-side augers, and in the illustrated embodiment, four such augers. A plurality of motors 56, for example, electric or hydraulic motors, may be coupled with a support beam 58 configured to support both capture component 52 and transfer component 54. Motors 56 might each be configured to drive one of the augers of each of capture component 52 and transfer component 54, for example via a right angle gear/drive.

Transfer machine 14 may further include an electronic controller 80 coupled with each of motors 56 via a communication line 79 and configured to activate the same, control their rotational speed(s), etc. In one embodiment, a payload sensor 76 may be coupled with receptacle 34 and configured to output signals via another communication line 77 which are indicative of a weight of paving material within receptacle 34, a proportion of a maximum allowable weight, etc. In one embodiment, sensor 76 might be coupled with movable support elements such as air springs 66 which support receptacle 34 on a support assembly 60 coupled with ground engaging elements 32. Support assembly 60 might also comprise a swiveling support assembly as described herein, having a first element 64 fixed relative to receptacle 34 and a second element 62 configured to swivel relative to first element 64 to enable ground engaging elements 32 to rotate about a vertical axis relative to receptacle 34, similar to the manner described above with regard to the embodiment of FIG. 3. During operation, electronic controller 80 may receive signals from payload sensor 76 and responsively control activation, speed, etc. of one or both of capture and transfer components 52 and 54. For example, payload sensor 76 might indicate that a mass of paving material within receptacle 34 is above a particular threshold, and electronic controller 80 might responsively conclude that recirculation of paving material therein should be initiated.

Receptacle 34 may include a plurality of body panels, for instance a top panel 72, and left and right side panels 70. In one embodiment, receptacle 34 may have a rectangular footprint similar to that of a conventional over-the-road trailer having a width corresponding to International Standardization Organization (“ISO”) containers. In one embodiment, receptacle 34 could be about eight feet wide, forty-eight feet long, and about thirteen and one half feet in height relative to the ground. Floor 44 may have a slightly smaller width than that of receptacle 34, but also have a rectangular footprint, matched to the footprint of receptacle 34. Fashioning receptacle 34 with an ISO-compatible footprint may allow road transport of transfer machine 34 without a need for over-width permitting.

Any of the body panels 70, 72 might comprise insulated panels, or include heater passages therein through which heated air or fluid might be passed to facilitate maintaining paving material within receptacle 34 at an appropriate temperature. Each of the augers of capture component 52, as well as the augers of transfer component 54, might also include heaters. In one embodiment, resistance heaters 74 or some other heater type might be positioned within panels 72 and also within each element of capture component 52 such that they may be heated to avoid sticking of paving material thereto, and to further facilitate maintaining of paving material within receptacle 34 at a desired temperature. Heaters 74 might also be connected with and controlled by electronic controller 80.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Referring to the drawings generally, a typical paving operation will begin by positioning transfer machine 14, paving machine 16 and supply unit 12 appropriately, approximately as shown in FIG. 1. Truck 18 may then begin offloading paving material into hopper 20 of supply unit 12, if it is not already loaded. Supply system 22 may be activated to begin supplying paving material via elevator 24 to transfer machine 14 via feed opening 38. Paving material within transfer machine 14 may be supplied in a feed direction toward discharge opening 42, eventually discharging to hopper 17 of paving machine 16. Once paving machine 16 begins to receive paving material, it may begin laying an asphalt mat via screed 21. Machines 18, 12, 14 and 16 may all move in concert across a work surface to be paved. When truck 18 has completed depositing material into hopper 20, it may depart.

Truck 18 will typically be capable of offloading paving material substantially faster than paving machine 16 is able to lay an asphalt mat. Extra paving material may accumulate in hopper 17, within receptacle 34 and within hopper 20 of supply unit 12. When paving material begins to become depleted in the aggregate storage volume of the various machines, a truck such as truck 18 may be dispatched to re-supply. In many cases, more than one paving machine may operate at a given job site, and more than one haul truck will be made available to ensure that the supply of paving material does not run so low that any paving machines must halt operation. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a common challenge to orchestrating the efficient operation of all of the machines performing a particular paving job is avoiding idle haul trucks filled with hot paving material. Not only does such a situation represent undesired down time, it also can result in hardening of asphalt within the trucks themselves. In conventional paving practice, it is common for multiple haul trucks to have to wait at a job site before MTV's can be made available for offloading. In some instances, haul trucks actually dump their loads for subsequent pick-up by MTV's and the like, and in extreme examples may be forced to simply dump their load at remote locations to avoid congealing of paving material within the truck.

The present disclosure addresses problems associated with backed-up haul truck traffic by providing a system wherein ample storage volume is available within transfer machine 34, 134 to accommodate surges in supply resulting from the arrival of loaded haul trucks. Likewise, surges in demand such as an increase in paving width are readily accommodated. In addition, where haul trucks are delayed, the extra storage capacity can provide sufficient extra paving material such that paving does not need to be halted. Rather than requiring haul trucks to supply paving material until shortly prior to the end of a work day, for example, the extra storage capacity will also enable paving material supply activities to be concluded some time prior to the end of paving. Recirculation system 50, in cooperation with insulation and heaters within receptacle 34, 134 also provides a means for ensuring that excess paving material is recirculated for use and maintained at a proper temperature rather than stored and/or allowed to cool until its properties render it unusable or clog parts of the system. Finally, use of a floor comprising a conveyor as described allows transfer machine 34, 134 to offload its own load of paving material relatively rapidly should the need arise. MTV's generally do not have this capability, as they tend to rely on chain conveyors and the like, which are less well suited to certain aggregates, particularly viscous paving materials. These features are all made possible in a relatively simple, robust and easily transported system.

The present description is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed to narrow the breadth of the present disclosure in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications might be made to the presently disclosed embodiments without departing from the intended spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For instance, while the present disclosure is depicted in the context of a living floor trailer having movable floor elements or slats, some other conveyor might be used, such as a chain conveyor configured to rotate about rolling elements supported by frame 15. In addition, while supply unit 12 may be used in many instances to supply paving material to transfer machine 34, 134 and possibly tow transfer machine 34, 134, embodiment are contemplated wherein transfer machine 34, 134 is self-propelled and configured to receive paving material offloaded directly from truck 18 or the like. Loading of transfer machine 34, 134 might also be achieved via a windrow pick-up device or the like coupled with either of supply unit 12 or transfer machine 34, 134. Other aspects, features and advantages will be apparent from an examination of the attached drawings and appended claims.

Claims

1. A transfer machine for paving material comprising:

a frame;

a plurality of ground engaging elements mounted to said frame;

a paving material receptacle mounted to said frame, the receptacle including a front end having a feed opening, a back end having a discharge opening and a floor that comprises a conveyor configured to feed paving material in a feed direction toward said discharge opening; and

a recirculation system located within said receptacle configured to transfer paving material in a second direction opposite said feed direction.

2. The transfer machine of claim 1 wherein said recirculation system comprises a capture component positioned adjacent said discharge opening and a separate transfer component supported within said receptacle opposite said floor.

3. The transfer machine of claim 2 wherein said capture component is spaced from said floor and configured to elevate captured paving material.

4. The transfer machine of claim 2 wherein said capture component comprises at least one vertically oriented auger and wherein said transfer component comprises at least one horizontally oriented auger.

5. The transfer machine of claim 1 comprising at least one swiveling support assembly for said ground engaging elements positioned at one or both of said front end and said back end and coupled with said frame.

6. The transfer machine of claim 5 wherein said at least one swiveling support assembly includes a support assembly positioned at said back end, said frame further comprising a tow coupling at said front end adapted to connect with a hitch.

7. The transfer machine of claim 1 wherein:

said receptacle comprises walls defining a rectangular footprint and said floor defines a footprint matched to the footprint of said receptacle;

said conveyor comprises a plurality of parallel reciprocable floor elements; and

said transfer machine further comprises heating elements disposed in at least one of, said walls, said floor elements, said capture component and said transfer component.

8. The transfer machine of claim 1 further comprising at least one payload sensor, at least one motor for said recirculation system and an electronic controller configured to control said at least one motor responsive to an output of said at least one payload sensor.

9. A machine system for use in paving a surface comprising:

a supply unit having a hopper and a loading system configured to load a transfer machine with paving material from said hopper; and

a transfer machine for supplying paving material to a paver, said transfer machine comprising a paving material receptacle mounted to a frame, the receptacle including a front end having a feed opening, a back end having a discharge opening and a floor that comprises a conveyor configured to feed paving material in a feed direction toward said discharge opening;

said transfer machine further including a recirculation system located within said receptacle configured to transfer paving material in a second direction opposite said feed direction.

10. The machine system of claim 9 wherein said recirculation system further comprises a capture component configured to capture paving material adjacent said discharge opening and a separate transfer component configured to transfer captured paving material in said second direction.

11. The machine system of claim 10 wherein said transfer component is supported in said receptacle opposite said floor and includes a plurality of parallel augers configured to transfer captured paving material from said back end toward said front end of said transfer machine, and wherein said capture component also comprises a plurality of parallel augers which are configured to elevate captured paving material to said transfer component.

12. The machine system of claim 10 wherein said supply unit is configured to couple with said transfer machine for towing thereof, and wherein the loading system of said supply unit includes an elevator for supplying paving material into said feed opening.

13. The machine system of claim 12 wherein said receptacle comprises walls extending between said front and back ends and defining an interior width, and wherein said supply unit has another width which is less than said interior width to enable positioning said supply unit within said receptacle.

14. A method of transferring paving material with a transfer machine that includes a paving material receptacle having a floor that includes a conveyor and a recirculation system positioned therein, comprising the steps of:

transferring paving material with the conveyor in a feed direction toward a discharge opening of the receptacle; and

recirculating paving material at least in part by moving paving material within the receptacle in a second direction opposite the feed direction.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising a step of:

discharging paving material from the discharge opening via the conveyor at a rate based at least in part on a demand for paving material from a paving machine;

wherein the step of recirculating paving material includes elevating paving material captured adjacent the discharge opening with a capture component of the recirculation system and transferring paving material in the second direction via a transfer component of the recirculation system.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising a step of increasing the rate of discharging paving material responsive to an increase in demand for paving material from the paving machine.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of loading paving material into the receptacle at a supply rate during discharging paving material, and storing excess paving material within the receptacle where the supply rate exceeds the demand for paving material from a paving machine.