GB2339403A

GB2339403A - Casting of multiple building blocks with pivotable individual mould members

Info

Publication number: GB2339403A
Application number: GB9915178A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony William Hardy-Harding
Original assignee: HARDY HARDING ANTHONY WILLIAM
Current assignee: HARDY HARDING ANTHONY WILLIAM
Priority date: 1998-07-08
Filing date: 1999-06-29
Publication date: 2000-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 2019-06-29
Also published as: GB9915178D0; GB2339403B

Description

2339403- CASTING OF MULTIPLE BUILDING BLOCKS This invention relates to

casting of multiple building blocks.

It is known within the building industry to manufacture concrete structures, e.g. blocks, by pouring a mixture of aggregate such as cement, sand and granite or stone chippings into a mould and applying pressure by means of a hydraulic ram to the aggregate in order to compact the mixture and to squeeze out the water. This action leaves a substantially solid block of concrete which, after being left to "cure" for a few days, may then be used to build walls or other structures. The use of these blocks speeds up the building process when compared with traditional "bricks and mortar" building systems.

One detriment of this method of casting concrete blocks lies in the fact that on lifting the mould from the cast block, the side faces and edges of the block often become damaged, and also the moulds are found to be difficult to clean before they are used again, and stacking the empty moulds is a laborious and space consuming operation.

A recently developed building system which has become popular in some areas is aimed at giving the appearance of traditional so called "flint and mortar' areas of walls wherein flint stones are laid on a bed of mortar so that their cut surfaces are seen on the outer face of the wall. Further layers of flint stones and mortar are then built up on the lower layers until the required height is reached.

This traditional building system provides an attractive elevation to the structure but is necessarily slow and therefore labour intensive and costly. Building work giving the same appearance is sometimes done by using pre-formed concrete blocks which have the flint stones already set therein. While the building work is accomplished more speedily, the manufacturing time for making the blocks is greater than that using the hydraulic pressing system as the pre-formed blocks with inset flint stones do not lend themselves to that system and have to be left in the mould to ITcure" naturally for two or more days.

According to the invention there is provided multiple building block casting apparatus comprising a base member and plurality of individual mould members, each 2 mould member comprising a pair of upstanding side walls set at an angle to each other, and locating means to locate each mould member on the base member adjacent one or more similar mould members in a manner such that it is pivotable away from said one or more similar mould members whereby a block cast in the mould member can be easily released.

Preferably each of the upstanding side walls diverges, from a junction with the other of the side walls, towards a respective free end and at least a part of the locating means is provided at one or other free end.

Advantageously the locating means comprises a plurality of holes in the base member and a downwardly projecting pin on each mould member to engage in a respective one of the holes and about which the mould member may be pivoted.

Advantageously the locating means comprise an apertured plate on one of the mould members to be engaged by a pin provided on another of the mould members.

Advantageously the base member has an upstanding side member at each of two abutting sides thereof to close initial ones of the mould members located on the base member.

Preferably the upstanding side walls of the mould members are at a right angle to each other.

Such apparatus can be readily dismantleable for access to the cast blocks and can readily be used for casting "flint and mortar" cast building blocks.

The multiple building block casting apparatus may be used in casting concrete blocks incorporating flint stones or other such decorative media within the aggregate which constitutes the blocks.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure I is a plan view of one form of an assembled mould unit of apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is a section view on the line II-H of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section view on the line HI-ITI of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a mould base member of the apparatus of Figure 1; 3 Figure 5 is a perspective view of an individual mould member of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a perspective view of another individual mould member of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of a different form of individual mould member of apparatus according to the invention; Figure 8 is a plan view of assembled parts seen in Figure 7; Figure 9 is a plan view of the assembled mould unit of Figure 1 during the process of casting building blocks; Figure 10 is a perspective view of a building block incorporating flint stones; Figure 11 is a section view of the block seen in Figure 10; Figure 12 is an elevation of part of a wall built with the blocks of Figures 10 and 11; and Figure 13 is a view similar to Figure 9 showing the mould in use for casting blocks of the type seen in Figures 10, 11 and 12.

As seen in the drawings, multiple building block casting apparatus comprises a base plate 2 having an upstanding side member 4 and a similar upstanding end member 6. The base plate 2 is formed with a number of spaced holes 8, the purpose of which will become clear from the following description. A pair of cross members

10 are welded to the underside of the base plate 2 to provide guides for the location of the forks of a fork-lift truck and to act as spacers during stacking of the mould units.

As seen clearly in the plan views and particularly in Figures 5 and 6, individual mould units 12 and 12A are each formed by a vertical upstanding longitudinal wall 14 and 14A and a transverse wall 16 and 16A. The forward end of the wall 14, 14A has a pin 18 welded thereto and depending downwardly therefrom.

That pin 18 is arranged to locate in one of the holes 8 in the base plate 2 during assembly of the complete mould unit. It will be clear from the plan views of the assembled moulds that the units 12A, i.e. those seen in Figure 6, are one half of the length of those 12 seen in Figure 5, and are required to form half-blocks.

On assembly of the apparatus as seen in Figure 1, the base plate 2 with its 4 attached cross members 10 is laid on level ground or suitable supports and then one of the mould units 12 denoted A is placed in position by lociting its pin 18 in the appropriate hole 8 and pivoting the mould unit anticlockwise until the end of the transverse wall 16 locates against the side member 4 of the base plate. The pin of the next unit 12 denoted B is similarly assembled followed by units C, D, and E, all the ends of their transverse walls 16 being brought into contact with the side member 4.

The next adjacent row of mould members F, G, H, J, K, L are then similarly assembled with their respective pins 18 located in their respective holes 8 in the base plate and the ends of their transverse walls 16 abutting the walls 14 of the first row of mould members 12. It will be seen from the plan view of Figure I of the fully assembled moulds that the moulds 12A at F and L, at the two ends of this row, are arranged to form. half-blocks.

When all the rows of moulds are assembled complete, as seen in Figure 1, an end stop in the form of a length of angle iron 20 is attached by bolts and nuts 22 to retain the assembled mould units 12, 12A in position.

Referring now to Figure 9, the concrete mixture 24 may then be poured into the spaces within the moulds and left to cure for the required period of time and then the moulds are opened by pivoting each one about its pin 18, away from the edge surfaces of the block 26 as illustrated clearly in Figure 9. After each block has been removed from the mould unit the individual units 12 and 12A are themselves removed by raising them to remove their pins 18 from within the respective holes 8 in the base plate 2. The mould units 12, 12A can then be stacked within each other before being cleaned of residual concrete mix ready for re-assembly and reuse on a further batch of block manufacture.

In an alternative method the individual units 12 may be replaced by units 13, as seen in Figures 7 and 8 and wherein pins 19 are welded upstandingly from a vertical wall 15 and a small plate 17 having a hole 21 formed therein is welded to the topmost face of the wall so that the hole 21 overhangs the end of that wall. On assembly, the plate 17 is placed over the pin 19 of the adjoining unit and pivoted about the axis of that pin to locate the units in position as in Figure 1. The mould units may be readily disassembled as previously described and as illustrated in Figure 8.

As already mentioned, it has sometimes become the practice to build wall structures using building blocks which incorporate flint stones, or cobbles or other unwanted local rural naturally occurring material in order to impart a traditional appeal to the structure. In this type of walling block, seen in Figures 10 and 11, the customary cement, sand and aggregate mixture is poured into a mould to form a block Z, and flint stones pieces Y are inserted part way into the mixture while it is still in a moist state.

Since it is not possible to press this type of block as was the conventional practice with solid type concrete blocks, the use of a mould assembly of the invention lends itself ideally to the manufacture of such flint stone impregnated blocks, with their simple and convenient arrangement for stacking during curing.

It will be understood that after erecting a wall by setting each block Z on conventional mortar courses X and vertical joints W, the space between the flint stones on the outer face of the wall area is pointed using a conventional mortar and this pointing extends over the mortar course X and W. Thus the effect of a continuous wall of traditional flint stone construction is achieved.

The moulding of these type of flint stone blocks is illustrated in Figure 13 and fully cast flint stone inserted blocks may be raised within their moulds, e.g. by a fork lift truck, to be stacked above each other for curing.

Thus, in either case of moulding conventional concrete blocks, or flint stone inserted blocks, a mould assembly of the type described provides a simple arrangement of assembly, disassembly and stacking with a facility for ease of cleaning.

Although the above description and drawings relate to moulds for rectangular blocks, it is possible, without departing from the essence of the invention, to use individual mould units of alternative shapes in order to form building blocks which are other than rectangular, e.g. hexagonal, octagonal or other forms.

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Claims

1. Multiple building block casting apparatus comprising a base member and plurality of individual mould members, each mould member comprising a pair of upstanding side walls set at an angle to each other, and locating means to locate each mould member on the base member adjacent one or more similar mould members in a manner such that it is pivotable away from said one or more similar mould members whereby a block cast in the mould member can be easily released.

2. Multiple building block casting apparatus according to claim 1, in which each of the upstanding side walls diverges, from a junction with the other of the side walls, towards a respective free end and at least a part of the locating means is provided at one or other free end.

3. Multiple building block casting apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the locating means comprises a plurality of holes in the base member and a downwardly projecting pin on each mould member to engage in a respective one of the holes and about which the mould member may be pivoted.

4. Multiple building block casting apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the locating means comprise an apertured plate on one of the mould members to be engaged by a pin provided on another of the mould members.

5. Multiple building block casting apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the base member has an upstanding side member at each of two abutting sides thereof to close initial ones of the mould members located on the base member.

6. Multiple building block casting apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the upstanding side walls of the mould members are at a right angle to each other.

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7. Multiple building block casting apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.