GB807153A - Method and apparatus for moulding concrete articles - Google Patents

Abstract

807,153. Moulding concrete beams. TARMAC Ltd. July 14, 1955 [May 11, 1954], No. 13656/54. Class 87(2). [Also in Group XVII]. A machine for moulding concrete articles especially I section beams, comprises a mould having a part 29 which forms one side 30. and the base 31 of the mould and a part 35 which forms an opposite side of the mould and is pivoted at 36 to the part 29 so as to be capable of movement towards and away therefrom, the part 29 being pivoted at 32 to the bed 33 of the machine in such a manner that the complete mould can be moved from a filling position to a discharging position. The opening of the mould is accomplished by two hydraulic cylinders 39, 39a, the latter forming the piston rod of the former and itself having a piston rod 37. During the first part of the opening movement a roller 46 on the piston rod 37 rides on a surface 45 and keeps the mould parts closed until at a point controlled by a link 42 (or alternatively by micro-switches), the piston rod 37 is retracted into the cylinder 39a to swing the mould part 35 about the axis 36 in the opposite direction till the open position, Fig. 4, is reached. Thus the moulded article is supported until the mould part 35 can be withdrawn and the article becomes wholly supported by the main mould part 29. The base part 31 of the mould carries an ejection device comprising a plate 54 operated by the piston rods 55 of a number of cylinders 56 having flexible pipe connections through which hydraulic fluid may be forced automatically as soon as the opening movement is complete. The inner face of the main mould side 30 supports a pallet 51 shaped to mould one side of the I beam, the part 35 carrying a suitable facing 52 for the other side. When the mould is opened the pallet 51 is disposed under the horizontal web of the moulded beam and can be used for the subsequent transport thereof. The machine may be adapted to mould beams of different lengths by mounting end plates on the piston rods of cylinders carried on the fixed ends of the mould. The overall arrangement is shown in Fig. 1, and comprises a hopper 10 fed by a screw conveyer 11, the mould 29, 35, a discharge table 13, a stacking ram 14 and a delivery conveyer 15 with rollers 6 and guides 62, 63. The concrete mix is directed from the hopper into the mould by a splash plate 18, which is moved out of the way, when the mould opens, by a hydraulic cylinder 22, Fig. 4. A cylinder 25 moves a gate 24 to control the hopper opening 17. A beam 27 operated by hydraulic cylinder 28 tamps and smooths the upper face of the mix in the mould. The bed 33 has anti-vibration mountings 34. The discharge table 13 is lowered by a hydraulic cylinder 58, from the position where the moulded beam has been ejected by the cylinder 56, to a position where the pallet and beam are opposite the horizontally operating stackes 14, the piston-rod of which is telescopic to vane, the stroke limit suitably to the length of the layer of beams 64. Support beams 16 are laid manually or automatically, across the beams in the layer. A second layer of moulded beams is then laid on the support beams by lowering the table 13 a shorter distance and raising the horizontal stacker 14 a longer distance to correspond. A stack of superposed layers of beams is transferred by the conveyer 15 to the curing chamber, and when the moulded beams are cured they are stripped from their pallets 51, which are returned to the machine for further use. Pneumatic operation may be sustituted for hydraulic.