US3177621A - Bricklaying machine - Google Patents

Description

April 13, 1965 o. D. DEMAREST 3, 77,521

BRICKLAYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1961 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 26 04 50b 1 1J0 T 96 /0 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS April 13, 1965 D. D. DEMAREST 77,621

BRICKLAYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20. 1961 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 :7 II ATTORNEYS I April 13 1565 D. D. DEMAREST 3,177,621

BRICKLAYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20. 1961 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR -Dmw4 D-DEMIREST ATTORNEYS April 13, 1965 D. D DEMAREST 3,177,621

BRICKLAYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20. 1961 '7 Sheets-Sheet '7 "all FIG. l3

VVVVV "III INVENTOR. DANIEL D. DEMAREST BY fwa/ 7M2 ATTORNEYS 3,177,621 BRICKLAYING MACHINE Daniel D. Demarest, Port Washington, N.Y., assignor to Demarest Machines, Inc., Port Washington, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 115,274 8 Claims. (Cl. 50-538) The present invention relates to the art of laying bricks so as to construct a conventional brick wall or partition.

The present application is a continuation in part of applicants prior co-pending application Serial Number 678,155 filed August 14, 1957, now abandoned.

The most useful of brick walls for modern buildings has been found to be a ten inch cavity wall which by present methods of construction is both difficult and expensive to lay by hand. However, it has been found the simplest wall to lay by machine.

A cavity wall consists of two separate walls or wythes. Each wythe or wall is one brick in width spaced apart by two and one-half inches and tied together by metal ties. These ties are usually Z shaped and are imbedded in the mortar joints about every 18 inches horizontally and vertically in the space between the walls.

Manual laying of such a cavity wall is difiicult in that each of the individual wythes are separated from each other and therefore must be lined up individually and also care must be taken that mortar applied will not fall into the space between the individual wythes. A very small layer of mortar adhering to one of the metal ties could possibly conduct moisture from the outer to the inner wythe and produce a damp spot on the inner surface of the finished wall construction.

A main advantage of this cavity wall is then when properly laid, the inner surface of the inner wall may be painted or have wall paper aflixed directly thereto.

. By laying such a cavity wall by machine it is much simpler to guard against a misalignment of the wall as the bricks are most accurately placed by the machine and both wythes will then rise parallel and equal in height.

Another advantage of the wythe wall is that it requires less mortar than does a single wall and further since all the bricks lie parallel to each other it is not necessary to turn the bricks in every fifth or sixth course so that single wythe wall of bricks.

The brick laying machine according to the present invention, is constructed as a vehicle, and disposed on a pair of rails to move parallel to the line along which the wall is to be built. The machine itself comprises a brick feed chute, from the bottom end of which one brick at a time is transferred to an elevator which raises the bricks to a level at which a course is being laid. The machine is constructed to build a single course wall or a double :course wall with a cavity or face between the two wall sections.

In order to remove the bricks from the elevator and onto the wall sections at the proper places, a pilot or pusher is periodically actuated to remove a brick from the elevator into a positioning box which places the brick in proper position on its course. The pilot and its actuating mechanism are carried on a vertically rising platform that serves also to provide the reference level for the pilot and its actuating equipment to remove the bricks in sequence, one at a time, fromthe elevator to the positioning box that places the brick in its course. Means are provided to'control the pilot to move the bricks alter- United States Patent "ice nately from one course to the other so that one pass of the vehicle along the line of the wall will sufiice to complete a course or layer on each of the wall sections. The rising reference platform also carries a mortar chute which serves to spread a layer of mortar on the top surface of the bricks in a course to prepare a mortar bed for the next course of bricks to be laid.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view, partially in elevation and partially in sections, alongside a wall in process of formation;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view looking down on the lower part of the machine and Wall, taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view looking down upon the machine of FIG. 1, taken along the lines 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view, partly in section, taken along the plane indicated by the lines 4-4 of FIG. 1, and looking toward the front of the machine and the wall being formed;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural and functional view of the pilot mechanism for controlling the positioning of the bricks for proper location on the respective parts of the wall being formed;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the mechanism in FIG. 5, showing the position of the pilot after having moved a brick into position to be laid on one of the wall sections;

FIG. 7 is a schematic end or side view of the cam finger arrangement for moving a brick from its feed chute onto a runway to be picked up by the elevator;

FIG. 8 is a view of the mechanism in FIG. 7 showing the position of the cam and a brick which has been moved into position on the runway ready to be lifted by the elevator;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 5 to show how the pilot actuating mechanism may be adjusted for laying bricks on only one section of the wal FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the broken-dash lines 1010 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the lines 11-11 in FIG. 3, to illustrate the manner in which the square shaft of the drive mechanism drives the cam control gear for the pilot which locates and positions the bricks onto the wall;

FIG. 12 is a front view, partially in elevation and partially in section, illustrating the manner in which each brick is placed in position on either part of the wall and the manner in which the mortar is distributed on the top surface of a laid course of bricks in preparation for the next course or layer; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a machine of this invention, showing how a supply of bricks is carried along by the machine and how a tongful is fed into the chute.

As shown in FIG. 1, a brick laying machine 20 comprises, generally, a traveling vehicle 22 provided with two sets of wheels 24, one set only being shown in FIG. 1, to ride on two tracks 26 disposed to be parallel to a line along which a wall 30 is to be built.

The machine 20 further comprises a brick receiving feed chute 32, from the lower end of which the bricks 34 are transferred, one at a time, by a transfer feeder cam 35 to an elevator 38 from which the bricks are again transferred, one at a time, at proper course level, and at proper time, to brick positioners 42 and 44, alternately, for proper positioning in the respective wall courses 3ll-a or 30-h, as will be described below.

At this time, an important feature will be noted. It will be realized that the type, the size and the weight of the bricks being used will determine the friction between the bricks 34 and the surface of the chute 32, depending upon the angle of tilt, of the chute. I Therefore the chute angle is made adjustable to minimize'the friction 'component of the bricks against the chute. The adjustment of the tilt angle 'of the. chute is preferably around the axis of r the cam 36. The floor and walls of the chute may be" covered in whole or in part, with friction-reducing strips 32-a of any of the suitable plastics, such as nylon and the like. This chute feed permits a tongful of bricks to be from the elevator. Therplatform also carries a'hopper' containing a supply of mortar,rand serves to move :the hopper over each course of brick in such mannerv asto deposit a layer of mortar for the next brickcourse.

The movable platform 46 also carries the variou's ap paratus units for placing the bricks in positionand for lines exerted by the two fingers ofthe-transfer cams 36. Thus, there is assurance that the front brick will not be merely shiftedvbutvwillactually be moved forward in the direction of rotaition of the cam, i.e., clockwise, as indicated by the arrow 36d, thereby bringing the brick 34a forward 'onto two spaced'runways 78, FIGS. 1 and 7. The frontrunway 78 is shown in FIG. 1, although it should r' not properly bein this figure since the plane on which FIG. 1 is taken has been indicated to be just behind this front runway 78; ;The lcam pair36is mounted on a shaft 82 which is driven by a pinion 84, which, in turn, is driven 'by a worm 86 on'a shaft'88 carrying a bevel gear 90,.tha't is engaged and driven by a second bevel gear 92 which then tamping them'in order to establish good overallcontact between the bottom surface of each brick and the mortar layer below the'bottomsurfac'e and along the end;

surfaces.

The various components of the apparatus that are car ried on the platform will bebriefly designated and then 1, receives its driving energy through a clutch 94 and a driven pulley 96 through a driving V-belt98 and a motor 100.

This power drive arrangement may be better seen in Various other details may "also be better seen in FIG. 2. The carriage 22 is a relatively rigid box structure with suitable. axles 108 for the rear wheels 24,,and a through axle 110. for the two front wheels. Power to move the car'ri-age. is derived from the mains-motor 100 which then,

transmi-tspower throughJthe V-belt 98' from the motor pulley 100a to the" pulley 96, the latter being supported;

on ajack shaft 97 with a reducing pulley 114 from which a second drive belt 116 drives'the input pulley 118 of a variable speed reducer 120 to provide a reduced output speed at an output pulley 124, which drives another V- each of. the elements will be described more detail in the r various figures of the drawings.

As shown in FIG., 1, the platform 46 is supported by I suitable ropes'48 operating over'pulleys and collected on a shaft 52 rotatable by a hand-wheel54., A counterweight 56 extendingacrossthe back ofthe machine helps i to balance the platform at any position to which the plat form is moved. Means are additionally provided to clamp j the platform at such position, as will be later described.

The movement of the bricks, one at the time, from the elevator 38 into the brick positioning boxes-42and 44, is

accomplished by a pusher rod that is pivotally support a both of which are slid-ingly keyed on a driven shaft 144 he1t 126 to'apulley 128 on the drive shaft of a wormand-pinion, speed reducer 134." The variable speed reducer 120 has a better. than 2 to 1 ratio, and is controllable by a handle 12,1,Ito vary the drive speed to the speed reducer 134.

1 The speed reducer 134 drives an output bevel gear 136 to drive either of two bevel driven gears 138 and 140,

e that carries :a drive sprocket 146-to drive a chain 148 to ed at thelower end of a pivoted double lever frame 62,;

which is controlled by a cam which .will be described in greater .detail in connection withFIGS' 5 and6 below.

' Inaddition to the brick pusher 60 and its control cam 65, the vplatform'46 carriesa'pressure tamper 68 and-a second control cam'70 for'that tamper. provided with" suitable pressure rollersv topressure v tamp ze'achfbrickto proper level its course against the thick layerof-mortar that was previously spread" The tamper; 68 consists of artamper -rod fm with two pressure arm's- 68a and 68b which support the associated'rollers' esaa" jJof the carriage on. the tracks.

drivea'driven sprocket 150cm the through axle associated with the two front wheels 24 of the carriage. Thus, reducer 134 controls the forward or backward movement Because I the input speed {,toreducer 134' is adjustable; by means of handle-121 and 1:45 The tamper-1s 'and68bb' as pressure* elementahndwithtwo guide rods 72a and 72b, that hold the pressure tamper 68 in proper 7 horizontal position againstskewing as the tamper is moved 1 upand down vby the tamping rod: 74 under control of its 'canr70.. V

36, which is shown a's' one elernent,in FIG.,.1, willibe latter I shown,]in'FIGS,. Z'and 3,;to'consist ofc'a pair-of spaced" elementsgin order .that'the front brick 34a beinggrnoved by the transfer cam 36 shall ,be engaged :attw'ospa'cedjl points so thebrick will be keptparallel to its original posivariable speed reducer -independently of and without altering ,the rateoffbrick deposit as, determined by the 7 speed of i pulley' 96," thewidth of the vertical mortar joint maybe readily controlled bythe machinefoperator. The weight of the carriage is suflicient to provide adeq uate traction between thefront wheels and the guide rail tracks 26 to enable those wheels toshift the carriage forwarder backward on .the -tracks26 as controlled by the operator-[through the mediuinrof a control' handle which'serves toshift either of the two driven-bevel .;gears 138' or 140 int 'd engagement with e drivf gbevel'clea 5 -The clutching-and de clutching action between the driv- L I j I a I ing bevel 136 and the driven bevels 138,140 are merely Before passing from FIG. 1 there are someother details that maybe brieflylreferred to. The brick transfer camf' schematically illustrated since. thatjmechanical construc- I tion and arrangement is well'known inthe art.

" By means of the .control handle 155, the movement of the 'entire carriage may be progressively and gradually controlled formovement-along theline of the wall while the otheripartsof the machine progressively perform the operationof layingthe bricks. e I I tiofn onithe chute while it is moved toithe elevator,,.;Each' of the transfer cams 36 is shaped substantiallyias shown. in r FIGk-l, and embodies the-hook; or finger 36a at 'sub'stan-f, f tially the maximum radius of thecam, just: radially beyond the mini nummadius of thefcarn section at theiregio'n 36b; ,7 directly underneaththe finger -36a, thereby defining atQn i stack of inclined bricksgwhichare not shown inthis'fig- V ur e. chute 3 2;isshown provided withtwo notches and 162 along its lowe r edge, into and through which I the camfinger 36- 4 ofv each of the twobrick-shiftingcams I .1 36 y r'noveto' lift the; lowermost ,b'rick 345g of FIG; 1,.

not, showriiin' th-islfigure,'onfo theltwo runways 78 to the osition i iridicatedhere in "dotted-outline 34-4, to be' dicavity 360. 'That concavity 36c,p ei=mits' the1lower f nt mum radius cam surfaces in front of the-linelof" force from the fingers 36a offtheitransfencamsi36; as, better:

' shown in'FIG 7,. That'brings theicenter of g ravityjof the I gravity ofthe brick also in front of thetwopressuro fofr'ceji r o rho} edge of front brick 34a to move forward onto the mmi-' V "It isf appropriate at this pointtoide ntify those elements e53 in 2lthatcolntrol the progressive transfer and move- 'men t of thebricksthrough the m'achine, asqwas previous-1' ly describedfin connection with the description of FIG.

1 Theiriclinedchute 32-is indieatedfwhich receives the rectly in the path of a pair of cooperating shelf brackets 164 and. 166 supported on the links of the associated continuous traveling chains 168 and 170, that together constitute the elevator indicated as 38 in FIG. 1. The arrangement of these two elevator chains 168 and 170 may now be more fully appreciated with reference to FIG. 4. Each of the continuous chains 168, 170 is suitably supported on a pair of associated spaced sprocket wheels 168-a and 168-b, and 170-a and 170-b. The chain links ride over the sprockets in the usual manner, with periodically spaced links serving as supports for the bracket shelves 164 and 166.

The two chains 168 and 170 are driven synchronously through a worm and pinion drive 178 and 180, thus assuring that each pair of cooperating shelves 164 and 166 will be in proper horizontal level position throughout synchronized rising motion.

As is further shown in FIG. 4, the two cams 36 are shown pinned to the shaft 82 that also carries the two driving worms 178 and 180. The shaft 82 derives its driving power from the gear 84 shown in FIG. 2 previously described. The two runways 78 are also shown between the two cam elements 36. The two runways 78 will normally support a brick indicated as 34-a in dotted lines which extends sufiiciently beyond the runways 78 to be accessible to the shelf brackets 164 and 166 just rising from the bottom level of the two chains 168 and 170.

As is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a sprocket 170-41, at the top of chain 170, is rotatably supported on a bracket 190 that is anchored to an upper angle section 194 of structure 22 with a suitable spacer 196 and a bolt 198 to enable the bracket 1% to be anchored to the upper cross plate 194 with any necessary adjustment at the bolt for tightening the chains. The sprocket 168-a for the other chain 168 is similarly provided with a supporting bracket 282 similarly bolted to the upper angle bar 194.

In FIG. 1, brief reference was made to the box frame structure 22 which provides the support for the entire machine. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the box structure 22 is provided with four vertical upright supports 220-11, 220-b, 220-0 and 220-d which are suitably joined at the bottom, as by welding, to a bottom floor shelf or platform 224 and at the top by angle plates 228. The rear angle plate 228 is further reinforced by a second angle plate 230 which serves also as a support for two brackets 230-a and 230-b to support pulley blocks for the pulleys 50 previously shown in FIG. 1. At the front of the main box structure 22 the two vertical uprights are tied together by an angle section 240 extending across the front of the top of the main structure 22.

The platform 46, previously referred to in FIG. 1, may now be seen in FIG. 4, which shows how the brick pushing cam assembly 65 is supported on the platform 46 to be operative within a space directly behind the column of bricks on the supporting brackets of the two chains, with sufficient clearance to avoid the brick supporting brackets on the chains.

The platform 46 is raised or lowered by the ropes 48,

of which only the front set are shown in FIG. 4. The

, on a lever arm assembly 62 which is pivoted on a shaft 258 shown also in the other figures. Now, upon reference to FIGS. 4 and 9, it will be seen that the lever arm frame assembly 62 consists of two side straps 62a and 62b suitably spaced and pinned together by two spacer pins 252 and 254, which also serve as actuating handles. As will be explained shortly, those handles are selectively engaged andpushed by an actuating selector fork 256 that is, in

6 .turn, pushed by the cam 65 as in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, to operate the brick pusher 69 through a short stroke to move a brick from the elevator chains to a position to be deposited on the front brick wall section 30a, or through a long stroke to push a brick to a position to be deposited on the rear wall sections 385 In order to control the brick pusher 60 through the short stroke or through the long strokes, the selector fork 256 is shifted to engage one spacer pin 252 or the other pin 254. Shifting of the fork 256 is controlled by an eccentric 259, shown in FIGS. 1, 5, 6 and 9. The fork 256 has an upper groove 256a to engage spacer pm 252 as a handle, and has a lower groove 256b to engage spacer pin 254 as a handle, to move the lever arm assembly 62 and the brick pusher 60.

The eccentric 259 is rotated to each of its extreme operating positions by a pinion 260 that is adjustably secured to a pivot pin 262 pivotally supported on the lever arm frame assembly 62. In one position of the eccentric 259, the fork 256 is shifted to engage pin 252; in the other position of the eccentric the fork is shifted to engage pin 254.

The fork 256 has a forward longitudinal slot 270 to receive the eccentric 259, and to permit some lost motion of the eccentric in the slot while the fork is shifted to either pushing position. The fork 256 also has a rear longitudinal slot 272 for free sliding movement over the drive shaft for cam 65, to support the rear end of the fork in its various movements.

The fork 256 is thus shifted to proper position by the eccentric 259. Then the folk is pushed by its cam 65 to swing the lever arm assembly 62 around the pivot axis of pivot bar 258, supported between two brackets 280 and 280a (FIG. 4) that are anchored to reference platform 46.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6 the other cam 70 controls the brick tamping rod 74 through suitable linkage, while cam 65 controls the brick pusher 60 through the fork 256 and the related elements.

The power drive for the two cams 65 and 70 is derived from the motor described in FIG. 2, which sends power to the square shaft 88, which extends the full heights of the carriage structure, as shown in FIG. 1, to provide a sliding drive connection, as shown in FIG. 11, with a worm 312 that is held to the reference platform 46 by a supporting sleeve 314, shown secured to the platform 46 by suitable anchor plate 315. The worm 312 drives a worm gear 316 that rotatably floats on a cam drive shaft 318, and the worm gear is arranged to be adjustably connected to the shaft 318 through a multi-jaw clutch 317, in order to correlate the timing of the brick pusher and the relative position of the elevator, so a feed brick will be in proper position, on the moving elevator to be moved by the brick pusher. This is an important feature of the machine, since the vertical repositioning of the reference platform may change the proper synchronized relationship between the pusher motion and the elevator motion. The adjustable clutch 317 enables the cam timing shaft 318 to be properly adjustably related to the fixed timing of the elevator, so the cams for the brick pusher 68 and for the tamper 74 will be properly related to the elevator motion.

In practice, the cam shaft 318 is freely rotated to bring the front edge face of pusher 60 into just touching engagement with the brick on the elevator, and the elevator adjusted by clutch 94 until the brick on the elevator is in desired position relative to the pusher 62). The jaw clutch 317 is then closed to secure worm gear 316 to cam shaft 318. Any suitable clutch may be employed. In the actual machine, a pinion with 32 teeth was used to engage a ring gear with 32 teeth. Obviously, other clutches and different numbers of teeth may be used. The drive shaft 318 is supported between two bearings 322 and 324, shown in FIG. 3.

The two cams 65 and 78 are thus suitably secured to the drive shaft 318, and thus obtain the power necessary andconsequently pusher rod16l willxb'emovedathroughz and the tamper rod 74 of l r V r 3,177,621

with teeth 292 on its periphery to operate the positioning pinion for theeccentric 259. Thus, cam 65 during rotation operates the fork256 back and forth through the action of the cam follower 336. At one point of its travel,

the fork is held against such longitudinal movement, by a suitabledwell region in the cam slot. Through the action ,7 p

of the toothed segment 292, the cam 65 actson the pinion 260 to swing the eccentric 259 around to its opposite position, thereby to shift the fork out of engagement with one pin 252 or 254, as it maybe, into engagement with the other pin.

7 FIG. 5 shows the pusher lever assembly 62 at its outermost position to which itwas moved by cam 65 acting on follower 3156 through the guide s'lot with reducing radius to pull fork 256to the left and thereby pull pusher lever assembly 62 also to the left by the pull on upper:

handle pin 252 in top groove 256-a of the fork 256.

FIG. 5 shows the fork 256 held against longitudinal through an angle of uniform radius in the cam guide slot. During that dwell, time interval, the toothed segment of cam 65 has turned the pinion 260 through a half turn, to turntheeccentric 259a half turn. The eccentric has thereby disconnected fork'256 from upper handle pin 252, and moved fork 256 into coupling with j motion by the follower 336 riding in a dwcll sectioni.

a short are to the limit position shown in FIG. 6, to move a brick to position for the front course.

Furtherrrotation of cam 65 again moves cam follower 336 to the short radius dwell section of the cam guide slot, to pull fork 256 back to the position shown in FIG. 5. This time, however the segmental teeth will turn pinion 260and eccentric259 to shift'the fork upward, .to disengage lower-,handlevpin 254 and to engage upper handle pin 252. Thefork is then moved by the cam throngh'a long stroke to the position in FIG. 1, and pusher rod 6tbis movedto push a brick to the farther course b.

, tThe eccentric 259 for controlling the fork 256 i'ssupported on a' pivot pin 262 (FIG, 9), which is; in turn supported between the two straps 62 constituting .the lever arm for thebrickpusher'GO. The eccentric 259 is movable f ,to either of two limit positions.,1-80 apart, as in FIGS..5 and 6,'by the pinion gear 260; vwhich is'shown'provided with aIset screw 260a in FIG. 9 to permit shifting of the pinion 26fl tothe position indicated in broken line at which the pinion .gear 260 cannot beengaged by the segmental gear teeth when the segmental geartteeth move throughthe'extreme position shown in FIG. 5. The eccentric 259 rides in slot 270 of the fork 25 6, and 'is held in the slot by two retainers 259a; and 259b, which 7 maybe part-of the eccentric 259. v 1

To assurethat the eccentric 259, is win proper position to accuratelylocate the fork 256,'an aligning disc 358 is mounted on the pivot pin 262,as in FIG. 10. This alignlower handle pin 254 at groove 256-b. As cam 65 con-,

tinues to rotate, the cam'follower 336rides in the cam slot p 7 l as shown in FIG. 6, at progressively increasing-radius, and pushes fork 256 'to the right, to pushfon-lower handle pin 254 and to push the pusher lever assembly 62;to the right, thereby to move pusher 60. against'the brick 34 and to move the brick over bridge 384 to a position above its course which is the short stroke to lay brick on row 30-a shown in FIG. 6.

7 As cam 65 continues to rotate, driven by shaftf318, cam follower 336 will pull'fork 256 back to thegleft exing disc is provided with two .par'allellflat edge surfaces 358a and 3523b which are spring pressed into desired proper position by two pivoted bars 366 and'362, each of which is fiiredly pivoted on a pin at one-end with tensionsprings 364 and 366' connected from each stationary pin to the free endof the other bar. i

r a In order-to permit manualselective positioning of the pusher fork 256, .ahandle 2590 is pr0vided to turn the.

f '7 pin that carries and supportsthe eccentric 259, as shown inFIGJ9. '7 7 p 7 7 While cam 65 is controllin'githe brick pushing mechanism, thetot her cam-70 'operates'to control thetamper rod 7 4to press the laid bricks into their underlayer of mortar,

' i as previously mentioned in connection withFIG. l.

treme position, shown in FIGQS, but the action of the (partial gear segment 292,,this time, will'have rotated the pinion 260 a half-turn to turn the'eccentric 259 to the upper position, oppositethat shown in FIG. .5. :That operation of the eccentric will shift the fork 256'outo'f coupling with lower pin 254'and' willlshift the fork into coupling with upper pin 252 atgroove256-iz. .7 a t Continued rotation of cam 65 will move cam follower V 336 farther from center and will push'fork 256 to theright, to push handle ,pin252 through its fullangle; to

position shown in FIG. 1 for a' long strokeof pusher rod 60.

A full cycle of operation of with fork 256 and the brick pusher 6t), starting'from position-in FIGQ l, is asfollowsi cam 65 turnswclockwis'e and moves c'arn" follower 336, in the cam slot tothe short radius dwelt region 336a, as in FIG; 5. The brickpusher 60 and its lever arm assembly 62 will be moved "from the position of FIGJ to the positionof FIG.5 1

While earn 65 continues 'to rotate,

shown ;in FIG[ 5, which'turns eccentric throughone- 'half turn, and moves fork 256 downward to: disengage i handle pin 2 52 and to'engagehandle pin 254, at position shown in FIG. 5.- j I, a Continuedrotationof cam 65; will move fork the right again, but througha'shorter are, as in F-I G, 6

follower336; ridesin a dwell arc pathofyconstant"radius in the follower guide slot, and holds fork-2 56' against longitudinal; v

movement." During-this dwell o f the fork, the toothed 7 segment rotates pinion one-ha'lf turn to the position" The tamper cam",70 has'a guide slot 76a in, its side wall to accommodate a cam follower 70b connected to the lowerend of a connecting rod 265 whose upper end ,is'c'oupled to one arm 264 of a bell crank 268 pivotally supported on the shaft'258.-"The -other arm of the bell crank" 268 :is' integrally terminated in an operating fork 2701 having two inwardly extending opposed radial pins 1 27tla'zland-27ilb fitting into .theannular space between two Collars 7451 and 74b atthe top of the tamping rodv74.

.The use of such an operating-fork 270': :permits the slight t and I =kaxis258 q Thejsequence of operationstof thel tamper, cam70 fol-t lows the; sequence of brick, shifting camz65f, Referring (to :FIG.,1, when brick pusher is moved back, clear I -As shown in FIGS; 1' and 3,

I referenpe.;platforin;46extends forward through the front t :;of ftheiboxg structure "22 to overhang, the two;v courses 7 30d .and 30b ofthebriek wall; The sliding guideangIes' ZCaI and232, previ0llSlyreferred-to,in'eonnectionwithfFIG;3,

'sliding lost motion" necessary between the two collars ;74aand'74li dueto the arcuatemotion of v the' pins-g270a' 70b atthe end {of the fork about the pivot of the wall sections, the tamper cam 70 moves its cam follower 7tl'li'to'a longerf radius in the guide :S10t 70a .to push npward on the connecting rodand bell crank, it in order to press tamping rod 74 down onthe brick first ,qlaid in its course; 'When; the brick shifting, cam is ready, to move the brick pusher60 forward again, by

I means of the fork 256, the tamper'cam moves its follower 'toa position of shorter ra'dius in the guide slot and thereby I H pulls "the bell-crank 268 counteraclockwi se to raise the tamper rodta'nd its pressure rolls.

the ver ic lly a ii'i tame thickness of the vertical mortar joint.

are supplemented by two additional guide angles 281 and 282, shown in FIG. 3, adjacent the rear vertical posts 220b and 2200, The angle guide 282 appears in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 3. Where a relatively long wall is to be made, it may be desirable to lock the reference platform 46 against even minor vibrations or shiftings as the machine moves along the track. For that purpose, clamping screws 284 may be provided on two side extensions 286 at opposite sides of the back end of the reference platform 46 in order to permit the rear end of the platform to be clamped in position relative to the vertical corner posts 22012 and 220:: While a course of brick is being laid along the wall. In similar manner, similar clamping screws may be provided on suitable supporting plates mounted at the front of the reference platform 46 and secured to the frame of that platform adjacent the angle guides 231a and 232a either above or below those guides where may be most convenient, for bolting to the vertical supports 220a and 220d.

The transfer guide 384 is suitably supported at its ends from the guide structure 3% which supports the tamping pressure rod 74 and the associated guide pins 72a and 72b.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 12, when a brick 34 is removed from the elevator 38 by the pusher 60, depending upon the positioning of the setting fork, the brick will be il'IIOVfid across the top of a transfer guide 384 into one of the two locating boxes 42 and 44, previously indicated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 12, the brick locating box 44 comprises two hinged side or end doors 400 and 402 with short fingers 400a and 402a at the bottom of the doors, merely sufficient to hold the brick under the influence of the two tension springs 404 and 406 until the pusher rod 74 is pressed downward by the cam assembly action to move the brick out from between the two dors 400 and 402, down onto the layer of mortar 410. The frictional engagement of the two doors 400 and 402 against the end surfaces of the brick, assures control of the brick until it is practically laid down onto the surface of the mortar.

In FIG. 12 is shown a view of the mortar chute 420 shown in position on the side of the movable reference platform 46 facing in the forward direction of movement ofthe entire structure as. indicated by the arrow 42.5. The hopper is provided with two slot openings 426 and 428, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 12, at a level that will be sufiiciently above the top surface of a previously laid course of bricks to permit a layer of the mortar to be 425i The back-pushing action of the front cross bar of the shover 430 pushes a mass of the mortar into the end space between the bricks 34a and 34b. The thickness of the joint between the ends of the bricks is controlled by the forward speed of the machine, which is controlled by the variable speed reducer 120 shown in FIG. 2. The

shover stroke is genenally uniform, and the horizontal translation speed of the machine is relied on to control the k In that way any in the width of the vertical mortar joint variations may be easily compensated for by the variable speed reducer 120 and adjusting handle 121. The cross bar of the shover 430 is wide enough to control both walls.

The shover 430 may be hydraulic or air operated,

I andmay be suitably time controlled from the main cam shaft 318 by a timing cam 390' and a timing switch 392 controlled by cam 390 to operate the shover mechanism 430; The control surface of the timing cam 390 will determine time of operation of timing switch and duration Iii of holding the timing switch in operated position to control duration of shover operation, -to assure synchronized operation with the brick pusher and the tamper.

To provide selective control of the pusher 60 when only one wall of bricks is to be laid, the pinion 260 in FIG. 9 is shifted, as previously indicated, to the broken line position, so it cannot be engaged by the cam teeth for positioning the eccentric at its two positions. The eccentric 259 is then positioned by the manually operable handle 259s to the appropriate groove 252 or 254 in the fork and the pusher 60 then operates always through the same length of stroke appropriate for that wall position. For such single wall operation, the machine should move twice as fast as for the double wall operation. For that reason the variable speed device should have adequate range greater than two-to-one (2 to l).

A generalized schematic view of the machine 20 and its relation to a wall, is shown in FIG. 13.

The brick laying machines herein described provides for mechanical laying of a brick wall with one or with two courses. The details of construction may be modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein set forth.

I claim: 1. A bricklaying machine for laying bricks one'by one in horizontal courses into a vertical wall comprising,

a frame, a platform movably supported from said frame, means for vertically moving said platform relative to said frame for each course of brick to be laid.

vertical conveyor means for elevating individual bricks from a lower portion of said frame upwardly toward said platform into a position parallel to, but offset from the position they will assume in the completed wall,

brick receiving means overlying the course of bricks to be laid and being fixedly secured to said platform so as to be vertically movable therewith, said receiving means having an open side adjacent said vertical conveyor and including;

movable retaining members for supporting a brick in said receiving means, spring means for biasing said members toward each other and under the lower side of each brick placed in said receiving means, said spring means serving to urge said retaining members against the brick ends with suflicient force to retain positive control of said brick as it is subsequently pushed vertically downward into the course of bricks being laid, means for supplying bricks to a lower portion of said vertical conveyor means, said means including;

an inclined U-shaped brick receiving chute positioned upon said frame so that the. uppermost face of each brick placed therein is readily'observable by the machine operator, and means including cam means rotationally mounted at the lower end of said chute for effecting the advance of bricks down said chute and for transferring one brick at a time to said conveyor means,

pusher arm means carried by said platform for transferring bricks horizontally from said conveyor means to said brick receiving means,

hopper means secured to said platform for depositing a bed joint of mortar below the course of bricks to be laid,

plunger means for ejecting each brick transferred to said brick receiving means vertically downward through said movable retaining members and for holding said transferred brick down in its desired horizontal level in said course,

means for horizontally translating said frame relative to said wall a distance equal to a brick length plus the desired width of the vertical mortar joint,

, m'eans'forhorizontally shoving each brick so deposited and held, toward thebrick previously deposited to squeeze mortar from the horizontalibed joint below the brick to the vertical mortar joint, and,

. means f r adjusting the amount of a horizontal translation. of saidrframebetween the deposit of successive bricks independent of the jra'te'of brick injection by, 1

said plunger'means to establish the desired width of the vertical mortarfjointrbetween adjacent, bricks 1 10 f Q whereby theimachine operator may correct and ad just the spacing of the bricks in each course while the machine is in operation.

'2. A bricklaying machine;accordingto claim,1 wherein said movable retaining mernbers for supporting a brick 1 1 l '7 1 a pair of hinged 'Lshaped trapdoorswhose horizontal in said brick receiving means includes;

leg portions serve to support the lower surface of each brick and to contact the ends of said brick when said brick a is pushed vertically downward there through.

13'; A bricklaying ean; according to claim 2 wherein said pusher arm means includes means for; alternatively positioning bricks within said" brick receiving means into first and second laterally ofiset positions wherebysaid machine operates to fabricate a two wythe wall.) f

4; A bricklaying machine according to claim 2 wherein said vertical conveyor means comprises, a pairof, verticall d'sposede'ndless spaced apart relation, v

a plurality of spaced bracketcrne'ans projecting outwardlyfrom'sai d chains, and a a ,r a means for driving said hains in synchronism so that the opposed bracket means on 'said' chains engage a the underside of the ends of each brick placed thereon v rand horizontally elevate said bricksto the desired higher level. a 5'. A bricklaying ma saidtmeansi tohorizontally transfer said frame; includes motor means, i.

said motor. meansgalsobeing connected to actuate said endless chain s, spiral cam means, horizontal brick transfermeansand said plunger means, and 1 r hains arr-anged in hineaccordingto claim 4 wherein clutch means for synchronization ofthe frame horizontal elements of saidmachinei and wheel means'engagin'g said'rails for supporting said said rail means and said frame. 1

, aframe,

transfer means to the-operation of the remainder Gillie if A brrcklayrng'machmeiaccordmg to c1a1m 5 rncludrnga pa r of spaced circular cross section support rails,

name, said wheel means including'a V-shaped'periphr eral groove foriengaging the circular exterior. surface 0f} 'sai'drails'thereby -maintainin .-a uniformeifectivewheel, a a, a I

' t g r:-8,;-Abrrcklay:mg machine for laying bricks one by one. fleourses into a,;-fvertical wall comprising,

means forjventically moving s'alidppl-at'foirn rel-ativeto aplatfonm movably supperted from'said frame, Q I means for vertically moving said platform. relative" to' I said frame for each course 'of brickto be laid, I vertical conveyor meansi'for'elevating individual bricks wall, Y e

brickreceivingmeansloverlying the .cenrs'eior bricksxto be laid andbeing fixedly secured to'saidplatform so: a

V as tow-be'vertically. movablek th erewith, said receivingmeans having an open ,sidefadjac'ent said-vertical "conveyor and including; 1;

i movable retaining members' forsupporting in said receiving means,;

springfmeans li a n said members gtowa rdi against the brick ends with sufficient force to retain positive control if said brick as it is subsequently pushed vertically downward into the r a course of bricks being laid, a

meansvfor supplying, bricks to; a lower portion of said vertical fconveyor means, said means including;

an inclined LIV-shaped brick receiving chutepositioned upon said frame so that the uppermost face of each' brickplaced therein is readily observable by the machine operator, and means including cam means;rotationally mounted at lithe, lower end of said chuteffor effecting the advance of bricks down said chute and for transferring one brick at a time to said conveyor means," variable stroke pusher a'r m' means carried by said platform for transferring bricks horizontally from said conveyor means alternatively ,into a; first and into a second bricklaying position :in said brick receiving means, said pusher arm'm'e'ans including; a p usher li nk member arranged to be selectively engaged at one endthereof, cam means arranged to reciprocate said pusher link member at the other end thereof;

t a pusherz'member arranged to be actuated by said pusher link memberffor the pushing of said v bricks, a first engagement positionbetween said pusher member and said pusher link member for, moving .said pusher member along a short a stroke, f a second engagement position between I said pusher link member andsaid pusher'member formoving 'saidpusher memberi-along a long stroke, and alternating .rmeans arranged to "alternate the engagement-of said pusher link member between said first and second engagementposition, Y hopper means secure' d'to saidplatform for depositing J s a bed joint of mortar below the course of bricks to Qbelaid, V, y a V plunger means for ejecting. each 'brick vtransferred to 7 through said movable retaining members and for a "holdingsaid transfe'rred'brick'down in'its desired horizontal level' ingsaid course,

:1 means for horizontallytran lating sard frame relative to said wall ardistanceiequal to a brick length plus the. desired width of thef vertical mortar joint; and, means forhorizontally shoving each brick so deposited Y squeeze'mortar-from'thehorizontal bed joint below L the brick to'the verticalmortarjoint;

a platform movably suppontedfr-om said frame,

, said frame for' eachcourse-ofbrickto be laid, a

- vertical conveyor means for elevating individual bricks from a lower porti-on ofsaid franreupwardly toward 2 Y v v fsa-id 'platfonm into 'a 'position parallel togbutoffs et from alowerportion-ofsaidzframesupwardly toward a saidplatform into a position parallel:to,*but:otfsetr from theposition they willjassumqinthe completed N amin 'posi-tion they will assume injth e. completed brick r'e'ceivingfmearis overlyiri g'the course of bricks 'to be, laid-and being fixedlyrjrsecuredto said'platform soa s to be vertically moyablei therewith; said*receivingmeansha'ving an open'side adjacent said vertical conveyorand including;

a movable retaining members for 3 insaid receiving means, l a spring means forbiasing said members-toward each e -other and undergthe lower slide fof, each brick placed insaid re-ceiv-ingmeans, said spring-means to urge. said ,retainingmembers against a s k d u t rsu gi f r ze d' a a n 12 i dd-V 6 control 'd b'rick as it is subsequently,

said brickyreceivin'g means} vertically downward I .andjheld, toward thelbrick previously deposited to supportinga brick 13 pushed vertically downward into the course of bricks being laid,

means for supplying bricks to a lower portion of said vertical conveyor means, said means including;

an inclined U-shaped brick receiving chute posiltioned upon said frame so that the uppermost face of each brick placed therein is readily observable by the machine operator, and means including cam means rotationally mounted at the lower end of said chute for effecting the advance of bricks down said chute and for transferr-ing one brick at a time to said conveyor means,

variable stroke pusher arm means carried by said platform for transferring bricks horizontally from said conveyor means alternatively into a first and into a second bricklaying position in said brick receiving means, said pusher arm means including;

a pusher link member arranged to be selectively 14 said brick receiving means vertically downward through said movable retaining members and for holding said transferred brick down in its desired horizontal level in said course,

means for horizontally translating said frame relative to said Wall a distance equal to a brick length plus the desired Width of the vertical mortor joint, and

means for horizontally shoving each brick so deposited engaged at one end thereof, carn means arranged to reciprocate said pusher link member at the other end thereof,

a pusher member arranged to be actuated by said References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS P115116r link member f r the pushing of aid j li fig bricks, a first g gement position between aid 9/18 e fPusher m r and said pusher link member {411,172 5/22 K 01118011 50538 for moving id pu h r member along a short 1,666,555 h y 50 s3s a second engagement position between t 4 8 other 50 53s said pusher link member an said pusher 1,686,279 28 Kaye 50.433 her for moving said pusher member along a long 30 1,818,741 8/31 Palatml 50 538 k and alternating means arranged to t 92 1/ 32 Massen 5 nalfi the g g ment of said pusher link m b ,618 4/58 Doeseher 5 533 between said first and second engagement posi- 2,840,881 7/58 Baternan.

tion, 2,937,765 5/60 Shank.

hopper means secured to said platform for depositing a bed joint of mortar below the course of bricks to be laid,

plunger means for ejecting each brick transferred to 35 JACOB L. NACK-ENOFF, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM I. MUSHAKE, BENJAMIN BENDETT,

Examiners,

Claims (1)

1. A BRICKLAYING MACHINE FOR LAYING BRICKS ONE BY ONE IN HORIZONTAL COURSES INTO A VERTICAL WALL COMPRISING, A FRAME, A PLATFORM MOVABLY SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME, MEANS FOR VERTICALLY MOVING SAID PLATFORM RELATIVE TO SAID FRAME FOR EACH COURSE OF BRICK TO BE LAID. VERTICAL CONVEYOR MEANS FOR ELEVATING INDIVIDUAL BRICKS FROM A LOWER PORTIONS OF SAID FRAME UPWARDLY TOWARD SAID PLATFORM INTO A POSITION PARALLEL TO, BUT OFFSET FROM THE POSITION THEY WILL ASSUME IN THE COMPLETED WALL, BRICK RECEIVING MEANS OVERLYING THE COURSE OF BRICKS TO BE LAID AND BEING FIXEDLY SECURED TO SAID PLATFORM SO AS TO BE VERTICALLY MOVABLE THEREWITH, SAID RECEIVING MEANS HAVING AN OPEN SIDE ADJACENT SAID VERTICAL CONVEYOR AND INCLUDING; MOVABLE RETAINING MEMBERS FOR SUPPORTING A BRICK IN SAID RECEIVING MEANS, SPRING MEANS FOR BIASING SAID MEMBERS TOWARD EACH OTHER AND UNDER THE LOWER SIDE OF EACH BRICK PLACED IN SAID RECEIVING MEANS, SAID SPRING MEANS SERVING TO URGE SAID RETAINING MEMBERS AGAINST THE BRICK ENDS WITH SUFFICIENT FORCE TO RETAIN POSITIVE CONTROL OF SAID BRICK AS IT IS SUBSEQUENTLY PUSHED VERTICALLY DOWNWARD INTO THE COURSE OF BRICKS BEING LAID, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING BRICKS TO A LOWER PORTION OF SAID VERTICAL CONVEYOR MEANS, SAID MEANS INCLUDING; AN INCLINED U-SHAPED BRICK RECEIVING CHUTE POSITIONED UPON SAID FRAME SO THAT THE UPPERMOST FACE OF EACH BRICK PLACED THEREIN IS READILY OBSERVABLE BY THE MACHINE OPERATOR, AND MEANS INCLUDING CAM MEANS ROTATIONALLY MOUNTED AT THE LOWER END OF SAID CHUTE FOR EFFECTING THE ADVANCE OF BRICKS DOWN SAID CHUTE AND FOR TRANSFERRING ONE BRICK AT A TIME TO SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, PUSHER ARM MEANS CARRIED BY SAID PLATFORM FOR TRANSFERRING BRICKS HORIZONTALLY FROM SAID CONVEYOR MEANS TO SAID BRICK RECEIVING MEANS,

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