US3529395A - Bricklaying machine - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 22', 1970 R. C. EDWARDS. JR

BRICKLAYING MACHINE 3 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed June 24. 1368 INVENTOR a J WM mm! m E c .DM M lw M m. M

ma ma I I Sept. 22, 1970 R. c. EDWARDS, JR

BRICKLAYING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 24, 1968- \NVENTOR Rucumzp C. EDWARDS J2 BY (1.95M, uQLLmifWW-AT fhw w fiiforne J p 970 R. c. EDWARDS, JR 3,529,395

BRICKLAYING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 24. 196

, lNVENTOR Qmum C EDWARDS J2.

BY uQwaM (1mm, aw mw ww United States Patent 3,529,395 BRICKLAYING MACHINE Richard C. Edwards, Jr., 900 Graham St., Franklin, Ind. 46131 Filed June 24, 1968, Ser. No. 739,309 Int. Cl. E04g 21/22 US. Cl. 52-749 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plurality of carriages connected together and suspended from a rail supported by stands vertically adjustable and outside a line of a wall to be built. A drive motor for carriage movement in unison along the rail and driving various components including a mortar pump, brick release latch, a brick stack conveyor, and a joint closer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention-This invention relates generally to building construction apparatus, and more particularly to a machine for depositing discrete building units together with a suitable bonding agent for wall construction.

Description of the Prior Art-Examples of prior art patents are as follows: 1,606,001, Thomson, Nov. 9, 1926; 1,666,555, Cottier, Apr. 17, 1928; 1,686,279, Kaye, Oct. 2, 1928; 1,786,622, Layer, Dec. 30, 1930; 3,177,621, Demarest, Apr. 13, 1965; 3,325,960, James, June 20, 1967.

Apparently for some one or multiplicity of reasons, prior art machines have not achieved widespread success. Some of them are awkward and cumbersome and susceptible to malfunction. Others require the wall itself for their support, which imposes certain limitations on the number of courses which can be laid within a given time to allow for mortar setting. The present invention is believed to meet the requirements for an acceptable and feasible bricklaying machine.

SUMMARY Described briefly, in a typical embodiment of the present invention, a suspended carriage assembly is mounted to an overhead rail and driven along by a motor. A supply of bricks and mortar is maintained on the assembly, and suitable mechanisms are provided for operation by the motor for deposit of mortar and bricks at the proper location and sequence to construct a brick wall. Gapping, leveling, and trimming means are also provided, and an adjustable conveyor is incorporated for controlling brick movement in the carriage for maintenance of a continuous supply.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a typical embodiment as seen from inside the line of the wall to be built.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of corner loop in the support rail.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of a switch at the loop intersection.

FIG. 4 is an elevation at line 44 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective of the brick hopper as seen from inside the wall line.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the brick hopper.

FIG. 7 is a further enlarged elevation of one of the brick latches holding a brick to be deposited.

FIG. 8 is a view like FIG. 7 but showing the latch operated to release a brick.

3,529,395 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 FIG. 9 is a highly enlarged view of hanger details for shifting of a unit to traverse window openings.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged end view of the lower portion of the mortar hopper, and the mortar shaper.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective of the joint closer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, and particularly the assembly drawings, a group of hangers is mounted on a rail 11 which extends parallel to the proposed building wall and is supported by a number of C-shaped stands 12 mounted on the ground and spaced along the proposed wall to the exterior thereof. A suitable crank 14 is provided on each of the stands for raising the rail 11 for each subsequent course of brick. A suitable gear mechanism (not shown) can be provided in each of the stands for use with a story pole thereon to facilitate determination of the appropriate change of elevation as each course of brick is laid.

The machine includes a motor 16 driving the gear 15 engaging a gear rack extending along the underside of the rail 11. This moves the carriage assembly along the rail in the direction of arrow 36 and rack 20.

In one of the carriages a mortar hopper 17 is provided and has an outlet at its bottom for depositing mortar on the top of the previously laid course of brick, as the carriage is moved along by the motor. It also has a pump 18 extending therethrough with a discharge pipe 19 for depositing some mortar at the end of each brick for the butt joint. This pump is driven by an eccentric or some other such mechanism 21 driven by a chain 22 from sprockets 23 on an auger-shaft driven by chain 24 from the motor 16.

An additional chain and eccentric mechanism 26 is provided to release one brick-at-a-time from a brick hopper 27 mounted on another carriage 28 connected to the mortar hopper carriage to be pulled along therewith. The bricks are loaded into the outside end if this hopper in the direction of arrow 29 and a belt-type advancing means 31 (which will be described in more detail at a later point) is efiective to move each stack of bricks into the vertical discharge column or drop chute 32 at the inner end of the hopper as soon as all of the bricks have been discharged from the stack in the discharge column. A suitable switch structure can be mounted in the discharge chute to sense the absence of a stack of bricks therein and engage a clutch to cause the conveyor to drive a new stack of bricks into position in the discharge column.

A joint closer is mounted on the last carriage 33 at 34 and will be described in more detail hereinafter. Its purpose is to be sure that each brick dropped from the brick hopper discharge column 32 is moved snugly into place at the proper end gap distance from the immediately preceding brick. For example, brick 37, the one still below the brick hopper column from which it was deposited, might have its end two inches from the end of the previously laid brick. The joint closer will move this brick closer to the preceding brick to close up the gap for an appropriate /8 inch butt joint spacing, for example. The joint closer is driven by appropriate chains and sprockets driven by the motor 16.

The last carriage suspended from the rail supports the brick leveler 38 and that is followed by a trowel 39 for finishing the joint at the exterior of the wall, the trimmed mortar being deposited in the box 41 for occasional removal by a hod carrier.

All of the carriages are connected together so that a constant axial or longitudinal spacing is maintained between them and they are moved along in unison by the drive motor 16. It is to be noted in FIG. 2, however, that a loop is provided in the rail, the loop being disposed in a horizontal plane. The purpose of this loop is to enable the machine to go around a corner of a building. The lineal distance around the loop from the point of intersection of the two intersecting runs of carriage support rail, is adequate to enable the entire assembly of carriages to traverse the loop without collision of the mortar hopper with the leveler and trimmer carriage. It must be recognized, of course, that the connection between the various carriages must be such that while it prevents any variation in axial or linear distance between the various carriages, it will permit them to traverse the loop without difiiculty. Once the loop has been traversed, the machine begins laying the intersecting wall. It can be recognized, of course, that virtually any angle of intersection can be provided and the included angle of intersection of the loop would be selected accordingly.

Referring now to certain features in more detail, the pump 18 can be a simple piston-type pump having -an inlet in the mortar hopper for entry of mortar into the cylinder of the pump, and discharge therefrom to the pipe 19 by advance of the plunger in the pump. A more sophisticated type of pump, with valves and the like might be provided, but it is preferred to keep the apparatus as simple and inexpensive as possible.

Referring now particularly to the brick hopper 27, the carriage 28 therefor, much like the other carriages, is suspended from the rail 11 by two hangers 43 each having two rollers 44 thereon received in the grooves 46 in the rail 11. The downwardly projecting arm 47 of the carriage supports a generally box-like structure which forms the vertical discharge column or drop chute 32. At the upper and lower ends of this chute, horizontal plates 48 are provided and serve as upper and lower supports for conveyor belt idler shafts 49.

At the outer end of the brick hopper, the downwardly extending arm 51 of carriage 28 also supports upper and lower plates 52 which serve as upper and lower pivots for conveyor belt spools 53. Each of these spools 49 and 53 supports two runs of a conveyor belt. For example one of the spools 49 and 53 supports an inner run 54 and outer run 56 of a woven metal belt having a plurality of horizontally spaced upstanding cleats 57 thereon. The spacing between these cleats is just a bit greater than the width of the bricks to be disposed in the hopper so that the inner runs 54 and 54A of the facing belts serve to locate seven stacks of bricks in the illustrated embodiment, the stack 58 being in the vertical discharge column, and the stack 59 being at the outer end of the hopper,

most remote from the discharge column. The upper and lower bars at each end of the hopper are horizontally slotted as at 61, for example, to enable movement of the belt 54-56 in the direction of arrow 62 to accommodate longer or shorter bricks, such as eight inch long bricks or twelve inch long bricks, as desired. Suitable locating clips can be provided on the bars 48 and 52 to enable positioning of the spools 49 and 53 at the desired location for the length of bricks to be used.

In order to support the bricks so that they can be readily moved by the conveyor from the outer end toward the inner end of the brick hopper, the bottom surface may be made of a series of anti-friction bearings 63 in a staggered arrangement, alternate rows being mounted on common shafts 64 and 66, respectively, the latter being supported in horizontal frames 67 connected to the carriage members 47 and 51, through appropriate end plates. The type of anti-friction bearings contemplated is a sealed ball bearing. Other devices might also be used to facilitate movement of the bricks by the brick hopper conveyor belts.

A switch 68 may be located in the discharge chute to sense the absence of a brick therein when the last brick of a stack is in position for release onto the wall. Closure of this switch engages a clutch 69 connected to the drive motor 16 as indicated by the dotted line 71 and also connected to the drive spools 53 for the two belts to drive them until the next stack of brick is disposed in the discharge column to de-activate the switch 68.

During operation of the apparatus, while laying bricks that are eight inches long, a brick must be released from the discharge chute once for about every eight and threeeighth inches of travel of the apparatus, considering a three-eighth inch butt joint between successive bricks in a course. For this purpose brick latches are provided, one at each end of the brick at the bottom of the discharge chute. A description of one will suflice for both, as they are identical.

The brick latch 72 includes a lower plate 73 having an inner edge 74 disposed under the end of brick 76. Another plate 77 is affixed to plate 73 at 78 and a pin 79 extends lengthwise of the junction 78 and is received in slots 81 in the outwardly projecting downwardly extending arms 82 at the drop chute. The angular relationship between the plates 73 and 77 remains virtually constant and a cam follower lug 83 may be provided on the upper surface of plate 73 but located so it will not interfere with bricks engaging the edge 74. The aperture in this lug receives a cam 84 mounted on the drive shaft 86 which is driven by a suitable chain drive 26 from the motor 16.

As the chain 26 drives the shaft 86 in rotation, the cam moves the plates 73 and 77 from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8 whereupon the brick 76 can fall onto the mortar atop the immediately lower course of bricks, and a brick 87 moves down to replace brick 76. Brick 87 is prevented from falling out of the chute by engagement of plate 77 with the end 87A of the brick. Engagement of this retainer plate 77 for this brick latch and the corresponding retainer plate for the other brick latch serves to prevent brick 87 from dropping out on top of brick 76. As the shaft 86 continues to rotate, it moves the plates back to the initial position whereupon the brick 87 comes to rest on the edge 74 of the lower plate 73. It is then ready for deposit on the mortar next to brick 76.

The downwardly projecting arms 88 and 89 of carriage 33 support a frame 91. The joint closer 34 is disposed between the brick hopper and the front end of frame 91 and includes a mounting bracket 92 which is affixed to the front end of the carriage frame 91. A pulling arm assembly 93 is mounted to the bracket by means of a rear arm portion 94 hinged to the bracket at 96, the front arm portion 97 being telescopically received on the rear arm portion at 98. The front arm portion includes a downwardly projecting end-engaging lug 99, and a forwardly projection portion 101 having a drive pin receiver slot 102 therein.

An oscillator wheel 10-3 driven by motor 16 is provided with a pin 104 (FIG. 11) thereon receivable in the notch 102. As the oscillator wheel rotated in the direction of arrow 106, pin 104 moved upward into the slot 102 to lift the front end of the closer arm assembly 93 and move it forward over brick 37 which had just been deposited so that the lug 99 moved down in front of the front end of that brick as the oscillator wheel completed a half revolution. Then the pin disengages from the slot 102 permitting the return spring 107 to pull the front end portion 97 back along the rear end portion 94 toward the hinge 96. In so doing, the brick 37 was moved back approximately one and five eighths inches to provide the desired three eighths inch butt joint gap between brick 37 and brick 13. As this occurred, the oscillator wheel completed the other half revolution to the position shown in FIG. 11, and another brick 76 dropped from the chute. Again, approximately a two inch end gap existed as at 108 between brick 76 as dropped, and brick 37 as properly positioned in the Wall. The pin 104 engages the slot 102 and the cycle is repeated for brick 76. As each brick is dropped from the chute onto the wall, the end of the brick is shot with mortar by the pump discharge pipe 19.

In some building construction, windows and doors will be framed in before the brick is laid. In that event it may be necessary for the machine of the present invention to move outwardly and inwardly with respect to the wall line as a window or door opening is passed. For that purpose suitable provisions are made on the carriages as will now be described.

Referring particularly to FIG. 9, some upper details of carriage 33 are shown by way of example. The inner and outer support arms 88 and 89 are connected by the bridge 109 and hang on the hangers 111 and 112 whose horizontal space is determined and fixed by the struts 113 and the hangers being mounted to the rail 11 by the rollers 44. The bridge is supported on the hangers by rollers 114 beneath the bridge portion 109, with rollers 116 or otherwise suitable means being provided on top for stability. The mounts for rollers 114 project downwardly through the longitudinal slots 117 provided in the bridge and the bridge has a solenoid 118 affixed to the central portion thereof, with armature extension rods 119 extending therefrom to the hangers 111 and 112. By pushing an appropriate button 121, for example, the solenoid 118 is energized to shift the bridge 109 and depending arms 88 and 89 therewith outwardly in the direction of the arrow 122 an amount sufiicient to clear any framing which might be provided in the wall for doors, windows, or other features of construction. An example would be a two inch shift, and for this purpose a solenoid having a two inch stroke would be used. Other means might also be provided such as a motor, gear and rack assembly for effecting the side shift of the carriage. Once the obstruction has been passed, a return spring 123 connected between one of the hangers and the bridge member or solenoid frame will return the unit to its original condition. An alternative would be to employ a double acting solenoid with appropriate control buttons. Other alternatives might also be devised.

The rail support stands can be connected to scaffolding or any other structure for stabilization, if desired. They can also be provided with appropriate leg leveling means including extendable feet 124 adjustable by suitable cranks 126. Built-in bubble levels 127, 128 can be employed to aid in achieving plumb conditions.

In the foregoing description, it is mentioned that a sprocket 23 on an auger shaft is driven by chain 24. This auger shaft 131 is disposed partially inside and partially outside the mortar hopper, the portion inside having any suitable blades 132 thereon for encouraging an uninterrupted flow of mortar from the hopper onto the course of brick as the unit is moved along.

If desired to do so, in locations remote from a source of electric power, the mortar carriage can be used to mount an engine-generator set of sufiicient capacity to drive the motor 16.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lower end of the mortar hopper 17 has a mortar shaper 133 thereon in order to provide a bed of mortar of a proper configuration for reception of a brick from the brick chute. FIG. shows an end view of the mortar shaper with a brick 134 being down schematically to illustrate the nature of cross section of the mortar deposited and shaped by the mortar shaper 133 at 136. This includes chamfered upper edges at 137 and a flat top 138. A plate 139 can be provided in the bottom of the mortar hopper at the top of the mortar shaper, for sliding in and out in the direction of the arrows 141, 142 (FIG. 1) to reduce or increase the hopper outlet size and thereby adjust the rate of discharge of mortar from the hopper.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the rail 11 has a loop formed therein at 147 to enable the bricklaying machine to move around the loop in the direction of the arrow 148 and move down the rail 149 perpendicular to rail 11. To facilitate passage of the carriages through the intersection into and out of the loop, a switch 143 is provided at the intersection. As shown in FIG. 4, this switch is mounted on a central pivot shaft 144 secured on a bridge 146 between the rail 11 and the loop 147. The switch has a rib 151 on the lower edge thereof and on which the gear rack 20 is continued. The sides of the rib are aligned with the track grooves 152 therein. As long as this rib is parallel to the section of rail in which the carriages are moving, they will move past the intersection properly. In order to assure that this is the case, a cam 153 is provided at the forwardmost end of the front carriage. In the event that the switch is from the direction needed for passage of the carriages, this cam, which is just to the left of the center and under the rail, will engage the rib 151 and turn the switch to a condition parallel with the rail on which the carriages are moving, as the machine moves along. In order to maintain the proper orientation of the switch during passage of the machine thereover, suitable detent means are provided. An example is the two spring loaded pins 153 provided in the switch and received in appropriate detent notches in the ends of the rail sections facing the intersection.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and within the broad scope of the invention, reference being made to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A bricklaying machine comprising:

a generally horizontal rail;

ground engaging means supporting said rail;

carriages mounted on said rail and connected together for movement in unison along said rail;

drive means on one of said carriages and driving said carriages along said rail;

a mortar supply means on one of said carriages and having outlet means disposed to discharge mortar where a brick is to be deposited; and

a brick hopper in one of said carriages;

release means associated with said brick hopper for timely release of bricks therefrom for deposit .on a (wall as said carriages move along said rail;

said ground engaging means including a plurality of horizontally-spaced, ground-supported telescopic posts, with height adjustment means thereon including a story pole and hand crank on each of said posts to raise said rail for each successive course of bricks.

2. A bricklaying machine compirsing:

a generally horizontal rail;

ground engaging means supporting said rail;

carriages mounted on said rail and connected together for movement in unison along said rail;

drive means on one of said carriages and driving said carriages along said rail;

a mortar supply means on one of said carriages and having outlet means disposed to discharge mortar where a brick is to be deposited; and

a brick hopper in one of said carriages;

release means associated with said brick hopper for timely release of bricks therefrom for deposit on a wall as said carriages move along said rail;

said brick hopper including endless conveyor means disposed to move bricks in stacks toward the point of release, said conveyor means being periodically coupled to said drive means upon exhaustion of a stack of bricks, to move another stack into position for release.

3. The machine of claim 2 wherein:

said brick hopper includes a floor of anti-friction bearing means to facilitate movement of said brick stacks by said conveyor means toward a vertical discharge column above said point of release.

4. The machine of claim 3 and further comprising:

a joint closer on one of said carriages and following said release means, said closer including:

a lug driven by said drive means between positions behind and ahead of a brick deposited by said release means, and engageable with said deposited brick for movement thereof back toward a previously deposited brick.

5. The machine of claim 4 and further comprising:

pump means having an inlet associated with said mortar hopper and an outlet disposed to discharge mortar onto a butt end of a deposited brick; and

a leveler and trowel behind said joint, and

a motar box associated with said trowel for receipt of mortar trimmed by said trowel.

6. A bricklaying machine comprising:

a generally horizontal rail;

ground engaging means supporting said rail;

carriages mounted on said rail and connected together for movement in unison along said rail;

drive means on one of said carriages and driving said carriages along said rail;

a mortar supply means on one of said carriages and having outlet means disposed to discharge mortar where a brick is to be deposited; and

a brick hopper in one of said carriages;

release means associated with said brick hopper for timely release of bricks therefrom for deposit on a wall as said carriages move along said rail;

said rail having a loop therein lying in a horizontal plane and enabling passage of said carriages around a corner.

7. The machine of claim 6 wherein:

the lineal distance around said loop exceeds the overall length of said carriages.

8. The machine of claim 6 and further comprising:

a switch at the intersection of portions of said loop, said switch being suspended from a bridge over said intersection and pivotally mounted thereto for rotation on a vertical axis for alignment of carriage roller receiving grooves therein with carriage roller receiving grooves in said rail, said switch having detent means therein to maintain alignment thereof with the rail during passage of carriages across said intersection.

9. A bricklaying machine comprising:

a generally horizontal rail;

ground engaging means supporting said rail;

carriages mounted on said rail and connected together for movement in unison along said rail;

drive means on one of said carriages and driving said carriages along said rail;

a mortar supply means on one of said carriages and having outlet means disposed to discharge mortar where a brick is to be deposited; and

a brick hopper in one of said carriages;

release means associated with said bric'k hopper for ing:

brick hopper floor means for supporting a plurality of stacks of bricks,

endless belt means extending at the side of said floor means from an entrance toward an exit and having finger means thereon at spaced locations therealong between said entrance and said exit and engageable with bricks stacked on said floor means for movement thereof from said entrance toward said exit.

11. The combination of claim 10 and further comprising:

brick release means at said exit, said release means including a first member having an edge portion disposed below and supporting the lowermost brick in the stack at said exit, said release means including first oscillator means coupled to drive means and operable thereby to move the edge of said first member out from under said bric'k for release thereof;

and said release means including a second member operable by said drive means along with said first member to engage and hold the brick next above said lowermost brick as said lowermost brick is released.

12. The combination of claim 10 wherein:

said hopper lower means include low friction means facilitating lateral movement of stacks of bricks therealong from said entrance toward said exit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS PRICE C. FAW, JR., Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. XJR.

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