A device for producing brick mouldings

Abstract

 A device for moulding brick mouldings, comprising a frame, an endless conveyor means (4), movably supported by said frame and carrying a plurality of moulding trays (6), drive means for said conveyor means (4), a plurality of stations located adjacent said conveyor means (4) and including a working- and filling device (11) for filling said moulding trays (6) with clay material, and a discharge station (45) for discharging the mouldings from the moulding trays (6), whereby the drive means is adapted to drive the conveyor means (4) in a continuous manner, whereby the moulding trays (6) are - with the intermediary of locking means-­detachably connected to the conveyor means (4) and whereby an auxiliary drive is provided adjacent at least one of the working stations, said drive being adapted to lift an unlocked moulding tray (6) from the conveyor means (4), to move said tray through the working station in an intermittent manner and to place said tray back into the conveyor means (4).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device for moulding brick mouldings, comprising a frame, an endless conveyor means, movably supported by said frame and carrying a plurality of moulding trays, drive means for said conveyor means, a plurality of stations located adjacent said conveyor means and including a working- and filling device for filling said moulding trays with clay material, and a discharge station for discharging the mouldings from the moulding trays.

[0002] Such a device is known from Dutch patent specification 128.758. The maximum capacity of such a device is mainly dependent of the speed at which the moulding trays can be displaced by the conveyor means. This speed is limited, as this displacement is taking place in an intermittent manner as a consequence of the intermittently operating filling device.

[0003] The present invention aims at providing a device of the type referred to hereinabove, which has a large potential capacity.

[0004] This aim is achieved with a device according to the present invention in that the drive means is adapted to drive the conveyor means in a continuous manner, whereby the moulding trays are - with the intermediary of locking means - detachably connected to the conveyor means and whereby an auxiliary drive is provided adjacent at least one of the working stations, said drive being adapted to lift an unlocked moulding tray from the conveyor means, to move said tray through the working station in an intermittent manner and to place said tray back into the conveyor means. Due to this the conveyor means may be driven at a high speed, so that the device may have a large capacity. The intermittent displacement within the working station is taking place independent of the conveyor means, so that it does not affect the uniform displacement of the conveyor means at high speed.

[0005] An advantageous construction of the device according to the present invention may be obtained, when the auxiliary drive comprises a pick-up means having a moulding tray engaging elevating member, and displacement- and guide means coupled with said drive means, which cause the elevating member to perform a cyclic motion, composed of a first motion component which is equal to that of the conveyor means and a second motion component perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor means.

[0006] Preferably the device is constructed such that the guide means comprise a first carriage which is mounted for vertical movement onto said frame and a second carriage which is connected to said first carriage so as to move parallel to said conveyor means. Such a drive and guidance can be favourably performed in an exact and clearance-­free manner and enable to perform the desired movements quite accurately.

[0007] To obtain the correct and exact motion the device is preferably performed such that the motion means comprise a drive shaft coupled with the drive means of the conveyor means through a fixed trans­mission, said drive shaft carrying a first cam engaging a cam fixedly connected to said first carriage, and a second cam engaging a cam follower fixedly connected with said second carriage. Thus the first cam is programming the vertical movement, while the second cam is programming the combined vertical and horizontal movement.

[0008] The drive will be subjected to a favourable, reduced load, when according to the present invention said first carriage is connected with a counterweight which substantially compensates the carriage weight.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment the second carriage is urged, by resilient means, in a direction with respect of said first carriage, in which its cam follower is caused to engage said second cam, so that the movement of the second carriage may be effected in a clearance-­free and accurate manner.

[0010] A further development of the device according to this invention is characterized in that at least one working station comprises a processing device movable along with said conveyor means and provided with gripping means adapted to engage dogs provided on said drive means so as to take said processing device along in the conveying direction.

[0011] The invention will be hereinafter further described with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying figures.

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic side view of an embodiment of the device of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a perspective view, partially in section, of the device of fig. 1, showing the pick-up means for the moulding trays and

fig. 3 is a perspective view, partially in section, of the device of fig. 1, showing the discharge device.

[0012] The device 1 for moulding brick mouldings comprises a frame in which two mutually spaced and parallel shafts 2, 3 are rotatably supported. An endless conveyor means 4 extends around the shafts 2, 3 for continuously driving - in use of the device 1 - the conveyor means 4 in the direction of the arrow 5. For clarity's sake the frame is not shown in fig. 1.

[0013] The conveyor means 4 comprises two spaced and parallel chains 17 of links 18. Between correspondingly positioned links of the two chains 17 moulding trays 6 are provided. Each moulding tray 6 comprises e.g. twelve moulding forms for bricks. The moulding forms are loosely removably connected with said conveyor means 4, so that these moulding trays 6 may be simply and quickly changed in case it is desired to change to a different brick size. With the device 1 use is made of this simple removability of the moulding trays, in that these trays are displaced - independently of the conveyor means 4 - through a intermittently operating filling device 11 known per se, while the conveyor means 4 is travelling continuously.

[0014] For this purpose the device 1 is provided with a pick-up device 7 adapted to lift the moulding trays 6 from the elevating means. Said pick-up device 7 comprises a first carriage 20 which is vertically movably supported in the frame, and a second carriage 21 connected with said first carriage 20 such, that it may move parallel to the direction of movememnt of the conveyor means 4. The carriage 21 carries two elevating members 8 adapted to elevate the moulding trays 6 from the conveyor means 4. The desired motion of the elevating members 8 is achieved by means of cams (not shown), which are mounted on a shaft 12 journalled in the frame, said shaft being, through a chain 13, drivingly connected with the shaft 2 of the conveyor means 4. Thus the motions of the elevating members 8 are in synchronism with those of the conveyor means 4. In order to unburden the cam drive a counterweight 22 is provided, which via diametrically shown cables 23 compensates the weight of the carriages 20 and 22.

[0015] The moulding trays 6, after having been lifted from the conveyor means 4 by the elevating members 8, are slided into the filling device 11 by means of a pusher device 9. The operation of the filling device 11 will not be described further, as it relates to a device which is commonly known in this field. It will be sufficient to indicate that the filling device 11 is provided with two filling means 10, which are adapted to deposit predetermined amounts of clay material into the moulding trays 6 positioned there below. In case of moulding trays 6 comprising twelve moulding cavities, and making use of filling members 10 each comprising three units, at first the moulding cavities carrying the order number 1, 5 and 9 will be filled by the first filling member 10. Upon shifting of the moulding tray through a distance equal to the width of one moulding cavity, the moulding cavities carrying the order numbers 2, 6 and 10 are filled. Below said second filling member 10 the remaining six moulding cavities are filled in a similar manner.

[0016] Upon the moulding trays 6 having been passed through the filling device 11 and being filled by clay material, said trays are reintroduced into the conveyor means 4 with the aid of a loading device 15. The loading device 15 is similar to the above-described pick-up device 7 and is also driven by means of cams provided on a shaft 14.

[0017] The shaft 14 is driven from the main drive of the device 1 with the intermediary of a chain-gear drive. Prior to the moulding trays 6 being picked up by the loading device, said trays are placed in the correct positions by means of a positioning device 16. After the filled moulding trays 6 having the filling device 11 and being reintroduced into the conveyor means 4, said trays are - in a continuous motion - transported to a trimming station 25. In this trimming station 25 a trimming device 26 is provided adapted to trimm off the excess of clay material, extending beyond the top of the moulding trays, the so-called "klad". The trimming device 26 is moving along with said moulding trays during said trimming-off operation and is, for this purpose, connected with the frame through guiding and displacement means (not shown in this figure) allowing said device to move in the direction of the conveyor means 4. The trimming device 26 further comprises a frame 27 which may be displaced obliquely downwardly by means of a piston-cylinder device. The frame 27 is carrying, at its lower ends, two cutting threads 28 extending transversally to the plane of the drawing. In the trimming station 25 the moulding trays are tilted through a predetermined angle, as shown in fig. 1. The trimming device 26 is taken along with said conveyor means 4 in such a way, that the cutting threads 28 will, as a result of the downward movement of the frame 27 effected by the piston-­cylinder device 29, move accurately along the top surface of the moulding trays and thereby cut the "klad" 30 off. The excess amount of clay 30 drops, via a funnel 31 provided within the trimming station 25, onto a discharge belt 32 and is discharged from the device by means of said belt. The frame 27 returns upewardly into the upper position shown in the drawing, after which the entire trimming device 26 is returned to the right in order to remove the excess amount of clay 30 from two following moulding trays.

[0018] After having passed through the ttrimming station 25, the moulding trays are swung back into their conveyor means engaging position.

[0019] Upon leaving the trimming station 25 the moulding trays 6 arrive at the cover plate depositing station 35. In this station 35 there is a cover plate magazine 36 which may be regularly fed by means of a supply carriage 37 not further described. Below the cover plate magazine there are positioning means adapted to deposit, in synchronism, the lower cover plate ejected from the magazine 36 accurately on a moulding tray, in contact with abutments provided adjacent said moulding tray.

[0020] On the left end of the device 1 in Fig. 1 a number of juxtaposed V-belts are trained around pulleys 41. After the cover plates 36 being deposited the moulding trays get under these V-belts 40. While moving around the shaft 3 the cover plates deposited onto the moulding trays 6 are thus kept into contact with the moulding trays by means of these holding V-belts 40. Upon a complete reversal of the direction of movement round the shaft 3 the mouldings in the moulding trays 6 are lying on the cover plates 36 in the conveying direction of the conveyor means 4. Downstream of this reversal location a discharge station 45 is provided, in which the cover plates with the mouldings lying thereon may be discharge from the device 1. In the discharge station 45 there is an unloading device 47 which is provided with an unloading member which is allowed - by a vertically and horizontally guided second carriage - to move along with said conveyor means 4 and simultaneously to carry out a movement in transverse direction. At first the cover plates 36 get lying on a support rail 48 and are then gripped by the unloading member, after which the support rail 48 is moved away in a manner not further shown. The unloading member then causes the cover plate with the moulding lying thereon to lower onto the conveyor belt 46. The cover plates with the mouldings lying thereon are discharged on this conveyor belt 46 for further processing.

[0021] After having left the discharge station 45 the moulding trays are passed through a cleaning station 50, where remainders of clay material, of any, are removed from the moulding trays. At last the device 1 comprises a sending station 51 diagrammatically shown in the lower part to the right in Fig. 1, where the moulding trays 6 are sanded prior to starting a next cycle as described hereinabove.

[0022] Fig. 2 shows a detailed view of the unloading device 7 for taking the moulding trays out of the conveyor means 4.

[0023] In Fig. 2 a number of frame beams 19 are shown, which have been left out in Fig. 1 for sake of clarity. The first carriage 20 of the unloading device 7 comprises two guiding rods 81 on either side of the device, which are vertically slidably guided in guide blocks 82 on the upper and lower frame beams 19. The guiding rods 81 are connected at their lower ends by a frame 80 and at their upper ends by a framework that is composed of longitudinal beams 83 on either side of the device, between the ends of which cross-beams 84 are provided.

[0024] The auxiliary frame thus formed from the integrally connected frame 80, rods 81, longitudinal beams 83 and cross beams 84, is vertically movably supported in the frame of the device 1. The desired vertically reciprocating movement is controlled by first cams 87 which are fixedly mounted on the shaft 12. These first cams 87 engage cam followers 88 which are fixedly connected with the carriage 20.

[0025] The second carriage 21 is mounted to be moved relative to said first carriage 20 and parallel to the conveyor means 4. For this purpose the first carriage 20 comprises rails 85 on which guide shoes 26 of the second carriage 21 are supported. The second carriage 21 has a pin 90 which projects through a slot in the longitudinal beam 83. A tension spring 83 provided in the longitudinal beam 83 is attached to the pin 90, so that the second carriage 21 is urged to the right relative to said first carriage 20, as seen in Fig. 2. This keeps a cam follower 23, provided on the frame of the second carriage, into engagement with a second cam 92 which is also fixed on the shaft 20.

[0026] For clarity's sake it is remarked that the construction is similar on either side of the device.

[0027] The cam 92 is formed in such a way that the second carriage 21, while caused by said first cam 87 to move vertically, will also perform the desired horizontal movement or at least a movement in the conveyance direction 5 corresponding to that of the conveyor means 4.

[0028] As remarked before, the moulding trays 6 are connected to the conveyor means 4 through releasable locking means. These locking means consist of a swingeable locking arm 64 on supporting frames 56 and locking cams 63 on the moulding trays 6. Because it is considered to be within the reach of a skilled person to design such a locking device, a specific construction of it will not be described. It is to be noted, however, that the locking arms 64 in the supporting frames 56, on the right side as seen in Fig. 2, are swung out of engagement with the cams 63. As a result of this the moulding trays 6 get loosely lying in the supporting frames 56. The motion of the elevating members 8 of the second carriage 21 programmed by the cams 87 and 92 is such, that these elevating members 8 are - as seen horizontally - moving along with said supporting frames 56 and are simultaneously moving upwardly within said frames so as to elevate the loosely lying moulding trays 6 from said supporting frames. As shown in the drawings, the device 7 is provided with two elevating members 8, so that two moulding trays 6 can be elevated simultaneously.

[0029] As diametrically shown in Fig. 1, the moulding trays 6 taken up by the elevating members 8, are slided into the filling device 11 by means of a pusher device 9. While progressing in the direction of arrow 5 the elevating members 8 are subsequently moving downwards until below the supporting frames 56. The cams are formed such, that, as soon as the elevating members 8 have arrived below the supporting frames 56, the carriage 21 will be moved in a direction opposite to that of arrow 5 in order to start a next cycle.

[0030] As remarked before, counterweights 22 are provided, which act upon the carriage 20 via flexible means 23, such as cables or chains which are trained around pulleys 89 rotatably mounted on a frame beam 19. The mass of the counterweights 22 is only slightly smaller than the total mass of the parts moving along with the carriage 20, so that the contact force between the cam followers 88 and the cams 87 is kept small in favour of a uniform drive. The springs 91 also have been designed such, that the force exerted by the same onto the carriage 21 will be just enough to ensure an effective contact between the cam followers 93 and the cams 92. In this manner an accurate and uniform drive of the entire unloading device 7 is achieved with an inherent long live of the latter.

[0031] In principle the loading device 15 is identical to the unloading device 7. The cams of it are shaped to achieve the desired movement of the members corresponding with the elevating members 8.

[0032] In Fig. 3 the device 47 for discharging the mouldings is shown. Also in Fig. 3 parts of the device are broken away in order to be able to show the details.

[0033] The device 47 comprises, in a manner analogue to the device 7 of Fig. 2 - a first carriage which is vertically movably mounted relative to the frame of the device. This first carriage comprises rods 95 which are guided in guide blocks 96 which are mounted on frame beams 19. The rods 95 are connected at the lower ends by a longitudinal beam 97 and at the upper ends by an upper longitudinal beam 98. The construction is identical on the other side (not shown) of the device. The vertical movement of this first carriage is also programmed by a cam drive not further shown. The cams are mounted on a shaft 94 which is journalled in the frame and which is directly driven from the shaft 3 of the device.

[0034] Rails 99 are provided on the upper side of the upper longitudinal beams 98. These rails are engaged by guide shoes 100 which are connected to the frame 101 of the second carriage. This permits the second carriage to move relative to the first carriage in a direction parallel to that of the conveyor means.

[0035] A fork 102 the function of which will be hereinafter further described, is pivotally mounted to the frame 101.

[0036] It is the function of the device 47 to take the cover plates 34 - which have been deposited on the filled and trimmed moulding trays 6 within the cover plate depositing station 35 and are subsequently turned upside-down by moving around the shaft 3 - downwardly from the moulding trays and place them onto the conveyor belt 46. While the cover plates 34 are downwardly taken off from the moulding trays, the mouldings remain laying on the cover plates, so that they are discharged together with the cover plates onto the conveyor belt 46 out of the device.

[0037] In the two left hand moulding tray positions in Fig. 3 only the cover plates 34 are shown, whereas in the two right-hand moulding tray positions also the moulding trays 6 and the supporting frames (partially broken away) have been shown.

[0038] The device 47 operates as follows.

[0039] During conveying the moulding trays around the shaft 3 the cover plates 34 are kept in place on said moulding trays by means of the holding V-belts 40 trained around the pulleys 41. Adjacent the end of the area in which the V-belts are in contact with the cover plates, i.e. in the area to the left in Fig. 3, the support rails 48 mentioned before are provided on either side of the device so as to take over the cover plate supporting function from said V-belts 40. The support rails 48 are provided with guide rollers 107 which engage a guide rod 108. The latter is, through a pivot 109, swingeably connected to the frame 19. The support rail 48 is provided with a dog 110 which may be engaged by a cam 111 on the chain 17. As soon as two trays have arrived in the position shown to the left in Fig. 3, the support rail 48 is swung from a forward position (not shown) towards a position under the ends of the cover plates 34, as shown in Fig. 3. This brings the cam 111 into engagement with the dog 110, so that the support rail 48 will move along with the continuously progressing chain 17 and the moulding trays. This movement continues until the cover plates 34 supported by the support rail 48 have arrived in the position of the moulding trays shown to the right in Fig. 3. At that location the carriage assembly has been moved into a lower position. From this lower position the carriage assembly is moving upwards, whereby the fork 102 with its teeth 115 engages the rear side of the support rail 48. As shown, the support rail 48 is provided with recesses 116, through which the teeth 115 may grip the cove plates 34. As soon as the teeth 115 engage the cover plates, the support rail 48 is, together with the guide rod 108, swung about the pivot axis 109 forwardly as seen in Fig. 3. The support roll 48 is then returned by means not further shown for taking up a next pair of cover plates.

[0040] When moving the frame 101 upwardly so as to bring the teeth 115 of the fork 102 into engagement with the cover plates a dog 106 fixedly connected to the frame 110 gets into engagement with the chain 17. The frame 101 and the fork 102 will then uniformly move along with the chain 17. The cam on the shaft 94 which takes care of the programmed vertical movement of the device, is designed such that, as soon as the support rail 48 has been swung away, a downward movement of the frame 101 together with the fork 102 will start. The cover plates 34 supported on the teeth 115 and carrying the mouldings are thereby separated from the moulding trays 6. The fork 102 is moving downwardly until the cover plates 34 with the mouldings thereon are placed onto the conveyor belt 46. The mouldings are then discharged by the conveyor belt 46. The downward movement of the frame 101 continues a little further, so that the teeth 115 will become completely engaged from the cover plates 34. In the meantime, as seen in Fig. 3, the frame 101 has been displaced to the right to such an extent, that the arm 117 of the fork 102 has reached the inwardly projecting portion of a guide 105 connected with the lower longitudinal beam 97. A weight 104 is conected with said arm 117 and causes the fork 102 to turn about the pivot 103 clockwise as seen in Fig. 3. This turning movement is permitted by the inwardly projecting portion of the guide 105, so that the fork 102 is swung and the teeth 115 are moving forwardly. When the frame 101 is moving upwardly again the teeth 115 will remain disengaged from the cover plates 34 on the conveyor belt 46. During the returning movement of the frame 101, the contact between the arm 117 and the guide 105 causes the fork 102 to return into the position shown in the drawing so as to prepare for engaging the next two cover plates 34 supported by the support rail 48. The frame 101 is provided with suitable abutments 114 preventing the teeth 115 from swinging backwardly under the influence of the weight of the cover plates 34 and the mouldings thereon.

[0041] As shown, the movable assembly of the device 47 is also connected with a counterweight 112 through chains 113. In this manner the load on the cam drive is kept to a minimum, which favourably influence the life and the reliable operation of the device.

[0042] The above described preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention thus permits to have the conveyance of the moulding trays take place in a continuous manner, so that a very smooth operation at a - in comparison with an intermittent drive - low maximum speed is achieved. By taking the moulding trays out of the conveyor belt, such trays may, if desired, temporarily intermittently displaced independently of the continuously progressing conveyor means 4 and more particularly at those locations where this is desirable from a constructive point of view, such as in particular adjacent the filling device.

[0043] Although the construction of the drives of the various devices in the working stations is not limited to one with according to two different motion components movable sub-systems, and e.g. suitable four-side linkage systems could be applied as well, said construction is to be preferred in view of the fundamentally simple and well-­controllable configuration with an exactly defined course of motion.

Claims

1. A device for moulding brick mouldings, comprising a frame, an endless conveyor means, movably supported by said frame and carrying a plurality of moulding trays, drive means for said conveyor means, a plurality of stations located adjacent said conveyor means and including a working- and filling device for filling said moulding trays with clay material, and a discharge station for discharging the mouldings from the moulding trays, characterized in that the drive means is adapted to drive the conveyor means in a continuous manner, whereby the moulding trays are - with the intermediary of locking means - detachably connected to the conveyor means and whereby an auxiliary drive is provided adjacent at least one of the working stations, said drive being adapted to lift an unlocked moulding tray from the conveyor means, to move said tray through the working station in an intermittent manner and to place said tray back into the conveyor means.

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the auxiliary drive comprises a pick-up means having a moulding tray engaging elevating member, and displacement- and guide means coupled with said drive means, which cause the elevating member to perform a cyclic motion, composed of a first motion component which is equal to that of the conveyor means and a second motion component perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor means.

3. A device according to claim 2, characterized in that the guide means comprise a first carriage which is mounted for vertical movement onto said frame and a second carriage which is connected to said first carriage so as to move parallel to said conveyor means.

4. A device according to claim 3, characterized in that the motion means comprise a drive shaft coupled with the drive means of the conveyor means by means of a fixed transmission, said drive shaft carrying a first cam engaging a cam fixedly connected to said first carriage, and a second cam engaging a cam follower fixedly connected with said second carriage.

5. A device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that said first carriage is connected with a counterweight which substantially compensates the carriage weight.

6. A device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the second carriage is urged, by resilient means, in a direction with respect of said first carriage, in which its cam follower is caused to engage said second cam, so that the movement of the second carriage may be effected in a clearance-free and accurate manner.

7. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one working station comprises a processing device movable along with said conveyor means and provided with gripping means adapted to engage dogs provided on said drive means so as to take said processing device along in the conveying direction.

Drawing