US3438171A - Bricklaying machine - Google Patents

Description

April 15, 1969 D. M. DEMAREST BRIGRLAYING 10.0mm:

Filed Oct. 24. 1966 April 15, 1969 D. M. DEMAREST 3,438,171

BRICKLAYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 24, 1966 i l I l INVENTOR Doug/45M DE/1404 557 2 BY 225 M W 26 Z57 22; Z27 7ATTORNEY5 April 15, 1969 0. M. DEMAREST BRICKLAYING MACHINE INVENTOR 200g; 45 M .fisA wzar (.llll

Sheet ATTORNEYS Filed Oct. 24. 1966 -mT A \w m April 15, 1969 u. M. DEMAREST BHICKLAYING MACHINE Sheet 5 of6 Filed Oct. 24, 1966 Qm kwv ham wmw Mi m r w INVENTOR ,Daugzgs 4/. Jam/as 7 ATTORNEYS BY 7%? /7/M D. M. DEMAREST BRICKLAYING MACHINE A ril 15, 1969 Fi ed Oct. 24. 36s

INVENTOR 300g 45 M. Dam/ear ATTORNEYS United States Patent 07 US. Cl. 52749 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bricklaying machine which is capable of directly transporting bricks one after the other from a receiving station of the machine along a straight-line path to a brick-depositing station where each brick is received to be deposited in a given course of a brick wall which is under construction.

The present invention relates to machines for laying bricks or any similarly shaped bodies, such as cement blocks during construction of a wall.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a bricklaying machine which is of an exceedingly simple, rugged construction, which is composed of a relatively small number of components which coact in a very reliable manner while at the same time requiring a relatively small amount of power for its operation, and which is in its entirety of a relatively light weight, so that the entire machine can be easily handled.

In particular it is an object of the present invention to provide a bricklaying machine which is capable of directly transporting bricks one after the other from a receiving station of the machine along a straight-line path to a brick-depositing station where each brick is received to be deposited in a given course of a wall which is under construction. In this way it becomes possible with the machine of the present invention to eliminate an elevator for raising bricks received from a conveyor to the elevation of the particular course which is to receive the bricks of a wall which is under construction.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a bricklaying machine with a construction which will guarantee that all of the bricks are precisely located in a common vertical plane.

It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a bricklaying machine which is capable of successively laying a series of vertical walls at a given distance one from the next.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bricklaying machine with a construction which will guarantee that the successive courses of a given wall are situated one above the other at least at a given minimum distance from each other.

The bricklaying machine of the present invention includes a rear receiving station at which a supply means is located for receiving a supply of bricks which are to be successively deposited in a given course. Situated forwardly of and spaced from the supply means is a depositing station which is situated at the course of a wall which is under construction, and a holding means is located at this depositing station for releasably holding the successive bricks which are to be deposited in a given course. A conveyor means of the invention has a front end situated directly next to the holding means and a rear end situated directly next to the supply means, and this conveyor means of the invention conveys the bricks one by one from the supply means to the holding means along a substantially straight-line path, delivering the bricks directly from the supply means to the holding means. This latter holding means of the invention has front and rear 3,438,171 Patented Apr. 15, 1969 brick-guiding plates which respectively slidably engage the front and rear faces of a brick during deposition thereof in a given course, and a plunger means coacts with the holding means to displace a brick therefrom into the course which is to receive the brick. These front and rear brick-guiding plates engage the front and rear faces, respectively, of at least one previously laid brick, so as to assure the proper positioning of each brick in the plane of the wall in precise alignment with the previously laid bricks. The brick-guiding plates are supported for at least limited movement toward and away from each other, and a camming means is connected with the plunger means for movement therewith and cams the brick-guiding plates inwardly toward each other into engagement with a previously laid brick during the time when a brick is displaced from the holding means by the plunger means.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a partly fragmentary and partly sectional side elevation of one possible embodiment of a bricklaying machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along line 44 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan view of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along line 44 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of that part of the structure of the invention which deposits the successive bricks into the courses of a wall which is under construction;

FIG. 6 fragmentarily illustrates the parts of FIG. 5 at a position they take subsequent to their position shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view taken along line 7-7 .of FIG. 6 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 88 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing the structure on a scale which is larger than that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a sectional side elevation taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows and showing the structure on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a sectional elevation taken along the line 1010 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows and also showing the structure on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 5; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan view of structure shown at the upper part of FIG. 10.

General framework During the construction of a brick wall the entire machine of the invention moves continuously in a direction parallel to the wall and, more specifically, in a direction parallel to the particular course of the wall which is being laid. The machine of the invention will construct one wall at a time, course-by-course, with the successive courses being placed one upon the other as the height of the wall increases.

In order to guide the machine in its movement parallel to the wall which is under construction, a pair of tubular tracks 20 (FIG. 1) are provided, and these tracks may be carried in suitable channel members 22 which are in turn supported on mutually spaced cross-ties 24. During the construction of the lowermost part of a wall, these ties 24 can rest directly on the ground, and the footing on which the wall is built will extend generally to a distance o of about inches above the surface of the ground, so that the lowermost course will be situated at an elevation of approximately 5 inches from the ground. As the height of the wall increases up to the maximum height at which the machine can lay the courses of bricks, it is possible to interrupt the operations and erect scaffolding at various elevations to carry the structure which is shown in FIG. 1, so that in this way it is possible to continue to build the wall to any desired elevation.

A carriage means 26 (FIGS. 1-4) is provided to guide the entire machine along the tracks 20, and this carriage means 26 includes the grooved wheels 28 which engage the tubular tracks 20. The carriage means 26 includes a leading pair of grooved wheels 28 fixed to a transverse shaft 30 and a trailing pair of grooved wheels 28 fixed to a trailing shaft 32. During the laying of a given course the leading shaft 30 will always lead the trailing shaft 32.

A platform 34 (FIG. 1) is situated over the space between the shafts 30 and 32, and this platform 34 forms the bottom wall of a housing 36 in which is housed the driving structure shown most clearly in FIG. 4 and described in greater detail below. The hollow housing 36 is of the substantially C-shaped configuration shown in FIG. 4 so that at its front portion it has the opening 38 shown most clearly in FIG. 4 also for a purpose described below. A driving motor 40 is situated at the exterior of the housing 36 directly on a portion of the platform 34 which extends beyond the housing 36. This motor 40 can be connected to any suitable source of electrical energy which can be turned on and off at the option of the operator in any suitable way.

The leading and trailing walls of the housing 36 respectively fixedly carry the flat horizontal flanges 42 which are respectively situated over and extend along the shafts 30 and 32, and each of these flanges is formed with a plurality of openings passing therethrough. In the illustrated example there are three openings 44 in each flange 42.

The flanges 42 as well as the housing 36 itself are fixed to four upright hollow columns 46 which may be of square or rectangular cross section, as shown in FIGS. 24. The platform 34 carries bearings 48 (FIG. 1) through which the shafts 30 and 32 respectively extend. Thus, these shafts are capable of rotating in the bearings 48 while at the same time the shafts support the columns 46 which serve to carry the housing 36 over the carriage means 26 which supports the entire machine.

Each shaft 30 and 32 fixedly carries a pair of collars 50 (FIG. 1) and these collars are spaced from each other to define a given gap between themselves. A pin 52 is adapted to be received at its bottom end in the space between each pair of collars 50, as indicated in FIG. I. There are a pair of such pins 52 situated at the leading and trailing ends of the housing 36 and having enlarged head ends 54 capable of being grasped by the operator and connected by chains 56 to the housing 36 so that the pins 52 will not become lost. By situating the pins 52 in a selected pair of openings 44, passing therethrough into the space between the pairs of each collars 50, it is possible to determine the transverse position of the housing 36 and the columns 46 with respect to the shafts 30 and 32. Thus when the pins 52 are removed the entire structure carried by the carriage means 26 can be shifted to the right or left, as viewed in FIG. 1, perpendicularly with respect to a wall under construction and with respect to the direction of movement of the carriage means 26. The two rows of openings 44 are respectively situated directly over the shafts 30 and 32, so that selected openings 44 can be aligned with the gaps between the collars 50, whereupon the pins 52 can be replaced to maintain the entire structure at a selected position transversely of the carriage means 26.

As was pointed out above, the bricklaying machine of the invention will construct one wall at a time. When the rearmost pair of openings 44, shown at the left in FIGS. 14 are situated over the gaps between the pairs of collars 50, the bricklaying structure proper will be situated at its greatest distance to the right of the carriage means 26, as viewed in FIG. 1, and at this time it is possible to to use the machine to construct the wall 58 indicated in FIG. 1. Thereafter, if desired, a second wall 60 can be constructed at a relatively small distance to the left of the wall 58, as viewed in FIG. 1, and for this purpose the pins 52 will be removed from their openings and the entire structure will be shifted to the left along the shafts 30 and 32 so that the machine will then have the position shown in FIG. 1. It is then possible to remove the pins 52, after the wall 60 has been constructed, and to situate the front openings 44 in alignment with the gaps between the pairs of collars 50, after which the pins 52 are replaced and in this way it becomes possible to construct a third wall 62, in the manner indicated schematically in FIG. 1.

It is to be noted that because of the fact that the entire machine is of a relatively light weight it is possible for the entire framework carried by the shafts 30 and 32 to be shifted along the latter so as to locate the bricklaying structure proper at a selected distance with respect to the wheels 28. It is also to be noted that the housing 36 itself, by way of its connection with the four columns 46, serves to maintain, by determining the location of the bearings 48, the shafts 30 and 32 at a given distance from each other.

As is indicated in FIG. 1, the top ends of the columns 46 are fixed, as by suitable rivets or the like, to an upper horizontal framework 64 which fixedly carries downwardly directed pulley brackets 66 which in turn carry pulleys 68, these pulleys being supported for free rotary movement.

Situated between the upper framework 64 and the housing 36 is a movable support means 70 which forms a primary support means from which practically all of the structure is supported, and this support means 70 of the invention is in the form of a vertically movable framework for which the columns 46 form a guide means to guide the support means 70 for vertical movement while the support means 70 remains in a horizontal plane parallel to that in which the upper framework 64 is located.

The framework 70 includes a leading elongated transverse bar 72 (FIG. 2) and a trailing transverse bar 74, and these bars are respectively fixed to angle members 76 which slidably engage the columns 46, so that in this way these columns guide the support means 70 for vertical movement. As is apparent from FIG. 5, the transverse bars 72 and 74 of the support means 70 are in the form of angle irons. They have outer vertical flanges to which the angle members 76 are fixed. Their upper horizontal flanges extend inwardly toward each other from their outer vertical flanges.

As is shown most clearly in FIG. 2, the pair of bars 72 and 74 are maintained at a given distance from each other by a longitudinal bar 78 which extends horizontally across the bars 72 and 74 and which may be, for example, riveted to their upper horizontal flanges, so that in this way the spacing between the bars 72 and 74 adjacent their rear ends is maintained, and in addition the rear angle members 76 are maintained in slidable guiding engagement with the rear pair of columns 46. Forwardly of the bar 78 the bars 72 and 74 fixedly carry upwardly directed bearing blocks 80 which serve to support for rotary movement an intermediate shaft 82 which fixedly carries in engagement with the end faces of each bearing block 80 a pair of collars 84, so that in this way also the spacing between the pair of bars 72 and 74 is maintained. In the same way the bars 72 and 7 fixedly carry, in the region of their front ends, upstanding rigid members 86 which carry suitable bearings for a front rotary shaft 88 which carries pairs of collars 90 engaging the ends of the mernbers 86, so that in this way also the spacing and parallel relationship between the bars 72 and 74 is maintained.

The upper horizontal flanges of the bars 72 and 74 fixedly carry adjacent their ends suitable eye members 92 (FIG. 1), and ropes or cables 94 are connected to the eye members 92 and extend over the pulleys 68 and then downwardly along the rear of the machine, these ropes being wound onto a shaft 96 supported for rotation by suitable bearing blocks 98 (FIG. 1) carried by the rear pair of columns 46. The shaft 96 can be manually turned, as by turning of a suitable hand wheel 100 fixed to the shaft 96, and the shaft 96 can fixedly carry suitable takeup spools onto which the several ropes 94 are wound and from which they are paid out. During winding of the ropes onto the spools carried by the shaft 96 the support means 70 will of course be raised, and during paying out of the ropes the support means 70 will be lowered. In order to maintain the support means 70 at a desired location the bars 72 and 74 and/or the angle members 76 may carry suitable set screws which may be tapped to press against the columns 46 for maintaining the support means 70 at a selected elevation. When it is desired to change this elevation, these set screws can be loosened and the handwheel 100 turned so as to change the elevation. The ropes 94 can be connected with suitable counterweights which balance the weight of the support means 70 and the structure carried thereby, so that the operator can easily turn the handwheel 100 for changing the elevation of the support means 70. During normal construction the support means 70 will be raised upwardly in a stepwise manner from course to course, and then at the end of the construction of a given wall or a given section thereof the support means 70 will be lowered to its lowest elevation in order to start the next series of courses. The courses are always laid from bottom to top and in the direction indicated by the arrow 102 in FIGS. 2 and 5.

All of the moving components of the machine of the invention are driven from the single motor 40. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 4, the motor 40 drives a belt-and-pulley assembly 104 which serves to rotate a shaft 106 situated in the housing 36 and supported by suitable bearings 108 therein. At the front end of the shaft 106 is situated a pair of meshing bevel gears 110 one of which is fixed to the shaft 106 for rotation therewith and the other of which is fixed to a vertical noncircular shaft 112, which may be of square cross section, as shown, and which is supported at its top and bottom ends in suitable bearings carried by the housing 36 and the upper framework 64. During operation of the machine all of the movable components carried by the support means 70 are driven from the rotary non-circular shaft 112. The support means 70 moves vertically with respect to the shaft 112.

Returning to FIG. 4, it will be seen that through a second belt-and-pulley assembly 114 the drive is transmitted from the shaft 106 to a variable speed assembly 116 capable of providing different transmission ratios through manipulation of a suitable handle accessible at the exterior of and over the housing 36, and the output of the variable speed assembly 116 drives a belt-andpulley assembly 118 which in turn serves to drive through a suitable transmission a bevel gear 120 whose axis extends in the direction of travel of the carriage means 26. Perpendicular to the axis of the bevel gear 120 is a horizontal shaft 122 supported for rotary movement by suitable bearings 124 carried by the housing 36 in its interior, and a pair of bevel gears 126 and 128 are fixedly carried by a sleeve which is splined or slidably keyed to the shaft 122 for axial movement therealong and which serves to maintain the bevel gears 126 and 128 at a spacing from each other which is slightly greater than the diameter of the gear 120. The inner faces of-the gears 126 and 128, which are directed toward each other, engage a roller 130 supported for rotary movement by a manually operable hell crank 132 which is supported for swinging movement about a vertical axis by way of a suitable pivot carried by the housing which supports the bevel gear 120.

The operator can turn the handle 132 between the solid and dotted line positions indicated in FIG. 4 so as to locate either the gear 126 or the gear 128 in mesh with the gear 120. Depending upon which of these gears meshes with the gear the shaft 122 will rotate in one direction or the other, and at the exterior of the housing 36 this shaft 122 fixedly carries a sprocket which drives a chain 134 which coacts with a second sprocket 136 fixed on the shaft 32 so as to drive the latter and in this way propel the carriage means 26 and the entire machine carried thereby. Thus, during the laying of a course of bricks the handle 132 will be located in one position so that the entire machine will be continuously driven in the direction of the arrow 102 while a course is being laid, and then in order to return the machine to the starting position for the next course the position of the handle is changed and the direction of movement of the carriage means 26 is reversed.

Brick-conveying structure The machine of the invention is provided with a rear receiving station at which is located a supply means 138 from which the bricks are supplied one by one to a conveyor means 144. The supply means 138 is indicated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 8. The conveyor means 144 of the invention includes a rear shaft 140 which extends in the direction of travel of the carriage means 26, and this rear shaft 140 serves to pivotally support a brick slide formed by a pair of angle irons 142 whose front ends are formed with openings through which the shaft 140 passes so that the angle irons 142 are freely swingable about the shaft 140 at the rear of the conveyor means.

The conveyor means 144 has its rear shaft 140 supported for rotary movement by a pair of plates 146 which slidably engage the outer side surfaces of the angle members 142 which form the slide for the bricks. These plates 146 are fixed to a pair of bars 148 which are parallel to and spaced from each other and which slidably engage at their inner surfaces the ends of the bricks 150 during movement of the latter from the rear receiving station where the supply means 138 is located to a front depositing station where a holding means 152 (FIG. 8) is located, this holding means serving to releasably hold the successive bricks 150 until they are deposited in a given course at the front depositing station which is aligned with and spaced forwardly of the rear receiving station. The front ends of the bars 148 are fixed with plates which extend downwardly therefrom and which are formed with openings through which a front shaft 154 of the conveyor means passes, this front shaft thus being free to rotate with respect to the front plates which carry the bars 148 between which the bricks 150 are guided. The distance between these bars, at their inner surfaces, equals the length of the bricks so that each brick is guided at its ends by the pair of bars 148 while at the same time being longitudinally positioned and oriented thereby with respect to the machine. The rear shaft 140 fixedly carries a pair of collars 156 which engage the inner side surfaces of the angle members 142, and these angle members have directed toward each other horizontal flanges which support the bricks at their ends, while the vertical flanges of the angle members 142 are situated in the same planes as the guide bars 148, so that in this way as each brick is removed from the supply means 138 it will not be longitudinally shifted during its movement to the releasable holding means 152.

The conveyor means 144 includes a pair of rear sprockets 158 fixedly carried by the rear shaft 140 for rotation therewith and coacting with a pair of endless chains 160 which extend around a pair of front sprockets 162 which are fixed to the front shaft 154 for rotary movement therewith, and thus the conveyor means 144 is of an endless construction with the chains 160 thereof continuously moving during operation of the machine. The upper runs of the chains 160, which are parallel to each other, move at all times forwardly from the supply means 138 to the releasable holding means 152.

The side bars 148 are fixedly connected to each other 7 by Way of cross members 164 which extend through the space between the upper and lower runs of each endless chain 160. The chains 160 fixedly carry flights 166 which project outwardly from the space between the upper and lower runs of each chain. The flights 166 which are fixed to one chain are aligned with those fixed to the other chain. The flights 166 have with respect to each other the spacing indicated in FIG. 8, so that during operation of the conveyor means of the invention the successive pairs of aligned flights 166 will engage the successive bricks 150 at the supply means 138 to raise the lower most brick 150 away from the supply means and convey it together with the upper runs of the chains in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 8. Thus, the spacing of the flights will maintain the bricks at a given distance from each other as they are conveyed between the endguiding bars 148 which engage the ends of the bricks during movement thereof. The cross members 164 support bottom guide bars 168 which are situated outwardly beyond the flights 166, as shown most clearly in FIG. 3, these bars 168 having top edges which engage the bottom surfaces of the brick 150 to support them for movement while they are advanced by the flights 166 which are fixed to the chains 160. In this way the chains themselves do not carry the bricks which instead simply rest slidably on the top edges of the guide bars 168. The lowermost brick 150, such as that shown in FIG. 8, for example, at the supply means 138 is directly engaged by the moving chains 160 until the next pair of aligned flights 166 move into engagement with this lowermost brick so as to displace it from the supply means 138, after which the entire series of bricks carried thereby slides downwardly by gravity.

In accordance with the invention conveyor means 144 directly conveys the bricks from the supply means along a straight-line path directly to the holding means 152, and for this purpose the support means 70 is common to and supports the holding means 152 as well as the front end of the conveyor means 144 so as to maintain the front end of the conveyor means 144 at all times at a given position with respect to a releasable holding means 152 which is described below. For this purpose the support means 70 includes a pair of downwardly extending support plates 170, one of which is shown fixed to and extending downwardly from the angle iron 72 in FIG. 5. Both plates 170 are shown in horizontal section in FIG. 7. These plates 170 are fixed at their bottom ends to rearwardly directed plates 172, and the pair of rearwardly directed plates 172 are fixed at their rear ends to downwardly directed relatively short plates 174 which carry suitable hearings to support the shaft 154 for rotary movement at the front end of the conveyor means 144. The relative positions between the sprockets 162, the guide bars 168 which engage the lower surfaces of the bricks and the guide bars 148 which engage the ends of the bricks is indicated in FIG. 7. It is apparent, therefore, that with this construction the shaft 154 will at all times have its axis situated in a vertical plane parallel to the wall which is being constructed, and this shaft 154 is supported by the support means 70 for vertical movement therewith without changing its position relative thereto, so that since the support means 70 also carries the holding means 152, in the manner described below, the front end of the conveyor means 144 of the invention will at all times have a predetermined position with respect to the releasable holding means 152.

In order to drive the conveyor means, the square drive shaft 112 carries a worm 176 (FIG. 2), and this worm 176 drives a wormwheel 178 which is fixedly carried by the rotary shaft 82. This rotary shaft 82 fixedly carries a sprocket wheel 180 which serves to drive an endless sprocket chain 182, and this chain 182 extends around and meshes with a sprocket 184 which is fixed to the shaft 154 and situated outwardly beyond the leading guide bar 148, as shown most clearly in FIG. 7, so that in this way the conveyor means 144 is continuously driven during operation of the machine.

Because the shaft 154 at the front end of the conveyor means 144 is maintained at all times at a given position with respect to the support means 70 during vertical movement of the latter, the entire conveyor means 144 is swingable about the horizontal axis of the shaft 154, and in order to support the conveyor means at its rear end of such swinging movement a second support means is operatively connected with the rear end of the conveyor means and is in turn connected in part with the support means 70. Part of the second support means is formed by a relatively rigid horizontal bar 186 fixed to the top end of a bar 188 which is fixed at its bottom end to the rear end of the housing 36 at an upper wall thereof, as shown most clearly in FIG. 8. This relatively rigid horizontal supporting bar 186 is situated beneath and directly supports the rear shaft of the conveyor means 144 when the conveyor means is conveying bricks to a lower portion of a wall which is under construction. At this time the support means 70 is at a relatively low elevation and in order to situate the shaft 154 at the lower elevation shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 8, the housing 36 is formed with the front opening 38 referred to above, so as to clear the conveyor means in the manner shown in FIG. 8 in dot-dash lines. In this way it is possible for the conveyor means to extend at its front end down to approximately the elevation of the tracks 20, and thus the lowermost courses can be deposited at an extremely low elevation. In order that the lower runs of the chains will reliably clear the housing 36 when the conveyor means has its front end situated at a lower elevation than its rear end, an intermediate cross member 163 (FIG. 8) is fixed to the bars 148 and has a lower portion fixedly carrying a pair of slide blocks 165 which have upper curved surfaces deflecting the lower runs of the chains 160 upwardly toward the upper runs thereof, in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 8, so that in this way the lower runs will reliably clear the housing 36 when the conveyor means is in the lower position shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 8. It is to be noted that the flights 166 are carried by the outer side faces of the chains 160 so that they do not in any way interfere with the guide blocks 192 which deflect the lower runs of the chains in the manner shown in FIG. 8.

After one of the lower courses has been completed, the operator will turn the shaft 96 so as to raise the support means 70 by a distance equal to the depth of one course, in preparation for the laying of the next course, and of course in this way the front shaft 154 of the conveyor means will be displaced upwardly through a given increment. As course after course is laid the elevation of the front end 154 of the conveyor means will become higher and higher, while this front shaft 154 remains in a vertical plane, as indicated in FIG. 8, and the result is that initially the rear shaft 140 will slide rearwardly along the bar 186 of the second support means. The shaft 140 will be situated at its rearmost location when the shaft 154 is at the same elevation as the shaft 140. However, the shaft 154 will move upwardly to elevations higher than the rear shaft 140, as shown in the dot-dash line upper position of the conveyor means 144 in FIG. 1, so that as the front shaft 154 continues to advance upwardly the shaft 140 will again slide forwardly along the support bar 186.

In order to limit the extent of upward movement of the front end of the conveyor means 144 with respect to its rear end, the second support means which supports the conveyor means at the region of its rear end includes, in addition to the bar 186, a substantially nonstretchable flexible means composed in the illustrated example of a pair of chains 190. These chains 190' are fixed at their upper ends to the pair of angle irons 72 and 74 in the region of the rear ends thereof, and at their bottom ends the chains 190 are respectively fixed to the side bars 148 at the region of the rear ends thereof. Thus, when the front end of the conveyor means 144 reaches, with respect to the rear end thereof, the higher elevation shown in dot-dash lines at the upper part of FIG. 1, the slack in the chains 190 will be completely eliminated so that during the continued upward movement of the support means 70 the rear end of the conveyor means will be raised away from the bar 186 and the entire conveyor means will move upwardly with the support means 70.

In order to maintain the supply means 138 at its downwardly-inclined attitude with respect to the rear end of the conveyor means, a second nonstretchable flexible means interconnects the supply means 138 with the support means 70. For this purpose a pair of chains 192 are respectively fixed at their rear ends to the side angle members 142 which form the brick-supporting slide of the supply means 138, and at their forward ends the chains 192 are fixed to a cross bar 194 which extends between and is fixedly carried by the pair of support plates 170 (FIG. 6). In this way, as may be seen from a comparison of the lower and upper positions of the conveyor means in FIG. 1, the inclination of the supply means 138 will be maintained substantially unchanged during the vertical movement of the conveyor means 144.

Brick-depositing structure As was indicated above, and as is shown in FIG. 2, the pair of elongated angle members 72 and 74 of the support means 70 are interconnected in the region of their rear ends by a cross member 78, the shafts 82 and 88 also serving to interconnect the angle members 72 and 74 by way of their mounting on the bearing blocks 80 and 86, as pointed out above. At their front ends the pair of angle irons 74 are interconnected with each other by an angle members 200 which is shown in transverse section at the upper right portion of FIG. 9. The trailing downwardly directed supporting plate 170, which supports one end of the front shaft 154 of the conveyor means 144 in the manner described above, is not fixed to the right angle member 74. Instead it is spaced inwardly of the latter and is fixed directly to the inner surface of the angle member 200 as by being welded thereto, for example, and this trailing member 170 also is shown most clearly in FIG. 9. The longitudinal support member 194 extends between and is fixed to the members 170, and this member 194 carries the releasable holding means 152.

As may be seen from FIGS. and 6, the releasable holding means 152 includes a pair of end support members 202 fixed to and extending downwardly from the lower surface of the bar 194. At their bottom ends the members 202 fixedly carry the angle members 204 which are notched at their upper free ends so as to receive the upper outer ends of a pair of end support plates 206 of the releasable holding means. These end support plates serve to support the ends of a brick, such as the brick 150a indicated in FIG. 5. For this purpose the plates 206 are formed with bores through which pins 208 freely extend with a substantial clearance. These pins 208 carry cross pins 210 in the region of their bottom ends, and these cross pins engage the lower ends of a pair of coil springs 212 which are coiled about the pins 208. The upper ends of the coil springs 212 press against the end supporting plates 206 so as to urge them to swing to the positions indicated in FIG. 5 where they engage the bottom ends of the members 202. Thus, the spring means 212 urges the end-support plates 205 to the releasable holding position indicated in FIG. 5. The clearance with which the pins 208 extend through openings of the plates 206 is sutficiently great to permit these plates to swing about their upper ends, which extend through the notches of the plates 204, downwardly to the release positions indicated in FIG. 6.

The transverse supporting bar 194 also has fixed to its lower surface, as by welding, a pair of blocks 214, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 9. These blocks are formed with parallel bores passing therethrough and serving to fixedly mount on the blocks a pair of pins 216. These pins 216 extend with substantial clearance through openings of vertical bars 218, and the pins 216 carry at each of their outer end portions a latter pin or other cross pin 220 and a collar 221 between which a bar 218 is located with clearance so as to retain on the pins 216 the vertical bars 218 which are loosely mounted in this way on the pins 216 so as to have at least a limited extent of movement toward and away from each other. FIG. 10 illustrates the second or leading block 214 which is situated, as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6, to the left of the block 214 shown in-FIG. 9, and FIG. 10 shows the second pin 216 and the second or leading pair of vertical bars 218. Thus each pin 216 carries a pair of vertical bars 218.

At their inner surfaces these bars 218 respectively carry over the pins 216 leaf springs 222 the configuration of which is most clearly apparent from FIG. 9. These leaf springs may, for example, be riveted at their lower ends to the inner surfaces of the bars 218.

At the region of the leading bars 218, shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, supporting bar 194 carries a bearing 223 in which a shaft 225 is turnable but prevented from axial movement by collars 227. At its ends, shaft 225 carries rectangular front and rear locating plates 229 and 231 which are at right angles to each other and, When turning of shaft 223, can be selectively placed in overlapping relation with the front and rear bars 218, respectively.

At the region of their lower ends the front pair of bars 218 are fixed to a front brick guiding plate 224, while the rear pair of bars 218 are fixed in the region of their bottom ends to a rear brick guiding plate 226. The front plate 224 is adapted to slidably engage the front face of a brick, such as the brick a of FIG. 5, during depositing of the latter into a course, and the rear plate 226 simultaneously will slidably engage the rear surface of this brick to guide the latter, It is to be noted that the front plate 224 has an upwardly directed extension 228 of substantially trapezoidal configuration extending to an elevation higher than the horizontal upper edge of the plate 226, so that when each brick is delivered to the holding means 152 it will clear the rear plate 226, passing over the latter to be received by the end-supporting plates 206, while the upper extension 228 of the plate 224 will limit the extent of forward movement of each brick which is delivered from the conveyor means to the releasable holding means.

As may be seen from FIG. 5, the plates 224 and 226 extend into overlapping relationship with respect to a brick 1501;, which is the last-laid brick of the course, so that in this way it is possible for the brick guiding plates to coact with at least one of the previously laid bricks in a manner described below.

In order to displace each brick from the releasable holding means 152 downwardly into the course which is to receive the brick, a plunger 230 is provided, this plunger being situated over the brick which is releasably held by the releasable holding means and having a length which is substantially the same as that of the brick while having a width somewhat narrower than the width of the brick, as may be seen from FIGS. 5 and 8. The plunger 230 fixedly carries at its ends upwardly directed projections 232 for the purpose described below. The plunger is fixed to the bottom end of a reciprocating plunger rod 234 which passes with considerable clearance through an opening 236 which is formed in the supporting bar 194. Over the bar 194 the reciprocating plunger rod 234 fixedly carries a camming means 238 in the form of a plate 240 fixedly carrying in the region of its outer ends outwardly directed camming portions 242 which coact with the leaf springs 222 in a manner described below.

At its top end the plunger rod 234 is pinned to a block 244 which at its ends has journal pins which project into bearing openings of a forked support 246 which serves to support the plunger 234 for free swinging movement about the turning axis of the block 244 in the fork 246, and, as is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 5, this fork support 246 is carried by an integral extension 248 which projects from asleeve 250 through which the shaft 88 freely passes. This shaft carries the locating collars 252 for determining the axial position of the sleeve 250 on the shaft 88 while at the same time permitting the sleeve 250 to turn freely on the shaft 88.

The sleeve 250 has a second integral extension 254 which is pivotally connected to one end of the motion transmitting bar 256 which is formed in the region of its rear end and between its upper and lower edges with an elongated slot through which the shaft 82 freely passes, so that in this way the motion-transmitting bar 256 can shift forwardly and rearwardly transversely with respect to the longitudinal shaft 82 which by extending through this slot of the bar 256 guides the latter for forward and rearward movement, The bar 256 carries a cam-follower projection 257 received in a camming groove which is formed in one face of a rotary cam 258 (FIG. 2) which is fixed to the shaft 82 for rotation therewith, so that in this way in accordance with the configuration of the camming groove of the plate 258 which receives the follower which is fixed to the motion transmitting bar 256, this bar will be reciprocated back and forth to swing the sleeve 250 about the shaft 88 and thus raise and lower the plunger 230 in proper timed sequence with the movement of the other components.

When the above-described actuating means, formed by the cam 258, the bar 256, the oscillatory sleeve 250, and the rod 234 connected thereto, acts on the plunger means 230 to reciprocate the latter along its vertical stroke in a downward direction from the upper position shown in FIG. 5 to the lower position shown in FIG. 6, the plunger 230 will engage the brick 150a and will displace it downwardly into the course which has just received the brick 150b, and the brick 150a will be situated just ahead of the brick 15%. As may be seen from FIG. 6, the brick 150:: has already been deposited in the course, and FIG. 6 also illustrates how the extensions 232 of the plunger 230 coact with the plates 206 to prevent them from snapping over the plunger 230, so that the plunger 230 can be retracted without any difiiculty back up to the starting position thereof shown in FIG. 5, during the upward stroke of the plunger.

In order to properly situate the brick 150a precisely in alignment with and in the same plane as the brick 15012, and thus in the same plane as all of the preceding bricks, the camming means 238 will engage with its camming projections 242 the leaf springs 222 with the result that the upper ends of the bars 218 are cammed outwardly away from each other, and the bars by engaging the cross pins 220 at the ends of the pins 216 are thus cammed inwardly toward each other at their lower ends which carry the brick-guiding plates 224 and 226, thus situating these plates in positions pressing against the previously laid brick, which in the example of FIG. 5 is the brick 150b. FIGS. 5, 10 and 11 show the leading rear bar 218, which is connected to the plate 224, engaging locating plate 231 while the front leading bar 218 hangs in a freely vertical direc tion and is clear of the front locating plate 226. Bars 218 are cammed by the camming means 238 in the manner described above, these bars 218 press plates 226 and 224 against the previously laid brick, and plate 231 guarantees that the rear surfaces of the bricks, engaged (by plate 226, will all be in a common plane while any variations in brick thickness will be apparent only at the front surface of the bricks. In this case the rear surface of the wall is the visible, finish surface thereof. The elevation of the camming means 238 on the plunger rod 234 above the plunger 230 is such that during the downward movement of a brick by the plunger 230 the brick will be precisely guided into proper alignment with the previously laid brick as a result of the action of these plates 224 and 226 which are precisely located by the previously laid brick during the down ward movement of a new brick into the course. When the front surface of the wall is its finish surface, shaft 225 is turned to locate plate 229 in front of leading front bar 218, and plate 231 will be clear of leading rear bar 218, so that all front surfaces will be in a common plane and variations in brick thickness will appear at their rear surfaces.

In order to limit the downward movement of each brick into the course which receives the same, the plates 224 and 226 respectively carry limiting fingers 260 which are shown most clearly in FIG. 10. These rigid fingers are in the form of angle members having inwardly directed free end portions directed toward each other and situated so as to engage the lower surface of a brick which is deposited into a course by the plunger 230, and thus limit the downward movement of the brick. In this way a certain minimum thickness of the mortar bed 262 beneath a course of bricks is guaranteed, and when the operator sets the machine to start the laying of a new course the bottom surfaces of the fingers 260 will be situated a slight distance above the bricks of the previously laid course so as to provide a clearance, such as that shown in FIG. 10, which will guarantee in this way that there will be a sufficient depth of mortar [between the successive courses.

The bed of mortar 262 is derived from a leading mortar supply means 264 in the form of a suitable hopper 266 having an open top for receiving a supply of mortar and having a rearwardly inclined discharge end 268 from which the mortar continuously issues during travel of the machine in the direction of the arrow 102 shown in FIG. 5, so that in this way the mortar bed 262 is continuously deposited on the previously laid course. As may be seen from FIG. 3, a suitable bracket 270 is fixed to and projects forwardly from the angle member 72 and serves to support the hopper 266 of the leading mortar supply means 264. In addition a suitable supporting strap 272 is fixed to the front surface of the hopper 266 and has at the region of the front end of the angle member 270 a rearwardly directed extension which is fixed either to the bar 200 or to the angle member 72, or both. Actually this front strap 272 may be fixed to the outer face of the left supporting plate which is fixed together with the strap 272 to the angle bar 72.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 5 the hopper 266 is composed of downwardly inclined walls which merge with the outlet 268, and the rear downwardly inclined wall 274 slidably supports an agitator means in the form of an elongated bar 276 having transverse agitating members 278 projecting laterally therefrom. The bar 276 is pivotally connected to the lower end of a connecting rod 280 whose upper end is pivotally connected with a crank pin fixedly carried by a pair of crank members 282, one of these crank members being fixed to a rotary shaft 284 which is directly carried by the leading wall of the hopper 266, and the trailing crank member 282 is fixedly connected with a rotary shaft 286 which extends through the trailing wall of the hopper and which is supported for rotary movement by a bearing situated in the region of the front end of the angle iron 72. This rotary shaft 286 fixedly carries a sprocket 288 driven by a suitable chain from a second sprocket which is fixed on a shaft 290 supported for rotary movement in suitable bearings which are carried by the angle members 72 and 74 of the support means 70.

The same worm 176 (FIG. 2) which drives the worm wheel 178 also serves to drive a worm wheel 292 which is fixed to a rotary shaft 294 carried by suitable bearings 296 mounted on the trailing angle member 74, and the front end of the rotary shaft 294 is fixed with a helical gear 298 which meshes with a second helical gear 300 which is fixed to the rotary shaft 290, so that in this way a drive is transmitted to the agitating means formed by elements 276 and 278 to cause the latter to shift up and down on the rear inclined Wall 274 and thus agitate the mortar as it flows down to the outlet 268.

As may be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, as well as FIG. 9,

the trailing pair of bars 218 support for rotary movement a pair of rollers 302 while portions of the plates 224 and 226 support directly ahead of the rollers 302 a pair of additional leading rollers 304 which are smaller than the rollers 302 so that their peripheries are situated with respect to the other in the manner shown in FIG. 5. Thus, as the machine travels in the direction of the arrow 102, the leading rollers 304, because they do not extend downwardly as far as the trailing rollers 302, will reliably engage the top surface of a brick which has just been deposited, even if this top surface should project somewhat higher than the upper surface of the previously laid brick, and then the brick will be reliably engaged by the larger rollers 302 which will guarantee that the brick which has just been laid will be situated at the same elevation as the previously laid brick. This action is shown in FIG. 6 from which it will be seen that the limiting fingers 260 have just moved beyond the front end of the brick 150:: as the larger rollers 302 moved into engagement therewith.

In order to situate mortar between the successive bricks of a given course, a trailing mortar supply means 306 is provided for the machine of the invention, and this trailing mortar supply means 306 is directly fixed to the trailing supporting plate 170 which is fixed to the transverse bar 200, as pointed out above. The trailing angle iron 74 of the support means 70 extends over the trailing mortar supply means 306 so that the meshing helical gears 298 and 300 are in fact situated over the trailing mortar supply means 306, and in this way the free tailing end of the shaft 290 can project freely over the open top end of the hopper 308 of the trailing mortar supply means 306. This hopper 308 has a trailing inclined wall 310 on which is situated an agitating means 312 which may have a construction substantially identical with that of the agitating means in the hopper 266, although it may be of a somewhat different size, as is apparent from FIG. 2, and this agitating means 312 simply slides back and forth along the inner surface of the inclined wall 310 so as to agitate the mortar which is placed from time to time in the hopper 308. Within the hopper 308 is situated a transverse shaft 312 fixedly carried by the front and rear walls of the hopper 308 and serving to pivotally support a bell crank 314 the lower arm of which is pivoted to the agitating means 312 and the upper arm of which is pivoted to the bottom end of a connecting rod 316 which is pivoted at its upper end to a crank pin 318 carried by a rotary disc 320 which is fixed to the shaft 290 for rotation therewith, so that in this way the bell crank 314 will continuously swing about the shaft 312 and cause reciprocation of the agitating means 312. The hopper 308 has a bottom restricted outlet end 322, and a discharge plunger 324 has its bottom end in alignment with the outlet 322 for directing a quantity of mortar out of the hopper 308 when the outlet 322 has moved just beyond the previously laid brick 15% so that it is almost at the position shown in FIG. 6. In this way quantities of mortar will be successively deposited ahead of the leading end of a brick which has just been deposited in the course.

In order to actuate the plunger 324 the camming means 238 is fixed with a substantially U-shaped extension 326 which passes freely around the leading wall of the hopper 308 into the interior of the latter and which terminates in the plunger 324, so that in this way this plunger 324 will operate in unison with the camming means 238.

The structure of the invention also includes an endtamping means which is mechanically actuated in proper timed relation with the remaining components. This endtamping means includes a horizontal tamping bar 326 pivotally connected at its front and rear faces to up wardly directed parallelogram linkage members 328 which are in turn pivotally connected to blocks carried by the lower surface of the supporting bar 194. Part of this parallelogram linkage structure is indicated in FIG. 10. The trailing parallelogram linkage bars 328, which have at their upper ends extensions pivotally connected with block 214 shown in FIG. 10, are fixed to an arm 330 which is in the form of an angle member having one leg fixed to the trailing links 328 and which has a rear leg extending substantially in the direction of travel of the machine to a location where it is pivoted to the bottom end of a motion-transmitting link 332 which at its top end is pivoted to the free end of a lever arm 334 of a bell crank which is fixed to the shaft 88 and which has a downwardly directed arm 336 (FIG. 1) which is pivoted to the front end of a reciprocating motion transmitting bar 338 formed with a longitudinal slot situated between its side edges and through which the shaft 82 also freely passes in the same way that it passes through the slot of the motion transmitting bar 256. As may be seen from FIG. 2, this motion transmitting bar 338 is fixed with a cam follower member 341 received in a camming groove of a second rotary cam 340 which is fixed to the shaft 82 for rotation therewith, so that during rotation of a cam 340 the bar 338 will be reciprocated to swing the bell crank 334, 336, together with the shaft 88, about the axis of the latter, thus displacing the link 332 from the upper position shown in FIG. 5 to the lower position shown in FIG. 6. The result is that the parallelogram linkage will displace the tamping bar 326 in a direction opposed to the direction of machine travel so as to tamp the just-laid brick a toward the previously laid brick 1501).

Thus, each relatively small quantity of mortar which is received from the trailing mortar supply means ahead of the last-laid brick, such as the brick 150b, will be compressed between this latter brick and the newly laid brick 150a during the tamping thereof by the tamping member 326 which is maintained in its horizontal attitude by way of the parallelogram linkage. It is to be noted that at the end of its stroke the tamping means 326 has its free end situated over and slightly beyond the limiting fingers 260, so that each brick is reliably situated in a position where the fingers 260 have been advanced beyond the brick by the time the end-tamping of the brick has been completed. Furthermore, it is to be noted that this end-tamping takes place simultaneously with the downward pressure which is applied to the brick by way of the rollers 302 and plunger 230, so that in this way a precise location of each brick both vertically and horizontally, and of course precisely in the plane of the wall as a result of the plates 224 and 226, is achieved.

The end-tamping means will be advanced from the position of FIG. 6 into the starting position of FIG. 5 during the continued operation of the machine, and of course the plunger means will also be retracted to its starting position from a position of FIG. 6, and in timed relation with the upward movement of the plunger means another flight 166 of the conveyor means 144 will deliver the next brick into the releasable holding means 152 beneath the plunger 230 and onto the holding plates 206.

It is thus apparent {that with the structure of the invention the laying of the bricks of a given course will proceed in a fully automatic manner. All that the operator need do is to see to it that there is a supply of mortar in both of the mortar-supply means as well as a supply of bricks on the brick supply means 138. When the end of a given course is reached the operator will stop the forward movement of the machine either by turning off the motor 40 or by situating the control lever 132 in a neutral position where neither one of the bevel gears 126 and 128 engage the bevel gear 120, and at this time the operator will turn the shaft 96 to raise the support means 70 until the limiting fingers 260 are situated at the proper height for the next course. Then the lever 132 is shifted into its reverse position which will retract the machine back to the starting position for the next course, and then the operator will return the lever 132 into its forward position to commence the forward movement of the machine so as to lay the next course.

During the return movement of the machine to the starting position for the next course the drive to the shaft 106 can be disconnected by a suitable clutch which can be provided for connecting and disconnecting the drive from the belt and pulley assembly 104 to the shaft 106, or, if preferred, such a clutch can be omitted and the operator can simply remove the bricks from the conveyor means 144 and can maintain the supply means 138 either empty of bricks or can simply maintain the lowermost brick upwardly away from the path of movement of the flights 166, so that in this way the structure can continue to operate freely without any movement of any bricks during the return movement of the machine.

When one wall is completed the operator can remove the pins 52 and situate the entire machine along the shafts 30 and 32 for erection of the next wall.

As was indicated above, the trailing mortar-supply means 306 is directly mounted on the trailing support plate 170. In order to provide added stability to the mounting of the trailing mortar supply means 306, a pair of horizontal angle members 350 are fixed to the trailing plate 170 and carry a substantially U-shaped support member 352 which extends beneath and engages the wall 310 so as to participate in the support of the trailing mortar-supply means 306.

In the lower dot-dash line position of the conveyor shown in FIG. 8, where it is downwardly inclined, there may be a tendency for bricks to slide down the conveyor, and in order to avoid this, weld beads are situated on the top edges of the bars 168 every inches or so. Thus, the bricks must be pushed over these beads by the flights 166 and cannot prematurely slide beyond the flights. Also, the conveyor can be provided with leaf springs at each side and at the bottom of the conveyor which engage the bricks and past which they must be pushed by the flights, so that in this way also downward sliding movement of the bricks away from the flights is avoided.

Metal wall ties are used to hold wythes of walls together. These are usually placed every sixth course, or the walls can be tied with a header course of brick (cross bricks which are not laid by the machine of the invention).

It will be understood that this machine can be used for concrete blocks a well as bricks, and all references to bricks apply equally to other blocks irrespective of their material and size, such as cement blocks, glass blocks, etc.

What is claimed is:

1. In a brick laying machine, supply means situated at a rear receiving station of the machine for receiving a supply of bricks, holding means situated in a front brick depositing station of the machine for releasably holding a brick in readiness to be deposited in a given course of a brick wall which is under construction, said holding means being situated forwardly of and in alignment with said supply means, conveyor means extending between the supply means and holding means and having a rear end for receiving bricks individually from said supply means and a front end for delivering the bricks individually to said holding means, said rear end of said conveyor means being situated directly at said supply means for directly receiving the bricks therefrom, and said front end of said conveyor means being situated directly at said holding means for directly delivering the bricks to said holding means, said conveyor means conveying the bricks directly from said supply means along a substantially straight line path to said holding means, a first support means common to and operatively connected with said holding means and said front end of said conveyor means for supporting said holding means and said front end of said conveyor means and for maintaining said front end of said conveyor means at a predetermined position with respect to said holding means, said support means supporting said front end of said conveyor means for turning movement about a horizontal axis whose position remains unchanged with respect to said holding means, a second support means operatively connected to said conveyor means at said rear end thereof during turning of said conveyor means about said horizontal axis while the elevation of said front end of said conveyor means and said holding means changes during vertical movement of said holding means and front end of said conveyor means with said first mentioned support means, elevating means being operatively connected to said first mentioned support means for raising the latter during construction of a wall, said second support means including a guide means guiding said rear end of said conveyor means for horizontal rearward and forward movement at a given elevation during the construction of a lower portion of the wall and progressively advancing upwardly during construction of the wall, said second support means further including a substantially non-stretchable, flexible means connected to said first mentioned support means and connected to said conveyor means in the region of the said rear end thereof for raising said rear end of said conveyor means together with said first mentioned support means when said front end of said conveyor means reaches a given elevation higher than said rear end of said conveyor means, so that after said latter elevation is reached by said front end of said conveyor means said elevating means continues to raise said first mentioned support means, said flexible means raising said rear end of said conveyor means away from said guide means of said second support means and limiting the extent of upward inclination of said conveyor means during the continued elevation thereof together with said first mentioned support means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said conveyor means includes front and rear rotary shafts which extend horizontally and are parallel to each other and which are respectively situated at the front and rear ends of said conveyor means, said front shaft having an axis coinciding with the axis about which said front end of said conveyor means turns and said front shaft being carried by said first-mentioned support means, said guide means of said second support means including an elongated bar which extends from said receiving station forwardly away from the latter and which extends beneath and engages said rear shaft to support the latter until said rear end of said conveyor means is raised away from said *bar by said flexible means, said conveyor means including a pair of elongated side bars which are parallel to each other and through which said shafts respectively extend, said side bars maintaining said shafts at a given distance from each other and said flexible means being connected to said side bars in the region of the rear end of said conveyor means, said side bars respectively having directed toward each other a pair of inner side faces which slidably engage the ends of the bricks which are successively conveyed by said conveyor means from said supply means to said holding means, so that said side bars longitudinally orient the bricks while they are conveyed by said conveyor means.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said supply means includes a brick-supporting slide which is downwardly inclined toward said rear end of said conveyor means and which is pivotally carried by said rear shaft thereof, and substantially non-stretchable elongated flexible means extending between said slide and said firstmentioned support means for maintaining said slide in its downwardly inclined attitude with respect to said rear end of said conveyor means during raising of the latter with said first-mentioned support means.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a support means is common to said holding means and said front end of said conveyor means for supporting both said holding means and said front end of said conveyor means while maintaining said front end of said conveyor means at a given position relative to said holding means, raising means operatively connected with said support means for vertically raising the latter during construction of a wall, so that said front end of said conveyor means and said holding means move upwardly during construction of the wall, said conveyor means having at its rear end a rotary shaft and said support means including a bricksupporting slide pivotally carried by said shaft and downwardly inclined with respect to the rear end of said conveyor means for successively delivering brick thereto by sliding gravitational movement of the bricks successively downwardly toward the rear end of said conveyor means, and elongated substantially non-stretchable flexible means fixed to said slide and to said support means for maintaining the downwardly inclined position of said slide relative to said rear end of said conveyor means substantially unchanged during raising of said conveyor means together with said support means.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a support means supports said holding means, said holding means including a pair of end-supporting plates swingably carried by said support means for supporting the ends of a brick, spring means coacting with said plates for yieldably urging them upwardly to given positions where they releasably hold a brick over a course which is to receive the brick, plunger means situated over said holding means and being movable back and forth in a vertical stroke for displacing a brick held by said end-supporting plates in opposition to said spring means downwardly beyond said plates into the course which is to receive the brick, said holding means further including a front guiding plate which engages a front face of the brick and rear guiding plate which engages a rear face of the brick during downward movement thereof, said front plate extending to an elevation higher than said rear plate for limiting the forward movement of the brick into said holding means when the latter receives a brick from said front end of said conveyor means.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said front and rear brick-guiding plates respectively engage the front and rear faces of at least one previously laid brick for situating the brick which is displaced by said plunger means in the same plane as said previously laid brick.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said support means supports said brick-guiding plates for at least limited movement inwardly toward and outwardly away from each other, camming means connected to said plunger means for movement therewith, said camming means camming said brick-guiding plates into engagement with said previously-laid brick during downward displacement of said plunger means to move a brick from said end-supporting plates into the course which receives the latter brick, a pair of locating plates respectively carried by said support means for movement to plane-determining positions for determining the planes in which said brick-guiding plates are located, and selecting means operatively connected to said locating plates for selectively placing only one of the latter plates in its planedetermining position.

8. In a bricklaying machine as claimed in claim 1 a mortar-depositing assembly for depositing mortar in a given course of bricks during laying of the latter, said mortar-depositing assembly including at least one hopper which contains a supply of mortar and which has a lower discharged end through which mortar issues, and agitating means situated in said hopper for agitating mortar therein.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said hopper has at least one lower wall inclined toward said discharge end thereof, and said agitating means resting on said inclined lower wall for reciprocating movement thereon.

10. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said mortar-depositing assembly includes a leading hopper for laying a bed of mortar beneath a course of bricks and a trailing hopper for depositing mortar between the bricks of a given course, and a pair of said agitating means respectively situated in said leading and trailing hoppers for agitating mortar therein.

11. The combination of claim 10 and wherein a plunger means coacts with said trailing hopper for periodically displacing a given amount of mortar therefrom to be situated between successive bricks of a given course.

12. In a bricklaying machine, holding means for releasably holding a brick in a position to be downwardly deposited in a given course of a wall which is under construction, plunger means movable back and forth in a vertical stroke and coacting with said holding means for displacing a brick downwardly out of the latter into the course which is to receive the brick, front and rear brickguiding plates respectively slidably engaging front and rear faces of a brick during displacement thereof by said plunger means out of said holding means, said plates engaging at least one previously-laid brick during downward displacement of a brick by said plunger means, support means supporting said guide plates for at least limited movement inwardly toward and outwardly away from each other, camming means carried by said plunger means for movement therewith and coacting with said guide plates for camming the latter toward each other into engagement with a previously laid brick during downward displacement of a brick out of said holding means by said plunger means, a pair of locating plates respectively carried by said support means for movement to plane determining positions for determining the planes in which said brick-guiding plates are located, and selecting means operatively connected to said locating plates for selectively placing only one of the latter plates in its plane-determining position.

13. In a bricklaying machine, holding means for releasably holding a brick in a position to be downwardly deposited in a given course of a wall which is under construction, plunger means movable back and forth in a vertical stroke and coacting with said holding means for displacing a brick downwardly out of the latter into the course which is to receive the brick, front and rear brickguiding plates respectively slidably engaging front and rear faces of a brick during displacement thereof by said plunger means out of said holding means, said plates engaging at least one previously-laid brick during downward displacement of a brick by said plunger means, support means supporting said guide plates for at least limited movement inwardly toward and outwardly away from each other, camming means carried by said plunger means for movement therewith and coacting with said guide plates for camming the latter toward each other into engagement with a previously laid brick during downward displacement of a brick out of said holding means by said plunger means, a pair of locating plates respectively car ried by said support means for movement to plane-determining positions for determining the planes in which said brick-guiding plates are located, and selecting means operatively connected to said locating plates for selectively placing only one of the latter plates in its plane-determining position, leading mortar depositing means for depositing a bed of mortar beneath a brick prior to displacement thereof by said plunger means into the course which receives the brick, trailing mortar depositing means situated behind said leading mortar depositing means in the direction of movement of said support means along the course which is being laid, said trailing mortar depositing means depositing mortar ahead of the last deposited brick of a given course, and end tamping means for tamping the leading end of the brick displaced onto the bed of mortar by said plunger means and urging the latter brick towards the last deposited brick of the course against the mortar deposited from said trailing mortar depositing means, so that the mortar deposited from the latter becomes situated between the successive bricks of a given course.

14. The combination of claim 13 and wherein said end-tamping means includes a horizontally movable tamping bar and a parallelogram linkage operatively connected with said bar for displacing the latter horizontally, and actuating means actuating both said plunger means and said linkage in a given timed relationship with respect to each other.

15. The combination of claim 13 and wherein a pair of agitating means are respectively located in the interiors of both of said mortar-depositing means for agitating mortar therein.

16. The combination of claim 13 and wherein front and rear brick-guiding plates engage at least one previously laid brick and slidably engage the front and rear faces, respectively, of a brick displaced downwardly by said plunger means to guide the latter downwardly into the same plane as the previously-laid brick, and a pair of limiting fingers respectively fixed to said brick-guiding plates and having bottom ends directed inwardly toward each other beneath a brick which is displaced downwardly by said plunger means to limit the downward movement of the latter brick.

17. The combination of claim 16 and wherein said tamping means has a tamping end which engages the leading end of a brick which is being laid in a given course, and said tamping means having a horizontal stroke where said tamping end thereof is initially situated ahead of said limiting fingers and is displaceable to a location behind said fingers during the continued movement of said support means along the course which is being laid, so that at the end of the horizontal tamping of a brick said fingers are situated ahead of the brick.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 772,191 10/1904 Thomson 52749 1,221,689 4/1917 Coyne 94-47 1,277,777 9/ 1918 Thomson 52-749 1,411,172 3/1922 Kaye 52-749 1,606,001 11/ 1926 Thomson 52-749 1,666,555 4/1928 Cofiier 52-749 1,686,279 10/1928 Kaye 52749 1,929,324 10/ 1933 Martin 222-234 2,401,913 6/1946 Dawson 259-47 3,177,621 4/ 1965 Demarest 52-749 3,325,960 6/1967 James 52749 2,599,552 6/ 1952 Harney 52-749 FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

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