AU2004237904B2

AU2004237904B2 - Mobile brick mortar cleaning machine

Info

Publication number: AU2004237904B2
Application number: AU2004237904A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Stjepan Horvat
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-12-30
Filing date: 2004-12-15
Publication date: 2009-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 2024-12-15
Also published as: AU2004237904A1

Description

IP Australia 0 2 FEB 2005 Australia Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT MOBILE BRICK MORTAR CLEANING MACHINE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:

I

This invention relates to the reusing of mortared bricks for heritage use or building construction by cleaning the mortared surfaces off the edge face and ends of bricks. Many construction and knock down buildings for renovations including heritage repairs use recycled bricks to lower costs and also match the original brick construction. However this can be a time consuming process as the mortar is usually cleaned by manual handling processes that are costly. Due to this many old bricks from renovated construction sites are discarded or recycled into another form by crushing. These problems are overcome by the present invention, which provides a mobile brick mortar-cleaning machine to be used by two operators. The speed of the cleaning makes it a viable option to reuse the bricks as the output is much higher to the manual handling method of chipping away with a hammer. The machine is portable and may be towed by a standard motorcar to any job site using a standard tow bar system and power supply. If power is not available then the machine can be run by a petrol-powered drive that is part of the machine. The machine is loaded by one operator who manually loads bricks on their edge face onto a fold up conveyor that feeds the bricks into the machine. Spring tension devices then guide the bricks in the vertical plane whilst a spring steel device hardened to reduce friction and wear is used to stop the brick lifting and jamming in the upward direction. The top horizontal face and 2 vertical faces are cleaned by the brick passing through rotating hardened tip heads. One adjustable height horizontal rotating head is used on the top horizontal face, and there are 2 off rotating vertical head devices on each side above the centre line of the brick and 2 off below the centre line. After the bricks pass the rotating heads a single rotating head on each side of the brick cleans the centerline of both brick faces, which is missed by the rotating heads. This has the effect of cleaning the flat face surface on both sides of the brick. During this process a vertical guide is used to stop any vertical movement and jam-ups. The heads are powered through an electric motor or petrol powered drive and gearbox. The electric motor has a standard 240 V supply so it can be used on any site with standard power connection. 2 When the flat face surfaces are cleaned the brick is pushed through onto the out feed path where a tensioned wire operated through a cam system operates a clutch, which stops any further bricks being fed into the rotating cleaning heads. This is done by a lever attached to the wire, which in turn disengages a tension pulley wheel allowing enough slack not to drive the in feed belt. The brick will now be pushed at 90 degrees to its entry by a by selecting the lever to have the ends clean. When this is selected and a pin is in its position engaged by a brick the clutch engages and the cam rotates on a roller pushing the brick end faces through a set of hardened wear plates that have spike surfaces to clean the mortar of each end face. After the push is finished the pusher plate returns via spring tension and damper control. After this cycle is finished the machine will automatically feed another brick into the rotating cleaning heads. The bricks are stacked onto a stacking plate after the end faces are cleaned where the second operator can stack them onto a pallet. The machine has a discharge conveyor belt below the cleaning devices, which allow any crushed mortar to be conveyed into a pan for disposal, and easy cleaning. The machine has also an option for another operator to speed up the cleaning process if required. For example not all bricks have mortar on the end faces hence after the rotating cleaning system a selector handle is used to bypass the end cleaning and allow the brick to go through onto the output conveyor. This allows the brick to be stacked by the operator, which in turn allows another brick to be fed into the rotating head cleaning system allowing faster output of the machine due to the end face cleaning process being bypassed. Both the input and output conveyors fold up in the vertical position and the output conveyor is adjustable to suite different angles of unloading if required. A swivel chute is attached to the outfeed conveyor to allow bricks to be unloaded quickly when moving onto a new pallet. This means that the machine does not need to be moved or stopped when starting a new pallet to change the angle of the discharge. All hardened cleaning rotating rods for flat face cleaning and spike plates for end face cleaning are easily designed to be changed with another set when excessive wear occurs.

To assist with the understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to accompanying drawings, which show the process of the invention. In the drawings Fig.1 shows the invention of the mobile mortar brick-cleaning machine. Fig1 detail X shows the inlet conveyor belt with the bricks being fed in on their edge face. The inlet and outlet conveyorsl and 2 have the ability to be folded towards the machine for its portable position. A swivel plate 3 is attached to the output conveyor for changing angles when pallet unloading. The inlet conveyor 1 is run by the gearbox 4 output shaft and driven by the electric motor 5 or petrol powered motor 6. The output slide plate 7 stacks the bricks in the ready position to be stacked onto a pallet. The output slide 7 folds up to allow for portable position. The machine has also a counting device to record the number of bricks cleaned 8. The machine is attached to a motor vehicle for transport via trailer attachment 9. Fig. 2 shows the inlet spring guiding system. The guide plates 10 are self-adjusting by the use of the spring system 11. This allows the bricks to stay firmly in position while the bricks are being fed into the vertical and horizontal face rotating cleaning heads 12 and 14. A top guide 13 is also used to stop vertical movement whilst cleaning through rotating heads. The horizontal cleaning tips 14 clean the top face of the brick, this tip cleaner is adjustable for different heights depending on how much motar is on the brick. Fig. 3 shows the rotating cleaning heads as the bricks enter on their edge face. Another rotating head 16 is placed after the heads 13 to clean the centerline of the brick, which is missed, by the rotating heads. Both of the flat face surfaces are cleaned of mortar in the process. The discharge conveyor 15 removes any mortar cleaned into a pan specified by the user. Sprockets via chains of the main gearbox shaft 4 drive the rotating heads. Fig. 4 shows the brick entering the exit side of the machine where the brick ends are cleaned of mortar. A pushing plate 7 which is spring loaded 18 is used to push the brick at 90 degrees to its entry through a set of side plates with hardened spiked surfaces 19. The brick then exits via another brick coming in and pushing it through onto the slide plate 7 where the operator stacks the brick onto a pallet. The pushing plate is engaged via clutch 20 which engages the cam 21 to rotate on roller 22 creating the pushing plate to move forward. When the push is complete a damper 23 is used to absorb the return of the spring-loaded plate. The pusher is engaged via the clutch that is engaged by a wire attached to a pin 24 and lever 25. The pin 25 is engaged by the brick coming in, and pushing out the pin and hence engaging the clutch. This prevents the pusher from pushing when the brick is not in position. A selector handle 26 is used to select what option is required. If the brick ends are not required to be cleaned, then the selection handle is moved so that the brick passes through the machine onto the outfeed conveyor 2.

Claims

1. A mobile Brick motar-cleaning machine with the option of standard 240V and petrol power supply on the one machine with foldaway conveyors 1,2 and outlet slide conveyor 7.

2. A mobile Brick mortar cleaning machine of claim 1 which, cleans 5 brick faces in one pass of the machine via rotating hardened rods and ends of a brick via a push plate system through a set of hardened spiked end plates.

3. A mobile Brick motar-cleaning machine of claim 1 with spring guided inlet plates and clamp guides hardened to reduce friction and wear to hold bricks in position during rotating head cleaning.

4. A mobile Brick motar- cleaning machine of claim 1, which allows for faster output by providing a selector lever if Brick ends do not require cleaning thereby allowing automatic feed.

5. A mobile Brick motar-cleaning machine of claim 1 where all hardened cleaning devices is easily changed for maintenance and excessive wear.

6. A mobile Brick motar-cleaning machine of claim 1 where the outfeed conveyor allows for adjustable angles for stacking to suite job sites and a swivel 3 attachment for stacking into new positions without stopping or moving the machine.

7. A mobile Brick motar-cleaning machine of claim 1 where all moving parts are driven by one motor / gearbox power transmission. Applicant Date 6

8. A mobile brick motar- cleaning machine of claim 1, which allows the automatic feed into the rotating heads via a clutch and cam system to prevent jam ups.

9. A mobile Brick cleaning machine substantially as herein described with reference to accompanying drawings. Applicant Date 7