CA1109239A

CA1109239A - Moulds, countermoulds and pallets or trays for the manufacture of bricks or building blocks with male- female fitting

Info

Publication number: CA1109239A
Application number: CA274,778A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Jose Coelho Dos Santos
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1976-04-01
Filing date: 1977-03-25
Publication date: 1981-09-22
Also published as: ZA771806B; SE7703441L; PT66372A; BE853187A; MX144717A; AU516150B2; PT66372B; ES236223Y; NL7703575A; ES236223U; BR7601995A; DK141977A; OA05623A; FR2346124B1; IL51691A0; AR214312A1; DE2713908A1; AU2387477A; IT1081467B; FR2346124A1

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A mold assembly includes a primary mold member having a plurality of vertically disposed walls defining one or more substantially rectangular mold cavities open at the top and bottom. The mold member is removably positioned atop a separate underlying tray or pallet provided on its upper surface with projections and/or recesses forming a bottom fitting element upon castable building members subsequently formed within the mold assembly.
A separate countermold is disposed atop the primary mold member and includes one or more depending mold elements insertable within the confines of the primary mold member cavities to form upon the castable members therein, either top or lateral wall fitting elements, cavities therein or cores therethrough.
Upon setting or curing of the castable composition and vertical removal of the countermold and primary mold member therefrom, the cast building members are stored and/or transported upon the underlying pallet, the bottom surface of which is configured to accommodate pallet handling equipment.

Description

3~

This invention relates generally to molding apparatus, and more particularly, to an improved mold assembly especially adapted to the manufac-ture of building members such as bricks or blocks provided with mating fitting elements on one or morc surfaces or faces thereof.
The manufacture of building members as produced according to the present invention has presented problems in many prior attempts. The produc-tion of building members having other than planar surfaces thereon has been attempted by employing molds and countermolds having a corresponding exterior profile. Although this has resulted in the desired building member configu-ration, it has introduced considerable problems in adapting the mold assemblyfor use with the associated required machines or apparatus used to handle the mold assemblies before, during and after casting of the building members. In other words, special machines have been required to accommodate ~he irregular-ly configured mold assemblies.
By the present invention, an improved assembly is provided for the ready fabrication of irregularly configured building members and which com-prises a plurality of cooperating components each of rectangular configuration and having straight or planar peripheral edges such that the components may be readily manipulated and accommodated by conventional machinery associated with the molding of building members from a castable composition, such as concrete, plastic or ceramic material. The mating or interfitting elements are formed, during the molding operation, on any one or all of the surfaces or faces of the building members by means of mold elements provided on an interior surface of any one or all of the primary mold members, a bottom tray or a counterrnold.
The bottom tray of the present invention not only serves to produce fitting elements upon the lower face of the building members formed thereabove '~s'' ~

'23~

but additionally serves to provide rigid means for locating and supporting the primary mold member of the assembly thereabove and includes means upon its bottom surface to accommodate material handling equipment such as a forX-lift truck. In this manner the bottom tray or pallet may continue to serve as means for supporting, transferring, transporting, and storage and shipping of the cast building members. The components of the present mold assembly may be constructed of any suitable material compatible with the composition of the material forming the cast building members, such as metallic or non-metallic materials.
The very concept of the present invention readily lends itself to adaptation of the three principle components of the mold assembly for the manufacture of interfitting building members of various sizes. Typically, four size ranges are to be considered, viz. a) 70 x 200 x 395mm; b) 100 x 200 x 395mm; c) 150 x 200 x 395mm; d) 200 x 200 x 395mm.
Accordingly, the invention is a mold assembly for making inter-fitting building members including, a primary mold member having a plurality of vertically disposed walls provided with a lower edge and connected to one another to provide one or more cavities having an open bottom, a separable bottom tray provided with a planar support plate having a top face, mold elements projecting upwardly from said support plate and defining a space therebetween and said primary mold member lower edges adapted to be assembled atop said bottom tray top face to enclose said cavity open bottom whereby, upon filling said cavity with a castable composition a building member is formed having a bottom face provided with a fitting element mating with said mold element.
Por the purpose of illustration but not of limitation an embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings in ,~J~, Z~9 which:
Figure 1 is a top perspective view of a primary mold member according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a top perspective view of a bottom tray or pallet;
Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through an assembled mold member and pallet;
Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of a modification of the sub-assembly of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a bottom perspective view of a countermold forming a part of the present mold assembly;
Figure 6 is a bottom perspective view of a typical building member such as may be cast using the structure as shown in Figure 3;
Figure 7 illustrates a plurality of building members as they would appear following removal of the primary mold member of Figure 3;
Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view illustrating a modification of the primary mold member of Figure l; and Figure 9 is a top perspective view of a modification of the counter-mold.
Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts through-out the several figures of the drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, particularly Figures 1 and 2, the present invention will be understood to include a plurality of cooperating, interfitting components, two of which are shown in these figures. The primary mold member, generally designated 1, serves to define the limits and configu-ration of the lateral and end faces of one or more building members to be cast therein and includes a generally rectangular member having a pair of parallel end walls 2-2 bounded by a pair of parallel lateral walls 3-3. Thc above described construction will be understood to . 7 - 3 -Ç~

~Z3~

define a substantially rectangular overall configuration comprising t'ne vertically disposed planar end walls 2 and lateral walls 3 the dimensions of which are selected to accommodate the particular size of building members intended to be produced thereby. An important consideration is that the planar outer periphery of the end walls 2 and lateral walls 3 readily permits accommodation of the primary mold member 1 by conventional apparatus associ-ated with the molding of building members from a castable composition.
Depending upon the number and sizes of building members intended to be formed by any one primary mold member 1, the interior of the mold member may be subdivided into any suitable number of individual cavities 4 by means of the interior partition walls 5 as most clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. Thus, it will be seen that the primary mold member 1 serves to form a rectangular peripheral frame-work containing one or more cavities 4 having an open top and open bottom. The top of each lateral wall 3 extends above the horizontal plane of the upper edge 6 of the two ends walls 2 so as to define the shoulder 7 therebetween, the purpose of which will become obvious hereinafter. Extending outwardly or away from each lateral wall 3 is a top wall 8 disposed in a horizontal plane and which may be provided with a centrally disposed relief or cut-out 9 within its outer edge 10 to facili-tate lowering or lifting of the primary moLd member 1 either by machinery ormanually, without interfering with the space above the cavities 4.
The primary mold member 1 is intended to cooperate with an under-lying bottom tray or pallet generally designated 11 and which includes a planar support plate 12 defining a rectangular configuration no less that that defined by the end walls 2 and lateral walls 3 of the primary mold member 1. The pallet 11 includes first, short edges 13-13 adapted to project beyond the respective lower edge 1~ of the primary mold member lateral walls 3 and "f~

~9%~

second, long edges 15-15 adapted to underlie the lower edges 16 of t'ne two primary mold member end walls 2. The undersurface 17 of the pallet 11 is provided with a plurality of cleats or pallet support members 18 as shown most clearly in Figures 3, 4 and 7 of the drawings, with each pair of adja-cent cleats 18 disposed to provide the space 19 therebetween. By providing at least two such spaces 19 equally spaced from the center point of the palle~
11, it will be appreciated that these spaces, combined with a suitable thick- ~-ness of each of the cleats 18, provide means elevating the pallet support plate 12 above an underlying support surface such as a floor, to allow for the ready insertion of material handling means such as the two tines of a forklift truck.
Inasmuch as the primary objective of the improved mold assembly of the present invention is to enable the formation of mating or cooperating fitting elements on any one of the faces of the building members intended to be cast therein, it will be understood that means must be included on each component of the mold assembly to enable formation of such fitting elements.
Accordingly, these fitting elements are formed upon the bottom or lower face of the building member by means of one or more upwardly projecting mold elements 20 either fixedly attached or integrally formed above the top face 21 of the bottom pallet 11 such as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The pallet as shown in this figure is constructed to cooperate with a primary mold member 1 such as shown in the assembled view of Figure 3 such that a plurality of building members 22 will be constructed as shown in Figures 6 and 7 wherein it will be seen that a male fitting element 23 is formed upon the bottom face 24 of the building member.
The above formation is accomplished by providing a plurality of intermediate mold elements 20, each comprising an upwardly extending body having a planar upper surface 25 bounded by a pair of downwardly and outwardly inclined walls 26-26 such that an elevated configuration is presented defining a trapezoidal shape. The intermediate mold elements 20 are in turn laterally spaced apart from one another an equal distance as indicated by the space 27 in Figure 3. Disposed slightly inwardly from each short edge 13 of the pallet 11 is an outer mold element 28 which will be seen to comprise, in cross-section, substantially one half the extent of the intermediate mold elements 20 for reasons which will become apparent immediately hereinafter.
When assembled as in the view of Figure 3, the lower edge 29 of each of the interior partition walls 5 flushly engages the medial portion of the upper surface 25 of the plurality of intermediate mold elements 20 while the lower edges 14 of the two lateral walls 3 flushly engage the outer wall 30 of the adjacent outer mold elements 21 and rests upon the top face 21 of the pallet support plate 12. Alternatively, the lower edge 14 of the two lateral walls 3 may be disposed in the same horizontal plane as the lower edge 29 of the interior partition walls 5, in which case the two outer mold elements 28 would extend outwardly a slightly greater distance such that these lower edges 14 would rest flushly upon the upper surface thereof.
Considering the relationship of the assembled components as shown in ~igure 3 of the drawings, it will be appreciated that a plurality of symmetrical cavities are formed thereby such that upon pouring of a castable composition within the individual cavities and the subsequent lifting or removal of the primary mold member 1 upwardly from the cast products, the plurality of ~uilding members 22 will appear as shown in Figure 7 wherein it will be noted that each of the building members includes an identical male fitting element 23 upon the bottom face 24 thereof.
In the modification shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, the mold Z3~

elements as provided on the top face 21 of the bottom pallet 11 are rearranged so as to provide for the location of an entire upwardly projecting mold element 20T medially disposed between each pair of spaced apart walls 3 or 5 of the cooperating primary mold member 1. In this embodiment the lower edges 14 and 29 of the primary mold member will be seen to rest flushly upon the top face 21 of the pallet 11 such that following the pouring Oc a castable material within the cavities 4, a corresponding number of building members will be produced each having a female fit~ing element formed in one face thereof. It will be understood that by insuring that the configuration of the cross-sectional extent of the mold elements 20' is no less than the cross-sectional extent of the configuration defined between the adjacent mold elements 20 and 28 in the embodiment of Figure 3, then, the resultant male fitting elements formed on the blocks created in ~he assembly of Figure 3 will obviously mate within the resultant female fitting element formed within the blocks created in the assembly of Figure 4.
In the illustration of Figure 1, the primary mold member 1 defines a plurality of cavities 4 wherein the flush or planar surfaces provided by the vertical walls thereof will not result in the formation of any fitting elements on the lateral or end faces of any building members formed or cast therein. Figure 8 of the drawings discloses the provision of inwardly pro-jecting fitting elements 31 extending into the cavities 4 from one end wall

2. These mold elements 31 are of trapezoidal configuration similar to the mold elements 20' formed atop the pallet 11 in the arrangement shown in Figure 4 and will be understood to result in the formation of a corresponding-ly confi~ured female fitting elemen~ 3La on the adjacent end face 32 of the building members 33 produced therein. The other or opposite end wall 2 is likewise provided with a plurality of vertically extending intermediate mold ., ~ ) elements 31' and an outer mold element 34 analogous to the formation of the mold elements 20 and 28 respectively as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings In this arrangement, the three building members 33 shown in Figure 8 will be understood to include a male fitting element 35 projecting from an end face thereof and which is capable of mating with a female element 31a projecting from the opposite end face thereof.
Any one or all of the primary mold member lateral walls 3 or inter-mediate partition walls 5 may also be configured to include inwardly project-ing mold elements serving to produce corresponding fitting elements on the lateral or side faces of any one of the building members cast therein. The right hand portion of the primary mold member 1 illustrated in Figure 8 illustrates the formation of a laterally projecting mold element 35 on one of the intermediate partition walls 5 and which is located the same distance from the adjacent end wall mold element 31" as the adjacent mating male fitting element 35 is spaced inwardly from the partition wall 5. In this manner, it will be appreciated that a building member 36 is produced having a female fitting element 37 located on one side face 38 of the building member 36 a distance calculated to enable this building member to serve as a corner block together with the male fitting element 35 of any one of the hlocks 33 and which cooperates therewith to complete a right-angular corner assembly of two such building members.
The illustration of Figure 8 is not intended to indicate the only combination or arrangement of inwardly projecting mold elements which may be integrally formed with the interior surfaces of the partitions and end walls of any one primary mold member 1 but rather to disclose examples of possible combinations of such inwardly projecting mold elements to produce various types of building members having interfitting configurations. Quite obviouslv ~ . ,,, i, the various inwardly projecting mold elements preferably extend the full vertical height of the associated primary mold member wall in order to allow separation of the primary mold member from the cast building members by merely vertically elevating the mold member from the cast blocXs disposed upon an appropriate bottom tray or pallet ll.
The description will now turn to the formation of the top face 39 of the building members. If a block top face 39 having a flush or planar surface were desired, then it would only be necessary to strike or level the fluid casting composition flush with the primary mold member end wall upper edges 6. However, it is more often desired to additionally provide fitting elements on the building member top face 39, or cores or cavities vertically extending through the medial portion of the individual building members. This latter construction is achieved by means of an appropriate countermold, generally designated 40 as in Figure 5 or as generally designated 41 in Figure 9 of the drawings. In each instance, the countermold comprises a planar support surface 42 of rectangular peripheral configuration including a pair of parallel first, short edges 43 joined by a pair of parallel second, long edges 44. The countermold 40 is intended to modify the top face 39 of building members to provide either male or female fitting elements therein.
The arrangement shown in Figure 5 includes a plurality of depending mold elements 45 similar to the upstanding mold elements 20' shown associated with the pallet 11 in Figure 4 and which function in the same manner by producing a female fitting element upon the top of the building members. This is achieved by lowering the countermold 40 atop the already positioned primary mold member 1 with the first edges 43-43 closely engaging the elevated shoulder portions of the primary mold member lateral walls 3-3 while the underside ~6 of the countermold 40 engages the upper edges 6 of the primary ,.

mold member end walls 2-2. The end surface 47 of each of the ~old elements 45, both in the pallet 11 and countermold will be understood to form a close fit with the interior of the primary mold member end walls 2 thereby serving to accurately register the assembled components.
To adapt the countermold 40 to produce a plurality o~ male fitting elements on the top face 39 of building members, it is only necessary to reposition or configure the depending mold elements 45 in the same manner as the upstanding mold elements 20 and 28 as shown on the pallet in Figure 3 such that mating male fitting elements will be produced. In this latter situation, the upper edge of the elevated partition walls 5 of the primary mold member 1 will be formed at a lower plane to accommodate the depending medial portion of the adjacent mold elements.
When it is desired to provide cores or cavities vertically extending through the medial portion of the individual building members, then a counter-mold 41 such as shown in Figure 9 is utilized. This countermold will be seen to include a plurality of depending mold elements 48 projecting downwardly from the underside 4~ of the countermold support surface 42 a sufficient distance to insure contact of the bottom surface 49 thereof with either the top face 21 of the underlying pallet 11 or the upper surface 25 of upwardly projecting mold elements on the underlying pallet 11. Alternatively, the bottom surface 49 of the depending mold elements 48 may extend a partial distance toward the underlying pallet 11 when it is desired to produce build-ing members having cores only extending vertically therethrough for a partial extent of their height. Regardless of the configuration of a particular countermold as used in combination with the present invention, it will be understood that one or more appropriate openings or passageways 50 may be provided through the planar support surface 42 to enable introduction and/or , ,fl z~ -exit of surplus amounts of the castable composltion forming the building members~ during assembly of the countermold and/or filling of the cavities 4.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A mold assembly for making interfitting building members including, a primary mold member having a plurality of vertically disposed walls provided with a lower edge and connected to one another to provide one or more cavities having an open bottom a separable bottom tray provided with a planar support plate having a top face, mold elements projecting upwardly from said support plate and defining a space therebetween and said primary mold member lower edges adapted to be assembled atop said bottom tray top face to enclose said cavity open bottom whereby, upon filling said cavity with a castable composition a building member is formed having a bottom face provided with a fitting element mating with said mold element.

2. A mold assembly according to Claim 1 wherein, said vertically disposed walls include rectangularly disposed opposed end and lateral walls, a plurality of intermediate partition walls spanning said end walls and said mold elements disposed parallel said partition walls when said primary mold member and pallet are assembled.

3. A mold assembly according to Claim 1 including, two said vertically disposed walls parallel and spaced from one another, said spaced walls having a planar upper edge, a countermold having a planar support plate provided with an underside adapted to be assembled atop said upper edges to substan-tially enclose the top of said primary mold member cavities, and mold elements depending from said countermold underside into said cavities.

4. A mold assembly according to Claim 1 wherein, said mold elements include elements having a trapezoidal configuration in cross-section.

5. A mold assembly according to Claim 1 wherein, said bottom tray includes an undersurface, and a plurality of spaced apart cleats projecting from said undersurface permitting introduction of material handling equipment therebetween.

6. A mold assembly according to Claim 2 wherein, at least one said partition wall includes a laterally projecting mold element.

7. A mold assembly according to Claim 2 wherein, said bottom tray mold elements are medially disposed intermediate said partition walls wherein, said formed building member fitting elements comprise female elements.

8. A mold assembly according to Claim 2 wherein, said bottom tray mold elements are medially disposed beneath said partition walls wherein, said formed building member fitting elements comprise male elements.

9. A mold assembly according to Claim 3 including, mold elements projecting inwardly from said two walls having said planar upper edges.

10. A mold assembly according to Claim 3 wherein, said mold elements depending from said countermold underside form a fitting element in the top face of said formed building member.

11. A mold assembly according to Claim 3 wherein, said countermold mold elements extend downwardly to engage said bottom tray.

12. A mold assembly according to Claim 6 wherein, said partition wall mold element defines a trapezoidal configuration in cross-section.