EP2418057B1

EP2418057B1 - A mould container part provided with a sealing device, and method for application thereof

Info

Publication number: EP2418057B1
Application number: EP11176804.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wilhelmus Jacobus Maria Kosman
Original assignee: Beheermaatschappij De Boer Nijmegen BV
Current assignee: Beheermaatschappij De Boer Nijmegen BV
Priority date: 2010-08-11
Filing date: 2011-08-08
Publication date: 2016-02-10
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-08
Also published as: NL2005214C2; EP2418057A1

Description

The present invention relates to a mould container part of a mould container pressing device provided with a sealing device, and to such a sealing device and method for application thereof.
The invention also relates to a mould container pressing device for manufacturing green bricks from clay for the brick manufacturing industry, comprising a mould container part with such a sealing device.
The invention relates more particularly to a mould container part for manufacturing green bricks therein with a mould container pressing device, the mould container part comprising:

one or more mould containers, each having a mould cavity for forming a green brick from clay therein;
coupling means with which mould container parts can be mutually coupled; and
a sealing device extending from a wall of the mould container part and suitable for sealing to at least large extent therewith an intermediate space present between coupled mould container parts.

In the prior art the sealing device consists of anti-leakage strips welded against the wall of the mould container part. Because these anti-leakage strips and the upper side of the mould container parts wear during the production of bricks, a periodic repair is necessary every 1 to 1.5 years. Because the anti-leakage,strips are fixedly welded, during a repair these welds have to be regularly ground away, welded in again and subsequently milled level again. In addition to the fact that these repairs are very time-consuming and laborious, they have the further drawback that with some regularity a mould container part curves as a result of the heat released during the welding.
NL-A-7209048 discloses a mould container part for manufacturing green bricks according to the preamble of claim 1. EP-A-159 56 65 discloses a number of mould containers combined to form a unit, wherein each mould container defines a number of upright walls and is provided with a bottom movable between the walls, an ejector coupled to the movable bottom for releasing the green brick from the mould container by displacing the movable bottom; wherein the movable bottom of a mould container takes a smaller form than the area defined by the walls of the mould container for the purpose of providing intermediate space between the peripheral edge of the movable bottom and the inner side of at least one of said upright walls.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device and method wherein the stated drawbacks do not occur, or at least do so to lesser extent.
Said object is achieved according to the invention with a mould container part for manufacturing green bricks therein with a mould container pressing device, the mould container part comprising:

one or more mould containers, each having a mould cavity for forming a green brick from clay therein;
coupling means with which mould container parts can be mutually coupled; and
a sealing device extending from a wall of the mould container part and suitable for sealing to at least large extent therewith an intermediate space present between coupled mould container parts, the sealing device comprising:
- a base part which is arranged against the wall and the upper side of which is situated a distance from the upper side of the wall;
- a wearing part which can be arranged releasably above the base part and the upper side of which lies substantially flush with the upper side of the wall in arranged position;
- an intermediate part which can be arranged between the base part and the wearing part;
- wherein the intermediate part is provided on at least a side thereof with a recess which is directed away from the wall in mounted position; and
- wherein a substantially resilient seal can be received in the recess of the intermediate part such that this seal extends away from the wall of the mould container part to a position beyond the sides of the base part, the intermediate part and the wearing part directed away from the wall of the mould container part.

The mould container parts can be mutually coupled by means of the coupling means, and can thus be connected to form a conveyor of a mould container pressing device. In coupled position an intermediate space is present between the successive mould container parts between which clay residues released during pressing of green bricks can drop. The sealing device spans this intermediate space.
Because the base part is arranged against the wall of the mould container part with its upper side at a distance from the upper side of the wall, a height difference is created in which an easily replaceable wearing part can be arranged. This height difference can moreover also be restored after the upper side of a somewhat worn mould container part has been milled level since the same quantity of material can be removed from the upper side of the base part. After placing of a replacement wearing part the upper side of the wearing part and the upper side of the wall are substantially flush, i.e. these upper sides connect substantially level and almost without height difference to each other.
The sealing device according to the invention thus makes it possible to repair a mould container part with a standard wearing part which can easily be held in stock. Laborious welding with the associated risks of curving of the mould container parts hereby becomes wholly unnecessary.
The resilient seal which can be received in the recess of the intermediate part is suitable for the purpose of forming a resilient seal with an identical sealing device of an adjacent mould container part. Such a resilient contact between two adjacent resilient seals guarantees a continuous seal which is also wear-resistant.
According to a preferred embodiment, the base part and intermediate part together have a thickness corresponding to the distance at which the upper side of the base part is located from the upper side of the wall, so that in the arranged position the upper side of the wearing part lies substantially flush with the upper side of the wall.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the mould container part is provided on both walls with a sealing device.
Although it is possible to envisage applying alternately a mould container part with sealing devices on both sides and a mould container part wholly without such sealing devices, according to yet another preferred embodiment the coupling means are link parts of a chain part; and the sealing device and the central axis of the link part extend substantially the same distance away from the wall of the mould container part. This ensures that substantially the whole intermediate space between mutually coupled mould container parts is spanned by two adjacent sealing devices, whereby substantially no clay or other unwanted material can pass therebetween.
In the preferred embodiment with the resilient seal extending away from the wall of the mould container part to a position beyond the sides of the base part, the intermediate part and the wearing part directed away from the wall of the mould container part, there results a resilient contact surface between the resilient seals of sealing devices arranged on successive mould container parts. This resilient contact guarantees a continuous seal which is also wear-resistant.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the mould container part is provided on only one wall with a sealing device. In an embodiment wherein there is only a limited distance between successive mould container parts of a conveyor of a mould container pressing device, a single sealing device can suffice for the purpose of substantially wholly spanning the distance between the successive mould container parts. It is noted that, in the case of a single-sided embodiment, the sealing device is preferably applied in each case on the same side of the mould container part.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the coupling means are link parts of a chain part; and the sealing device extends further than the central axis of the link part extends away from the wall of the mould container part. It is hereby possible, even with a single-sided sealing device arranged on the mould container part, to span substantially the whole distance between successive mould container parts and thus seal them against clay and other contaminants falling therebetween.
The invention further relates to a sealing device evidently intended for use on a mould container part as described above, the sealing device comprising:

a base part which can be arranged against a wall of the mould container part;
a wearing part which can be arranged releasably above the base part;
an intermediate part which can be arranged between the base part and the wearing part;
wherein the intermediate part is provided on at least a side thereof with a recess; and
wherein a substantially resilient seal can be received in the recess of the intermediate part such that this seal extends away from the intermediate part to a position beyond the base part, the intermediate part and the wearing part. In the arranged position the upper side of the wearing part lies substantially flush with the upper side of the wall of the mould container part.

The invention further relates to a mould container pressing device for manufacturing green bricks from clay for the brick manufacturing industry, comprising:

a circulating conveyor formed from connected mould conveyor parts, wherein each mould conveyor part comprises one or more mould containers, each with a mould cavity;
wherein at least one mould container part as described above is applied.

The invention also relates to a method for applying a sealing device as described above, the method comprising the steps of:

removing the worn wearing part from a mould container part having an upper side of the wall and wearing part worn away through use;
levelling the upper side of the wall by removing a layer of material therefrom;
removing from the upper side of the base part a layer of material with a layer thickness which is the sum of the layer thickness worn away through use and the layer thickness removed during the step of levelling the upper side of the wall;

According to a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises the step, if desired, of replacing the intermediate part and/or replacing the resilient seal.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the method further comprises the step of likewise shortening legs functioning as spacers by a layer thickness, the layer thickness being the sum of the layer thickness worn away through use and the layer thickness removed during the step of levelling the upper side of the wall.
The height of the green brick to be formed in the mould cavity of the mould container can be set by means of a movable base. The depth of the mould cavity remains unchanged by shortening the legs, functioning as spacers for the movable base, by a distance corresponding to the layer thickness which is the sum of the layer thickness worn away through use and the layer thickness removed during the step of levelling the upper side of the wall. After firing thereof the green bricks to be formed will produce bricks with unchanged brick height.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the method further comprises the use of the mould container part as described above.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are further elucidated in the following description with reference to the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device for manufacturing green bricks from clay for the brick manufacturing industry;
Figure 2 is a cut-away side view of a mould container part of the mould container pressing device shown in figure 1, wherein the mould container part is provided with a prior art sealing device;
Figure 3 is a cut-away side view of a mould container part of the mould container pressing device shown in figure 1, wherein the mould container part is provided with a sealing device according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4 is a cut-away side view of a mould container part provided with a sealing device according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figure 5 is a cut-away side view of mould container parts connected to form a conveyor, with a detailed view of two sealing devices of two connected mould container parts;
Figure 6 shows a sealing device according to the second embodiment in a first state;
Figure 7 shows the sealing device of figure 6 in a second state;
Figure 8 shows the sealing device of figures 6 and 7 in a third state;
Figure 9 shows an overview of a mould container part with a sealing device;
Figure 10 shows the sealing device of figures 6-8 in a fourth state; and
Figure 11 is a detailed side view of a displaceable base with leg-like spacers arranged thereon.

Figure 1 shows a mould container pressing device 1 for manufacturing green bricks 18 from clay for the brick manufacturing industry, comprising a circulating conveyor 2 formed from connected mould container parts 3, wherein each mould container part 3 comprises one or more mould containers 16, each with a mould cavity 19, a reservoir 4 for clay arranged above mould containers 16, clay arranging means for arranging clay from reservoir 4 in mould containers 16 during a moulding stage, means for covering an open side of mould containers 16 with take-off plates 11, at least one ejecting device 20 arranged on conveyor 2 and movable relative to conveyor 2, wherein ejecting device 20 is adapted to eject a green brick 18 present in mould container 16 onto an associated take-off plate 11 during a release stage, wherein ejecting device 20 comprises at least one base 38 which is displaceable in mould container 16 and which supports during the moulding stage against a stepped support device using legs 24, wherein using an adjustable support height the height of the green brick 18 to be formed in mould container 16 is adjustable via the depth of mould container 16.
The mould container pressing device 1 comprises a chain conveyor 2, also referred to as mould conveyor. This chain conveyor 2 is assembled from a large number of mutually connected mould container parts 3, each comprising a number of mould containers 16. Each mould container 16 comprises a mould cavity 19 in which clay can be received for the purpose of forming a green brick 18. Mould container parts 3 are coupled to each other and provided with rollers 15 rotatable over girders 14 so as to together thus form the chain - or conveyor - of chain conveyor 2 - or mould conveyor. The chain is driven by one of the chain wheels 13 or by both chain wheels 13 (wherein for the sake of clarity only the right-hand chain wheel is shown in figure 1). The transporting direction of the chain conveyor is to the left in the shown embodiment of figure 1 (P₁ in figure 1). A conveyor rotating to the right is of course likewise possible.
Placed above mould containers 16 is a reservoir 4 for clay which is kept in continuous movement by an agitator 5 driven by motor 6. Clay is fed to reservoir 4 by a circulating conveyor 7. The clay is carried out of reservoir 4 into mould container 16 and then pressed down by a pressing device 8 which is pivotable around a shaft 9. The excess clay is also trimmed using means which are not drawn.
The device 1 further comprises a conveyor 10 with which take-off plates 11 are supplied. Conveyor 10 also ensures that a take-off plate 11 is placed on top of each passing mould container part 3. Take-off plates 11 remain pressed against the respective mould container parts 3 by a holding mechanism 12 when they pass over the left-hand chain wheel (not shown) on the discharge side of the device. After turning over of the mould container part 3, the green bricks 18 still lie on plates 11.
An ejecting device 20 as shown in figures 2-4 presses the green bricks 18 out of mould containers 16 per mould container part 3. Green bricks 18 herein remain lying on plates 11 after they have been released from mould containers 16. Plates 11 with green bricks 18 thereon are then discharged for further treatment, such as drying and firing.
Figures 2-4 show a mould container part 3 assembled from different mould containers 16 connected to form a unit. Mould container part 3 further comprises a chain part 44 onto which link parts 46 are welded. When different mould container parts 3 with chain parts 44 are placed adjacently of each other and a shaft 52 is inserted through the link parts, these mould container parts 3 are connected to form a chain conveyor 2. Situated on the end of shaft 52 is a runner 48. A bolt 56 is also provided to lock the shaft 52 through link parts 46.
In order to prevent clay, which is pressed into mould containers 16 for the purpose of forming a green brick 18 therein and which is spilled, from dropping downward between successive mould container parts 3, according to the prior art the mould container parts 3 are provided on the outer side of wall 40 thereof with welded anti-leakage strips 56 and 58 (Figure 2). The front anti-leakage strip 56 arranged on the front side of mould container part 3 fits substantially against the rear anti-leakage strip 58 of an adjacent mould container part 3 (not shown) in front of it, so that only a small gap remains therebetween.
The upper side of the mould container parts and the anti-leakage strips 56 and 58 wear during production of bricks. Because these anti-leakage strips 56, 58 are fixedly welded, during repair these welds have to be regularly ground away, welded in again and subsequently milled level again, which is very laborious and moreover regularly has the adverse effect that a mould container part curves as a result of the heat released during the welding.
The embodiments as shown in figures 3 and 4 comprise a base part 24 which is fixed to wall 40 of mould container part 3. Resting on the upper side of base part 24 is a wearing part 28 which lies with its upper side substantially level with the upper side of wall 40. When wall 40 wears during production of bricks, wearing part 28 will also wear. During repair operations the wall 40 can easily be milled off, after which the initial distance between upper side 32 of base part 24 and upper side 41 of wall 40 is restored by likewise milling off the upper side 32 of base part 24. The worn wearing part 29 is removed and a new, substantially non-worn wearing part is arranged above base part 24, once again with its upper side 33 substantially level with upper side 41 of wall 40.
Arranged in a highly advantageous embodiment between base part 24 and wearing part 29 is an intermediate part 25 which is provided on the side directed away from wall 40 with a recess 26 in which a seal 27 can be received.
Figure 5 shows a conveyor 2 formed from connected mould container parts 3, wherein an enlarged detail view shows how two resilient seals 27 make resilient contact between two adjacent mould container parts 3 and so substantially completely close the space between the two adjacent mould container parts 3.
Figure 6 shows an enlarged view of sealing device 22 according to the second embodiment, wherein an intermediate part 25 with seal 27 received therein is applied. As shown clearly in figure 6, seal 27 extends further outward away from wall 40 than outer wall 37 of base part 24, outer wall 35 of intermediate part 25 and outer wall 39 of wearing part 28.
Recess 26 preferably has a lower surface inclining in outward direction with an angle of inclination α, whereby recess 26 narrows toward the outside and seal 27 is retained to some extent.
Both the first embodiment shown in figure 3 and the second embodiment shown in figure 6 are provided with a drilled hole 29 extending through base part 24, intermediate part 25 and wearing part 28. In a preferred embodiment the wearing part 28 is provided with a threaded end in which bolt 30 can engage. Wearing part 28 and intermediate part 25 can then be fixed to base part 24 using a nut.
When upper side 41 of wall 40 wears together with upper side 33 of wearing part 28 during use - indicated with wear thickness S in figure 7 - it is desirable to level the upper sides 41 and 33 of respectively wall 40 and wearing part 28. After nut 31 has been unscrewed, wearing part 29 is removed together with bolt 30 from drilled hole 29. The upper side 41 of wall 40 is then milled level, wherein a layer thickness V is removed from upper side 41 (figure 8).
Indicated with L in figure 9 are locations where a further operation can or should also be performed in order on the one hand to restore sealing device 22 to its original state (figure 10) and on the other to ensure that the brick height remains within the desired tolerances (figure 11).
As shown in figure 10, a layer of material is milled away from the upper side 32 of base part 24 which corresponds to the sum of the layer with layer thickness S worn away during use (figure 7) and the layer thickness V removed during levelling (figure 8). Because a layer thickness S + V is removed from base part 24, the original distance from upper side 32 of base part 24 to upper side 41 of wall 40 is restored, and it is possible to either re-place a single wearing part 28 according to the first embodiment or to re-place a combination of wearing part 28 and intermediate part 25 according to the second embodiment. Such wearing parts 28 and intermediate parts 25 are standard parts and can therefore be readily available in stock. Grinding away and re-welding, with all the associated drawbacks, hereby become wholly unnecessary.
Because upper side 41 of wall 40 has had a layer thickness S + V removed, mould cavity 19 in mould container 16 has also become a distance S + V less deep. In order to ensure that green bricks 18 with the original brick height are manufactured, the legs 42 functioning as spacers attached to the underside of ejector base 38 are likewise shortened by a layer distance S + V. It is otherwise also possible in some cases to set the brick height with a support device - not further described here -, in which case shortening of legs 42 may be unnecessary.
In the shown embodiments the mould container parts 3 are provided on both side walls 40 thereof with a sealing device 22 according to the invention. In the case of a shorter distance between successive mould container parts 3 it is also possible to envisage only one side wall 40 being provided with a sealing device 22. Such a single-sided embodiment also expressly falls within the intended scope of protection.
Although they show preferred embodiments of the invention, the above described embodiments are intended only for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and not to limit the scope of the invention in any way. The scope of the invention is therefore defined solely by the following claims.

Claims

Mould container part for manufacturing green bricks (18) therein with a mould container pressing device (1), the mould container part (3) comprising:
- one or more mould containers (16), each having a mould cavity (19) for forming a green brick (18) from clay therein;

- coupling means (46) with which the mould container parts (3) are mutually coupleable; and

- a sealing device (22) extending from a wall (40) of the mould container part (3) and suitable for sealing to at least large extent therewith an intermediate space present between coupled mould container parts (3), the sealing device (22) comprising:

- a base part (24) which is arranged against the wall (40) and the upper side (32) of which is situated a distance (D) from the upper side (41) of the wall (40);
characterized by:
- a wearing part (28) which is releasably arrangeable above the base part (24) and the upper side (33) of which lies substantially flush with the upper side (41) of the wall (40) in arranged position;

- an intermediate part (25) which is arrangeable between the base part (24) and the wearing part (28);

- wherein the intermediate part (25) is provided on at least a side (35) thereof with a recess (26) which is directed away from the wall (40) in mounted position; and

- wherein a substantially resilient seal (27) is receiveable in the recess (26) of the intermediate part (25) such that this seal (27) extends away from the wall (40) of the mould container part (3) to a position beyond the sides (37, 35, 39) of the base part (24), the intermediate part (25) and the wearing part (28) directed away from the wall (40) of the mould container part (3).
Mould container part as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base part (24) and intermediate part (25) together have a thickness (D) corresponding to the distance at which the upper side (32) of the base part (24) is located from the upper side (41) of the wall (40), so that in the arranged position the upper side (33) of the wearing part (28) lies substantially flush with the upper side (41) of the wall (40).
Mould container part as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the mould container part (3) is provided on both walls (40) with a sealing device (22).
Mould container part as claimed in claim 3, wherein
- the coupling means are link parts (46) of a chain part (44); and

- the sealing device (22) and the central axis (47) of the link part (46) extend substantially the same distance away from the wall (40) of the mould container part (3).
Mould container part as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the mould container part (3) is provided on only one wall (40) with a sealing device (22).
Mould container part as claimed in claim 5, wherein
- the coupling means are link parts (46) of a chain part (44); and

- the sealing device (22) extends further than the central axis (47) of the link part (46) extends away from the wall (40) of the mould container part (30.
Sealing device, evidently intended for use on a mould container part (3) as described in any of the claims 1-6, the sealing device (22) comprising:
- a base part (24) which can be arranged against a wall (40) of the mould container part (3);

- a wearing part (28) which is releasably arrangeable above the base part (24);

- an intermediate part (25) which is arrangeable between the base part (24) and the wearing part (28);

- wherein the intermediate part (25) is provided on at least a side (35) thereof with a recess (26); and

- wherein a substantially resilient seal (27) is receiveable in the recess (26) of the intermediate part (25) such that this seal (27) extends away from the intermediate part (25) to a position beyond the base part (24), the intermediate part (25) and the wearing part (28).
Sealing device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising one or more of the measures described in claims 1-6.
Mould container pressing device for manufacturing green bricks (18) from clay for the brick manufacturing industry, comprising:
- a circulating conveyor (2) formed from connected mould conveyor parts (3), wherein each mould conveyor part (3) comprises one or more mould containers (16), each with a mould cavity (19);

- wherein at least one mould container part (3) as claimed in one or more of the claims 1-6 is applied.
Method for applying a sealing device (22) as described in one or more of the claims 1-9, comprising the steps of:
- removing the worn wearing part (28) from a mould container part (3) having an upper side (41) of the wall (40) and wearing part (28) worn away through use;

- levelling the upper side (41) of the wall (40) by removing a layer of material (V) therefrom;

- removing from the upper side (32) of the base part (24) a layer of material with a layer thickness (S+V) which is the sum of the layer thickness (S) worn away through use and the layer thickness (V) removed during the step of levelling the upper side (41) of the wall (40);

- arranging a substantially non-worn wearing part (28) releasably above the base part (24) such that in the arranged position the upper side (33) thereof lies substantially flush with the upper side (41) of the wall (40).
Method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising the step, if desired, of replacing the intermediate part (25) and/or replacing the resilient seal (27).
Method as claimed in claim 10 or 11, further comprising the step,of likewise shortening legs (42) functioning as spacers by a layer thickness (S+V), this layer thickness (S+V) being the sum of the layer thickness (S) worn away through use and the layer thickness (V) removed during the step of levelling the upper side (41) of the wall (40).
Method as claimed in any of the claims 10-12, wherein a mould container part according to any of the claims 1-6 is applied.