GB1134875A - Improvements in or relating to brick handling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1,134,875. Brick stacking apparatus; suction lifting heads. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. Ltd. 3 Feb., 1967 [14 Feb., 1966], No. 6438/66. Headings B8C and B8H. A brick stacking machine having a carriage movable between pick-up and discharge positions and a pick-up head mounted for vertical movement on the carriage, has aligned brick engaging platens slidably mounted on a horizontal support on the pick-up head and movable from a closed-up brick engaging position to a spaced position controlled by stop members adjacent the support, to space the bricks prior to stacking. A conveyer 29 feeds lines of bricks on to supports 45 at the pick-up station, to abut adjustable stops 51. The supports are pivotable bodily about their upper edges so that rollers 50 become vertical and the bricks rest on pads 52 having retractable gripping elements 55. The pads are slidable horizontally and are joined by lazy tong (not shown) or lost motion spring connections, Figs. 5-7 (not shown), enabling them to be pulled apart and thus space the bricks in accordance with the spacing of the pick-up platens. Pick-up head, Fig. 2.-This depends from a rod 23 and comprises a support 22 on which are slidable mountings 21 for the platens 24. The latter may be vacuum operated and are pivoted on the mountings to enable rows of bricks to be set on their narrow faces as required. They may operate individually. Groups of mountings on either side of the rod 23 are joined to differential belt drives 30, see also Figs. 3a, 3b (not shown), so that lines of bricks may be separated into groups by moving apart of the groups of mountings. The separation is limited by stops 27 on a rod 28, the rod being indexable about its axis to bring different sets of stops into play according to the patterns required. The stack is formed on a truck carried by a turntable 5, the latter rotating 90 degrees after deposition of a given number of layers. The turntable may rise and be lowered in steps as the layers are formed, to reduce the vertical travel of the pick-up head. The speed of vertical travel of the head may be arranged to decrease when the stack or truck is approached. The stacking process is automatic and programmed throughout to produce the required patterns.