GB688548A - Improvements in machines for manufacturing tiles and like articles - Google Patents

Abstract

688,548. Machines for moulding tiles &c. on pallets. O'SULLIVAN, E. June 11, 1951 [March 9, 1950], No. 6000/50. Class 87 (ii). Feed elements 26 on pivotally mounted members 25 carried by a continuously moving endless chain 12 remove the lowermost pallet 10 from a hopper 37 and push it along between guide rails 9. The elements 26 are withdrawn from the pallets, when the members 25 reach a guide 29, so that the pallets are then pushed intermittently through the machine by the pressure of the following pallets. The pallets pass beneath a concrete supply hopper 38, Fig. 6, having an agitator 40, an exit roller 42 for determining the thickness of the concrete layer and a smoothing block 44. The guide rails beneath the roller and block are curved and the upper surfaces of the pallets are curved to form curved tiles. Powdered cement, which may be coloured, is then sprinkled on the concrete from a pivoted hopper 56 which is shaken by cams 58. The layer of concrete is cut longitudinally by a spring-urged rotary knife 62. As each pallet reaches the transverse cutting and punching position it is held by stops 96. Each stop is slidably mounted in a holder 97, Fig. 2, pivoted to a fixed bracket 100, to allow the stops to move if the machine is set up wrongly or a pallet of incorrect size is used. The holders are held in position by a spring 103 fixed at one end to the frame of the machine. During normal working, a shaft 95 is continuallv rotated and clutch members 118, 119 engage to rotate cams 113 on a collar 114. The cams raise the stops 96 against springs 111 to hold a pallet in position. When the knife and punches have made their stroke, the cams allow the stops to fall and the pallets to move on. If the machine is driven in the reverse direction, e.g. when clearing a stoppage, the clutch members force the collar 114 axially against a spring 120 so that the bottoms of the stops are moved off the cams onto cylindrical parts 122, thus allowing the stops to remain out of action. The punch 77 and knife 65 are each mounted on a slide 66 which is reciprocated by a cam 84 and springs 68. Both the punches and the knife are spring- mounted on the slide to prevent damage if they engage hard .material. Specification 414,896 is referred to.