IE78008B1 - Manufacture of slats - Google Patents

Abstract

An upwardly open slat mould (20) is mounted on a support bed (21) at a moulding station (12). Concrete is prepared in mixer (14) and discharged into a pourer (15) on a carriage (16). The carriage (16) is moved on tracks (17) to the moulding station (12) for positioning the pourer (15) above the mould (20). Concrete is discharged from the pourer (15) into the mould (20) and settled in the mould (20), the settling assisted by vibrating the mould (20) on the support bed (21). A slat handling device (26) is moved on the tracks (17) over the mould (20). A slat drying bed (32) is laid by the device (26) in an inverted position on the mould (20), and the mould (20) is clamped with the bed (32) on the device (26). On the device (26) the mould (20) and the bed (32) are inverted and then delivered to a finishing station (40) at which the bed (32) is released and the mould (20) then raised by the deice (26) to leave a cast slat (42) on the bed (32) at the finishing station (40). After surface dressing the cast slat (42) the devicve (26) stacks the bed (32) with the slat (42) at a drying station (50). After drying the slat (42) for a preset time period each bed (32) is lifted in turn by the device (26) and inverted to deposit the slat (42) in a stack (55) of slats (42). Ideally each slat (42) is formed with spacer feet on an underside of the slat (42) to allow stacking with spacing between adjacent slats (42) to facilitate engagement and lifting of the slats (42) by a forklift or the like.

Description

Manufacture of Slats” This invention relates to a process and apparatus for manufacturing slats, in particular reinforced concrete slats for flooring in animal houses.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus for the efficient and economical production of high quality reinforced concrete slats.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved construction of slat which facilitates handling and storage of relatively large numbers of slats.

According to the invention there is provided a process for the manufacture of slats, comprising the steps: mounting a slat mould in an upwardly open position on a support bed, coating an inner surface of the mould with a release agent, mounting a steel reinforcement frame within the mould, preparing concrete, pouring concrete into the mould, settling the concrete within the mould, mounting a slat drying bed in an inverted position on top of the mould, inverting the mould and drying bed together, lifting the mould from the drying bed leaving a slat which was formed in the mould on the drying bed, - 2 stacking a number of the drying beds at a drying station and drying the slats for a preset time period, after drying the slats, removing each slat from its associated drying bed and arranging the slats in stacks.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention there is provided a process for the manufacture of slats, comprising the steps: fabricating a steel reinforcement frame, preparing concrete in a mixer and discharging a pre-set amount of concrete into a pouring device mounted on a carriage and positioned beneath the mixer for reception of concrete from the mixer, at a moulding station arranging a mould upwardly open on a support bed, oiling the mould by directing a pressurised oil spray into an interior of the mould, coating an inner surface of the mould with an oil film, inserting a reinforcement frame into the mould, moving the pouring device from the mixer to the moulding station, positioning the pouring device above the mould, discharging concrete from the pouring device into the mould, vibrating the mould for settling the concrete within the mould and excluding air from the mould, filling the mould flush with an upper edge of the mould with concrete, positioning a drying bed in an inverted position on top of the mould, gripping the drying bed and the mould by means of grabs on an associated carriage, lifting the drying bed and mould clear of the moulding bed, inverting the drying bed and mould, carrying the drying bed and mould to a finishing station, dropping the drying bed and mould onto a finishing platform, releasing the drying bed, raising the mould on the carriage and inverting the mould and returning the mould to the moulding station for reuse, finishing a surface of the slat at the finishing station in a desired manner, engaging and lifting the drying bed with the carriage and transporting the drying bed to a drying station, stacking a plurality of drying beds at the drying station, after drying the slats at the drying station, lowering a discharge frame on the carriage onto an uppermost drying bed at the drying station, gripping both the drying bed and the discharge frame by means of the grabs on the carriage, clamping the slat on the drying bed, lifting the drying bed and inverting the drying bed, moving the drying bed to a discharge station, releasing the slat and stacking a plurality of slats at the discharge station.

In another embodiment of the invention the process includes integrally moulding a plurality of stacking feet on an underside of each slat during moulding of the slat, the stacking feet being subsequently used for stacking a plurality of the slats in a vertical stack with an underside of an uppermost slat being spaced-apart from a top surface of the slat immediately below it.

In a further embodiment the slat is clamped on the drying bed by engaging the slat by means of a clamping device on the discharge frame.

In another embodiment the slat is clamped on the drying 5 bed by engaging a retaining bar between a pair of associated brackets on the discharge frame against an underside of the slat.

In another aspect the invention provides a slat having a plurality of stacking feet extending outwardly from a bottom surface of the slat.

In a preferred embodiment three spaced-apart stacking feet are provided on an underside of the slat. Preferably one of the feet is centrally mounted on an underside of the slat adjacent one end of the slat and the other two feet are mounted adjacent an opposite end of the slat, one at each side of the slat.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which: Fig. 1 is schematic plan view of a slat production line for manufacturing slats according to the invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevational view showing portion of the production line; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing a moulding station; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of the moulding station; Fig. 5 is an end elevational view illustrating portion of the production line; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view showing slat handling apparatus used in the process; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of drying beds used in the process; Fig. 8 is an end elevational view illustrating portion of the production line; Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of the slat handling apparatus in use; Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing a number of slats arranged in a stack; and Fig. 11 is an underneath perspective view of a slat formed according to the process.

Referring to the drawings, a slat manufacturing process and apparatus according to the invention will be described.

At a fabricating station 10 steel reinforcing frames 11 are made and supplied on demand to a moulding station 12. Concrete is prepared in a concrete mixer 14 and batches of concrete are delivered on demand to a concrete pourer 15 which is mounted on a carriage 16, the carriage 16 being movable along spaced apart tracks 17 to collect concrete by positioning the pourer 15 beneath the mixer 14.

At the moulding station 12 (Fig. 2) an upwardly open mould 20 is placed on a support bed 21. An oil spray 22 is passed over the mould to coat an inner surface of the mould 20 with an oil film which acts as a release agent. Then a reinforcing frame 11 is dropped into the mould 20. Next the pourer 15 is positioned over the mould 20. The pourer 15 traverses the mould 20 from end to end on the carriage 16 discharging concrete into the mould 20. As the concrete is being poured into the mould 20 the bed 21 is agitated by means of a vibrator 24 to release air from the mould and settle the concrete within the mould.

A slat handling device 26 has a carriage 27 movable along the tracks 17. The device 26 has a frame of inverted Ushaped construction with a pair of end uprights 28 interconnected at their upper end by a cross beam 29. A grab 30 is vertically slidable on each upright 28.

A slat drying bed 32 is gripped by the grabs 30 and positioned at the moulding station 12. Upon lowering the drying bed 32 onto the mould 20 the grabs 30 clamp the mould 20 abutting the drying bed 32. After raising the mould 20 clear of the bed 21 the grabs 30 rotate through 180° as indicated in Fig. 5(b) so that the mould 20 is seated on top of the drying bed 32. Then the device 26 moves along the tracks 17 to a finishing station 40.

At the finishing station 40 the drying bed 32 is released by the grabs 30 and the grabs 30 raised to lift the mould 20 clear of the drying bed 32 leaving a slat 42 which was formed in the mould sitting on the drying bed 32. The mould 20 is then returned to the moulding station 20 and inverted and seated on the bed 21 for reuse as previously described.

At the finishing station 40 any rough edges on the slat 42 are smoothed and the surface finish of the slat 42 is checked and corrected if necessary.

From the finishing station 40 the drying beds 32 are lifted by the device 26 and stacked at a drying station 50 in which a number of the drying beds 32 are vertically stacked as shown in Fig. 7. As can be seen in Fig. 7 each drying bed 32 has four spaced-apart downwardly depending legs 33 which interengage with adjacent drying beds 32 to stack the drying beds 32 with an air gap 51 therebetween to allow air circulation for drying of the slats 42.

Referring to Figs. 8 to 10, after drying the slats 42 are removed from the drying beds 32 and arranged in a stack 55 as shown in Fig. 8. The device 26 has an unloading frame 57 mounted between the grabs 30 which is lowered onto an uppermost bed 32 which is also gripped by the grabs 30. Retaining bars 58 engage associated brackets 59 at opposite sides of the unloading frame 57 to retain the slat 42 on the bed 32. The bed 32 is then lifted from the drying station 50 and rotated through 180° as shown in Fig. 8(b). Then the device 26 moves on the tracks 17 over the stack 55 and lowers the slat 42 onto the stack 55 as shown in Fig. 8(c).

It will be noted that instead of the retaining bars 58 and associated brackets 59, the unloading frame 57 in another arrangement is provided with clamp means which is operable to engage and hold the slat 42 during inversion and removal of the slat 42 from the bed 32.

An underside of a slat 42 formed according to the invention is shown in Fig. 11. It will be noted that a number of spaced-apart feet 43 extend outwardly from the bottom face of the slat 42. Advantageously these feet 43 allow the slats 42 to be stacked directly one above the other as shown in Figs. 8(c) and 10 without the need for mounting wooden spacers or skids in between. The feet 43 allow a fork-lift truck to insert forks beneath each slat 42 for lifting the slat 42 from the stack 55. It will be noted also that the use of the feet 43 allows a close positioning of adjacent stacks 55 for optimum use of a given storage area.

One possible arrangement of the feet is shown in Fig. 11. In an alternative arrangement only three feet 43 are provided. One of the feet is centrally mounted at an underside of the slat adjacent one end of the slat 42 and the other two feet are mounted adjacent an opposite end of the slat, one at each side of the slat. In a particularly preferred arrangement one of the legs is mounted along a central axis of the slat at one end of the slat on an underside of one of the ribs of the slat 42.

This tripod support arrangement gives optimum stability when stacking the slats 42.

The provision of integral stacking feet with the slat 42 has a number of advantages. With conventional type slats which do not have the feet, wooden spacers or skids are inserted between the slats for stacking the slats. These skids are an additional expense required in handling the slats and invariably many of the skids are damaged or lost. Further, it is necessary to provide a workman for insertion and removal of the skids when stacking and loading the slats or alternatively the time taken by for example a forklift or crane operator in handling the slats is increased if they have to themselves position the skids. The slats according to the present invention incorporating the stacking feet overcome these problems as the slats can be stacked directly one above the other leaving a space between the slats for insertion of a forklift or crane grabs for example. Further, the stacks of the slats according to the invention can be closelypositioned for optimum use of available storage space.

From the stack 55 the slats 42 may be transported and stacked in a storage area or they may be directly loaded onto a bed of a lorry for example for transport to a site for use. Again, conveniently with the provision of the feet 43 it is not necessary to provide wooden spacers for separating the slats 42 when stacked on the lorry for delivery. This leads to a considerable saving both in the costs of the wooden spacers and in the time required for stacking, loading and unloading slats.

Claims (10)

1. A process for the manufacture of slats, comprising the steps : mounting a slat mould upwardly open on a support bed, coating an inner surface of the mould with a release agent, mounting a steel reinforcement frame within the mould, preparing concrete, pouring concrete into the mould, settling the concrete within the mould, mounting a slat drying bed in an inverted position on top of the mould, inverting the mould and drying bed together, lifting the mould from the drying bed leaving a slat which was formed in the mould on the drying bed, stacking a number of the drying beds at a drying station and drying the slats for a preset time period, after drying the slats, removing each slat from its associated drying bed and arranging the slats in stacks.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps: fabricating a steel reinforcement frame, preparing concrete in a mixer and discharging a pre-set amount of concrete into a pouring device mounted on a carriage and positioned beneath the mixer for reception of concrete from the mixer, at a moulding station arranging a mould upwardly open on a support bed, oiling the mould by directing a pressurised oil spray into an interior of the mould, coating an inner surface of the mould with an oil film, inserting a reinforcement frame into the mould, moving the pouring device from the mixer to the moulding station, positioning the pouring device above the mould, discharging concrete from the pouring device into the mould, vibrating the mould for settling the concrete within the mould and excluding air from the mould, filling the mould flush with an upper edge of the mould with concrete, positioning a drying bed in an inverted position on top of the mould, gripping the drying bed and the mould by means of grabs on an associated carriage, lifting the drying bed and mould clear of the moulding bed, inverting the drying bed and mould, carrying the drying bed and mould to a finishing station, dropping the drying bed and mould onto a finishing platform, releasing the drying bed, raising the mould on the carriage and inverting the mould and returning the mould to the moulding station for reuse, finishing a surface of the slat at the finishing station in a desired manner, engaging and lifting the drying bed with the carriage and transporting the drying bed to a drying station, stacking a plurality of drying beds at the drying station, after drying the slats at the drying station, lowering a discharge frame on the carriage onto an uppermost drying bed at the drying station, gripping both the drying bed and the discharge frame by means of the grabs on the carriage, clamping the slat on the drying bed, lifting the drying bed and inverting the drying bed, moving the drying bed to a discharge station, releasing the slat and stacking a plurality of slats at the discharge station.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, which includes integrally moulding a plurality of stacking feet on an underside of each slat during moulding of the slat, the stacking feet being subsequently used for stacking a plurality of the slats in a vertical stack with an underside of an uppermost slat being spaced-apart from a top surface of the slat immediately below it.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the slat is clamped on the drying bed by engaging the slat by means of a clamping device on the discharge frame.

5. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the slat is clamped on the drying bed by engaging a retaining bar between a pair of associated brackets on the discharge frame against an underside of the slat.

6. A process for the manufacture of slats substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A slat whenever produced according to the process of any preceding claim.

8. A slat as claimed in claim 7 wherein the slat has a plurality of stacking feet extending outwardly from a bottom surface of the slat.

9. A slat as claimed in claim 8 wherein three spacedapart stacking feet are provided on an underside of the slat.

10. A slat as claimed in Claim 9 wherein one of the feet is centrally mounted on an underside of the slat adjacent one end of the slat and the other two feet are mounted adjacent an opposite end of the slat, one at each side of the slat.