US1380776A - Apparatus for handling brick - Google Patents

Description

R. B. COBB.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING BRICK.

APPLICATION FILED IIJNE Io, 1920.

1,389977@ Patented. Jun@ 7, 1921.,

ZISHEETS- SHEET l.

B. B. COBB.

APPARATUS FOB HANDLING BRICK.

APPLICATION FILED IuNE Io, 1920.

Patented June 79 R921.,

LBBJTY@ 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2A are ses RALPH B. COBB, OF RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS son HANDLING BRICK.

Lasarte.

To all whom it may concer-n: Be it known that I, RALPH B. COBB, a citizen of the United States, and a resident -of River Forest, in the county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements' in Apparatus for Handling Brick, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to apparatus for movingor transporting brick in mass, as from drying cars to the kiln, or tol a warehouse, &c. In brick yards, the brick, either finished or unfinished, are usually arranged in piles, the bricks of the bottom course be'- ing arranged in a series of spaced'parallel rows, each row being composed of pairs of bricks set close together, the rows being usually four bricks in length. y'Ihe width of the spaces between the several rows is usually equal to the thickness of a single brick. Above the bottom course the bricks are piled close together in crisscross rows to a height of about four feet. These figures are given merely for illustration, as so far asymy invention is concerned it is essential onl that the bricks be piled so that there is a gottom course composed of separated parallel rows, with one or more courses above the lowermost' course. The length of the several rows may vary as conditions require or make desirable. In piling bricks in this way it frequently occurs that the bricks of each of the lowermost rows are not exactly alined with each other, and k,also that the rows are not uniformly made up of pairs l of bricks, so that the rows will in practice be somewhat irregular, although they ap# proximate parallel straight lines.

Various attempts. have heretofore been madeto provide an apparatus which would successfully handle bricks piled as above described, but for various reasons they have not proven successful, and so far as Iamaware no one has heretofore provided an apparatus which meets the exacting re- Y quirements of the situation. To provde an apparatus which will "operate successfully for this purpose is theobject of my invention, which object I accomplish as illustrated inthe drawings and hereinafter described. What I regard as new is set forth in the claims. p

In the accompanying drawings,"v Figure l qis `a central vertical sectional view of my improved apparatus; y

specificationff Letters Patent. Patented Jun@ mutation tied :tune 1o, 1920. seriai No. 381,863.

Fig. 2 is a. plan view of the suspending Jtilevices, showing the turntable partly in secion;

Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of the apparatus on a reduced scale;

F ig. 4 is a partial plan view of the lower portion of the apparatus, some parts being in section;

Fig. 5 is a partial vertical section on line 5 5 of'Fig. t;

Fig, 6 is a perspectiveview of one of the cIaInpingplates, partly broken away; and

Fig` is a perspective view of -atypical pile of bricks, also partly broken away.

Referring to the drawings,-8 indicates the lowermost course of bricks which, as shown in Fig. 7,' comprises a number of parallel rows of bricks having spaces 9 between them forming parallel tunnels which extend under the upper courses, and my improved apparatus is designed to lift such a pile of brick as a unit without disarrang- Ving them or damaging the bricks, which may be more or less soft depen-ding upon their condition at the time they are being handled. 'I o this end my apparatus comprises a series of parallel arms l0 of such shape and dimensions that they are adapted to be introduced into the tunnels, or spaces 9 and to extend throughout the length of said tunnels. rllhese arms are securely con- 'nected together in any suitable manner so as to form a rigid frame, but for this purpose I prefer to' secure them at one end to a crossbar or plate l1. This is best accomplished by providing the bar 1l with holes adapted to receive tenons l2 at the inner ends of the bars l0, which tenons may be upset or riveted so as to form a secure connection. Also U-shaped braces 13 are secured to the bar ll and to adjoining arms 10, the end portions of said braces being inset so as to be flush with the arms 10, as shown in Fig. 4. The intermediate portions of the ,braces 13 are extended upwardly, as shown at 13'1 in Fig. 5, so as to secure greater strength and. rigidity.

The cross-bar ll is provided with means for suspending it from a crane and for permitting of fthe angular Iadjustment of the arms 10, ,this being best accomplished by having their upper portions extended over the arms 10 at a sufficient height so as tol Lproviding said bar with two uprights 14 55 rlhe4 construction' of 2these clamps is best rlhe plates 17 and 19 are preferably connected together by lugs 20 which rise at suitable intervals from the plate 17 and fit in notches in the marginal portion oaf the plate 19, screws 21 which extend through the lugs 20 into the plate 19 serving to connect said, parts firmly together. This7M construction permits the plates 17 and 19 to be separated readily when desired.- 22 indicates bolts which connect the plate 17 with the channel beams 16 and also with the members 15. 23 indicates a series of links, `preferably four in number, which are connected at their lower Vends to eye-bolts 24, moiunted in the rotary plate 18. the-"upper ends of said links being connected to a collar or sleeve 25 carrying a swiveled hook '26, shown in Figs. 1 and 3, by which the agparatus may be con nected to the4 crane. y this construction the point of support olf the apparatus is brought substantially over the load carried by the arms 10 so that the load when lifted maintains-a substantially horizontal position, and it will be apparent that by supporting the arms 10 in the manner described they may be .swung around at any desired angle to facilitate the introduc/tion ofl the arms 10 into the tunnels 9.

ln order to adapt the apparatusVv to take up a pile of bricks each of the intermediate arms 10 is provided with ja series of clamps arranged in two rows at opposite sides of the` arm, one of such clamps being provided for each brick ofthe row As such rows are ordinarily four bricks in length, as above stated, the apparatus is preferably provided with four clamps along each side of each of the intermediate arms 10. rllhe outside arms r10 are, however, provided witlf clamps at their inner sides only, as shown at the top in Fig. 4,v as these outside arms do not enter the tunnels 9, but lie parallel with theoutermost rows of bricks in the bottom course.

shown in Figs. 5 and 6, from which it pwill be seen that each clamp comprises a plate 27 having hinge portions 28 near .its upper margin, between which hinge port'ons is a wing or arm 29 which extends upwardly at "an angle to the main portion of the plate.

Preferably the hinge portions 2S, and wing 29 are formed by slitting thel upper mar-- gin of the clamp and rolling the end por- .enables them to. adaptfthemselvesrto the tions to form sleeves adapted toy receive l.a pintle, as illustrated in Fig. 6. This leaves the intermediate portion or wing 29- somewhat shorter in length than the main por-` tion of the clamp, which is desirable in order that adjoining clamps may not interfere with each other. rlhese clamps are mounted" plates. The clamping'plates are mounted so that they normally lie parallel with the side faces of the arms 10, with'the wings 29 extending over the upper surfaces ofsaidarm and .at an anglethereto, as shown in Fig. 5. The arrangement is such that when the arms. 10 are inserted in the tunnels 9 the wings 29 are in juxtaposition to the lower surfaces of the bricks in the second course, and consequently if the arms 10 be then lifted the weight of the superimposed bricks will bear down on the wings 29 rocking the clamping plates so as to swing them out-l ward, or away fromthe arm 10 upon -which they are mounted, thus causing them to bear `firmly against the exposed faces of the sol of the outer surfaces thereof.- To betterI adapt the clamping plates to operate in this manner they are made slightly flexible or elastic t0 enable them to lieuclosely against and present an'extended'bearing surface to the bricks; but, of course, they must not be madeso flexible as to impair: theireiiciency as clamps. As each co-acting pair of clamps,

z'. e., lthe opposed clamps, of two adjoining f v arms 10, act on .a single brick or pair of bricks awiu be evident .that even if Such bricks .are not exactly in line with the adjoining ones no harm will result, and if the bricks should be .piled so' that the, lower coursel instead of having double rows-ofi" bricks has one' or more rows vmade up in..

whole br in vpart of single,bricksthe clamps 'Y will nevertheless operate properly, as the clamping plates aremade wide enough 'so as to' be capable ofvgripping single bricks 'as well/as double bricks, land their flexibility An important advantage of my improvedl apparatus is that I provide a very simple constructionr which has no springs, gears, levers or other parts which are apt to get out of order. If a -clamping plate should be broken or for any reason become inoperative it can readily be replaced by removing the rod on which it is mounted. The 'apparatus can, therefore, be economically manufactured and used.

What l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A brick handling apparatus comprising a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefrom and adapted to be introduced into the. spaces between parallel rows of bricks, and 4clamping devices carried by `said arms'and arranged to be directly actuated to operatively engage the bricks of such rows by the weight of bricks superimposed thereon.-

2. A brick handling 'apparatus comprising a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projectin therefrom and adapted to be introduce into the spaces between parallel rows of bricks, and clamping devices hinged upon said arms and normally projecting above the' upper surfaces thereof, whereby they are adapted to be engaged by the suj erimposed bricks when the apparatus is ifted.

- 3. A brick handling-'apparatus comprising a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefrom and adapted to be introduced into the spaces between parallel rows of bricks, and clamping devices hinged upon said arms, said clamping devices having angularly arranged `wings extending over the upper portions of said arms and adapted to be engaged by thesuperimposed bricks when the apparatus is lifted.

4.L A brick handling apparatus comprising a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefrom and adapted to be introduced into the spaces between parallel rows of bricks, clamping plates pivotally` ,f connected with said larms near the upper margins thereof, said plates being normally 'f disposed parallel with the side facesrof said arms, and upwardl nected with said p ates and adapted to engage the superimposed bricks for actuating said plates. Y

5. A brick handling a paratus comprising `a frame having a plura ity 'of parallel arms projecting means conprojecting therefrom and adapted to be introduced into the spaces between parallel rows of bricks, flexible clamping plates pivotally connected with said. arms near the upper margins thereof, said plates being normally disposed| parallel with the sidey faces of said arms, andv upwardly projecting means connected with said plates and adapted t0 engage the superimposed bricks for actuating sald plates. 6. A brick handling apparatus comprising a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefrom and adapted to be introduced into the spaces between parallel rows of bricks, rods mounted upon said arms adjacent to the upper margins thereof, clamping plates pivoted upon said rods and adapted to swing outwardly from said arms, and means actuated by the weight of the superimposed bricks when said frame is lifted for moving said .clamping plates outwardly. j

7. A brick handling apparatus comprising a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefrom and adapted to be introduced into the spaces between parallel rows of bricks, a plurality of clamping devices disposed longitudinally of said arms at o posite sides thereof, and means for actuating saidnclamping devices by the weight of tlfie ,sinperimposed bricks when said frame is li te i 8. A brick handling apparatus comprising i a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefrom and adapted vto be introduced into the spaces between parallel rows 0f bricks, and a plurality of clamping plates disposed longitudinally of said arms at opposite sides thereofand pivotally connected therewith,'said clamping plates having upwardly projecting members adapted to engage the superimposed bricks when said frame is lifted, to actuate said clamping plates..

9. A brick a frame having a plurality of parallel arms projecting therefromand adapted to be introduced into the 'spaces between parallel rows of bricks, a plurality of clamping de vices disposed longitudinally of said arms at opposite sides thereof, means for actuat-v ing said clamping devices by the weight of the superimposed bricks when said frame is lifted, and means connected 'with said frame and disposed -over said arms for suspending the load.

1.0. A clamping device for brick handling apparatus comprising a suitable support, a plate hingedthereto to swir g laterally, and means connected with said plate and adapt ed to be actuated by superposed bricks to move said plate into operative position when the clamping device is lifted.J

11. A clamping device for brick handling apparatus comprising a suitable support, a 130 and means connected Withsaid ,plate and adapted to -be actuated by superposed l -bricks to move said plate into operative posit ion when the clamping deviceis lifted.

12. A clamping. device for brick handling apparatus comprlsing a suibable suppor, d aplate bingedtberebo to swing' laberally all and having an upwardly projecting angudisposed arm connected therewith, said 10 larly arm being adapted to be actuated by superposed bricks to move'said plate into operlailiv position when the clamping device is i te A. .v

Raimi n. conn.

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