US2734249A

US2734249A - Roofing tile making machines

Info

Publication number: US2734249A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1956-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 1973-02-14

Description

Feb. 14, 1956 M. c. WILLIS ROOFING TILE MAKING MACHINES Filed 'April 26, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l JNVEM TOR Feb. 14, 1956 M. c. wlLLls ROOFING TILE MAKING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 1.951

INVENTOR mm, a @644;

Feb; 14, 1956 Filed April 26, 1951 ROOFING TILE MAKING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVE/V 7'0R United States Patent ROOFING TILE MAKING MACHINES Marlen C. Willis, Phoenix, Ariz.

Application April 26, 1951, Serial No. 223,088

3 Claims. (Cl. 25- 43) This invention pertains to roofing tile making machines, and is particularly adapted to the manufacture of flat tile known to the art as French tile.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine of sturdy and fool-proof construction which will produce tile in quantity with a minimum of attention from the operators;

Another object is to provide a tile making machine which has a minimum number of working parts arranged so that it is unlikely to get out of adjustment, and so that wear and replacement of parts is much less than in machines heretofore known to the art;

Another object is to provide a machine wherein cement mix, having the consistency of plaster mortar, is used and wherein the cement is evenly and rapidly spread over the surface of forming and handling pallets without waste or the necessity of introducing fluid cement mix into the feed hopper;

Another object is to provide a machine in which the parts are easily demountable for cleaning or storage;

Still another object is to provide a machine having means to enable the user to quickly and easily change the form and style of the tile produced without the use of special tools.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of the device, structure, and combination of parts shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tile making machine embodying my improvements;

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken on line 33, Figure 2, of the feed hopper and tile forming portion of the mechanism of the machine drawn on an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the feed hopper and tile forming mechanism taken from 'line 44 Figure l and drawn on an enlarged scale; s

Figure 5 is a perspective view of tile made on a machine incorporating my improvements;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the pallets used in my machine;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the trowel;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the pallet boxes; and Figure 9 is a sectional elevation of the pallet lifting mechanism.

Similar numerals refer 'to similar parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 2 indicates the frame-of the machine generally. Thisispreferably made of metal tubing, however, any equivalent structural mate- Parallel to top members 4 are right and left palletbox 7 ing edgeof an adjacent tile.

ice

plates 10 from which supporting brackets 12 extend laterally, and

end plates

14 and 15 which converge slightly, downward.

The lower edges of the side and end plates terminate just above the upper edges of pallet boxes 8, which move beneath the hopper longitudinally while supported on slides 5.

Each of the pallet boxes 8 is formed as a rectangular frame composed of side plates 20, end plates 22, and a mid-positioned transverse plate 21 which divides the box into forward and aft sections. Pallets 16 fit into the upper portion of each of the pallet box sections and rest on the heads of cap screws 24 which screw into inwardly extending lugs 23. These screws provide accurate and adjustable means for leveling the pallets within these boxes. within the boxes 8 so that their upper faces are alined and leveled with the upper edges of the end plates 22, and these end plate edges are contoured transversely to coincide with the transverse contour of the upper faces of the pallets the sides of the pallets may be leveled so that the edges of their top faces are in the same plane as that of the edges of the side plates 20 of the pallet boxes. The pallet boxes may also serve in part as molds along one of the pallet edges depending on the shape of the tile which usually must allow side overlap; that is, one edge of the tile is raised to overlap the adjoin- The upper edges of end plates of the pallet boxes are in the same substantially horizontal plane as the upper faces of corresponding parts of the pallets when they are positioned on the bolts 24 within the pallet boxes. The side plates 11') of the hopper 9 may form one side edge of the tile and the pallet box may form the other side edge. Their ends are formed when the pallets are lifted by mechanism 70 as herein described.

A lug 27 is welded to the bottom edge of each of the mid-positioned plates 21 and is drilled transversely to provide hinged attachment tolink blocks 28 of pallet box operating chain 30. This chain constitutes a closed loop and runs longitudinally of frame 2 with the top lay between. slides 5. Pallet boxes 8 are attached to chain 30 throughout its length so that their ends abut. At the ends of frame 2 the chain runs over sprockets 32 and 33, respectively. The bottom lay of the chain runs under slides 5. An idler sprocket 35 contacts the center of this bottom lay of the chain and keeps it in proper position and tension. Idler sprocket 35 is directly journalled on shaft 45. Sprocket 33 is keyed to transverse shaft 43. Transverse shaft 42 on which sprocket 32 is keyed is journalled in bearings 41 in frame 2. These bearings maybe adjusted longitudinally in the frame in order to provide additional means for maintaining proper tension on the chain. This shaft is driven through suitable speed reduction mechanism 45 by motor 46 so that the boxes 7 on chain 39 pass along the top of frame 2 on slides 5 at a speed of about six feet per minute. Sprocket 32 is proportioned to impart this speed to chain 30 when shaft 42 isrotated approximately 18 revolutions per minute.

At the opposite end of the frame shaft 42 carries and drives a pinion 47A which meshes with pinion 47 journalled on a short shaft 48 on frame 2. A large sprocket 49 is attached to pinion 47 so that it turns with the pinion. This sprocket rotates counterclockwise (Figure 1) and is known as the spreading paddle drive sprocket.

A trowel 60 supported on holding plate 61 is clamped between side plates 10 of hopper 9 at the outgoing end by clamp bolt 64. This is the right end as viewed in Figures 1 and 2 and should be understood to be the end wherethe pallets leave, or move from under the hopper.

The pallets are positioned and leveled Within hopper 9 there are two mortar spreading

paddle wheels

50 and 51. These wheels are supported on

shafts

52 and 53, respectively, which are connected and turn together by chain 54 running on sprockets 55 of these shafts. Shaft 52 extends further outward than shaft 53 and is driven from large sprocket 49 by chain 56 running over sprocket 57. Sprocket 57 is proportioned so that

shafts

52 and 53 turn approximately 76 revolutions per minute. These paddle wheels turn in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3. Wheel 50 is positioned to turn just within, or next to, trowel all while wheel 51 is positioned more toward the longitudinal center of the hopper and also near its bottom.

The action of the forward paddle wheel 50 is to churn the cement mortar mix and force it downward toward the pallet passing under the hopper and forward toward the lower edge of the vertical plate 61 of the trowel 60. This crowds the mortar toward the horizontal portion of the trowel as well as onto the pallet and causes it to adequately fill the contours of the pallet and to pack firmly under the trowel.

The action of the paddle wheel 51 is to move the mortar from the center of the hopper and force it downward onto the pallet as soon as it enters the space under the hopper. The action of both wheels tends to keep the mortar in the bottom of the hopper in motion, keeps it from packing, or bridging over in the upper part of the hopper, and insures adequate lateral distribution of the mortar so that the edges of the pallet are adequately supplied with mortar. These paddle wheels make it possible to produce fully formed tile on the pallets rapidly as they pass under the hopper even if the mortar is quite stiff.

The trowel is indicated generally by numeral 60 of the formed surface 62, which extends at substantially right angles to the plate 61. This surface trowels the upper surface of the mortar which deposits on each pallet 16, and forms the upper face of each tile. The under surface in each case is formed by the pallet face. There are recesses 63 provided at an end of each pallet to provide longitudinal retention for each tile, as it is formed, and for retaining the tile on a roof when laid.

The exact cross sectional shape of the pallets, trowel, and formed tile is immaterial to this invention. However, as here illustrated, the tile 65 produced between the pallet and trowel has several flat longitudinally extending ridges 66, and several edge grooves 67, as well as lugs 63a on its under side. The body of the tile should be from A to /2 an inch thick, therefore the troweling surface 62 is substantially to /2 inch above the top faces of the pallets as they are carried by boxes 8 under hopper 9.

After the pallets 16 pass under the hopper 9 and receive a deposit of cement mortar which is formed into a tile 65, they are each automatically lifted from their respective pallet boxes 8 by a lifting mechanism indicated generally by numeral 70 shown particularly in Figure 9. This mechanism consists of a group of four lifting fingers 72 which work vertically in holes in a guide block 73 supported between the longitudinal members 4 of frame 2. These fingers are joined together at the bottom by frame plate 74 which is moved upward to lifting position by link and lever mechanism. The link 75 connects L-shaped lifting lever 76 to operating lever 77. A roller 80 at the top end of lever 77 contacts the rear end member and middle transverse plate 21 of each pallet box 8 as it moves from left to right. The contact moves the lever from the position indicated by dotted outline 82 to the position shown by the solid lines. This pushes link 75 to the left (toward the hopper) and L-shaped lever 76 raises frame plate 74 to which it is loosely hinged. This pushes fingers 72 upward and they, in turn, lift any pallet 16 which is over them. After the transverse frame member which trips lever 77 passes over roller 80, it drops back to position 82 by reason of the urge of spring 83. To keep the side portion of the boxes which contact roller from raising, two rollers 85 attached to frame guide member 5 bear on the upper edges of pallet boxes as they pass over the contact area.

From the foregoing it will be seen that pallet boxes 8 follow each other successively along the slideway provided by guides 5. The pallets 16 are placed in the tops of the boxes on the left portion of the slide and before the boxes move beneath the hopper 9. The succession of pallets form in effect the bottom of the hopper. The end plate at the left end of hopper 9 may be known as the hopper entrance end plate, the plate at the opposite end, as the hopper leaving end plate. The side plates 10 are positioned over the side edges of the pallet box as they move beneath them with only a slight clearance. The bottom edge of the entrance end plate is positioned over the pallet boxes so as to allow only a small clearance. This arrangement prevents leakage of mortar from the hopper, and at the same time prevents wear incident to actually rubbing of adjoining surfaces. Cement mortar is supplied to the hopper so that the

paddle wheels

50 and 51 are well covered at all times during operation. The agitation provided by these wheels spreads the mortar as previously described in detail so that the upper face of each pallet is covered evenly with mortar as it passes beneath the hopper. The trowel lower face 62 screeds off the excess mortar from each pallet to determine the tile thickness and forms and shapes the upper surface of each tile.

After the pallets pass beneath the hopper, and are charged with mortar to form a tile they pass over fingers 72 of the pallet lifting mechanism 79. This mechanism lifts each pallet momentarily and enables the operator of the machine to easily grasp it and remove it to a drying rack. The speed of movement of pallet boxes 8 by chain 30 is such that the operators of the machine have time to place pallets in the pallet boxes, and time to remove the pallets charged with tile mortar as the operation continues. Time necessary for the mortar to flow onto each pallet is, also, taken into consideration. After the tile have dried and hardened on the pallets they are removed, and the pallets are cleaned, oiled and made ready for use again.

It is to be observed that the structure of the tile boxes enables the pallets to be accurately adjusted as to height with reference to the pallet boxes and to be accurately leveled; also, the side plates 10 of the hopper provide lateral surfaces against which the edges of the tile are formed. The end edges of the tile are cleanly formed by shearing when fingers 72 thrust each pallet upward relative to the pallet following it.

While the machine is not large and is comparatively simple both in structure and operation, its capacity when run continuously is, nevertheless, large, and many thousand tile may be made in a day.

I claim:

1. In a tile making machine having a frame, a pallet slideway, an endless chain and driving means therefor in said frame, pallet boxes mounted on said slideway, said pallet boxes having end and intermediate transverse members, said intermediate transverse members attached to said chain, pallets in said pallet boxes, and mechanism for continuously lifting successive pallets from their boxes, said mechanism comprising lifting fingers vertically movable beneath said slideway and disposed on said frame to move directly upward and engage the bottom of a pallet, a plate attached to the bottom end of said fingers, a lever pivoted on said plate and on said frame, an operating lever pivoted to said frame beneath said slideway having a roller at its upper end successively engaging said transverse members of said pallet boxes, and a link connecting the lower end of said operating lever to said plate lifting lever, whereby contact of the roller on the operating arm will cause a corresponding movement of the plate and fingers.

2. A device as set forth i1 claim 1, having means to prevent upward movement of said pallet boxes as said pallets are lifted, said means comprising arms having rollers at their upper ends and attached to the sides of the frame at their lower ends, said rollers riding on the top edges of said pallet boxes.

3. Pallet removing means for tile making machines of the type having a frame, a pallet box slideway on said frame and pallet boxes sliding along said slideway, said pallet removing means comprising lifting fingers slidably mounted beneath said slideway and disposed on said frame to pusn directly upward and engage the bottom of a pallet, a plate attached to the bottom ends of said fingers, a lever supported on said frame and communicating lifting movement to said plate, an operating lever pivoted to said frame beneath said slideway having a roller at its upper end adapted to engage transverse portions of said pallet boxes to attain movement therefrom, and a link connecting the lower end of said operating lever to said plate lifting lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hoffman Oct. 28, Warner Mar. 21, Saffert July 15, Debay Aug. 18, Draeger July 14, Woesner Nov. 12, Brousseau et a1. Jan. 14, Carlisle Jan. 4, Wellnitz Jan. 20, Hume June 1, Tedrow Dec. 11, Phillips et a1 July 26, Malvincini Mar. 21, Danhof Sept. 25,

FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland of