US3072993A

US3072993A - Brick molding apparatus for incorporating metal inserts in refractory bricks

Info

Publication number: US3072993A
Application number: US21950A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mcgill Alfred
Original assignee: Harbison Walker Refractories Co
Current assignee: Harbison Walker Refractories Co
Priority date: 1960-04-13
Filing date: 1960-04-13
Publication date: 1963-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 1980-01-15

Description

United States Patent" -3,072,99s BRICK MOLDING APPARATUS FOR INCORPO- 4 RATING METAL INSERTS IN REFRACTORY BRICKS Alfred McGill, La Chute, Quebec, Canada, assignor to .I-Iarbison-Walker Refractories Company, Pittsburgh,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 13, 1960, Ser. No. 21,950

9 Claims. (Cl. 25-41) This invention relates to apparatus for incorporating metal inserts in refractory bricks.

It is common practice to incorporate a metal insert 01' member in a refractory brick. Such metal member may comprise aportion of a metal case for the brick, a reinforcing insert, a positioning or hanger member, or the like. Usually, the metal insert is applied in proper position to the body of brick mix in the mold just prior to or at the initiation of the pressing step. Not only is it necessary to take steps to ensure that the metal insert is properly positioned relatively to the brick mix body but also it is necessary to interrupt the pressing operation to permit positioning of the insert.

. It isan object of this invention to provide apparatus for incorporating metal inserts in refractory bricks which is of a simple and inexpensive nature, which-"ensures-ac'e curate positioning of the insert in the brick, and-which is. directly'responsive to the pressing step whereby no-interruption of. the pressing operation is required.

The invention involves producing refractory bricks in which a 'body of brick mix is charged into a mold by movement of .a charging drawer, and the body of brick mix is subjected to a pressing operation by movement of an upper ram or'of upper and lower rams, and broadly resides in the step of mechanically holding a metal insert over said body of brick mix and out of contact with and are of rubber, the finger said upper ram following said charging step and before said pressing operation whereby downward movement of said upper ram will entrain said metal insert therewith and deposit said metal insertin said body of brick mix.

The invention further comprises, in combination with a mechanical or hydraulic .brick molding apparatus having a-mold, a charging drawer laterally reciprocable over said mold to deposit a charge of brick mix therein, and upper and lower pressing rams engageable with said charge,at leastcne arm carried laterally by and in adyance of said charging drawer, an insert-supporting swingablefingercarried by said arm, said finger inone position of said drawer being suspended over said mold. and in the path of movement of said upper ram, and said finger having swinging movement thereon by said upper ram. 'l'he invention will be described with reference to..the accompanying'drawing,in-whichr- 1 v FIGURE-1 is -a-plan view-of-apparatus in accordance with the -invention,taken online- I-"-I, FIG. 2, FIGURE 2 is a-sectional end elevation, I FIGURE 3 is a sectional side elevation III--III of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 4 is a partial end elevation illustrating a modified form of the invention.

In the drawing, there are illustrated in somewhat diagrammatic form the elements of a conventional brickforming machine including a mold table 1, a press charging drawer 2 slidably mounted on the table 1 and arranged to receive from a source, not shown, a supply of the mix from which the brick is to be formed, a mold 3 over which the drawer 2 is adapted to be moved, by any suitable means, to deposit a body of mix 4 in the mold, a lower ram 5 on which the body of mix is deposited, and an upper ram 6. It will be apparent that the rams 5 and 6 are 'movable in a vertical path, the upper ram taken on line in response -to pressure I it will engage the insert and and uniform positioning of the insert on the fingers.

6 entering the mold to compress between it and the lower ram the body of mix and thereby press it into brick form. If desired the lower ram may be fixed, with only the upper ram being reciprocated.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a pan of brackets 7 are fixed to the forward wall of the press charging drawer 2 and extend forwardly therefrom. The brackets 7 are spaced above and parallel to the surface of table 1, and they are equidistantly spaced from the center line of the mold cavit Moreover, the distance between the brackets is somewhat greater than the length of the mold cavity.

Mounted on each bracket 7 is an arm 8 projecting inwardly from the bracket and, as shown, in generally right angularrelation thereto. Preferably, each arm mounting is of adjustable nature whereby the effective length of the arm may be adjusted according to the length of the insert being used. As shown, such mounting may comprise a pair of bolts 9 which extend through slots 10 in the bracket. The arms 8 are in longitudinally aligned relation.

Projecting inwardly from the inner end of each arm' 8 and carried thereby is a finger 11 of resilient flexible rr'ia'ter'ial's'u'ch as rubber, rubber composition, synthetic plastic composition, or spring metal. In the modification illustrated, the arm and finger are of integral form 11 being of reduced cross sectional area in relation to that of the arm. A shoulder 12 is thus formed on the end of the arm on each side of the finger. It will be apparent that the fingers 11 are also in alignment.

The illustrated position of the press charging drawer 2 is its predetermined conventional retracted position, i.e., the position it assumes at the end of its retraction stroke immediately following its charging stroke. It will be observed from FIG. 3 that in this position'of the draw er the fingers 11 overlie the mold cavity in spaced relation thereabove and below the upper ram. I The exact position of the fingers 11 relative to the mold' cavity is dependent upon the relative position of themetal insert with respect to the body of the brick to be formed. In the example illustrated, the fingers 11 are positioned directly above the central area of the body of the brick mix in the cavity. Further, in the example i1: lustrated, a channel shaped metal insert member 13 is to be applied toa longitudinal face of the brick and symmetrically positioned with respect to the edges thereof. In operation, therefore, an insert 13 is placed on the fingers 11 at an'y convenient time prior to or at its arrival at the fully retracted position shown in FIG. 3. It will be observed that the shoulders 12 will aid in the accurlalte insert 13 is thus now suspended onthe fingers between the body of brick mix in the mold and the upper ram 6 and directly in the path of the ram on its downward pressing stroke. As the ram 6 moves downwardly in such stroke, carry it down into the mold cavity to apply it in desired position on the face of the brick, the fingers 11 flexing downwardly to permit disengagement of the insert therefrom. As the ram continues its downward stroke the pressing of the brick will be accomplished with concurrent association of the insert with the brick. It will be apparent that the fingers 11, being resilient, will assume their normal undistorted positions following disengagement by ram 6 during its upward stroke for reception of another insert and repetition of the cycle described.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a somewhat modified form of the invention wherein, instead of each resilient finger 11, a finger 14 of rigid metal is employed. Each finger 14 is hinged to a supporting arm 15 (corresponding to the arm 8 in the previously described modification) by means of a spring-loaded hinge 16 of conventional type and which normally holds the finger in substantial alignment with 15 but which permits downward swinging movement thereof in response to predetermined pressure thereon. It will be understood that the spring-loading of hinge 16 is of sufiicient strength to restrain movement of the finger when the metal insert 13 is placed thereon. It however, be apparent that, on engagement of the 7 ram in its downward stroke, fingers 14 will swing downwardly to permit disengagement of the insert therefrom. The spring-loaded hinges 16 will return the fingers 14 to their normal positions following disengage- 'ment by the ram during its upward stroke.

One of the greatest benefits of the invention is the op- I metal element with a refractory brick without the hazards involved in prior methods. Heretofore, the workmen manually placed the metal element in positionduring the course of, travel of the upper ram. Many injuries have resulted from that; practice. Another method which has been used to some extent is to magnetically susp nd the metal insert from the upper ram. However, it has been found difficult to feed the metal inserts to the upper ram because it is always poised over the mold box. Therefore, in each of those methods the press has been stopped momentarily to allow the positioning of the metal element. g t In this invention the usual practice will be to place the insert on the fiexible fingers when the mold is being ehargedand the fingersare well in advance of the mold box. Thus it can be seen that manually feeding of the inserts onto the fingers can be donewithout the interrup tion of the press cycle which safety has dictated for prior methods. Also, a mechanical ffeeding apparatus can easily be installed for positioning the insertsfaster than a workman is able to do. Hence,this invention enables the manufacture of refractory brick with metalinserts more safely and more rapidly than with the methods prac-' ticed heretofore. v H y According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the A v v lustrated and described what I now considerto represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described, 7 v

The embodiments of the invention in which an exelusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows. 7

1. In a brick molding apparatus having a table, a mold therein arranged to receive a charge of brick mix and a downwardly movable pressing ram engageable with said charge, means for incorporating a metal insert in said charge comprising a pair of insert carrying flexible resilient fingers, means supporting said fingers over said table but separate from said ram for lateral reciprocal movement over and away from said mold, said fingers in one position of said supporting means being suspended between s'aidmold and said upper ram.

i 2. A metal insert incorporating device as defined in elaim 1, said supporting means comprisinga pair of rigidly mounted arms; one of said fingers being mounted in each of said arms', said fingers being in longitudinal alignment;

3. A metal insert incorporating device es defined claim 2, each said finger being adjustable in a direction towards and away from the other of said fingers.

4. In a brick molding apparatus having a table, a mold in said table, a press charging drawer laterally reciprocable onjsaid table over said mold. to deposit a charge ofbrick mix therein, and a vertically reciprocating upper pressing ram engageable with said charge, a device for incorporating a metal insert in said charge which com= prises at least one bracket carried by said charging drawer, and a metal insert-supporting flexible resilient fin'ger carried by said bracket, said finger one p'osition of said, drawer being in suspended relation over said mold and in the path of movement of said upper ram, said fin'ger having flexing movement in response to pressure thereon by said upper ram. 7 g a 5. In a brick molding apparatus having a table, a mold in said table, a press charging drawer laterally reciprocable on said table over said mold to deposit a charge of brick mix therein, and vertically reciprocating upper and lower pressing rams engageable with said charge, a device for incorporating a metal insert in said charge which comprises a pair of spacedrigid brackets fixed to and extending forwardly from said drawer, and a metal insert-supporting flexible resilient finger carried by each said bracket, said fingers beingin spaced longitudinal alignment, said fingers in one position ,of,said, drawer being in suspended relationover said mold and in the path of movement of said upper ram. f i

, 6 A metal insert incorporating device. as, definedin claim 5, each said bracket having an arm laterally, ad justably mounted thereon, each said finger being fixed to one of said arms.

7. A metal insert incorporating, device ,as defined in claim ,6, each said arm being integral with said finger fixed thereto. v p

8. A metal insert incorporating device as defined in claim .7, each said arm and finger being formed of rubber. 9. In a brick molding apparatus having a table, a mold therein arranged toreceive a charge of brick mix and a downwardly movable pressing ram engageablewith said charge, means for incorporating a metal insert in said charge comprising a pair of insert carrying fingers;- spring means urging said fingers into insert supporting position and permitting swinging movement of said fingers into insert releasing position in response to a pro determined pressure thereon, means supporting said fingers over said table but separatefrom said ram for lateral reciprocal movement over and away from said mold, said fingers in one position of said supporting means being suspended between said mold and said upper ram.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,809,601 Porter June 9, 1931 2,247,3 6 fil i Y L 12 2,583,597 Ryner Jan. 29, 19 52 2,652,793 Heuer et al. Sept. 2 2, 1953 2,888,731 McElroy et al. June 2, 1959

Claims

1. IN A BRICK MOLDING APPARATUS HAVING A TABLE, A MOLD THEREIN ARRANGED TO RECEIVE A CHARGE OF BRICK MIX AND A DOWNWARDLY MOVABLE PRESSING RAM ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID CHARGE, MEANS FOR INCORPORATING A METAL INSERT IN SAID CHARGE COMPRISING A PAIR OF INSERT CARRYING FLEXIBLE RESILIENT FINGERS, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID FINGERS OVER SAID TABLE BUT SEPARATE FROM SAID RAM FOR LATERAL RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT OVER AND AWAY FROM SAID MOLD, SAID FINGERS IN ONE POSITION OF SAID SUPPORTING MEANS BEING SUSPENDED BETWEEN SAID MOLD AND SAID UPPER RAM.