US3566490A - Apparatus for laying concrete planks with exposed aggregate top and edge surfaces - Google Patents

Abstract

A MOVABLE FRAME EQUIPPED FOR TRAVEL LENGTHWISE OF A CONCRETE PLANK BEING FORMED, AND HAVING HOOPERS FOR DISCHARGE OF CONCRETE IN LAYERS, ONE OVER THE OTHER, WITH THE TOP LAYER BEING FORMED OF EXPOSED AGGREGATE TO PROVIDE AN ORNAMENTAL SURFACE EFFECT, THERE BEING BAFFLING MEANS FOR KEEPING A NARROW, LONGITUDINALLY-EXTENDING ZONE ADJACENT ONE LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF THE PLANK FREE OF THE LOWER LAYERS OF CONCRETE, AND THERE BEING MEANS FOR THEREAFTER DIVERTING SOME OF THE AGGREGATE MATERIAL INTO SAID LONGITUDINAL ZONE TO FILL THE LATTER SO AS TO ALSO PROVIDE AN ORNAMENTAL SURFACE EFFECT UPON A LONGITUDINAL EDGE

OF THE PLANK, AND THERE BEING A VIBRATOR FOR ACTING ON THE MATERIAL IN SAID NARROW ZONE.

Description

R. H. NAGY 3,566,490 APPARATUS FOR LAYING CONCRETE PLANKS WITH EXPOSED March 2, 1971 AGGREGATE TOP AND EDGE SURFACES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1968 INVENTOR ROBERT H. NAGY ATTORNEYS March 19-71 R. H. NAGY 3,566,490 v APPARATUS FOR LAYING CONCRETE PLANKS WI TH EXPOSED AGGREGATE IOP AND EDGE SURFACES Filed June 10, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEZNTOR 47 ROBERT H. NAGY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 01 Patented Mar. 2, 1971 hce APPARATUS FOR LAYING CONCRETE PLANKS WITH EXPOSED AGGREGATE TOP AND EDGE SURFACES Robert H. Nagy, 1720 Arrowhead Court, Brookfield, Wis. 53005 Filed June 10, 1968, Ser. No. 735,899 Int. Cl. B28b 7/00 US. Cl. 25-41 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A movable frame equipped for travel lengthwise of a concrete plank being formed, and having hoppers for discharge of concrete in layers, one over the other, with the top layer being formed of exposed aggregate to provide an ornamental surface effect, there being baflling means for keeping a narrow, longitudinally-extending zone adjacent one longitudinal edge of the plank free of the lower layers of concrete, and there being means for thereafter diverting some of the aggregate material into said longitudinal zone to fill the latter so as to also provide an ornamental surface effect upon a longitudinal edge of the plank, and there being a vibrator for acting on the material in said narrow zone.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention pertains to apparatus for forming reinforced multi-layer concrete planks, and is particularly concerned with the formation of planks having an ornamental surface effect produced by exposed aggregate material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Heretofore it has been proposed to manufacture reinforced multi-layer concrete planks by use of a movable frame which travels lengthwise along the plank being formed and which has hoppers arranged to discharge concrete in layers, one over another, the frame being equipped with suitable tamping members. This general type of apparatus is shown in Sch'alfer Pat. No. 1,920,716 and also in Nagy Pat. No. 3,382,304. Heretofore with this type of machine aggregate material has, on occasions, been used in the hopper for the top layer to produce an ornamental surface effect on the planks. This type of ornamental plank is customarily used for building exteriors and is often positioned so that the planks extend vertically. Heretofore this has created a problem at the corners of the building, inasmuch as the unornamented longitudinal edge of one of the meeting planks at a corner would be exposed. Inasmuch as this edge was not covered with aggregate, an undesirable appearance effect was produced at the corners.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides, in a machine for laying concrete planks, a novel arrangement for keeping a longitudinal zone adjacent a longitudinal edge of a plank which is being formed, free of the material which is being discharged to form the lower and intermediate layers of concrete of the plank, there being means adjacent the trailing hopper for diverting some of the aggregate material, which is to form the exposed aggregate layer, into said longitudinal zone to fill the latter, so as to automatically provide an ornamental surface effect along a longitudinal edge of the plank in addition to the ornamental surface effect which is being provided by the exposed aggregate layer on the top of the plank.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a concrete plank laying machine a novel arrangement including bathing means for maintaining a narrow, longitudinal zone, along a longitudinal edge of the plank, free of concrete which is being discharged for the lower and intermediate layers, and to provide an auxiliary hopper for filling said zone with aggregate material like that forming the top surface layer, to thereby produce an ornamental effect on the edge of the plank.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine as above described in which there is novel means for diverting some of the aggregate material flowing from the hopper for the top layer of the plank into the auxiliary hopper.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in an apparatus as above described, novel means for creating a vibrating effect on the material as it is being diverted into the narrow edge zone.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus as above described which may be readily incorporated in a conventional concrete plank laying machine with but minor modification.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved apparatus for laying concrete planks with exposed aggregate top and edge surfaces, and all of its parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing, illustrating one complete embodiment of the preferred form of the invention, wherein the same reference numerals designate the same or similar parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is a partially diagrammatic side elevational view of the improved machine, parts being broken away;

' FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken approximately on the line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through ornamented concrete planks laid at the corner of a building.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring more particularly to the drawings, first to FIG. 1, the numeral 20 designates a floor or bed on which the concrete plank is to be laid. The numeral 21 designates generally the apparatus for manufacturing the hollow core concrete planks. This apparatus includes a first hopper 22 for the mix of concrete which is to form the bottom layer of the concrete plank, said hopper having a bottom opening 23. There is also a middle hopper 24 for a mix of concrete which is to form the middle layer, said hopper 24 having a bottom opening 25. In addition, there is a hopper 26 for the concrete which is to form the top layer, which hopper is adapted to discharge through a chute 27 into another hopper 28 leading to a discharge section 29 having a bottom opening 30.

As is well known in apparatus of this type, and as fully described in Schafer Pat. No. 1,920,716, the ap paratus 21 is suitably mounted for movement in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 so that multiple layers of a plank may be progressively poured as the apparatus is moved, there being core elements 31 which comprise hollow elongated tubes having tapered noses 32. The core-forming tubes 31 are adapted to plow through the freshly-poured concrete, the elements 31 being suitably suspended, for short longitudinal reciprocating strokes, from a support 33, there being provision of known apparatus for longitudinally reciprocating the core elements as they are moved through the concrete of the middle layer As is customary with apparatus of this type, and

as fully described in Young Pat. No. 2,962,785, there are pretensioned wires 34 in the bottom layer (see FIG. and there are preliminary tampers 35 and 36 which are suitably supported for tamping movement and which preferably have a scalloped or grooved lower surface, as fully described in Young Pat. No. 2,962,785, for forming ridges 37 over the wires as shown in FIG. 5, which ridges extend in the same direction as the wires. The tamping members 35 and 36 also preferably have spaced compacting surfaces 38 forming valleys for receiving the lower portions of the core elements 31.

Suitably supported for tamping motion at the rear of the discharge opening 25 of the hopper for the middle mix is a tamper 39 which is of conventional construction and which also serves as a flow control for the middle hopper 24.

Rearwardly of the hopper 24 are additional tampers 40 and 41, as fully described in my Pat. No. 3,382,304, dated May 7, 1968. Rearwardly of the tamper 41 is a tamper 42 suitably supported for vibrating or tamping motion.

In the conventional machine described in the Young Pat. No. 2,962,785, the top layer of concrete deposited by the hopper 28 is a finishing layer of relatively fine concrete which is smoothed by reciprocated trowels on the machine. The present invention is concerned with planks which have an exposed aggregate top layer (see layer 71, FIG. 5). In an exposed aggregate type of plank the material in the hopper 26 usually comprises white cement (instead of grey), white sand (instead of ordinary sand), and colored quartz, glass or aggregate (instead of conventional gravel), which for convenience of description will be referred to as exposed aggregate. When manufacturing a plank surfaced with exposed aggregate on a machine of this general type, after the plank is laid, the top is sprayed with a chemical to retard the setting of the concrete for about Ms" inwardly from the surface. Twenty-four hours or so later this unset concrete is brushed off leaving the rough ornamental surface which is being termed an exposed aggregate surface.

Heretofore plank laying machines have only been capable of applying the layer of colored aggregate material to the top of the plank. This, however, has created problems in use. When the planks are laid vertically at the corner of a building there is always an edge of one of the planks at the corner which has no ornamental surfacing. In the past it has been necessary to suitably cover such edge with an angle strip or the like. It is the principal purpose of the present invention to provide apparatus for laying planks which provides not only an exposed aggregate top surface but which also provides an exposed aggregate edge surface, as at 43 (FIG. 5). Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, when the planks are laid at a corner, using one of the planks made by the present apparatus, there is an exposed aggregate ornamental surface all the way around the corner, and there is no need to cover a plain edge as was heretofore the practice.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the master plate 44 from which the cores 31 are suspended also carries a longitudinal divider strip 45 in a position spaced inwardly from the special temporary wood or metal side form 46. This thus provides a longitudinal zone 47 extending along an edge of the plank 48 being formed, which zone is kept free of the deposit of concrete from the first hopper 22 and middle hopper 24. In order to accomplish this purpose the side of the hopper 22 has a baffle plate 49 hinged thereto as at 50. An angle member 51 is bolted as at 52 to the side of the hopper with the bolts extending through a slot 53. By loosening the bolts 52 the angle member may be moved up or down in the slot to adjust the position of the lower edge of the baffle 49. The bafile prevents concrete descending in the hopper 22 from entering the longitudinal zone 47. This arrangement is the same as that illustrated in FIG. 4 for the hopper 24 which will be described in detail hereinafter.

4 In the lower end of the hopper 24 there is a similarly arranged bafile 54 hinged in the same manner as the bafile 49 of FIG. 4 and maintained in suitable adjusted position by an. angle member 44 corresponding to the angle member 51 of the hopper 22, which is adjustably se-.

cured by bolts 56 operable in a slot 57. In FIG. 1 of the drawing, in order to prevent hiding of parts, only a short fragment of the special temporary wood or metal side form 46 has been shown, it being understood that this form extends the length of the bed. Also, only a short length of the divider strip 45 has been illustrated, it being understood that the strip 45 extends forwardly beyond the front of the hopper 22 and rearwardly to the rear end of the machine.

As an important part of the present invention, one end of the chute 27 (FIG, 1) is equipped with a swingable gate 58 hinged as at 59 (see FIG. 2). As aggregate material descends from the hopper 26 some of it is intercepted by the swingable gate 58 so that it is diverted into the upper end of an auxiliary hopper 60. The latter hopper is located forwardly of the top layer hopper 28. The hopper 60 has a lower chute portion 61 positioned to discharge material into the free zone 47 between the side form 46 and the divider plate 45. Thus as the machine travels, the zone 47 is filled with aggregate material throughout its depth to form the aggregate layer 43 on an edge of the plank, as shown in FIG. 5.

As shown more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, suspended from the auxiliary hopper 60, on a hinge 63, is an upright support 64 for a bracket 65, the latter carrying a vibrator 66. Extending transversely of the inner end of the bracket 65 is a bar 67 forming a mounting for rollers 68. With this arrangement, as the aggregate is being directed into the zone 47, the vibrator 66 acts on the rollers 68 to transmit vibrating motion against the side form 46 so as to vibrate the material being deposited into the zone 47 and cause it to be properly compacted.

SUMMARY OF OPERATION In use of the improved apparatus, as the machine 21 travels in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 1, longitudinally of the plank which is being formed, concrete from the hopper 22 is deposited on the bed 20 to form the bottom layer 69 (see FIGS. 4 and 5 which layer is laid over the reinforcing wires 34. This bottom layer is engaged by the tampers 35 and 36 which have bottom surfaces shaped to form the depressions 38 for receiving the cores, and also shaped to form longitudinal ridges 37 over the wires. As the machine progresses, the hopper 24 deposits the middle layer 70 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) and this layer is tamped by the tampers 39, 40 and 41. During this movement the bafiles 49 and 54 act in conjunction with the auxiliary side form 45 to keep the longitudinal zone 47 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 4) free of the concrete which forms the bottom and middle layers. Depending upon the spacing between the divider strip 45 and the special temporary wood or metal side form 46, the gate 58 of FIG. 2 is adjusted to divert enough of the aggregate material fiowing from the hopper 26 into the auxiliary hopper 60 to fill the zone 47 as the machine travels along. At the same time the vibrators 66, acting through the rollers 68, imparts a vibrating motion to the aggregate in the edge zone 47, thereby compacting exposed aggregate in zone 47. The rest of the aggregate material from the hopper 26 is directed on top of the intermediate layer to form the top layer 71 (FIG. 5). As before mentioned, this layer usually comprises white cement (instead of grey), white sand (instead of ordinary sand), and colored quartz, glass or aggregate (instead of gravel). This is the same material which is deposited in the zone 47 to form the exposed aggregate coating 43 along a longitudinal edge of the plank. After the plank has been formed, it is usual practice to spray the aggregate surface 71 on top with a suitable chemical to retard the setting for about 4 inch inwardly. The temporary side form 46 is precoated with a surface type retarder to retard the setting for about inch inwardly from the edge 43. Within a period of twenty-four hours this unset concrete is brushed away, leaving the rough ornamental surface on both the top and on the side edge.

Inasmuch as these particular planks are usually only employed for corners of the building, they are usually used in conjunction with planks which have no aggregate coating at the edges, such as the left hand plank of FIG. 5. When laying these planks to form the corners of a building, usually on the outside, it is apparent from FIG. 5 that the cotaed edge 43 provides for continuity of the ornamental surface eifect all the way around the corner.

Should there be any situations requiring an ornamental eifect on both edges of the plank, as well as on the top surface, this can readily be accomplished by duplicating the mechanism on the other side of the machine.

The machine of FIG. 1 may be readily placed back in service for forming conventional planks by removing the divider strip 45, by swinging the gate 58 of FIG. 2 to the right so that the material is no longer diverted, and by shutting off the vibrator 66 and replacing the standard side form and first core.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all of such changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a movable machine for manufacturing multilayer concrete planks by the discharge of concrete onto a bed having side forms, said machine having hopper means for discharging concrete which is to form the main plank structure onto said bed, means for maintaining a longitudinally-extending outermost zone adjacent a side form free of concrete for said main plank structure, means including a hopper for discharging ornamental material onto the concrete forming said main plank structure to provide an ornamental top layer, and means for discharging ornamental material into said outermost longitudinally-extending zone to provide exposed ornamental surfacing on a longitudinal edge of the plank.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for discharging ornamental material into said longitudinally-extending zone includes means for diverting some of the ornamental material from the ornamental material hopper.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which there is an auxiliary hopper into which some of said ornamental material is diverted, said auxiliary hopper having a spout positioned to discharge into said longitudinally-extending zone.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which the means for discharging ornamental material to provide an ornamental top layer includes a chute having a side adjacent said auxiliary hopper, and a swingable gate on said side of the chute for selectively controlling the diversion of material out of said side of the chute into said auxiliary hopper.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which there is a divider strip carried by the movable machine in a position spaced a short distance inwardly from a side form to provide the longitudinally-extending zone, and in which there is bafiie means in the hopper means which contains concrete for the main structure for preventing said concrete from entering said longitudinally-extending zone.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said baffie means is adjustable.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which there is means for transmitting vibrations to the side form which is on a side of said outermost longitudinally-extending zone.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which said vibration-transmitting means includes a carriage swingably suspended from the movable machine and having wheels positioned to ride along said side form, there being a vibrator on said carriage.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which the carriage is suspended from that portion of the movable machine where the ornamental material is discharged into said outermost longitudinally-extending zone.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the means for diverting some of the ornamental material includes an adjustable gate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,962,785 12/1960 Young 2542X 3,177,552 4/1965 Roth et al. 25-l03X 3,217,375 11/1965 Kinnard 25-103X 3,382,304 5/1968 Nagy 264-70 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner D. W. JONES, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 264-70

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