US3605219A

US3605219A - Plant for casting building components

Info

Publication number: US3605219A
Application number: US743247A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bent Hauberg
Original assignee: Jespersen & Son Int
Current assignee: A Jespersen & Son International As; Jespersen & Son Int
Priority date: 1968-07-08
Filing date: 1968-07-08
Publication date: 1971-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-20

Abstract

A SEMI-AUTOMATIC PLANT FOR CASTING BUILDING COMPONENTS IN WHICH HORIZONTAL MOULDS HAVING SWINGABLE SIDE WALLS ARE CONVEYED PAST A NUMBER OF STATIONS FOR SHUTTERING, POURING, HARDENING, REMOVING OF THE SHUTTERING AND CLEANING. THE SHUTTERING STATION AND THE STATION FOR REMOVING THE SHUTTERING ARE PROVIDED WITH SWING ARMS DRIVEN BY A COMMON SHAFT AND ADAPTED TO SWING THE SIDE WALLS FROM

A SWUNG-OUT POSITION INTO A SWUNG-UP POSITION AND VICE VERSA. THE SWING ARMS ARE COOPERATING WITH SWINGABLE SPRING BOWS MOUNTED ON THE MOULD BOTTOM AND ADAPTED TO LOCK THE SIDE WALLS IN SWUNG-UP POSITION AND TO CARRY THEM IN SWING-OUT POSITION.

Description

Sept. 20, 1971 HAUBERG 3,605,219

PLANT FOR CASTING BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed July 8. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 a 15 HIII: "m m r 1 J Hill INN m [I L! 7 {A /4- IN VENTOR.

BE-NT HAUBE-RG Sept. 20, 1971 B HAUBERG 3,605,219

PLANT FOR CASTING BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed July 8. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fly. 3

e l W hhll i WW I /2 5 W W u INVENTOR.

BENT HAUBERG Sept. 20, 1971 U R 3,605,219

PLANT FOR CASTING BUILDING COMPONENTS Filed July 8, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

BF-NT' H-A U B E.- R G United States Patent 3,605,219 PLANT FOR CASTING BUILDING COMPONENTS Bent Hauberg, Birkerod, Denmark, assignor to A. Jespersen 8: Son International A/ S, Copenhagen, Denmark Filed July 8, 1968, Ser. No. 743,247 Int. Cl. B28b 7/00 U.S. Cl. -41R 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE spring bows mounted on the mould bottom and adapted to lock the side walls in swung-up position and to carry them in swing-out position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates to a plant for casting building components, preferably floor slabs of concrete, in horizontal moulds having swingable side walls which are supported by knee plates mounted on and at right angles to, the sides and which can be retained in their swung-up vertical position by means of depressing and locking devices and be carried by supporting means in a swung-out position, each mould being adapted to be conveyed past a number of stations such as a shuttering station, a pouring station, a hardening station, a station for removing the shuttering and withdrawing and cleaning station.

Description of the prior art There are various known designs of moulds with side walls which are swingabie so that the cast blank can readily be removed and the mould cleaned, after which the mould is again ready for use when the side walls have been swung up and locked. These known moulds are, however, stationary, and the side walls are swung out, swung up and locked manually, which requires a rather substantial amount of labour and, in the case of larger cast bodies, necessitates the use of cranes or similar lifting and transporting devices which may be moved from mould to mould as the concrete in the moulds involved has hardened sufliciently to permit removal of the casting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the invention to devise a plant of the aforesaid kind which may operate continuously and semiautomatically so that a continuous, quick production is obtained. This is accomplished according to the invention by swing arms for swinging up, locking, releasing and swinging down the side walls, the said swing arms being provided along either side of the path of the mould at the shuttering or shuttering removing stations or at both stations and driven preferably by a common operating mechanism. The said swing arms cooperate with spring bows mounted on the mould bottom and arranged and formed in such manner that in the swung-up position of the mould wall they may be turned above the knee plates and cooperate with the upper edge of these, which edge is preferably provided with a locking notch, and in such manner that in the lowered, released position they are capable of intercepting and supporting the knee plates with the outward-moving side walls attached to these.

3,605,219 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 To be true, it is known from other fields of the technique to use spring bows which engage a lid or a similar object and lock same, but with the use of such spring bows, which cooperate with the said swing arms, it has become possible to perform the swinging of the rather heavy mould walls mechanically and automatically, which results in quick production with the use of a minimum amount of manual operation. The spring bows engage the outswinging mould walls in gentle manner and they may, for example, be swingable in a hole that is slender in upward direction and provided in a bracket plate on the outer side of the mould bottom, by which locking and release of the side Walls may be performed without any appreciable power consumption, even though rather heavy springs are used.

The release and swinging movement of the mould walls may be performed in the proper sequence by means of the pawl specified in original claim 2.

At the shuttering station the mould may furthermore quickly and automatically be made clear for casting, the walls being closed by means of the closing swing arm specified in original claim 3 and claim 13 added by amendment. The roll of the said swing arm presses on the outer side of the wall and prevents wear on the closing swing arm and the wall.

By the stop arrangement specified in original claim 4 and claim 13 added by amendment the rather heavy side walls are prevented from being swung against the mould bottom with undue force, and any tendency of the walls to spring back into swung-out position is eliminated.

With the embodiment of the locking swing arms at the shuttering station as specified in original claim 5 a further advantage obtained is fully automatic locking of the side walls of the mould after these having been swung into vertical position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAlVING The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a shuttering station in an embodiment of the plant according to the invention, viewed from the side,

FIG. 2 a shuttering removing station of the plant according to the invention, likewise viewed from the side,

FIG. 3 a closing swing arm, mounted at the shuttering station, and its corresponding operating mechanism,

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section through a mould showing the locking swing arm at the shuttering station and its corresponding driving mechanism,

FIG. 5 one of the swing arms provided at the shuttering removing station for releasing and swinging down the side walls of the mould, and

FIG. 6 a spring bow for locking a side wall in vertical position and catching the wall in its lowered position.

At the shuttering station illustrated in FIG. 1 is a mould, of which only a side wall 1 is shown. As will appear from FIG. 4, the side wall is provided with knee plates 2 mounted at right angles to its outer side. The said knee plates 2 are rotatable about a pivot 3 on a bracket provided on the base of the mould. A driving shaft 4 extends in the longitudinal direction and in direction of movement of the mould and may be rotated by means of a cylinder/piston mechanism 5. Attached to the driving shaft is a number of locking swing arms 6, each carrying a pair of plates 7 so designed that when turned by the rotation of the driving shaft 4 up against a vertical mould wall 1, they are capable of pressing a spring bow 8 up above and into a notch provided on the upper edge of the knee plate 2 (FIG. 4). The spring bow is designed as indicated in FIG. 6 and rests with its inwardly directed legs 9 in oblong holes 10 provided in the bracket plates on the side of the wall so that it can be forced slightly upwards when its uppermost rod 11 is to be forced above the knee plate 2 and into the notch on its upper edge. The spring bow 8 is indicated in its lowered-position by a dotted line in the right-hand side of FIG. 4. In this position its bar 11 may seize and support the knee plate 2 when the side wall is swung downwards on removal of the shuttering.

FIG. 3 shows a closing swing arm 12, likewise provided at the shuttering station, and attached to the driving shaft 4 and carrying a rotatably supported pressure roll 13 at its upper end. When a lowered side wall 1 of the mould is to be turned up into vertical position, the closing swing arm 12 is swung by turning about the driving shaft 4, and the roll 13 presses on the outer side of the wall 1, forcing it up towards the shuttering position. An arm 14 projecting from the side wall carries a brake pin 15 which cooperates with an oblique upper edge of the closing swing arm 12 in such manner that the side wall 1 is prevented from dropping on the mould bottom with a heavy impact, but is braked during the latter part of its movement.

FIG. 2 shows a station for removing shuttering, the said station being adapted to automatically swing down the side walls of the mould after a cover plate having been cast and hardened. At the said station are provided opening swing arms 16 which similarly as the aforesaid swing arms are attached to a driving shaft 4 and driven from a cylinder-piston mechanism 5'. The swing arms are spaced apart in such manner that they will be located opposite the knee plates and the spring bows of a mould which is passed to the station. FIG. 5 is a side view of an opening swing arm 16. The said swing arm 16 carries a pawl 17 pivotally mounted in such manner that when the swing arm is passed towards the side wall 1 of the mould the said pawl may pass over the spring bow 8 and a cross pin provided on the knee plate which projects from the side wall. As a result, a notch 18 formed with two gripping edges may pull both the bow and the side wall down into lowered position, in which the spring bows are swung down as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 4, the knee plates 2 with the side wall 1 resting on the bar 11 of the spring bow.

It will be appreciated that the plant according to the invention is well suited for semi-automatic control with the use of a minimum of manual operation as described in the foregoing, but that, if desired, the plant may also be operated manually.

I claim:

1. In a mold having a base means, and at least one wall movable between an upright position projecting upwardly above the top of the base means for forming a portion of the mold and a retracted position outwardly and downwardly away from the top of the base means, the combination including a first means engage-able with said side wall to move the same from said retracted position to said upright position thereof, second means separate from said first means including a spring mechanism for urging and releasably retaining said wall in said upright position and for supporting said wall in said retracted position thereof and third means separate from said first and second means engageable with said wall for moving the same from said upright position thereof to said retracted position thereof.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said third means includes a pawl member engageable with said wall and said spring mechanism for moving said wall and said spring mechanism outwardly and downwardly into retracted positions 3. In a mold having a base means and at least one wall movable between on upright position projecting upwardly above the top of the base means to form a portion of the mold and a retracted lowered position away from the top of the base means; a mechanism for urging and releasably retaining said wall in said upright osition thereof and for supporting said wall in said retracted position thereof comprising; a mounting member having a portion thereof connected to said wall and having another portion movably connected to said base means for movement between a first position holding said wall in said upright position thereof and a second retracted position wherein said wall is in said retracted position thereof, and spring means mounted with respect to said base means for movement between a relatively unstressed retracted position supporting said mounting member in the said retracted position thereof and a second position engaging said mounting member and releasably retaining it in said upright position thereof for releasably retaining said wall in said upright position thereof, and means for moving said spring means between said first and second positions thereof.

4. The mechanism defined in claim 3 wherein said mounting member and said spring means are both pivotally connected with respect to said base structure for moving between said positions thereof.

5. The mechanism defined in claim 4 wherein said spring means includes a spring having opposite arms pivotally connected to said base means and a cross-portion interconnecting said arms and engageable with respect to said mounting member for urging said mounting member in said upright position thereof and for permitting said mounting member to move into said retracted position thereof when said spring means is in said second and first position thereof respectively.

6. The mechanism defined in claim 5 wherein said means for moving said spring between said first and second positions thereof includes a swing anm engageable with said cross-portion of said spring.

7. The mechanism defined in claim 6 wherein said mounting member is a plate projecting laterally from the wall of the mold and having an outer edge engageable by said cross-portion of said spring, said outer edge of said plate having a recess for receiving said cross-portion of said spring when said spring is in said second position thereof.

8. In a mold having a base means and at least one wall movable between a retracted position and an upright position projecting upwardly above the top of the base means to form a portion of the wall, means for moving said wall from said retracted position to said upright position including a swing arm mounted with respect to said base means for movement against said wall to move the same into upright position thereof and for movement away from said wall to permit the same to be moved to a retracted position, said swing arm having a roller mounted therein and engageable with said wall, and said wall having a stop projecting outwardly therefrom and engageable with a portion of said swing arm to limit outer movement of said wall from said upright position to said retracted position thereof.

9. In combination with the mechanism defined in claim 3 means including a pawl member for moving said mold side wall into said retracted position thereof, and means for actuating said pawl member.

10. The combination defined in claim 9 wherein said pawl member has means also engaging said spring means for moving the spring means from said upright to said retracted position thereof.

11. The mechanism defined in claim 2 wherein said pawl member has a recess therein for engagement over a portion of said mold wall to move the same from the upright to the retracted position thereof.

12. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said second means further includes a mounting member having a portion thereof connected to said wall and having another portion movably connected to said base means for movement between a first position holding said wall in said upright position thereof and a second retracted position wherein said wall is in said retracted position thereof, and wherein said spring mechanism includes spring means mounted with respect to said base means for movement between a relatively unstressed retracted position supporting said mounting member in said retracted posi- 5 tion thereof and a second position engaging said mounting member and releasably retaining it in said upright position thereof, and means for moving said spring means between said first and second positions thereof.

13. The combination defined in claim 12 wherein said spring means includes a spring having opposite arms pivotally connected to said base means and a cross-portion interconnecting said arms and engageable with respect to said mounting member for urging said mounting member in said upright position thereof and for permitting said mounting member to move into said retracted position thereof when said spring means is in said second and first positions thereof respectively.

14. The combination defined in claim 13 wherein said means for moving said spring between said first and second positions thereof includes a swing arm engageable with said crossportion of said spring.

15. The combination defined in claim 14 wherein said mounting member projects laterally from the wall of the mold and has an outer edge engageable by said crossportion of said spring, said outer edge of said mounting member having a recess for receiving said cross-portion of said spring when said spring is in said second position thereof.

16. The combination defined in claim 12 wherein said third means includes a pawl member engageable with said wall and spring mechanism for rnoving said wall and said spring mechanism outwardly and downwardly into retracted positions.

17. The combination defined in claim 16 wherein said first means includes a swing arm mounted with respect to said base means for movement against said wall to move the same into upright position thereof and for movement away from said wall to permit the same to be moved to a retracted position, said swing arm having a roller mounted therein and engageable with said wall.

1 8. The combination defined in claim 17 wherein said wall has a stop projecting outwardly therefrom and engageable with a portion of said swing arm to limit outer movement of said wall from said upright position to said retracted position thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 900,272 10/1908 Fish 249-162 2,582,161 l/1952 Randall 254l.l 3,116,530 1/1964 Francis 249l7lX FOREIGN PATENTS 1,327,447 4/1963 France 267-155 J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner F D. W. JONES, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

267-455; 249l62; l8-4P