The invention generally relates to concrete-based product making machinery, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for using a universal plunger in concrete-based product making machinery.
Molded concrete products or masonry units for use in landscaping and design have seen increased popularity with the rise in personal home renovation and improvements. The production of these concrete masonry units is accomplished using different mold assemblies to shape and form different masonry units for objectives. For example, many masonry units are used to create decorative walls and borders in landscaping projects whereas other masonry units serve as interlocking members to create interesting walkways and paths for both interior and exterior design.
The mold assemblies, which form the different types of masonry units, typically include a tamperhead component and a mold, which are driven by a special machine. A typical machine and mold assembly are typically operated under intense conditions such that the mold assembly is cycled approximately every eight to fifteen seconds, producing approximately 25-30 masonry units per cycle. Also, the machines are often run continuously, only stopping to change mold assemblies or make repairs. Although the molds may be changed more or less frequently, the machines are typically stopped two or three times a day to change the molds. Although a skilled technician may be capable of removing a mold assembly and installing a new mold assembly in the machine in approximately 30 minutes, typical mold assembly installations require significantly more time due to the need for accurate aligning of the tamperhead and the mold and calibrating the machine.
Driven by the production machinery, the tamperhead and the mold assembly function together to form and compact the concrete units in the steel cavities of the mold assembly, which form the shape and size of masonry units. After a medium, such as concrete, is poured into the mold cavities, the tamperhead specifically functions to compact the concrete in the mold cavities and then strip the individual units from the mold cavities. To accomplish this, the tamperhead is includes an upper head structure with pairs of stripper shoes and plunger assemblies.
The stripper shoes are custom designed to match with the mold cavities and fit within the inner walls of the mold cavities with only a minimal clearance. Depending on the type and size of product being manufactured, this clearance may range from about 0.2 mm to about 1.5 mm per side. If the clearance is too small, the shoe will rub against the cavity wall inducing stress in the mold and production machinery as well as premature wear. If the clearance is too big, concrete will protrude between shoe and cavity walls, forming “burrs” on top of the product which, at best, detracts from its aesthetic appeal and, at worst, creates installation problems in the field.
The stripper shoes are attached to the upper head structure by structural members referred to as the plunger assemblies. The plunger assemblies attach, typically by welding, the stripper shoes to the upper head structure in a pattern that corresponds to the pattern of mold cavities in the mold. Fabrication of the plunger assemblies traditionally includes two pieces: the backup plate and the plunger.
The plunger is commonly made of rigid length of material such as steel tubing having various cross-sectional shapes capable of providing the structural load path to compress the concrete and strip the formed concrete product from the mold. These cross-sectional shapes may be round, square, rectangle, angle, I-shaped, etc. Further, the plunger may be either solid or hollow.
Traditionally, the backup plate is welded to the plunger after the plunger has been welded to the upper head structure. The backup plate includes holes to facilitate fastening of the stripper shoe and, like with the molds and the stripper shoes, the backup plates are custom fabricated to match the stripper shoes of a specific type of masonry product.
Unfortunately, the welded construction of the two-piece plunger assembly is difficult to fabricate, susceptible to failure, and requires custom redesign for every type of masonry unit. The two-piece welded plunger assembly is costly and time consuming because each plunger assembly is custom designed to provide attachment holes for the fastening of the stripper shoe to the plunger assembly. Additionally, the weld joint between the backup plate to the plunger requires precise welding to ensure correct alignment and functionality between the stripper shoes and the mold cavities. Unfortunately, such precision welding often requires specially trained personnel and additional time and effort in preparing the components before welding.
Previous attempts to attach the stripper shoe directly to the plunger through welding have failed because of welding induced warping of the stripper shoes and the like. Furthermore, the need to precisely align the stripper shoe with the mold cavities traditionally includes tightening the fasteners between the stripper shoes and the backup plates while the stripper shoes are inserted into and aligned with the mold cavities. Additionally, the need to replace broken or damages stripper shoes without replacing the entire tamperhead has made directly welding the stripper shoes to the plunger ineffective.
Additionally, the two-piece fabrication includes a weld joint between the backup plate and the plunger, which is susceptible to failure and material fatigue. During masonry production, the mold is shaken or vibrated to compact the concrete in the molds. This vibration has been shown to induce fatigue and stress failures in the plungers and especially in the weld joints of the plunger assemblies. As a consequence, the backup plate introduces an additional weld joint which is more susceptible to failure from impact stresses or material fatigue than fastening joints, such as the joint between the between the stripper shoe and the backup plate.
Although the stripper shoes and the mold cavities must be custom designed for each type of masonry unit, the use of a custom fabricated plunger assembly for each product type is time consuming and costly. The backup plate is custom fabricated to match the bolt pattern of the stripper shoe before the backup plate is welded to the plunger. Although typically not necessary, the plunger may also need to be custom fabricated or formed from non-standard tubing to accommodate unique stripper shoe designs.
Therefore, there exists a need for a tamperhead employing a universal plunger assembly that reduces the need for custom fabrication of backup plates or plunger elements for different masonry units or product types. There also exists a need to reduce the number weld joints that are susceptible to failure between the stripper shoe and the upper head structure.
An assembly for stripping a medium from a mold cavity according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a stripper shoe, a head structure, and a plunger component attaching the stripper shoe to the head structure. The plunger component may have an elongated body, a first portion with a first end, and a second portion with a second end. The second portion may be substantially perpendicular to the first portion and have an opening configured to facilitate fastening the stripper shoe to the second portion of the plunger component.
An assembly for compacting a material and stripping the material from a mold according to another embodiment of the present invention may include a stripper shoe receivable in the mold, a head structure, and a plunger component attaching the stripper shoe to the head structure. The plunger component may include an elongated body, a first portion with a first end, and a second portion with a second end. The second portion may be substantially perpendicular to the first portion.
An assembly for compacting a material and stripping the material from a mold according to another embodiment of the present invention may include a stripper shoe receivable in the mold, a head structure, a plunger component attaching the stripper shoe to the head structure. The plunger component may include an elongated body, a first portion with a first end attached to the head structure, and a second portion with a second end. The second portion may also include an opening configured to facilitate fastening the stripper shoe to the second portion of the plunger component.
A method of attaching a stripper shoe to a head structure of an assembly for forming masonry units according to an embodiment of the present invention including the steps of forming at least one plunger component having an elongated body, a first portion with a first end, and a second portion with a second end. The second portion may include an opening configured to facilitate fastening the stripper shoe to the second portion of the plunger component. The steps may also include forming a substantially 90 degree angle between the first portion and the second portion, attaching the first end of the at least one plunger component to the head structure, and fastening the stripper shoe to the second portion of the plunger component using the opening.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the present invention, it may be believed the same will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, in a non-limiting fashion, the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention, and in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures, wherein:
For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the present invention are described by referring mainly to exemplary embodiments thereof. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that the same principles are equally applicable to, and can be implemented in, many types of machines that produce products by molds, and that any such variations do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. Moreover, in the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying figures, which illustrate specific embodiments. Electrical, mechanical, logical and structural changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
In
The head structure 110 is mounted on a compression beam (not shown) and is movable up and down in the vertical direction above the mold 100. A pallet (not shown), e.g. a flat rigid piece of wood, metal, or other suitable material, may be positioned against the bottom side of the mold assembly to seal the bottom of the cavities 120. A feed drawer (not shown) may be used to move concrete material over the top of the mold cavities 120 and to dispense material into the contoured cavities. The frame and insert 100 may be shaken as material is dispensed to assist in compacting the concrete and improving surface quality. After material is dispersed, the feed drawer is withdrawn and the compression beam and the head structure 110 are lowered such that the stripper shoes 140 enter the mold cavities 120.
In the production process, the mold cavities 120 hold the concrete for only about five to eight seconds during which the concrete is partially set. During each cycle, the mold 100 may be shaken. Additionally, the head structure 110 and the stripper shoes 140 may apply a downward force on the concrete material to improve compaction of the material. Although the vibrations are directly applied to the mold 100, the minimum clearance helps to transmit vibrations from the mold 100 to the stripper shoe 140, vibrations which the plunger assemblies and the entire tamperhead experiences. Finally, the mold 100 is lifted and the stripper shoes 140 force the material from the bottom of the mold cavities 120, such that the formed concrete may be removed with the pallet.
In
As shown in
Joints 115 and 116, connecting plunger 130 to the head structure 110 and the backup plate 150, in particular experience high stresses when the stripper shoe 140 is forced within the cavity 122, especially when the stripper shoe 140 initially impacts the leading angle 121 during alignment. As would be obvious to one of ordinary skill, the repeated impacts from alignment are particularly difficult on weld joints, resulting in failure due to stress fractures and material fatigue. Further, the impact between the stripper shoe 140 and the leading angle 121 also results in increase wear and deterioration of the stripper shoes 140 and the mold cavities 120.
In
Referring to
Unfortunately, it has been shown that traditional plungers welded as shown in
In the simulation, a traditional plunger was welded to a first plate representing the head structure at one end and second plate representing the backup plate at the other end. A vibrator was bolted to the second plate and used to simulate the vibrations experienced during compaction when the mold 100 is vibrated. In the vibration testing, the vibrator induced vibrations having a frequency of 50 Hz with an amplitude of 2.5 mm.
The test results of
Referring back to
Contrary to the accepted prior art, embodiments of the present invention may include utilizing one or more universal plunger components to attach the stripper shoe to the upper head structure without customizing a different backup plate for different stripper shoe designs. According to the present invention, the universal flexible plungers may be less susceptible to vibration-induced forces, material fatigue, and high stresses from alignment impacts because the universal plunger components may fasten, as opposed to welding, the stripper shoe to the plunger. Additionally, the weld between the plunger and the upper head structure may be directly welded on both sides of the bar. The universal plunger may also function without the use of a backup plate and its additional weight, making the production machinery less expensive to run and the plunger less expensive to fabricate.
Referring now to
In
As shown in
In
In
Although the second end 220 of the plunger component in
The plunger component 200 may be welded around the perimeter of the first end 210 to the upper head structure 110. In
Referring back to
Although, the backup plate has been removed in the embodiment shown in
It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill that the pattern of plunger components may be rearranged and spaced on the upper head structure 110 in different patterns to accommodate the different types of stripper shoes 140 and/or different bolt patterns on stripper shoes 140 without redesigning the individual plunger components 200. Furthermore, while the number of plunger components used in
The “L” shape of the plunger components 200 may be seen in
In
In
The plunger components 200 may improve the product surface quality using a troweling action induced by the flexibility of the plunger components 200. Similar to hand troweling concrete, the motion of the stripper shoe 140 on the surface of the concrete during vibrations agitates the concrete. As a result, the fine particulate comes to the surface and the heavier aggregate moves away from the exterior of the molded product. When the concrete sets, the finer particulate on the surface of the concrete unit forms a high qualify surface, which is not produced with the traditional plunger.
The plunger components 200 may also allow the stripper shoe 140 to release trapped air and to maintain surface contact with the concrete during production, further improving the surface quality of the finished product. During production, air may get trapped between the surface of the stripper shoe 140 and the surface of the concrete, resulting in a rough finish for the end product. However, due to the additional flexibility of the plunger components 200, the stripper shoe 140 experiences sufficient motion during vibrations and the production cycle that the seal around the stripper shoe 140 and the mold cavity may be broken. This allows the trapped air to escape and the surface of the stripper shoe 140 to remain in contact with the concrete during production.
In
In comparison, the traditional plunger test results shown in
As shown in the embodiments of the present invention and the test data on the plunger component, the plunger components 200 are more efficient and cost effective than the traditional plunger. The use of the slot 280 provides a quick and secure connection which is less prone to stress failures induced by material fatigue, resulting in fewer tamper head repairs and replacements due to weld joints between the traditional plunger and the backup plate. Furthermore, the plunger components 200 act as both plungers and fastening devices while being simple and inexpensive to fabricate. Plunger components 200 may be mass produced and usable with any stripper shoe for any product unit, regardless of its configuration.
Likewise, the lack of any need to custom design plungers and backup plates further reduces the cost and difficulty of construction, especially reducing the amount of welding necessary to secure the stripper shoe to the upper head structure. By reducing weld joints, the plunger components 200 are more efficient and cost effective as plungers because of the reduction in the replacement time of broken or damaged plungers, increase in the lifespan of tamperheads, and increase in running time for production machinery.
Other materials may be substituted for the typical steel or metal alloys used in prior art plungers. For example, plastics, composites, wood, rubber and/or urethane may be used as material for the plunger. It is also contemplated that non-isotropic materials may be employed to adjust and control the stiffness and flexibility along specific axes of a plunger. Further, a plunger may undergo mechanical, heat, and/or chemical treatment to adjust the stiffness of a plunger. For example, a conventional plunger made from typical steel may be annealed at a given temperature for a period of time to induce a desired flexibility in the steel.
While the invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications to the described embodiments without departing from the true spirit and scope. The terms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. In particular, although the method has been described by examples, the steps of the method may be performed in a different order than illustrated or simultaneously. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these and other variations are possible within the spirit and scope as defined in the following claims and their equivalents.
This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/592,126, filed Jul. 30, 2004, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR UTILIZING A FLEXIBLE PLUNGER,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference.
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