Patent Application
20120117870
Decorative precast concrete items, such as bird baths and benches and any number or ornamental items, for example, are typically formed using a wet-casting method wherein wet cast concrete, which is typically defined as having a water-cement ratio of about 0.4 or higher, is poured into a mold or set of forms comprising a negative of the desired item. After the wet-cast concrete has adequately set or cured, the forms are stripped and the concrete item is allowed to finally cure. The forms are then reassembled and the process repeated to produce additional items. Such a process is time consuming and requires multiple and expensive forms if it is desired to simultaneously cast more than one item.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides a dry-cast concrete planter box including opposed front and rear walls, opposed side walls extending between the front and rear walls, a bottom side extending between the front, rear, and side walls, a top side including a rim extending around a perimeter of the top side along an upper edge of the front, rear, and side walls, and at least one interior compartment extending from the top side partially through the planter box toward the bottom side which is configured to hold soil or other planting material.
In the following Detailed Description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “leading,” “trailing,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. Because components of embodiments of the present invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.
As described herein and illustrated by
According to one embodiment, the upper edges of side and end walls 22, 24, 26, 28 are formed or molded so as to form a rim 38 about the perimeter of open top 30. Although illustrated in
According to one embodiment, the corners of planter box 20, where side walls 22, 24 merge with end walls 26, 28, such as illustrated by corner 29, are curved or radiused. According to one embodiment, both the external and internal surfaces at such corners are radiused. According to one embodiment, the external and internal surfaces of side and end walls 22, 24, 26, and 28 have a radius of up to 3 inches. It is noted that the radius of the internal and external surfaces at such corners are not required to be the same. In addition to providing a more pleasing appearance, providing corners which are curved or radiused in such a fashion improves the strength and durability of planter box 20, as such curvature tends to decrease the occurrence of chipping both during and after fabrication. According to other embodiments, such corners are not radiused, but simply merge to form a “square” or rectangular corner or other desired shape.
In one embodiment, an upper edge of partition 36 is disposed below an upper surface of rim 38 so that compartments 34a, 34b can be overfilled with soil and cover partition 36 to give the appearance of planter box 20 having a single large compartment 34. In one embodiment, partition 36 is molded such that it can be readily broken or knocked out so as to provide planter box 20 with a single compartment 34 in lieu of sub-compartments 34a, 34b. Although illustrated as having only a single partition 36, planter box 20 may, in other embodiments, include more than one partition 36 so as to subdivide compartment 34 into more than two sub-compartments.
According to one embodiment, as illustrated by
According to one embodiment, as will be described in greater detail below (see
According to one embodiment, at least one of the side walls and/or end walls 22, 24, 26, and 28 are formed or molded with inset areas, such as illustrated by inset areas 42, 44. According to one embodiment, such inset areas further include recesses formed or molded therein, such as illustrated by recess 45, which are configured to receive attachment devices 46, wherein attachment devices 46 are configured to selectively secure or hold in place removable decorative panels, such as decorative panel 47, within inset areas 42, 44. According to one embodiment, attachment devices 46 comprise magnets which are inset and secured (e.g. with adhesive) within molded recesses 45 and which are configured to attach to corresponding ferromagnetic elements 48 of decorative panel 47. According to one embodiment, attachment devices 46 and 48 comprise a Velcro based attachment system. In other embodiment, attachment device 46 simply comprises a glue or other suitable adhesive disposed within the recesses 45. Additionally, although illustrated as being rectangular, recesses 42, 44 may be of any number of shapes, such as circular or oval, for example.
It is noted that such decorative panels 48 are not required to be placed within recesses, such as recesses 42, 44. For example, in other embodiments, side and end walls 22, 24, 26, 28 may be formed as simple planar surfaces, but still include attachment devices 46 to which decorative panels may be attached. Decorative panels may be formed of any number or combination of materials including wood, metals, and concrete, to name a few. Such decorative panels may be of any number of shapes and include any number of designs or patterns 49. For example, such decorative panels may include the name of a business, a family name, or depict different motifs, such as seasonal or holiday motifs, for example.
With reference to
Drive systems 94, 96 are coupled respectively to movable liner plates 84, 86 and configured to extend and retract liner plates 84, 86 and corresponding faceplates 84a, 86a toward and away from mold cavity 88 as indicated by directional arrows 99. In one embodiment, as will be described in greater detail below, faceplates 84a, 86a are patterned to respectively form rim 38, base 40, and recesses 44 in end walls 26, 26 when moveable liner plates 84 and 86 are in the extended position.
Examples of mold assemblies similar to mold assembly 70 and suitable to be configured for use with this invention are described by U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,645 which is incorporated herein by reference.
It is noted that elements 104 and rectangular elements 106 may be separately attached to the moveable liner plates 80, 86. For example,
In operation, with reference to
Initially, drive assemblies 90, 92, 94, 96 extend liner plates 80, 82, 84, 86 and corresponding faceplates 80a, 82a, 84a, 86a into mold cavity 88. The concrete block machine raises a vibrating table on which a pallet 93 is positioned such that pallet 93 contacts mold assembly 70 and forms a bottom to mold cavity 88 (as illustrated by
To remove pre-cured planter box 20, drive assemblies 90, 92, 94, 96 retract moveable liner plates 80, 82, 84, 86 and corresponding faceplates 80a, 82a, 84a, 86a away from the center of mold cavity 88. Head shoe assembly 92 and pallet 92 are then lowered, while the remainder of mold assembly 70 remains stationary, until a lower edge of head shoe assembly 92 is below a lower edge of mold cavity 88 such the pre-cured dry-cast concrete planter box 20 is ejected from mold cavity 88 onto pallet 93. A conveyor system (not shown) then moves pallet 93 and the pre-cured dry-cast concrete planter box 20 to an oven for curing. Head shoe assembly 92 is then raised to its initial position and a next pallet is positioned below mold assembly 70 and the process is repeated to create additional planter boxes.
By employing mold assembly 70 having at least four movable liner plates 80, 82, 84, 86 and corresponding faceplates 80a, 82a, 84a, 86a, along with head shoe assembly 92 having faceplate 94, decorative concrete products, such as concrete planter box 20 can be formed/manufactured using dry-casting methods in lieu of wet-casting methods. Such dry-casting methods enable such decorative concrete products to be manufactured much more quickly and cost effectively as compared to products manufactured using traditional wet-casting techniques.
According to one embodiment, surfaces 36a and 36b of partition 36 are also angled relative to top edge 100 of rim 38. According to one embodiment, surfaces 36a and 36b are angled so as to have an angle substantially identical to that of angle Aint. According to one embodiment, the internal surfaces of front, rear, and side walls 22, 24, 26, and 28, as well as the surfaces of partition 36 are formed so as to have a radiused or curved transition to an interior surface of bottom side 32, as indicated at 110, 112. According to one embodiment, the interior surface of bottom side 32 includes a depression 114 having a radiused or curved bottom 116. In other embodiment, the internal corners of compartment 34 may be rectangular in shape and have “square” or rectangular corners, or corners of other desired shape.
According to one embodiment, rim 38 has an overhang having an overhang distance dO, which is defined as the horizontal distance between a vertical line 102, which is tangent to an outermost edge 104 of rim 38 in a direction of the width, W, of planter box 20, and a vertical line 106 which is tangent to a corresponding outermost edge 108 of bottom side 32, also in a direction of the width, W, of planter box 20. According to one embodiment, the overhang distance, dO, has a dimension of up to 1.25 inches.
According to one embodiment, planter box 20 has dimensions of approximately 8″H×12″D×20″W, where D is a depth of planter box 20 (into the page in
It is noted that the height, H, overhand distance, dO, thickness Th, angles Aex and Aint, and a concrete mixture employed (e.g. lightweight concrete) are inter-related. For example, a greater height H can be achieved the greater the angle Aex and, thus, the less the overhang distance, dO. Conversely, a greater overhang distance dO can be achieved the less the angle Aex and the less the height H. Greater height H, greater overhang distance dO, and greater angles Aex and Aint can be achieved when using lightweight concrete. For example, the above described ranges for angles for Aex and Aint, and overhang distance dO were achieved using a lightweight concrete mixture.
According to one embodiment, planter box 20 was formed using lightweight concrete. According to one embodiment, the lightweight concrete mixture includes cement, fly ash, sand, and lightweight aggregate, such as cinders, expanded slag, expanded shale and clay, and natural aggregate such as pumice, scoria, volcanic cinders, tuff, and diatomite, perlite, and vermiculite, for example. In other embodiments, the lightweight concrete mixture included cement, fly ash, and lightweight aggregate.
Additionally, although only a few examples of planter box 20 are illustrated and described herein, any number of additional embodiments of planter box 20 are possible. For example, according to one embodiment, rim 38 and base 40 are configured with elements which enable base 40 and rim 38 to interlock with one another and thereby enable planter boxes 20 to be stacked or arranged so as to form various structures comprising multiple planter boxes 20. In other embodiments, in addition to removable panels, planter boxes 20 may be molded with openings configured to receive and retain various other decorative elements, such as accent lights or stereo speakers, for example.
The subject matter of this application is related to the subject matter of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/312,502, filed Mar. 10, 2010, priority to which is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) and which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61312502 | Mar 2010 | US |
