Patent Grant
9157246
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for building masonry structures such as brick and block walls, which are usually assembled by skilled masons by applying mortar to the top and side surfaces of the bricks or blocks and stacking them in a stable configuration, and to apparatus for applying the mortar by extruding it onto a surface at a selected rate.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Construction with traditional bricks or blocks is expensive, not only because materials are costly commodities, but because the labor required to build masonry structures is also costly. Therefore, the time taken by the building process is of unrelenting concern to property owners, developers and contractors, with the result that no mason can work quickly enough to satisfy everybody. The manual application of mortar in the correct amounts and locations on the top and side surfaces of the bricks or blocks and stacking them in a stable configuration and properly aligned takes time, and rushing a skilled mason may adversely impact the quality of the mason's work.
There have been attempts to find a way of automating some of the operations performed by the mason, and such efforts to partially automate the procedure of applying mortar to the top surfaces of a wall of bricks or blocks are described in several patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,341,691 to Ciceske, U.S. Pat. No. 2,591,377 to Sadler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,159 to Brewer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,410 to Meyer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,651 to Hession et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,445 to Cusumano et al. These references show mortar applying devices that are pushed or pulled across the top surface of a wall. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,981 to Richey, U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,559 to Foye, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,114 to Villanovich show wheeled mortar applying devices that are propelled across the top of a wall under construction by an operator turning a hand crank that drives the wheels. Most of these patents show the automated deposition of two beads of mortar along the top outer edges of blocks in a wall.
Many mortar applying devices use internal elements which contact the mortar while it is being deposited. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,886 to Wise discloses a mortar applying device which includes an auger for driving the mortar toward exit ports, U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,981 to Richey discloses the use of impellers to stir the mortar, U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,559 shows the use of mortar working blades, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,445 to Cusumano et al. shows the use of paddles to even out the mortar in the beads which have been laid.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,651 to Hession et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,159 to Brewer show the use of gravitational forces in dispensing the mortar on the blocks in a wall, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,410 to Meyer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,487 to Price show the use of gravitational forces assisted by vibration.
In the cases where gravity is used as the mortar feed mechanism, care must be taken to assure that the mortar is dispensed at approximately the same rate irrespective of the amount of mortar present in the feed mechanism hopper. Some prior mortar applying devices which use gravity suffer from the fact that mortar will be dispensed faster at the beginning of a run, when the hopper is full and a greater downward force is exerted by the weight of the mortar in the hopper, than at the end of the run when the hopper is nearly empty and a lesser downward force is exerted by the remaining mortar in the hopper. Such a situation leads to an uneven thickness of mortar in the wall, and this is unacceptable for proper construction.
Another problem arises when mortar is pumped to a tool for applying or dispensing, and then flow is stopped; for such stoppage can cause the mortar to start to cure in the tool, causing anything which contacts the stagnant mortar to become jammed, occluded, smeared or plugged, and this presents serious clean up problems for the user. If mortar is allowed to harden on the moving element, as would happen if the mortar applying device was not thoroughly washed at the end of a day, the mason is forced to chisel the element free of dried or curing mortar before the device can be used again.
There is a need, therefore, for an efficient, cost-effective and easy-to-use system and method for selectively extruding and applying a layer of mortar upon a selected surface which is to receive a masonry structure such as a course of bricks or blocks. Such a surface may be a concrete slab such as a patio, a pad or other surface, or may be an existing course of blocks or bricks.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned difficulties by providing an efficient, cost-effective and easy-to-use system and method for selectively extruding and applying a layer of mortar upon a selected surface, such as an existing slab or pad, or on the surface of a course of bricks or blocks.
In accordance with the present invention, a mortar extrusion and deposition system has a mortar gun which can be selectively activated to continuously extrude, in one embodiment, a continuous ribbon of substantially brick-width, continuous, rectangular cross-section, mortar that is particularly useful on a course of bricks or, in a second embodiment, a continuous pair of spaced-apart, rectangular cross-section beads of mortar, which may be referred to as a double bead layer, that is particularly applicable to a course of blocks. The mortar gun of the present invention is supplied with mortar from a remotely located hopper by way of a flexible hose so that the mortar supply will not add a potentially damaging or distorting weight onto the top of the course of bricks as might be experienced by users of gravitational feed systems, such as the system illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,487 to Price. Such an arrangement makes the mortar gun easier to handle so that a less experienced mason can extrude a continuously precise thickness of mortar. In addition, since the gun of the present invention does not incorporate a hopper at the mortar gun, the weight of the mortar supply is not placed on the lower course when the beads or ribbons produced by the gun are being placed on a lower course bricks or blocks. Therefore, the mortar supply will not disturb the lower courses, as by compressing or displacing previously-laid mortar layers, as can occur when a heavy hopper compresses the thickness of previously applied, but uncured, mortar.
Briefly, the mortar gun assembly of the present invention includes a mortar chamber, or receptacle, which is connected at an inlet end, as by a quick-coupler fitting, to a supply hose to receive fluid material such as a mortar slurry from a remote supply hopper, and is connected at an outlet end to an extruder configured to apply mortar of selected thickness to a substrate such as a slab, a row of bricks or blocks, or to other suitable substrates. Support wheels facilitate movement of the gun along the surface onto which the mortar is to be applied, and side guides may be provided to direct the device along a row of bricks or blocks. A screed bar, or rake, is provided at the extruder outlet end to control the thickness of the applied material. A handle is secured to the top of the chamber to allow a user to manipulate the mortar gun, the handle carrying a manually operated on/off switch for controlling a mortar pump that supplies mortar from the hopper under pressure. A trigger is mounted on the handle and is selectively actuable by the user to control a rotating port valve connected to the mortar supply hose. In accordance with the present invention, the valve has an active state in which mortar is pumped at a selectable rate from the supply hopper to the mortar gun to be extruded out onto a substrate, and a rest state in which the mortar is not sent to the mortar gun, but is instead re-circulated back to the hopper so that it does not begin to dry or set. This recirculation also serves to reduce frictional heat buildup in the gun assembly.
The rotating valve is a significant and enabling feature of the mortar gun assembly of the present invention, for in its rest state it allows the mortar to keep moving, and allows the mortar mixture, which is in the form of a slurry, to stay fresh and useable. Prior art efforts that have attempted to control the speed of the mortar at the gun or the material exit part of the device have proven to be unworkable, messy and ultimately unproductive for the mason or user who is forced periodically to stop work to clean congealing or drying mortar from the application tools of the prior art.
Thus, the present invention provides a new and unique mortar gun and mortar extrusion and deposition method which overcomes the problems of the prior art by supplying mortar from a remote hopper to an extruder under the control of the operator so as to extrude controllable beads or ribbons of mortar onto a selected substrate. Whereas hand troweled mortar has peaks and valleys, and the brick needs to be tapped down to make the course level, the mortar gun of the present invention delivers a continuous, flat, even ribbon, or in a second embodiment, spaced beads, of mortar, thereby air pockets in the mortar, and providing a flat bed for the next course of brick to rest upon. The hand-held mortar gun of the present invention can be held by one hand, freeing up the user's other hand for handling brick. The method and apparatus of the invention thus provides numerous advantages over the prior art, including enabling brick or block to be laid at a faster speed, while requiring less skill or experience in masonry on the part of the user to obtain satisfactory results.
The foregoing, and additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized to designate like components, and in which:
As illustrated in
The extruder assembly 20 is generally rectangular in cross-section having a bottom plate, or wall 22, spaced upstanding side walls 24 and 26, and a rear wall 28. The extruder assembly incorporates a movable outlet gate 30 which is a top wall, or plate that is pivotally connected to the rear wall of the extruder by a hinge 32 and extends forwardly between walls 24 and 26. The gate pivots on hinge 32 so that its forward or distal end 34 is movable toward or away from the bottom wall 22 to form a variable outlet aperture through which a continuous, substantially rectangular cross-section ribbon can be extruded. The thickness of the ribbon is controllable by the rate at which the mortar is extruded, the proximal motion of the mortar gun along the selected deposition or work surface, and the position of the gate 30 with respect to the bottom wall 22, which controls the height of the extruder distal end outlet aperture.
The mortar gun 15 and the extruder 20 are supported by a pair of spaced-apart support wheels 40 and 42 mounted in a suitable bracket 44 secured to the bottom wall 22 of the extruder. A side wall guide plate 50 is secured to the forward or distal, end of the side wall 26 of the extruder and extends forwardly and downwardly to engage the side of a lower course of bricks to maintain proper alignment of the extruded material with the top surface of the brick or other surface onto which it is being applied. The short leg 52 of an L-shaped bar 54 (see also 54A) is removably secured at the top of the guide plate 50, as by a bolt and wingnut 56, with the long leg 58 of the bar extending through a slot in plate 50 and across the front of the extruder to form a rake, or screed. The free end of bar 54 engages a downwardly-facing slot 62 in the forward end 64 of a support bracket 66 forming the forward end of side wall 24 to hold the free end of the screed in place above the extruder outlet. The rake bar is easily removed by releasing the thumbscrew 56, so that different sizes (e.g., 54A) may be used to produce the desired thickness of the mortar being applied.
A suitable proximally projecting handle 80 for manipulating the mortar gun 15 may include, for example, a horizontal base rail 82 secured to the top of chamber 12 by a pair of vertical posts 84 and 86. The handle includes front and rear vertical arms 90 and 92 and a top rail 94 forming a hand loop that is secured to the horizontal base as by welding, in the case where the chamber and handle are constructed of steel. The handle base rail, arms and top rail preferably are tubular, with the free, or front, arm being flared open to form a bracket 96 that may be welded or bolted to the horizontal rail 82. Other construction methods will be apparent to those of skill in the art.
As illustrated in
As described above, the hinged outlet gate 30 is movable with respect to the bottom wall 22 of the extruder 20 to control the outlet opening from extruder to regulate the thickness of the extruded ribbon of mortar provided by mortar gun 15. The position of the gate is manually controlled by an adjuster 110 mounted on the forward end of a tubular handle extension 112, at the forward end of rail 82, as illustrated in
Preferably, the extruder 20 is generally rectangular in cross-section so that it deposits or produces a generally rectangular ribbon of deposited or applied mortar upon the work surface as the gun is moved proximally or rearwardly (e.g., to the right as viewed in
Referring now to
A second embodiment of the mortar extrusion and deposition system of the present invention is illustrated in
The rear and front walls 172 and 174 of box 170 curve forwardly to form opposed walls of two spaced dispenser arms 180 and 182 on the forward end of the Y-shaped box 170, arm 180 having spaced side walls 184, 186, and arm 182 having spaced side walls 188 and 190. The arms have bottom walls 192 and 194, respectively, which may be extensions of the carriage plate 154 or which may be secured to the plate as by welding, and top walls 200 and 202, respectively. Walls 200 and 202 are disposed between the dispenser arm side walls and to the top wall 176 of the extruder box 170 by respective hinges 204 and 206 to form adjustable outlet gates. The positions of the gates within the arms are determined by adjustable stop plates 210 and 212 secured by respective bolts 214 and 216 extending through arcuate apertures, such as aperture 218, in upstanding tabs 220 and 222 on the side walls 186 and 188, and wing nuts 224 and 226. Adjustment of stops 210 and 212 controls the height of the exit openings 228 and 230 at the distal ends of dispenser arms 180 and 182, and thus controls the size of each mortar bead applied by the dispenser arms to a surface as the mortar gun is moved proximally or rearwardly by an operator.
The front ends of walls 186 and 190 are extended distally or forwardly and incorporate inwardly-extending screed portions 232 and 234, respectively. Additionally, wall 190 includes a downwardly-extending guide plate portion 236 that is positioned to contact the outer edge of a lower course of blocks to align the dispensed beads of mortar on the top surface of the blocks. The arms 180 and 182 may be spaced apart by about eight inches to accommodate conventional blocks, but other sizes may be utilized.
As illustrated in
In accordance with the present invention, the rotatable port valve has a first “active” state in which a selected slurry (e.g., mortar) is pumped from the supply hopper to gun supply hose 262 and thence to the mortar gun and is extruded out onto a course of brick or block, and a second “rest” state in which the mortar is not dispensed through the mortar gun, but is instead recirculated back to the hopper by way of return or recirculation hose 264. The outflow hose 254, valve 260, and return or recirculation hose 264 form a substantially air and fluid-tight system, and the pump operates to keep the slurry or fluid mortar 250 continuously flowing either to the gun 15 or back to the hopper 252, keeping the fluid mortar moving so does not begin to thicken, coagulate, set or dry during pauses in the extrusion of mortar from the mortar gun. Such pauses in the extrusion from the gun allow the operator, user or mason to set bricks or blocks on the extruded ribbon or beads of mortar. This valve also allows the user to pause in the application of mortar to a surface in order to avoid heat buildup in the gun assembly from friction.
The valve 260, as illustrated in the embodiment of
The valve body 286, when assembled, is generally cylindrical, and rotatably nests in the central opening 284 of the main body 270. The upper and lower halves 288 and 290 are cut away, as at 310 and 312, respectively, so that when they are joined they define a generally Y-shaped through passageway 314 extending approximately diametrically across the valve body. Valve body 286 is rotatable to align passageway 314 with selected ones of three ports, or passageways 320, 322, and 324 spaced around and extending through the annular housing 270, as illustrated in
The Y-shaped valve body passage 314 is shaped to incorporate an inlet or intake arm 340 to receive the slurry or mortar from outflow hose 254 through inlet port 320, and is divided into first and second outlet arms 342 and 344, respectively, at Y junction 346. The outlet ends of arms 342 and 344 are spaced apart by a distance less than the spacing between corresponding outlet ports 322 and 324 so that upon rotation of the valve body 286 within the main body 270, only one of the outlet arms 342 and 344 can be aligned and in fluid communication with its corresponding outlet passageway 322,324, at a time. The inlet end 350 of arm 340 is sufficiently wide to remain aligned with the inlet port 320 when either of the outlet arms is aligned with its corresponding outlet port. Accordingly, when the valve body 286 is in a rest condition, arm 342 is aligned with port 322, as illustrated in
Accordingly, rotation of valve body 286 directs fluid mortar or slurry from inlet hose 254 to one or the other of the outlet hoses 264 (in the rest condition) or 262 (in the active condition). In a preferred form of the invention, the actuator 304 is controllable by the trigger so that when in the active position the valve can be adjusted to align arm 334 with outlet 324 a selectable amount to control the rate of flow of mortar to the mortar gun. When the trigger is released, the actuator returns to its rest, or deactivated condition to recirculate mortar to the hopper. Persons of skill in the art will appreciate that the user, operator or mason can use the mortar gun's controls rotate valve body 286 to select how much of the slurry or mortar is deposited and how much (the remaining fraction of whatever is pumped) is returned or recirculated to the hopper, so that a first selected portion of the mortar is deposited and the remainder is a second portion of mortar which is recirculated.
When the top cover 274 is secured to the valve body 270, and the valve 260 is secured to the inlet and outlet hoses, it will be airtight so that circulating mortar or slurry will not dry out or start to cure while in the valve. Preferably, the rotating valve 286 has a series of 45 degree angled grooves along the body, as indicated at 340 in
A third embodiment of the rotatable port valve of the present invention is illustrated in a top perspective view in
The valve 400 is connected in the flow circuit illustrated in
Rotation of the valve 420 within housing 402 is accomplished by a linear actuator 470, which may be a DufNorton Actuator TMD-1406-2, or any suitable commercially available actuator, mounted on a mounting plate 472, which in the illustrated embodiment is an extension arm formed as a part of the top cover 414, and secured by a pin 474 on the arm. The actuator 470 has a drive shaft 476 that is secured, as by a pin 480, to an outer, or free end of a lever arm 482 that is secured at its inner end as by a set screw 484, to an axial shaft 486 secured to the center of valve 420 and extending through an O-ring 488 and an aperture 490 in the top cover 414. When at rest, the valve is positioned with its outlet arm 434 aligned with its corresponding outlet port 406, as diagrammatically illustrated in
When the actuator 470 is activated, as by operation of trigger 100, the drive shaft is retracted, as illustrated in
When mortar extrusion and deposition system 10 is ready to use, with mortar in the hopper, the pump 256 is turned on and the trigger 100 is in a released position, the valve 260 (or alternatively valve 360) is in the rest position of
Although the trigger 100 may have an on/off operation which switches the rotary valve between the rest and active positions of
Although the embodiments of
In accordance with the method of the invention, a slurry or thick paste such as cement mortar is extruded thru a mortar gun (e.g., 15 or 150) which is releasably attachable to a pumping system via quick disconnect fittings. Material (mortar or slurry) leaves the mixing and mortar pump 256, in one aspect of the method of the present invention, through a 1″ hose at 80-125 psi and flows through the valve 260 (or 360), with the valve in its rest position, back to the source of material in hopper 252 through the return line 264, keeping the material in a constantly moving flow. Activation of trigger switch 100 activates actuator 304 to rotate valve 260 to shut off line 264 and open line 262 so that material is sent to the gun, where it is dispensed. Releasing the trigger de-energizes the actuator and moves the valve back to the rest position. If the pump runs with the valve in the rest position for more than a selected time, for example 5 minutes, a relay switch in the handle of the mortar gun may be provided to activate the trigger switch to energize the solenoid for a selected interval (e.g., 30 seconds). This rotates the valve 260 to connect hose 262 to the pump to blow new material through it to the mortar gun to keep the pump, the supply lines and the extruder from plugging up. This feature permits a user to temporarily stop the gun's extruded material flow while setting up bricks or block, moving hoses, or performing other necessary duties.
The length of the continuous unbroken layer of deposited or applied mortar (e.g., 616) is limited solely by the mortar supply, so if an unlimited supply of mortar is made available to the inlet of the three-way power valve, there is no limit on the length of mortar that can be applied to a course of brick or block. The brick mortar gun assembly 15 illustrated in the first embodiment of
It will be apparent that the valve structure of the mortar extrusion and deposition system of the present invention can easily be cleaned by reverse flow of water through the passageways or by disassembling the valve by removing the bolts 276 and 294. A prototype of the herein described apparatus and method has been demonstrated to apply mortar to bricks in place at a rate of 135 bricks in 15 minutes when used by a single mason or user. This is a very high rate of application, given that the brick laying world record is 198 bricks in 15 minutes with two men using the traditional methods. The mortar extrusion and deposition system structure and method of the present invention provides a machine that is light enough that it does not press down on a lower course of brick so hard that the layers of mortar between lower courses are displaced or distorted when laying a higher course of bricks. The mortar gun assembly is configured to be held by the user or mason with support wheels resting on the surface to which the mortar is to be applied, but with the heavy mortar supply hopper 252 is located remotely and connected to the gun only by a supply hose, allowing the mason to evenly apply a selected configuration of mortar (e.g., 616) onto a course of brick or block, in a continuous and smooth way.
Persons having skill in the art will appreciate that the slurry or mortar extrusion and deposition system 10 makes available a system for extruding and depositing or applying a slurry, mixture or mortar upon a selected work surface or substrate (e.g., 604 or 614) using an easy to handle mortar gun assembly (e.g., 15 or 150) having a chamber connected at an inlet end to a supply hose 262 to receive a fluid mortar material from a remote supply 252. The mortar gun assembly has an extruder (e.g., 20) at an outlet end of the chamber and the extruder configured to extrude a selected shape and apply the fluid material as a bead or ribbon of selected thickness to the substrate's selected surface. A remotely controlled mortar or concrete pump 256 is connected to the supply hose via valve (e.g., 260) and outflow hose 254 to continuously deliver pressurized fluid material from remote supply 252 to the gun's chamber, and rotating port valve (e.g., 260, 360 or 400) connected to and in fluid communication with the supply hose 262 to selectively regulate the flow of the pump-pressurized fluid material or mortar to the gun's chamber when a selected portion of the fluid material or mortar is being deposited upon the selected work surface. The rotating port valve is also connected to recirculation hose 264 which is also connected to the remote supply 252. Preferably, the gun's proximally projecting handle (e.g., 80) is secured to the top of the gun's chamber to allow a user to position, orient and proximally pull or manipulate the mortar gun while operating or actuating the manually operable controls (e.g., 100, 102) on the handle for controlling the power to the pump and the rotatable port valve. The rotating port valve (e.g., 260, 360 or 400) automatically recirculates any undeposited portion of the pump-pressurized mortar or fluid material back to the remote supply 252 via the recirculation hose 264.
Having described preferred embodiments of a new and improved apparatus and method, it is believed that other modifications, variations and changes will be suggested to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings set forth herein. It is therefore to be understood that all such variations, modifications and changes are believed to fall within the scope of the present invention, as set out in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/487,471, filed May 18, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2341691 | Ciceske | Feb 1944 | A |
| 2591377 | Sadler | Apr 1952 | A |
| 2683981 | Richey | Jul 1954 | A |
| 3162886 | Wise | Dec 1964 | A |
| 3545159 | Brewer | Dec 1970 | A |
| 3791559 | Foye | Feb 1974 | A |
| 3826410 | Meyer | Jul 1974 | A |
| 3887114 | Villanovich | Jun 1975 | A |
| 4043487 | Price | Aug 1977 | A |
| 4135651 | Hession et al. | Jan 1979 | A |
| 4352445 | Cusumano et al. | Oct 1982 | A |
| 5018955 | Parrish et al. | May 1991 | A |
| 5443211 | Young et al. | Aug 1995 | A |
| 5681125 | Amaya | Oct 1997 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120328792 A1 | Dec 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61487471 | May 2011 | US |
