Patent Application
20100199608
Manufactured stone and brick products have gained popularity in the housing industry because of their light weight, variety of style options, ease of installation and relatively inexpensive cost. In general, such products are produced using specialized dyed concrete. The color of the products may be varied to provide a variety of style options to consumers. During manufacturing, partially cured products are removed from molds and stacked into ovens for further curing. More specifically, de-molded products are loaded onto wooden pallets, the wooden pallets are loaded onto skids, and the skids are loaded into the ovens. After further curing, the products are removed from the ovens and pallets, and packaged in boxes for shipping. The time and labor necessary to load the products onto drying racks, unload the products and package the products for shipping is costly. Additionally, if the stones are packaged for shipping before being fully cured, the shipping boxes prevent air from circulating around the products and heat generated from further curing may cause condensation to appear on the surface of the products, thereby affecting the color of the stone or brick and creating unsightly staining.
The present invention is directed to methods and packages for curing and shipping manufactured masonry panels. The package may include groups of manufactured masonry panels retained between sets of spaced slotted rails. In use, the multiple sets of masonry panels are retained between first and second sets of slotted rails with pairs of the masonry panels being retained back-to-back and air flow channels being established between both main body portions and manufactured facial portions of the masonry panels, allowing for further curing of the masonry panels. The masonry panels can be stacked between sets of slotted rails until the desired package size is obtained.
In one embodiment of the invention, each masonry panel includes a main body panel having first and second rows of manufactured stone or brick extending therefrom and a securing bracket extending from a top portion of the main body panel. In use, a set of the masonry panels is inserted into upper slots formed in the top wall of each of a set of spaced slotted rails such that a bottom portion of each masonry panel is retained by the first set of slotted rails. A second set of spaced slotted rails is lowered over the masonry panels and the securing brackets extending from the masonry panels are inserted into lower slots formed in the bottom wall of each of the second set of spaced slotted rails such that the securing brackets are retained by the second set of slotted rails. In this manner, groups of masonry panels can be stacked between sets of slotted rails until the desired height and width of the package is obtained. Optionally, one or more braces may be secured to the package for added stability during transport.
The first and second sets of slotted rails securely retain masonry panels there between such that air flow channels are defined between the main body portions and the manufactured stone or brick of the masonry panels. With this configuration, partially cured manufactured stone or brick can be packaged before being fully cured, and may be further cured within the package without detrimental effects to the appearance of the manufactured stone or brick. Further, oven drying of the package is not necessary and, therefore, no curing oven need be utilized.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and the many embodiments thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The present invention will now be described with occasional reference to the specific embodiments of the invention. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions, and so forth as used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless otherwise indicated, the numerical properties set forth in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending on the desired properties sought to be obtained in embodiments of the present invention. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical values, however, inherently contain certain errors necessarily resulting from error found in their respective measurements.
With initial reference to
Details of masonry panels 14 wilt be discussed in more detail with reference to
As best seen in
Reference will now be made to sets of slotted rails 16A and 16B in
Once the desired number of paired masonry panels 14 are loaded into slotted rail 16A, slotted rail 16B is then lowered over respective securing brackets 50 such that the securing brackets 50 of each set of masonry panels, such as 14B, 14C, are received into a respective lower slot 68′ of slotted rail 16B. More specifically, the method of packaging masonry panels further comprises the steps of inserting respective securing brackets 50 of the first set of masonry panels 14B, 14C, into the plurality of lower slots 68′ of a second set of spaced slotted rails (represented by 16B), such that top wall portions (not separately labeled) of respective facial portions 57 abut respective bottom walls 63′ of the second set of spaced slotted rails. As clearly illustrated, lower slots 68′ are multiple times more narrow as compared to upper slots 66′ in order to securely retain masonry panels 14 within slotted rails 16. In use, first and second notched portions 70 and 71 aid in the aligning and loading of masonry panels 14 into slotted rails 16. More specifically, notched portions 70 and 71 provide a wide opening through which securing brackets 50 may be received to help guide securing brackets 50 into lower slots 68′. The process of loading masonry panels 14 between slotted rails 16 is continued until the desired number of levels of masonry panels 14 have been established for package 12. Optionally, one or more braces 84, straps or bands, may be attached to package 12 in order to provide additional stability during transport.
Advantageously, air circulation gaps 78 and 80 between masonry panels 14 provide sufficient circulation such that partially cured masonry panels 14 can be loaded into package 12 of the present invention for additional curing of the panels. Further, the manner in which masonry panels 14 are packaged prevents condensate staining of the manufactured panels 14 as the panels continue to cure. As a result, defective product returns are minimized and customer satisfaction increased. It should also be appreciated that manufacturing and labor costs are reduced by providing a package 12 that also constitutes a shipping container and that allows for further curing of masonry panels 14 without the need for a dryer.
Although described with reference to various embodiments of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, although brick masonry panels are depicted, it should be readily understood that the present system could be utilized in conjunction with other types and styles of manufactured stone products, generally being referred to herein as masonry products or panels, requiring an extended curing period. Further, the number of masonry panels 14 in each group of panels 20-23 is not limited by the example depicted in
