Claims
- 1. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front and rear walls, a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework, and wheels mounted on opposite sides of said framework to permit said module builder to be transported from one location to another, said side walls having upwardly and outwardly flared portions so that imaginary vertical lines depending from the outer upper margins of the side walls clear the outer margins of the wheels on the sides of the rectangular framework.
- 2. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front and rear walls, means for causing movement of said carriage between the front and rear walls, a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework, wheel means mounted on opposite sides of said framework to permit said module builder to be transported from one location to another, said side walls having upwardly and outwardly flared portions so that imaginary vertical lines depending from the outer margins of the side walls clear the wheel means on the sides of the rectangular framework, rake means carried by the carriage and extending transversely of the rectangular framework, said rake means including rake teeth movable between a material engaging position in which the rake teeth are in a substantially vertical position and an out-of-the-way position in which the rake teeth are in a substantially horizontal position and means for moving said rake means between said material engaging and out-of-the-way positions.
- 3. A module builder as in claim 2 wherein said rake teeth are generally L-shaped.
- 4. A module builder as in claim 1 together with an attachment secured to said tramper foot and extending transversely of the rectangular framework, said attachment having a dimension extending longitudinally of the framework which is a small fraction of the longitudinal dimension of the framework.
- 5. A module builder as in claim 4 wherein said attachment comprises a plate providing a surface which is concave in a direction which is transverse to the rectangular framework.
- 6. A module builder as in claim 4 wherein said attachment is in the form of a flat plate secured to the tramper foot and a knife blade secured to the flat plate and extending transversely of the rectangular framework and depending in a vertical direction from the plate.
- 7. A module builder as in claim 4 wherein said attachment comprises a flat plate adapted to be secured to the tramper foot, a knife blade secured to the flat plate and extending transversely of the rectangular framework and a plurality of additional knife blades secured to the plate and depending vertically from the flat plate and extending in direction sat right angles to the first named knife blade.
- 8. A module builder as in claim 7 wherein said additional knife blades are disposed on opposite sides of the first named knife blade.
- 9. A module builder as in claim 1 together with a bottom wall structure enclosing the bottom wall of said rectangular framework and means carried by the bottom wall for moving a module formed therein through the rear of the module builder when the door is moved to an open position.
- 10. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front and rear walls, means carried by the framework for causing movement of said carriage between the front and rear walls, a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper, means for moving said tramper vertically within said framework for forming a module from material deposited within the framework, rake means carried by the carriage and movable between material engaging and out-of-the-way positions, said rake means including a plurality of teeth spaced transversely of the rectangular framework and when in the material engaging position being disposed vertically and means for moving said rake means between the material engaging and out-of-the-way positions.
- 11. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front and rear walls, means carried by the framework for causing movement of said carriage between the front and rear walls, a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot extending transversely of the framework, means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for compacting material placed within the framework to form a module, and an attachment removably secured to the tramper foot for performing operations upon the material placed within the module builder, said attachment having a dimension extending longitudinally of the framework which is a small fraction of the longitudinal dimension of the framework.
- 12. A module builder as in claim 11 wherein said attachment comprises a plate secured to said tramper foot and having a concave curvature in a direction which extends transversely of the rectangular framework.
- 13. A module builder as in claim 11 wherein said attachment comprises a knife blade carried by the tramper foot and depending vertically therefrom and extending transversely of the rectangular framework.
- 14. A module builder as in claim 11 wherein said attachment comprises a knife blade carried by the tramper foot so that it depends from the tramper foot and extends transversely of the rectangular framework and additional knife blades carried by the tramper foot and being spaced apart and disposed on opposite sides of said first named knife blade and extending in directions longitudinal of the rectangular framework.
- 15. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, track means carried by the framework and extending beyond a rear extremity of the rectangular framework, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front wall and a position to the rear of the rear wall, means for causing movement of said carriage and a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, said tramper mechanism including means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework and means for preventing movement of said tramper mechanism to a position to the rear extremity of the rectangular framework unless the tramper foot is moved to a raised position.
- 16. A module builder as in claim 15 wherein said means for preventing movement of said tramper mechanism beyond the rear extremity of the framework unless the tramper foot is in a raised position includes a hydraulic actuator which assumes a blocking position when the tramper foot is not in a raised position.
- 17. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, track means carried by the framework and extending beyond a rear extremity of the rectangular framework, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front wall and a position to the rear of the rear wall, means for causing movement of said carriage and a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, said tramper mechanism including means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework, said tramper foot being in the form of a single blade extending substantially the entire width of the module builder.
- 18. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, track means carried by the framework and extending beyond a rear extremity of the rectangular framework, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front wall and a position to the rear of the rear wall, means for causing movement of said carriage and a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, said tramper mechanism including means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework, said rectangular framework including a bottom wall structure, chains having upper runs carried by the bottom wall structure and means for operating said chains so that the upper runs of the chains are pulled from the rear of the module builder for unloading a module from the module builder.
- 19. A module builder as in claim 18 together with wheels mounted on opposite sides of the framework to permit the module builder to be transported from one location to another and means synchronized with the means for driving said chains for causing the module builder to be advanced at substantially the same rate of speed as the module is withdrawn from the module builder.
- 20. A module builder as in claim 18 wherein the means for driving the chains includes a hydraulic motor disposed on each side of the module builder, a common shaft driven by the hydraulic motors and sprockets carried by the common shaft for driving said chains.
- 21. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, track means carried by the framework and extending beyond a rear extremity of the rectangular framework, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front wall and a position to the rear of the rear wall, means for causing movement of said carriage and a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, said tramper mechanism including means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework , said rectangular framework including a bottom wall structure, chains having upper runs carried by the bottom wall structure, means for operating said chains so that the upper runs of the chains are pulled from the rear of the module builder for unloading a module from the module builder, wheels mounted on opposite sides of the framework to permit the module builder to be transported from one location to another and means synchronized with the means for driving said chains for causing the module builder to be advanced at substantially the same rate of speed as the module is withdrawn from the module builder, said means for advancing the module builder including means for frictionally engaging the wheels of the module builder.
- 22. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, track means carried by the framework and extending beyond a rear extremity of the rectangular framework, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework between the front wall and a position to the rear of the rear wall, means for causing movement of said carriage and a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, said tramper mechanism including means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework, said rectangular framework including a bottom wall structure, chains having upper runs carried by the bottom wall structure, means for operating said chains so that the upper runs of the chains are pulled from the rear of the module builder for unloading a module from the module builder, wheels mounted on opposite sides of the framework to permit the module builder to be transported from one location to another and means synchronized with the means for driving said chains for causing the module builder to be advanced at substantially the same rate of speed as the module is withdrawn from the module builder, said means for engaging the wheels of the module builder including a friction wheel engaging the wheels and a hydraulic motor driving said friction wheel.
- 23. In a module builder, a generally rectangular framework having an open top side and having spaced apart side walls and spaced apart front and rear walls, the rear wall being formed by a door movable between open and closed positions, a carriage mounted on said framework for movement longitudinally of the framework, means for causing movement of said carriage, a tramper mechanism carried by the carriage and having a tramper foot, said tramper mechanism including means for moving said tramper foot vertically within said framework for forming a module from material which is dumped into the framework, wheels mounted on opposite sides of said framework to permit said module builder to be transported from one location to another, said framework including a bottom wall structure, means carried by the bottom wall structure including chains having upper runs engaging a module in the module builder for withdrawing the module from the module builder , means for causing operation of the chains including sprockets engaging the chains, a shaft carrying the sprockets and motive means for driving the shaft whereby when the motive means is placed in operation, a pulling force is applied to the upper runs of the chains to cause the chains to move with respect to the rectangular framework, and means synchronized with the operation of said chains and engaging said wheels for driving said wheels of the module builder to cause the module builder to be advanced at approximately the same rate of speed that the module is withdrawn from the module builder, said means for engaging the wheels of the module builder including a friction wheel and means for driving the friction wheel in synchronism with the driving of the shaft for the chains.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 288,647 filed on July 30, 1981 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
288647 |
Jul 1981 |
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