Patent Application
20070009628
The invention generally relates to concrete-based product making machinery. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for attaching and aligning a tamperhead in concrete-based product making machinery.
Concrete masonry units are typically produced using a production machine and a mold assembly. Generally, the mold assembly includes a mold having mold cavities and a tamperhead, both of which must be installed and aligned in the production machinery. The production machinery may drive the tamperhead into the mold to strip formed and compacted concrete products from the mold cavities.
The tamperhead may be composed of several sub-components which may include an upper head structure, a plunger and a stripper shoe. Multiple sets of stripper shoes and plungers may be connected to a single head structure and may be used to strip multiple masonry units from one or more molds or a set of concrete mold cavities. The plungers are commonly fabricated in structural shapes, depending on the shape and type of concrete units being formed. Plungers typically manufactured from a rigid material, such as steel, and are attached on one end to the head structure and on the other end to the stripper shoe. The plungers provide the structural load path to compress the concrete and strip the formed concrete product from the mold.
Generally, a concrete production machine is used with different mold assemblies, each corresponding to a specific type of concrete product (for example, bricks, paving stones, etc.). During ordinary production conditions, the mold assemblies are changed out of production machinery two to four times per day. In order to maximize production time, it is desirable for the machine operators to minimize the amount of time spent changing the machinery.
Some systems use a quick-change tamperhead to reduce the amount of time necessary for a change. These tamperheads utilize head locking pins which act to secure the tamperhead to the production machinery by interacting with locking ram forks of the production equipment. Typically, the forks are wedge-shaped and the pins are fabricated with a matching angle to accept the locking forks. When the forks are driven into the corresponding angle of the pins, usually using hydraulic means, the tamperhead is pulled tight against the machine compression beam.
Unfortunately, this production machinery does not include alignment capabilities to adjust for any misalignments between the tamperhead and the mold when the tamperhead is changed. To insure proper alignment between the tamperhead and the mold, the bolts that fasten the locking pins are generally manually loosened during the installation process, allowing the tamperhead to shift about the locking pins while a machine operator aligns the tamperhead with the mold. Then, once the tamperhead and the mold are aligned, the bolts for the locking pins are retightened and the production machinery may then be operated.
There are several drawbacks and disadvantages of this technique. For example, the operating conditions and workspace for accessing the locking pins and bolts may be unsafe. The mold assembly is installed in a severely space-constrained area in the vicinity of dangerously heavy moving parts. Thus, requiring an operator to access the pins and bolts may be a safety hazard to that operator.
Additionally, despite the convenience offered by quick-locking pins, loosening and retightening the bolts for alignment is time consuming, thereby reducing the amount of time the machinery is available for the production of concrete products. As a result, some machine operators may use only the locking pins and forego the alignment process altogether which can result in damage to the equipment or substandard concrete products.
However, unaligned mold assemblies may be subject to additional forces not seen during normal production. Therefore, when the alignment process is foregone, the mold and tamperhead may be subject to excessive wear and, in some cases, catastrophic failure. As such, the tamperhead and mold may need to be replaced and/or repaired more frequently than properly aligned machinery.
Finally, even where the alignment process is used by an operator, human error may still result in the tamperhead being improperly installed. As the production machinery is operating, the tamperhead may release from the locking pin bolts and may crash down onto the mold cavities, damaging the mold assembly and the production machinery.
Therefore, there exists a need for a tamperhead that may be quickly installed while still providing for the alignment of the tamperhead and the mold prior to use in the production of molded products.
The invention generally relates to concrete-based product making machinery. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for a attaching and aligning a tamperhead in concrete-based product making machinery.
In one embodiment, the present invention may include a system for aligning a tamperhead with a mold in production machinery. The system may comprise at least one pin movably held by the tamperhead and an opening in the production machinery associated with the at least one pin. The opening may be configured to receive the at least one pin and the tamperhead may be permitted to move relative to the at least one pin when the at least one pin is received by the opening, thereby allowing the tamperhead to be aligned with the mold.
In another embodiment, the present invention may include a method for aligning a tamperhead with a mold in production machinery, the tamperhead having at least one movably held pin. The method may comprise the steps of inserting the at least one movably held pin into an opening in the production machinery and aligning the tamperhead with the mold by moving the tamperhead with respect to the at least one movably held pin. Additionally, the method may comprise the step of attaching the tamperhead to the production machinery after the tamperhead is aligned with the mold so that the tamperhead is prevented from further movement with respect to the at least one movably held pin.
In another embodiment, the present invention may include a system for aligning a tamperhead with a mold in production machinery, the system comprising an upper head plate attached to a tamperhead, the upper head plate having a first side and a second side, an alignment pin located on the first side of said upper head plate and a screw attached to said alignment pin. Additionally, the system may include an alignment opening in the upper head plate configured to receive the screw, the alignment opening having a diameter larger than the screw such that the upper head plate is capable of moving relative to said screw and a machine head plate having an associated opening, the associated opening being configured to receive the alignment pin. Further, the upper head plate may be permitted to move relative to the screw and the machine head plate when the alignment pin is received by the alignment opening, thereby allowing alignment of the tamperhead with a mold.
In another embodiment, the present invention may include a system for aligning a tamperhead with a mold in production machinery, the system comprising an upper head plate attached to a tamperhead, an alignment pin, an alignment plate attached to the alignment pin and a pair of opposing alignment shelves attached to the upper head plate. The alignment shelves may be configured to movably hold the alignment plate such that the upper head plate is capable of moving relative to the alignment plate. The system may also comprise a machine head plate having an associated opening, the associated opening being configured to receive the alignment pin wherein the upper head plate is permitted to move relative to the alignment plate and the machine head plate when the alignment pin is received by the alignment opening, thereby allowing alignment of the tamperhead with a mold.
In another embodiment, the present invention may include a system for aligning a tamperhead with a mold in production machinery, the system comprising an upper head plate attached to a tamperhead, the upper head plate having an alignment position and a locking position, an alignment pin and an alignment plate attached to the alignment pin. The system may also comprise at least two lever arms pivotally attached to the upper head plate, each of the lever arms having a first end and a second end and a machine head plate having an associated opening, the associated opening being configured to receive the alignment pin, wherein when the upper head plate is in the alignment position, the first end of each of the lever arms protrudes through an opening in the upper head plate and the second end of each of said lever arms is configured to movably hold the alignment plate such that the upper head plate is capable of moving relative to the alignment plate and wherein when the upper head plate is in the locking position, the first end of each of the lever arms is engaged with the machine head plate and the second end of each of the lever arms forces the alignment plate to engage with the upper head plate such that the upper head plate is prevented from moving relative to the alignment plate.
The present invention may include a self-adjusting tamperhead locking system comprising free-floating tamperhead locking pins. The free-floating pins may allow the tamperhead to shift relative to the locking pins and align with the mold cavities during installation, without the need to loosen and retighten the bolts of the locking pins. The system may be designed in such a way as to lock itself when the machine head locks are engaged.
The self-adjusting tamperhead locking system and method of the present invention may assure correct adjustment of various tamperhead and mold combinations. During installation, the tamperhead and the mold may be engaged such that the stripper shoes of the tamperhead are placed within the mold cavities and inherently aligned. The system of the present invention may assure alignment by allowing the tamperhead to free-float relative to the locking pins until the machine head locks engage. Once engaged, the self-adjusting locking pins and the machine head locks may secure the tamperhead in the engaged position, with the stripper shoes placed within the mold cavities.
The system and method of the present invention may allow machine operators to install or change out mold assemblies without adjustment of tamperhead locking pins, as required by previous production equipment. This may remove the possibility of human error during the alignment portion of the installation process. Additionally, it removes the risk associated with skipping the alignment during installation.
Further, the system and method of the present invention may allow for reduced machinery change-out time and, thus, increased production time. Furthermore, the system and method may be completely compatible with existing production machinery that is equipped to work with the previous quick-change tamperheads and traditional locking pins.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the present invention, it is 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:
The present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the Figures in which various embodiments of the present invention are shown. The subject matter of this disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
While a tamperhead 5 having an upper plate 6, a lower plate 7, supports 8 and a plurality of plungers 10 and stripper shoes 11 is shown in
As illustrated in
The locking pin 9 discussed above may be used in conjunction with a machine head plate 140 having an opening 141. The machine head plate 140 may be a part of the production machinery (not shown) to which a tamperhead is to be attached. The production machinery may also include a ram fork 130 (as discussed above) which may move horizontally to engage with groove 121 of pin 9 to secure the tamperhead. As an alternative to the use of a ram fork 130, the production machinery may employ any known means for attaching to the pin 9 including, but not limited to, hooks, suction, bolts, pins and other means for connecting two machine pieces known to those of skill in the art.
In the embodiment illustrated in
During attachment and alignment of a tamperhead according to this embodiment of the present invention, pin 9 may be initially inserted into the machine head opening 141, as illustrated in
The initial engagement between the upper plate 110 and the machine head plate 140 is illustrated as detail X1 in
Permitting the insertion of pin 9 into opening 141 while still allowing for horizontal movement of upper plate 110 with respect to machine head plate 140 may permit the tamperhead to automatically align itself with a mold cavity during installation of the tamperhead into production machinery. After pin 9 is inserted into opening 141 and before ram fork 130 is engaged with groove 121, the plungers of the tamperhead may be placed in corresponding mold cavities located below the tamperhead (not shown) in the production machinery. If the initial insertion of pin 9 into opening 141 does not align the plungers with the cavities, the upper plate 110 of the tamperhead may be shifted horizontally about the screws 124 until the plungers are aligned with the mold cavities. This shifting may be done manually by an operator or may occur automatically when the mold cavities force the plungers to move horizontally. Alternatively, the plungers may initially be placed in the mold cavities and the production machinery may be lowered onto the pins. These alignment processes permit the tamperhead to move into alignment with the mold cavities until the ram fork 130 is engaged with groove 121, as discussed below.
Once alignment of the tamperhead with the mold is complete, the ram fork 130 may engage with groove 121. Because groove 121 and ram fork 130 include angled edges, the movement of the ram fork 130 horizontally may cause pin 9 to lift, as shown in
The locking is illustrated as detail Y1 in
As with previously discussed embodiments, the embodiment of the present invention shown in
In the embodiment illustrated in
During attachment and alignment of a tamperhead according to the present invention, pin 220 may initially be inserted into the machine head opening 241, as illustrated in
The initial engagement between plate 210 and plate 240 is illustrated as detail X2 in
By permitting the insertion of pin 220 into opening 241 while still allowing for horizontal movement of plate 210 with respect to plate 240, the tamperhead may automatically align itself with a mold cavity during installation of a tamperhead into production equipment. The alignment process used may be a similar process to those discussed above with respect to
Once alignment of the tamperhead with the mold is complete, ram fork 230 may engage with groove 223, lifting pin 220 as shown in
The floating plate 322 may rest on adjustment bolts 353 which may be held in place by locking nuts 352. The bolts 353 may be attached to, and be movable by, locking arms 351 which may also be attached to an upper head plate 310. As illustrated in the figures, locking arms 351 may rotate about fulcrums 350. Fulcrums 350 may include springs or a similar device which bias arms 351 so that, as shown in
It should be noted that the diameter of the hole in upper head plate 310 may be slightly larger than the diameter of pin 320 and arms 351 may movably hold plate 322, thus allowing pin 320 and plate 322 to move with respect to plate 310. Thus, the tamperhead may be aligned by aligning the top of pin 320 with opening 341 while plate 310 is permitted to move relative to pin 320 and plate 322. As illustrated in
Floating plate 322, and thus pin 320 and plate 322, may be free to move relative to plate 310 until plates 310 and 340 begin to engage. As shown in
Thus, once alignment of the tamperhead with the mold is complete and plates 310 and 340 are substantially abutted, the tamperhead may no longer be capable of moving horizontally because plate 322 is engaged with plate 310 due to the exertion of vertical forces by arms 351. At this point, ram fork 330 may engage with groove 321 to secure the tamperhead to the production machinery, as shown in
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. While the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention, various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use are also possible. The scope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Application No. 60/697,546, filed Jul. 11, 2005 and entitled “Apparatus and Method for a Self-Adjusting Tamperhead Locking System.” The foregoing application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60697546 | Jul 2005 | US |
