A compression shoe for use on a concrete products forming machine comprises a main body and a plated layer overlaid on the main body. The main body is configured to be slidingly received within a mold cavity of a concrete products mold. The plated layer overlaid on the main body of the compression shoe comprises a uniform electroless nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nano dispersion coating to effect enhanced material release characteristics by preventing the build-up of material on the compression shoes and enhancing their wear characteristics.

Molds and processes that permit high-speed, mass production of retaining wall blocks having patterned or other processed front faces, as well as retaining wall blocks formed by such processes. The invention permits the front face of the block to be impressed with a pattern or otherwise directly processed, to allow the formation of pre-determined block front faces, while at the same time facilitating high-speed, high-volume production of blocks. A mirror image of the desired pattern can be created on a stripper shoe by selecting a desired three-dimensional surface from a naturally occurring or man made object and digitally scanning the selected three-dimensional pattern to create scanned data. The scanned data can then be used to machine a face of the stripper shoe that is the mirror image of the selected pattern.

An apparatus for the production of concrete molded parts in a molding machine includes an upper mold part having a pressure plate arrangement having multiple pressure plates, each facing an opening of a mold insert, wherein each of the pressure plates is screwed onto an intermediate plate, wherein the intermediate plate is connected with a punch plate on the upper mold part on the side facing the upper mold part, by way of at least one pressure punch. The intermediate plate is braced against the punch plate, in that at least one bolt that can be screwed on is passed through an accommodation on the intermediate plate, which bolt releasably engages into the punch plate and has a hollow body that encloses the bolt, between the intermediate plate and the punch plate.

The present disclosure discloses an interlocking roof tile comprising two groove extending over length of the interlocking roof tile at both lateral ends that create side walls at the distalmost ends of the interlocking roof tile. The grooves are created on top surface of the interlocking roof tile using a press machine that uses pressure to mold the cement into the interlocking roof tiles. The interlocking roof tile's at bottom surface is flat. The interlocking roof tile further comprises at least one nail opening, provided spatially from each other to mount and secure the interlocking roof tile to the roof. In order to couple a plurality of interlocking roof tiles in series, a first interlocking roof tile is placed coupled to the second roof tile such that side wall of the first interlocking roof tile is engaged with the groove of the second interlocking roof tile.

A retaining wall having a plurality of courses of retaining wall blocks including a first upper course and a second lower course. Each retaining wall block has opposed front and rear faces, opposed first and second side surfaces, and opposed and substantially parallel upper and lower surfaces, and at least one weight bearing pad extends from one of the upper and lower surfaces. The at least one weight bearing pad extends substantially from the rear face to the front face of the block. The weight bearing pads are the only areas of contact between the blocks in the first upper course and the blocks in the second lower course.

A method for forming a multi-layer blank of a ceramic material including the steps of: providing a mold that includes at least one side wall surrounding a lower press plunger to form a cavity therebetween, wherein the lower press plunger has a movable pin; filling into the mold a first ceramic material; extending the movable pin from an upper surface of the lower press plunger and into the cavity; pressing a first upper press plunger against the first ceramic material so that a first open cavity is formed while at least a portion of the first upper press plunger is in contact with the movable pin to maintain the through-hole through the first layer; filling into the mold a second ceramic material of a different composition; extending the movable pin from an upper surface of the first layer and into the first open cavity; and pressing a second upper press plunger against the second layer so that a second open cavity is formed in communication with the through-hole that extends through the first and second layers to form the blank.

A retaining wall having a plurality of courses of retaining wall blocks including a first upper course and a second lower course. Each retaining wall block has opposed front and rear faces, opposed first and second side surfaces, and opposed and substantially parallel upper and lower surfaces, and at least one weight bearing pad extends from one of the upper and lower surfaces. The at least one weight bearing pad extends substantially from the rear face to the front face of the block. The weight bearing pads are the only areas of contact between the blocks in the first upper course and the blocks in the second lower course.

A punch unit is used in a powder press molding device that includes a die plate including a cavity in which a compacted powder pellet can be formed, the powder press molding device including a ram moving in a direction approaching the die plate and in a direction away from the die plate. The punch unit includes a punch inserted into the cavity of the die plate when the ram approaches the die plate, and a supporting portion supporting the punch reciprocatably, the punch unit being movable along a plane intersecting with the moving direction of the ram in a state where the punch is removed from the cavity. The punch unit is capable of shortening a distance in which the ram moves, and a cycle time can be shortened.

A method for preparing a shell-bionic ceramic tool and a shell-bionic ceramic tool, wherein the shell-bionic ceramic tool includes alternating stacks of ceramic powders with different components, pressing a ceramic green body using a cold briquetting method, carrying out pre-pressing once using a graphite indenter on a working surface thereof after each layer of the ceramic powder being loaded, and pressing a last layer using a graphite rod, and then pressing a whole ceramic green body with a certain pressure to promote a bonding of the layers of ceramic powder, which in turn gives a complex shape to an interface between the layers, increases a bonding area between the layers, and plays the role of hindering crack expansion, extending the crack expansion path, and improving the bonding strength of the interface; after then, hot-pressed sintering is used to densify the ceramic green body to obtain the shell-bionic ceramic tool.