Molding equipment for molding inter-engaging bricks and method of using the same

Abstract

A molding equipment and method to mold stackable inter-engaging bricks, blocks, stones and the like and bricks, blocks, stones and the like produced therewith are disclosed. The molding equipment comprises a main structure which contains individual cavities. Each cavity preferably has a middle structure to which a brick separating element can be attached. Without the brick separating element, each cavity can form two attached splittable bricks whereas with the brick separating element attached, each cavity can hold two individual smooth or embossed face bricks. The size and shape of the stackable inter-engaging bricks is such that once out of the mold but still in an uncured form, the brick can stand on its side without falling down, being damaged, buckling or being otherwise deformed during the manufacturing process.

Claims

1. A molding equipment for molding multiple pairs of individual stackable inter-engaging bricks, the molding equipment comprising: a frame supporting a plurality of mold blocks arranged side by side over a flat surface and along a first direction, each mold block comprising distinct main cavities arranged in a row extending along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and each main cavity defined by substantially vertical cavity walls extending toward the flat surface from a top mold block surface to a bottom mold block surface; a plurality of grooves defined in each mold block to extend from said top to bottom surfaces, a set of the grooves in each mold block extending along the second direction and between each main cavity thereof; a plurality of separating plates distinct from the mold blocks, each main cavity being split into two substantially symmetric sub-cavities by mating opposed protruding edges of each plate into respective grooves of said groove set, whereby each of two opposed brick-shaping surfaces of each plate defines a sub-cavity wall extending from said top to bottom surfaces; and a plurality of sets of upper and lower dogs securing the separating plates to a respective one of said mold blocks, each upper and lower dog having a securing element on one side thereof mating with one of said plates at an edge thereof, and at least some of the upper and lower dogs having a securing element on an opposing side thereof mating with another one of said plates at an edge thereof.

2. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the separating plates are secured to the top and bottom surfaces of a respective one of said mold blocks.

3. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein each of said rows comprises end main cavities located at opposite mold block ends along the second direction and intermediate main cavities located between the main end cavities, whereby separating plates splitting end main cavities are mounted at one edge by end mounting dogs having one of said securing elements and at another edge by intermediate mounting dogs having both of said securing elements, the second of said securing elements mounting an edge of a separating plate splitting one of the intermediate main cavities.

4. The molding equipment of claim 3, wherein each separating plate splitting adjacent main cavities in a respective mold block is mounted to the mold block using intermediate mounting dogs.

5. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the frame comprises: longitudinal bars extending along the first direction on two opposing sides of the plurality of mold blocks; and lateral support plates extending along the second direction between the longitudinal bars on two other opposing sides of the plurality of mold blocks, the lateral support plates being mounted to the longitudinal bars for securing the plurality of mold blocks together during molding.

6. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the plurality of mold blocks are secured to the longitudinal bars.

7. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the separating plates are interchangeable.

8. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the separating plates each have an upper and lower securing element of said protruding edge, the upper and lower plate securing elements mating with the securing elements of upper and lower dogs respectively.

9. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the separating plates are designed to be interchangeable with a pair of groove forming elements, the groove forming elements having a protruding portion defined by a v-shaped cross-section extending from said top to bottom surfaces, and each protruding portion being mateably receivable in a respective one of said mold block grooves to be secured using respective mounting dogs.

10. The molding equipment of claim 1, further comprising a brick extraction module for extracting the bricks after casting, the brick extraction module comprising an upper plate mounted to a lower heads substantially corresponding to the shape of the bricks.

11. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the main cavities are identical to one another and the sub-cavities are identical to one another.

12. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the mold blocks are identical to one another.

13. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the separating plates are made from metal.

14. The molding equipment of claim 13, wherein the metal is cast iron or steel.

15. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein each of the brick-shaping surfaces is smooth.

16. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein each of the brick-shaping surfaces is embossed.

17. The molding equipment of claim 16, wherein the embossed surfaces comprise projections and/or cavities.

18. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein the sub-cavities are defined to mold the bricks on side surfaces thereof, each brick having a ratio of the side surface to brick length of 26.65:1, whereby the bricks having said ratio can be unmolded in an uncured form without falling down, being damaged, buckling, or otherwise deforming.

19. The molding equipment of claim 1, wherein each of said securing elements is an indentation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is an isometric view of prior art molding equipment used to manufacture splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks;

(3) FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an individual stackable inter-engaging brick;

(4) FIG. 3 is a top view of molding equipment to be used in manufacturing splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks in accordance with the present invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a top view of the molding equipment to be used in manufacturing individual smooth (or embossed) face stackable inter-engaging bricks in accordance with the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a top view of two individual smooth (or embossed) face stackable inter-engaging bricks as produced in the molding equipment shown in FIG. 4;

(7) FIG. 6 is an isometric of a single smooth face stackable brick in accordance with the invention;

(8) FIG. 7 is a top view of splittable bricks as produced in the molding equipment shown in FIG. 3;

(9) FIG. 8 is a side view of stacked bricks in accordance with the invention;

(10) FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a single split face stackable brick in accordance with the invention;

(11) FIG. 10 is a top view of smooth (or embossed) face bricks as produced in the molding equipment shown in FIG. 4;

(12) FIG. 11 is an isometric view of a single embossed face stackable brick in accordance with the invention;

(13) FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the brick separating element to be used in manufacturing smooth face stackable inter-engaging bricks;

(14) FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the brick separating element to be used in manufacturing embossed face stackable inter-engaging bricks;

(15) FIG. 14 is a side view of one brick separating plate to be used in manufacturing embossed face stackable inter-engaging bricks;

(16) FIG. 15 is a side view of a possible pattern created by using several embossed face stackable inter-engaging bricks.

(17) FIG. 16 is a top view of a prior art splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks as produced by a prior art molding equipment.

(18) FIG. 17 is an isometric view of a molding equipment to manufacture splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks according to the present invention;

(19) FIG. 18 is an exploded view of the molding equipment shown in FIG. 17;

(20) FIG. 19 is a front elevation view of the molding equipment shown in FIG. 17;

(21) FIG. 20 is a rear elevation view of the molding equipment shown in FIG. 17;

(22) FIG. 21 is a top plan view of the molding equipment shown in FIG. 17;

(23) FIG. 22 is bottom plan view of the molding equipment shown in FIG. 17;

(24) FIG. 23 is a top view of a plate holding element;

(25) FIG. 24 is a cross sectional view of the molding cavity;

(26) FIG. 25 is a cross sectional view of a splitting plate for an embossed brick;

(27) FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the splitting plate for an embossed brick;

(28) FIG. 27 is a rear view of the splitting plate of FIG. 26;

(29) FIG. 28 is a side elevation view of the splitting plate of FIG. 26;

(30) FIG. 29 is top plan view of the splitting plate of FIG. 26;

(31) FIG. 30 is a front elevation view of the splitting plate of FIG. 26;

(32) FIG. 31 is bottom plan view of the splitting plate of FIG. 26.

(33) FIG. 32 is a left side elevation view of the molding equipment shown in FIG. 17.

(34) FIG. 33 is a perspective view of the elongated “v” shaped inducing member with securing dogs, omitting the molding cavities.

(35) FIG. 34 is a perspective view of separating plates and securing dogs omitting the molding cavities.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(36) A novel molding equipment for molding inter-engaging bricks and a method for using the same will be described hereinafter. Although the invention is described in terms of specific illustrative embodiments, it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited thereby.

(37) With reference to the annexed drawings, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be herein described for indicative purposes and by no means as of limitation.

(38) The drawings and the description attached to it are only intended to illustrate the idea of the invention. As to the details, the invention may vary within the scope of the claims. So, the size and shape of the individual stackable inter-engaging brick 1 (FIG. 6) may be chosen as desired, as long the size and shape enable the individual brick to stand on its side uncured as shown in FIG. 6 without falling over, being damaged, buckling or being otherwise deformed during the manufacturing process.

(39) Referring to FIG. 6, for a single individual stackable inter-engaging brick 1 having the present side-section shape 3 shown will stand on its side uncured without falling over, being damaged, buckling or being otherwise deformed during the manufacturing process if the side-section area 3 to the brick length 2 ratio is 26.65:1. As such, for a brick of this shape, a ratio of approximately 26.65:1 is preferred to provide an optimal standing brick. However, given other brick characteristics such as brick material, brick shape, brick side-section inertia momentum and brick length according to FIG. 6, the ratio would be different.

(40) Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the molding equipment main body 10 is illustrated. Several cavities 12 are created in the molding equipment main body 10. The cavities 12 are used to cast the concrete or other appropriate material to produce bricks (not shown here).

(41) FIG. 3 shows molding equipment for producing splittable brick units. However, in FIG. 4, a brick separating element 11 has been attached to the mold 12 (see FIG. 3) at attachment points 20 and 21. The brick separating element 11 attached at attachment points 20 and 21 thus creates two separated cavities 13 to mold individual smooth or embossed face bricks.

(42) FIG. 12 shows the brick separating element used to manufacture individual smooth face bricks. The upper part 30 of the brick separating element has openings 31 at both ends of the upper part to secure the brick separating element to the molding equipment main body 10 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The brick separating element may have several brick separating plates 32.

(43) FIG. 13 shows the brick separating element used to manufacture individual embossed face bricks. The upper part 30 of the brick separating element has openings 31 at both ends of the upper part to secure the brick separating element to the molding equipment main body 10 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The brick separating element may have several brick separating plates 33.

(44) Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, smooth 32 and embossed 33 brick separating plates are illustrated. The smooth 32 and embossed 33 brick separating plates have “V” shaped grooves 34 on each side to secure each brick separating plate 32/33 in the molding equipment main body 10 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

(45) Notably, in the presently claimed invention, the brick separating elements 11 fully separate the cavities 21 into two fully separated sub-cavities. Moreover, the bricks resulting from the molding equipment are fully separated and do not need any additional splitting step.

(46) Now referring to FIGS. 17-18, according to another embodiment of the present invention if shown a novel molding equipment used to manufacture splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1. The molding equipment used to manufacture splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1 comprises a main body 200 and a brick extraction module 220.

(47) The main body 200 further comprises at least one, preferably a plurality of molding blocks having a series of moulding cavities for the manufacture splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1. According to the present invention, the moulding cavities may be used for the manufacture of splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1 or may additionally comprise a middle plate 111 used to mold the brick without any further splitting required. According to this latter embodiment, the mortarless inter stackable bricks 1 are typically manufacture using a similar molding cavity whereas the user employ a fixation system for securing the separating plates 111, to the molding blocks.

(48) The fixation system referred herein comprises dog elements designed to secure the separating elements, such as separating plates 111, to the molding blocks. The separating elements are inserted in the molding cavities of the molding blocks. The separating elements are than secured using an upper and lower dog respectively located on top and below the separating elements. The dogs are generally fixated to the molding blocks using at least one, preferably two fasteners. Depending on the configuration of the molding blocks there may be various types of dogs. In the present embodiment, three different types of upper 130, 132, 134 and lower 140, 142, 144 dogs are used. The first upper dogs type 130 are located toward the lowed portion of the inter-engaging stackable brick 1, the second upper dogs type 132 are overlapping two mold cavities and the third upper dogs types 134 are at the top of the upper portion of the decorative brick portion. Similarly, according to the present embodiment, the first lower dogs type 140 are located toward the lowed portion of the inter-engaging stackable brick 1, the second lower dogs type 142 are overlapping two mold cavities and the third lower dogs types 144 are at the top of the upper portion of the decorative brick portion. Understandably, depending on the configuration of the molding blocks and the molding cavity one could according to another embodiment without departing with the principle of the present invention, envision a dog designed to be universal thus having the ability to fit in all dog securing positions.

(49) According one aspect of the present embodiment, the same mold cavities may be utilised for the manufacture of both mortarless stackable inter-engaging bricks 1 and mortarless splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1. In the former mortarless inter-engaging stackable bricks 1 the dogs 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 144 will be used in combination with separating plates 111 whereas in the later mortarless splittable inter-engaging stackable bricks 1 the dogs 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 144 will be used in combination with elongated “v” shaped inducing member 120.

(50) According to one embodiment, to account for the use of the present dogs 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 144, the molding blocks and molding cavities 212 preferably have grooves for mating with the protruding portion 160 of the elongated “v” shaped inducing member 120 or the protruding portion 170 of the plate 111. These protruding portions 160, 170 are preferably used to respectively insure secure fixation of the elongated “v” shaped inducing member 120 and plate 111 to the mold during use of the molding equipment.

(51) According to one aspect of the present embodiment, the groove inducing portion 120 and plates 111 generally have indentations 113, 114, 112, 115 on their lower and upper portion as to mate with the groove or plate 111 securing portions of the dogs 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 144.

(52) The separating plates 111 may be of various kind to produce different patterns or textures. They optionally also may be flat. In addition, the separating plates 111 typically comprise a portion inducing part of the “v” groove shape the stackable inter-engaging bricks preferably have.

(53) Now referring to FIGS. 17-22 is shown the brick extraction module 220 having a lower head portion 228 substantially corresponding to the shape of the stackable inter-engaging bricks. The lower head 228 could be used for both individual mortarless stackable inter-engaging bricks 1 and mortarless splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1. However, for mortarless splittable stackable inter-engaging bricks 1, a different head without any void 240 separating both portions of the head 228a and 228b would be preferred.

(54) As such, the present invention typically allows one molding block and molding cavities to be used for various king of stackable inter-engaging bricks.

(55) Referring to FIG. 23, different types of dogs are shown securing a separating plate 111. The dogs shown in this embodiment each comprise two dog securing element or fasteners 150, 152. The various type of dogs 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 144 also comprise at least one indentation 180 mating the plate 111 or elongated “v” shaped inducing member 120.

(56) Referring to FIGS. 25-31, in the present embodiment, is shown an exemplary separating plate 111 having upper 112, 115 and lower 113, 114 indentation to mate with the securing dogs 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 144. Also shown in the FIGS. 25 and 26 are texture elements of the plate 195 to mold various design in the bricks.

(57) Understandably, one mold may use various or identical separating plates 111. Using identical plates 111 will result in identical stackable inter-engaging brinks whereas using different plates 111 will result in bricks having different designs.

(58) Now referring to FIG. 22, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the separating plates 111 are tapered from top to bottom. In other words, the upper portion of the separating plates 111 is wider than the lower portion. Accordingly, the upper portion of the mold cavity 401, the bricks are smaller than in the lower portion 402, thus promoting easy removal of the uncured brick from the mold. The smooth, embossed or textured plates 111 may all be tapered to promote easy brick removal. For example, a taped from a ¼ inch at the upper portion to the plate to a 3/16 inches at the bottom was found to be suitable for adequate removal of the bricks form the mold. Understandably, the degree of tapering will vary with the size and material of the bricks. Referring to FIG. 25, the upper portion 601 will preferably be wider than the lower portion 602 of the separating plates.

(59) Although the molding equipment and method for molding stackable inter-engaging bricks with smooth or embossed face has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the disclosure has been made by way of example only and that the present invention is not limited to the feature embodiment(s) described and illustrated herein, but includes all variations and modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

(60) While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.