Bolted mounting system for steel mold cores

Abstract

The invention relates to removable bolted cores (6) for molding machines (1) for producing concrete blocks with cavities or perforations. Said cores can be partly or completely removed from the mold, enabling: • - rapid and individual replacement of all or part of a damaged or worn core • - resistance to the appearance of cracks in the joining parts of the walls of the core, thereby greatly increasing the useful life of the core. Easy, quick and less expensive maintenance: - improved Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) due to the use of bolts, which means that the core elements can be exchanged quickly and simply in the mold frame.

Description

Bolted mounting system for steel mold cores Description TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a hollow concrete block molding device and more specifically to the core used therein for molding hollow concrete blocks. STATE OF THE ART

[0002] Hollow concrete block production machines are generally automatic machines used to produce hollow concrete blocks efficiently and on a large scale. These machines generally consist of two main parts: the lower part, which houses the mold cores, and the upper part, which contains the pressure pistons.

[0003] The mold is the most important part of the hollow concrete block machine. It is designed to create the specific shape of the hollow concrete block. They are usually made of steel and can be reused to produce many blocks. They are also equipped with central cores that create the cavities inside the blocks. Hollow block molds can be customized to produce blocks of different sizes and shapes, depending on the specific needs of the construction project.

[0004] The lower part of the hollow concrete block machine is called the cellular lower part. It houses the mold and is equipped with cells that open up and down to create the desired basic shape of the blocks. The mold cores are placed in the corresponding cells, where the cavities are to be arranged in the mold. The cores are held in place in the lower part using fastening means, usually welding.

[0005] The upper part of the hollow concrete block machine contains the pressure pistons which are attached to an upper holding plate. The pressure pistons are formed with lower pressure plates which fit into respective underlying cells in the lower part. These pressure plates can be used for the downward ejection of cast elements from the cells.

[0006] The hollow block production process begins by filling the mold with a concrete mix. The lower part is placed on a casting plane arranged on a vibrating table with the upper part in a raised position above the lower part. The concrete feed is guided along the upper side of the lower part into the space under the upper part to bring the concrete into the casting cells for filling with concrete. After completing the filling, the upper part is lowered until the said pressure plates hit the concrete surfaces in the respective casting cells. Then, the upper part is used as a multi-pressure piston to consolidate the concrete mass in the individual casting cells, which will occur under strong vibration of the molding equipment in order to release the air from the concrete mass.Thus, the concrete elements are consolidated into the desired compact block shape and uniform thickness. Then, the upper part is held in a higher position relative to the lower part, and the lower part is subjected to a force to be lifted from the casting plane, so that the cast elements, held under pressure by the upper part, cannot participate in this elevation and will remain upright on the casting plane during demolding. When demolding is completed by moving the lower part upwards to a position in which its underside is raised at least to the level of the pressure plates of the upper part.

[0007] In the current state of the art, your cores are manufactured by welding a set of steel cores. The welding process often results in deformation or distortion of the surface of the core walls. As a result, your metal cores have a limited lifespan due to the number of cycles they can withstand. This end of life is triggered by deformations such as buckling, distortion / buckling, and weld cracking. This phenomenon occurs when thin sheets of metal sheet undergo axial compression and the compressive load exceeds a certain limit. The sheet then begins to flex laterally due to static and dynamic loads, which can lead to damage. and deformations, These small deformations have a direct impact on the geometric tolerances of the blocks produced. (0008] for example US patent US4793587 shown in figures 1 and 2, propose core elements used for molding hollow concrete blocks which are welded to a steel core support, which in turn has been welded to the mold frame. Alternatively, the core elements have been welded to the support

[0009] Also known from German patent DE202006019944U1; a solution to solve the problems of the state of the art, it discloses a hollow core for a concrete block molding machine having at least one mold cavity, said core formed entirely of an abrasion-resistant steel provided with a bolted mounting system characterized in that it comprises: - Two semi-cores (BUV) which have a mounting surface; a horizontal bearing plate (DU) can usually be made with machine screws (DWS) screwed into the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member (HWS). The horizontal plate has two spaced slots which align with the overlapping laterally directed slots in the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member (HWS); A notch which serves to define a contact surface with the lower surface of the support web (HU); the lower surface of the horizontal plate (DU) is intended to be in face-to-face relationship with the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member (HWS).

[0010] Although this solution can reduce maintenance costs compared to the state of the art, it does not solve all the associated problems. The risks of fatigue and structural failure remain, which can lead to long-term durability issues. It is important to consider these factors when designing solutions to minimize potential risks and ensure the safety and durability of the structure.

[0011] On the other hand, this structure causes excessive bending of the structural elements and subsequently deformation of the cores, this leads to shape defects and irregularities in the final product and internal residual stresses which can make the concrete blocks more susceptible to cracking or deforming later under stress. This design therefore contains stress points and areas of weakness, which causes a misalignment of press components that are sized to operate within specific geometric constraints can result in uneven stresses when transmitting loads and can cause premature wear of the press and its components as well as operational problems.

[0012] These drawbacks highlight the importance of finding alternative solutions for fixing and replacing cores within the mold frame, in order to reduce maintenance problems, associated costs and improve the durability of the structure.

[0013] In this context, the objective of this invention is to solve the problems encountered in the state of the art by proposing removable cores that can be replaced in whole or in part. This solution also makes it possible to modify the shape of the blocks produced by replacing certain cores of the mold. By offering the possibility of dismantling and replacing these cores, this invention facilitates maintenance and replacement operations. It also makes it possible to adapt the mold configuration by selectively changing certain cores, thus offering greater flexibility in block production.

[0014] This invention reduces the costs associated with stopping production when replacing cores, while improving the durability of the mold structure. This optimizes the overall efficiency of the manufacturing process and meets changing production needs. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The present invention relates to bolted, removable cores made of abrasion-resistant steel for concrete mixing machines, which are generally used to produce concrete blocks with cavities or cells for the construction of walls and elements. Said cores are mounted on the lower part, which consists of cells opening upwards and downwards, which define the basic shape of the individual blocks and elements. The corresponding upper part has pressing pistons that protrude downwards from an upper holding and pressing plate.

[0016] The essential objective of this invention is to provide a core resistant to bending and shearing caused by excessive compressive forces on structural elements and to distribute the loads uniformly on the functional surfaces in order to reduce the defects on the final product and reduce the axial loads caused by geometric defects of the cores.

[0017] Said core is composed of two semi-cores having first surface and a second horizontal mounting surface on the lower leg of the cores which is used to adjoiningly mount the two cores through bearing plate elements. Furthermore, said object of claim 1 provides two horizontal bearing plates screwed onto the two L-shaped support elements which have two laterally spaced spacers aligned with the axes of the two spaced slots of the horizontal leg of the L-shaped element. The technical effect provided by this difference in mounting lies in the fact that the presence of two lower and upper bolted mounting surfaces as well as two horizontal support plates provided with the two spacers increases the resistance of the core to the occurrence of cracks in the assembly parts of the walls of said core. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0019] It will be understood that the drawings accompanying this description, are included to provide a better understanding of the present invention, and constitute a part of this description, illustrate various aspects, features, advantages of the present invention, and together with the following detailed description,

[0020] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, therefore, in practice, various features of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and that the dimensions of various features and elements shown or illustrated in the drawings and / or discussed in the following detailed description may be expanded, thus the following figures illustrate certain illustrative embodiments of the invention in which like reference numerals designate like elements. These illustrated embodiments are to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way. Figure 1: is a perspective view of the lower part of a state-of-the-art molding equipment Figure 2: is a perspective view of the state of the art of cores: Figure 3: is a perspective view of state-of-the-art molding equipment; Figure 4: is a sectional view of a state-of-the-art mold equipment. Figure 5: is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention illustrating the lower portion of the mold, more particularly the bolted mounting system for steel mold cores; Figure 6: is a perspective view of the bolted mounting system for steel mold cores; Figure 7: is an exploded view of the bolted mounting system of the removable core; Figure 8: is a sectional view of the bolted mounting system of the removable core; Figure 9: is a top view of the bolted mounting system of the removable core; Figure 10; is a bottom view of the bolted mounting system of the removable core; Figure 11: is a perspective view of the two halves of the core showing the bolts passing through the rectangular spacer 69; Figure 12: is a perspective view of the two halves of the assembled core showing the support plate elements (63) and (63'): Figure 13: is a perspective view of the core support core; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The description and drawings are illustrative and should not be construed as limiting. Many specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in some instances, well-known or conventional details, particularly for the mold, are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or more embodiments in this description may, but need not, be references to the same embodiment; and, such references designate at least one of the embodiments.

[0022] A reference in this specification to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the specification. Appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment" at various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment, and separate or alternative embodiments are not mutually exclusive of other embodiments. In addition, various features are described that may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described that may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.

[0023] The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinary meaning in the art, in the context of the disclosure, and in the specific context in which each term is used. Certain terms used to describe the information are discussed below, or elsewhere in the specification, to provide additional guidance to the practitioner regarding the description of the information. For convenience, certain terms may be emphasized, for example, by the use of boldface. The use of highlighting has no influence on the scope and meaning of a term; the scope and meaning of a term are the same, in the same context, whether it is emphasized or not. It will be understood that the same thing can be said in more than one way.

[0024] Accordingly, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any or all of the terms discussed herein, and no special significance should be attached to whether or not a term is elaborated or discussed herein.

[0025] Synonyms for certain terms are provided. The listing of one or more synonyms does not preclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this description, including examples of any term discussed herein, is illustrative only and is not intended to further limit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or any exemplified term. Similarly, the disclosure is not limited to the various embodiments given in this description.

[0026] Without intending to further limit the scope of the disclosure, examples of instruments, apparatus, methods and their associated results according to the embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note that headings or subheadings may be used in the examples for the convenience of the reader, which should in no way limit the scope of the disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this description relates.

[0027] Embodiments of the present invention include hollow concrete block molding devices, cores used therein for molding hollow concrete blocks, and molds for the concrete blocks. Methods and apparatus for designing and mounting the concrete block molding devices and / or the molds.

[0028] Figure 5 represents a molding device (1) equipped with a removable bolted system for steel cores on the lower part (3) resting on a casting board (4) on a vibrating table not shown.

[0029] Said mold comprises at least one central mold core (6) and / or at least one end core (5) arranged at a certain distance from each other in the longitudinal direction X, and they cooperate with core support webs (9). The mold cavities are delimited by the longitudinal walls of the cores (61) (61') and, in the longitudinal direction, by transverse walls (30) and (31) mounted on the lower part of the mold.

[0030] In order to allow rapid replacement of part of the core instead of having to replace the entire core in the event of failure, the cores are composed of two semi-cores formed from metal material having a generally rectangular shape with two rounded edges on the side in contact with the concrete,

[0031] In one embodiment of the invention, the two semi-cores (61) and (6T) are securely bolted and symmetrical about a longitudinal plane. Each of the semi-cores has an angle of . In addition, they are provided with a notch (62) and (62') which serves to define a contact surface with the lower surface (94) of the support web (9). The depth of the flat is designed such that the web (9) is locked, to ensure that immobilization of the cores (6) once the fixing elements (92) are fixed with the bolts (8) to the mold frame.

[0032] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the support core (9) extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the mold having at its ends a gripping shoulder (92) provided with a thread of the screws (8). In particular, the holding element can be in the vertical extent of the support core in a central region.

[0033] The two semi-cores (61) and (61') have two mounting surfaces provided, a vertical mounting surface on the L-shaped support member (66) (66') of the assembly which is used to mount the upper surface of the core through the bearing plate members (63) (63') and a horizontal mounting surface on the lower leg of the cores (61) (61') which is used to adjacency mount the two cores (61) and (61') through bearing plate members (69) (69')

[0034] The attachment of the horizontal bearing plates (63) (63') can generally be accomplished with machine screws screwed into the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member. The horizontal plate has two spaced laterally directed slots which align with the overlapping laterally directed slots in the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member. The combination of slots in the L-shaped member,

[0035] The lower surface of the horizontal plate 63 / 63', is intended to be in face-to-face relationship with the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member, and cooperates with two spaced apart spacers (64), and superimposed on the two spaced apart slots in the horizontal plate, of sufficient depth to allow sliding insertion through which a button rod or spacer is passed. The slots in the horizontal plate (63) and (63'), are milled to accommodate the bolt head in each slot. Said horizontal plates 63 / 63' are rounded so that they cover the shape of the two semi-cores.

[0036] The fixing of the horizontal support plate (69) / (69') can generally be carried out with screws or bolts passing through the rectangular spacer (69) has two laterally directed slots spaced apart and which align with the axis of the bolts (67) and the nut or flange nut.

[0037] Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes in detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit, scope, and teaching of the invention. For example, the core truss may be anything suitable for its purpose, the size and shape of the walls may vary, etc. Accordingly, the invention disclosed herein is to be limited only as specified in the following claims.

[0038] Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a mold provided with detachable cores, detachable core portions of the molding devices herein. This detachable core may be specially constructed for the required needs, and / or it may include other assembly mechanisms or selectively reconfigured for use in molds having non-detachable cores.

Claims

Claims 1. Hollow core for a concrete block molding machine having at least one mold cavity, said core formed entirely of abrasion-resistant steel provided with a buttoned mounting system characterized in that it comprises -Two semi-cores (61) and (6T) which have two mounting surfaces provided: a vertical mounting surface on the L-shaped support member (66) (66') of the assembly which is used to mount the upper surface of the core through the support plate members (63) (63') and a horizontal mounting surface on the lower leg of the cores (61) (6T) which is used to adjacency mount the two cores (61) and (6 T) through support plate members (69) (69'). -Horizontal support plates (63) (63') can usually be made with machine screws screwed into the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member (66) (66') The horizontal plate has two spaced slots which align with the overlapping laterally directed slots in the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member (66) and (66*). -From a notch (62) and (62 s ) which serves to define a contact surface with the lower surface (94) of the support core (9). The depth of the flat is designed so that Fame (9) is locked, to ensure that the cores (6) are immobilized once the fixing elements (92) are fixed with the bolts (8) to the mold frame. -A lower surface of the horizontal plate (63) and (63'), is intended to be in face-to-face relation with the horizontal branch of the L-shaped element (66) i (66'), and which comprises two laterally spaced spacers (64) aligned with the axes two spaced slots of the horizontal branch of the L-shaped element (66) / (66') 2. Hollow core for a concrete block molding machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the two semi-cores (61) and (61') are securely bolted and symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal plane. Each of the semi-cores have a draft angle a relative to the vertical plane, which facilitates the demolding of the blocks.

3. Hollow core for a concrete block molding machine according to claim 1 characterized in that it is mounted on the support core (9) which extend transversely to the longitudinal direction of the mold having at its ends a gripping shoulder (92) provided with a thread of the screws (8) so that it is mounted on the screed (3) without welding 4. Molding device for manufacturing molded products with cavities or voids in the form of concrete blocks, comprising a cellular lower part (1) defining the desired basic shape of the blocks, characterized in that said lower part (1) comprising at least cores (5) and (6) placed in respective cells where it is desired to arrange said cavities / voids in the mold, characterized in that it comprises the support core (9) extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the mold having at its ends a gripping shoulder (92) provided with a thread of the screws (8) so that they cover the notches (62) and (62') of the semi-cores which serves to define a contact surface with the lower surface (94) of the support core (9) so that the height of the flat is designed so that the core (9) is locked,to ensure that the cores (6) are immobilized once the fixing elements (92) are fixed with the bolts (8) to the mold frame., 5. . Molding device for manufacturing molded products with cavities or voids in the form of concrete blocks according to claim 4 characterized in that the cores and the support core (9) are assembled are welded

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