Disclosed is an apparatus to detect misaligned clay tiles in the chute of a tile-laying machine and realign any tiles incorrectly aligned. The apparatus is capable of being retrofitted onto existing tile-laying machinery as well as being incorporated into improved future designs. The apparatus is comprised of alignment sensing switches which in turn control solenoid operated repositioning levers. The levers realign the ceramic tiles such that they are properly positioned to avoid gaps in the tile field.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to automated tile-laying apparatus and 
more particularly to the specific improvement in existing tile-laying 
machines of eliminating gaps between tiles as they are laid. 
Porous clay tiles have long been used to draw excess water from a field or 
to disperse fluids to a field, for example, their use in septic tank drain 
lines where the liquid effluent from a septic tank is dispersed over a 
large ground area. To properly utilize the tiles, a trench up to several 
feet deep, is normally dug, lined with gravel and the cylindrical tiles 
are laid end to end such that a long porous pipe is formed. This is 
covered with a layer of gravel and then the trench is filled in. The fluid 
flows into the pipe which is essentially horizontal, stands and seeps 
through the porous sides of the pipe to be dispersed into the similarly 
porous ground. Early methods of constructing such a drain field required 
hand laying of the clay tiles which is a long arduous back-breaking chore. 
Machinery has been developed to automatically dispense the clay tiles in a 
closely connected end to end relationship to form the required porous 
pipe. However, occasionally the ceramic tile will jam up in the dispensing 
chute with the result that a substantial gap is formed between the end of 
the preceding cylinder and the beginning of the subsequent cylinder. These 
gaps if uncorrected would allow the pipe to be stopped up by dirt or allow 
the effluent in the operational pipe to train out through the gap rather 
than disperse slowly through the porous clay tile wall. This draining 
would allow a high concentration of effluent at one point in the ground 
resulting in seepage to the surface providing a health hazard or the 
possibility of erosion underground resulting in a collapse of the ground 
immediately above the gap. In the past, eliminating the gaps has been a 
manual operation necessitating either an additional operator on the 
machine to insure the clay tiles are correctly positioned in the 
dispensing chute or an operator following along behind the machine to 
slide the clay tiles into correct position. The ability to correct the 
tile positions in the chute would be highly desirous and would improve 
existing machinery and eliminate the necessity for extra personnel during 
the tile-laying operations. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate gaps which 
may occur between clay tiles in an automatic dispensing chute. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive 
compact degapping apparatus to eliminate gaps occurring between clay tiles 
in an automatic tile-laying apparatus. 
A still further object of the instant invention is to provide a degapping 
apparatus adaptable to be retrofitted to present tile-laying machinery. 
In the present invention two sensing switches are placed in series, one of 
which is actuated by the presence of tiles coming down the dispensing 
chute and the other is actuated when a gap appears between two tiles. When 
both switches have been closed, an electrical solenoid is operated which 
actuates positioning levers where one releases the misaligned tile while 
the other urges the tile into the correct alignment position. After the 
tile moves past the switches further along the dispensing chute, the 
switch which sensed the gap is opened and thus the solenoid is 
deactivated. The apparatus is constructed such that it can be mounted 
along any substantially vertical portion of the railed dispensing chute.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate 
identical or corresponding parts through the several views, and more 
particularly to FIG. 1 wherein a typical automated clay tile-laying 
operation is depicted. Ceramic tiles 10 are fed into the top of the 
dispensing chute 12 made up of rails 14 and cross braces 16 such that each 
tile overlaps the end of the preceding tile. FIG. 2 illustrates the 
problem when one tile 20 is underlapped, that is, its front edge is 
actually under the trailing edge of the preceding tile. This misaligned 
tile when laid on the ground at the end of the dispensing chute will have 
a large gap 22 between it and the preceding tile. 
FIG. 3 illustrates the mounting and operational relationship of the tile 
degapper 30 on the dispensing chute 12 by welding cross bars 31 on the 
chute rails 14. FIG. 4 is a cutaway view of the degapper 30 showing the 
misalignment switch lever 32 and the gap switch lever 34. Solenoid coil 36 
operates in conjunction with the solenoid slug 38 with flexible link 40 
connected between the slug 38 and rod 42. When the solenoid coil 36 is 
energized, the slug 38 is drawn into the coil pulling down on rod 42 
through the flexible link 40. Rod 42 has three stops 44 with arms 48 and 
50 positioned therebetween as shown. Arms 48 and 50 are rigidly connected 
through pivot points 52 and 54 to repositioning arm 56 and detaining arm 
58, respectively. Arms 48 and 50 are biased towards the lower stops 44 by 
springs 60 and 62, respectively. It can be seen that if the coil is 
energized and the rod 42 moves downward, detaining arm 58 will rotate 
about pivot point 54 and move in towards the rod whereas repositioning arm 
56 will move outward away from the rod 42. The solenoid and internal rod 
and arms are sealed in a dustproof, waterproof housing 64 to prevent 
premature deterioration of the mechanical and electrical parts. In this 
view, a stretch spring connected between arms 48 and 50 has been excluded 
for clarity of understanding. 
FIG. 5 shows the pivot points 52 and 54 from which arms 48 and 50, and 56 
and 58 protrude, respectively. Misalignment switch lever 32 and gap 
switchlever 34 are connected to switches 70 and 72, respectively, through 
pivots 66 and 68. Springs and stops (not shown) bias these levers in the 
position shown such that switches 70 and 72 are normally in the off and on 
positions respectively. The degapper apparatus and housing are mounted on 
chute rails 14 such that repositioning and detaining arms 56 and 58 
respectively are essentially in the center of the pathway of the clay 
tiles as they move down the chute 12. 
FIG. 6 is a view of FIG. 5 along section lines 6--6 showing the details of 
stretch spring 74, attachment point 76 and adjustment bolt 78. Stretch 
spring 74 is tensioned between arms 48 and 50 such that it retains arm 50 
against spring 62. This stretch spring is necessary to allow detaining arm 
58 (more clearly seen in FIG. 5) to be deflected inward by the side of a 
correctly aligned tile as it passes along the distribution chute while 
positioning the arm to engage misaligned tiles. The tension of spring 74 
is adjusted by tightening or loosening nut 78 on threaded shaft 80. 
FIGS. 7 and 8 along section lines 7--7 and 8--8, respectively, show the 
details of the location and operation of switches 70 and 72. FIG. 7 shows 
the tabs 80 and 82 which strike microswitches 70 and 72, respectively, to 
maintain switch 70 in an OFF position and switch 72 in an ON position as 
shown. FIG. 8 shows the details of the switch lever biasing springs 84 and 
86 which pull down on lever extensions 88 and 90 thus biasing misalignment 
switch lever 32 and gap switch lever 34 against stops 92 and 94, 
respectively. 
FIG. 9 illustrates the electromechanical relationship of the switch levers 
32 and 34 to the solenoid coil 36. Actuation relay 96 is electrically 
connected in series with switches 70 and 72 and power supply 98 such that 
when both switches 70 and 72 are closed, power is supplied through relay 
coil 100 causing contacts 102 to supply current through solenoid coil 36. 
As shown in FIG. 4, energizing coil 36 pulls slug 38 downward causing 
repositioning arm 56 to move outward and detaining arm 58 to move inward, 
thus repositioning a misaligned tile. 
FIGS. 10A, B, C, D and E show how a misaligned tile moving down the 
distribution chute is repositioned into correct alignment. Misaligned tile 
20 has forward end 104 lapped under rear end 106 of the preceding tile 10. 
As shown in FIG. 10A, the passage of tile 10 causes gap switch lever 34 to 
be depressed thus opening switch 72 while misalignment switch lever 32 is 
undepressed thus maintaining switch 70 in an open condition also. As the 
misaligned tile 20 moves down the distribution chute it depresses 
misalignment switch lever 32 turning on switch 70. However, because gap 
switch lever 34 is still depressed the gap switch 72 is still turned OFF 
precluding operation of the solenoid actuation relay 96. In FIG. 10C, the 
misaligned tile 20 has progressed far enough down the distribution chute 
12 to catch on detaining arm 58. Switches 70 and 72 are in the same 
condition as in 10B thus precluding solenoid actuation. However, in FIG. 
10D, aligned tile 10 has continued moving down the distribution chute 12 
allowing switch 34 to move towards the ON position. Misaligned tile 20 is 
still detained by detaining arm 34 and continues to actuate switch 70 in 
the ON position by depressing misalignment switch lever 32. When gap 
switch lever 34 has moved under the influence of spring 86 (as more 
clearly seen in FIG. 8), the switch 72 is also closed causing the 
actuation relay to be energized. This causes energization of the solenoid 
coil with the resultant clockwise movement of arms 56 and 58 rotate from 
the dotted line position to the solid line position. Misaligned tile 20 
(shown in its previous position) is bumped toward the position of tile 20' 
in the solid black line by lever 56. Detaining lever 58 is simultaneously 
withdrawn allowing the repositioned tile 20' to fall into a correct 
alignment, that is where forward end 104 laps over rear end 106 of the 
previous tile 10. The use of springs 60 and 62 tend to cushion the 
potentially violent action of the solenoid such that the movement of arms 
56 and 58 do not damage the clay tiles. Similarly the distance that 
repositioned tile 20' falls is not sufficient to cause damage to itself or 
the previous tile 10. 
FIG. 11 discloses a further embodiment of the degapping apparatus in which 
the repositioning arm 56, shown in FIGS. 1-10, has been eliminated. As in 
previous embodiments, a misaligned tile 20 is retained on arm 58 when in 
the dotted line position. When both switches (not shown) are closed, the 
energization of the solenoid coil forces arm 58 to move in a clockwise 
direction releasing tile 20. The tile then drops over the previous tile 10 
such that leading edge 104 laps over the trailing edge 106 of the 
preceding tile. The use of deformation 110 in the rear chute rail 14 
allows the rear end of the preceding tile to fall immediately under the 
misaligned tile such that when it is released by the detaining arm 58 the 
misaligned tile drops into correct position. A similar switch and solenoid 
arrangement as in FIGS. 1-10 can also be employed in the embodiment shown 
in FIG. 11. This embodiment has the advantage of reducing the number of 
arms that the solenoid is required to move thus reducing the power drain 
and complexity of the apparatus. However, it requires the rear rail of the 
tile-laying chute to be deformed to allow the trailing edge of the 
previous tile to fall directly under the center of the detained tile 20. 
This deformed chute rail is not as easily retrofitted into the current 
tile-laying machinery although it could be readily incorporated in the 
design of new equipment. 
Clearly, those skilled in the art could devise modifications and varying 
arrangements to accomplish the same results in view of the above 
teachings. Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present 
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to 
be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention 
may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described therein.