Patent GB-626541-A (GB)
Title: Mechanical bricklayer
IPC: E04G21/22
Filed: 1947-03-17
Abstract: 626,541. Brick-laying machines. HOLLAND, G. H. March 17, 1947, No. 7367. Convention date, March 27, 1946. [Class 20(iv)] [Also in Group XXX] The laying apparatus 27 of a bricklaying machine is mounted on an extensible arm rotatable about a vertical pillar 18 which is located at a predetermined distance from the wall to be built, bricks from a dump at ground level being brought by a conveyer 21 to a roller conveyer 22 which transfers the bricks to a chain conveyer on the extensible radial arm. The arm consists of an outer frame 145, adjustably secured by screws 150 in slots 149 in the rotatable block 94, and an inner frame 151 slidably adjustable in the frame 145 and carrying a chain conveyer 26 for feeding bricks to the layer 27. The separate conveyers and the layer are driven either by a single prime mover, through shafting or gearing, or independent motors may be used for driving each or a number of components. The arm 145, 151 is swung about the pillar 18 by a positively driven pinion engaging with a rack 89, the pinion being driven by a gear box which is driven by, and slides on, a splined shaft arranged longitudinally of the arm. The apparatus is set up with the rack 89 parallel with the wall to be built, and the layer 27 moves in a straight line during the swinging of the arm about the pillar 18, this being effected by the sliding of the gear box on the splined shaft, the gear box being arranged through rack and pinion mechanism, to slide the inner frame 151 of the radial arm, to an .appropriate extent. The parallelism of the layer 27, with the wall, during its straight line movement is ensured by the pivotal mounting 210 and a worm and worm wheel connection 208 with adjusting means which comprise a pinion, on a shaft 275, engaging with a circular rack 88 and driving, during the swinging of the radial arm, a shaft 277 and a flexible coupling shaft 282. The bricks are delivered from the roller conveyer 22 in front of a cam-operated pusher which places them in single file on the chain conveyer 26. A finger is moved by a cam into and away from the path of the bricks on the conveyer 26, to ensure that the delivery of bricks to the layer is regular. The bricks are delivered by the conveyer 26 and a shoot 169 to the floor 172 of the layer 27, and are pushed by a member 231 against the front wall 170. The pusher is arranged to move the brick squarely against the wall irrespective of the angular position of the layer about its pivot axis 210. The pusher is attached pivotably to a head 223, so that it may ride over the next brick during the return stroke, and is secured to a coil spring 225 formed with teeth 226 slidable in a slot in the spring casing 220. The teeth 226 are engaged by a toothed wheel 227 which is mutilated to permit the return of the pusher under the influence of a spring 230 inside the coil 225. The tube 220 ends in a flare 221 which faces a flare 182 on a tube 181, the flares being symmetrically disposed relatively to the pivot 210. The head 223 may thus pass from one tube 220 to the other tube 181, irrespective of the alignment, or otherwise, of the tubes. The brick thus positioned against the wall 170, is moved by a pusher 197 on a rack 188 in the direction opposite to that of the layer 27, and at a slightly greater speed, the brick being positioned between an extension of the wall 170 and a leaf spring 179 on a plate 177. The brick is spaced, temporarily, from the brick beneath by a finger 174, the digging out of the mortar by the brick being thus prevented. The rack 188 is actuated by a pinion 187 having missing teeth whereby a tension spring may return the rack for the next operation, the pusher 197 riding over the next brick. The pinion is on a shaft 184 driven by a flexible shaft 273<SP>A</SP>. The pusher 197 is yieldably connected to the rack to make the distance between the laid bricks slightly greater than the precalculated distance. The mortar is supplied from a pipe 199, through branch pipes 203A, in two streams to the end face of the brick, a valve 204 being actuated by a cam on the shaft 184 just before the brick reaches its position. Mortar is also supplied through a branch 202 which forks and runs under the bottom 172 of the layer 27 and discharges on both sides of the finger 174. Cam means may be provided for pressing the brick on to the mortar. In a modification, the telescopic radial arm is replaced by a hinged system of arms.