Patent GB-290702-A (GB)
Title: An improved method of, and machine for making concrete piles to serve as foundationsof buildings, structures, and the like
IPC: E02D5/42
Filed: 1927-01-20
Abstract: 290,702. Stern, O. Jan. 20, 1927. Piles; piles, driving.-Concrete piles to serve as foundations of buildings and structures are made by imparting tc a driving-shoe or cone vertical reciprocating movements such that concrete may be forced out of it by compressed air, and is deposited and rammed in such a way as to preserve the walls of the hole. The machine shown consists of a carriage, Fig. 1, with a tube 28, Fig. 4, and a ram, Fig. 5, operating therein by means of compressed air The frame 2, Fig. 1, of the machine is mounted on castor wheels 1, and carries posts 3 with rails 4 forming guides for pins 5 on a yoke bracket 6, from which are suspended a guide tube 28 and a driving cone 27, Fig. 4. These are suspended from the yoke 6, Fig. 1, by grapples 11, which are connected to ropes 10 passing over pulleys 8 on a bridge 9; the tube and cone are operated by a compressed-air apparatus 12, and by a ram, Fig. 5. This ram consists of a cylinder 58 with a cover 59, and is adapted to move on the tubes 60, 61 and the piston 62. Compressed air passed through the pipe 64 and the annulus 63, forcing down a sliding ring 45 and compressing the spring 65; the port 66 opens, and air passes into the space between the cover 59 and piston 62,'lifting the cylinder 58. At the upper end of its stroke it contacts with a control rod 46, Fig. 6, which, by means of the spring 47 and flange 49 lifts a valve 42, Figs. 5 and 6, so that a pipe 69 connects the air spaces on each side of the ring 45, which is lifted by the springs 65, and connects the air spaces on both sides of the piston 62. This air is vented through the ports 66, 67, 68, and the cylinder 58 falls and strikes the driving member 27 through the medium of the spring 30. To prevent a downward movement of the valve 42, and a consequent reversal of the movement of the cylinder 58 during its fall, a plunger 50, Fig. 6, of a dashpot 51 is secured to the flange 49, and is raised when the valve 42 is raised. Oil enters the space beneath the plunger 50 by a non-return valve 52 from a reservoir, and the downward movement of the valve 42 can be regulated by the adjustable pin 55, which is controlled by a spring 55<b> and adjusted by a screw cap and sleeve 55<a> as shown. The pin 55 may also be lifted by a cord so as to vent the oil and enable the fall of the ram to be reversed or checked. If desired, the ram may be lifted far enough to strike the ring 37, Fig. 4, and thus effect the withdrawal of the tube 28. In order to place the machine on wheels for removal from and transport to working-places, the pile 27 is driven into the ground by the ram 58. The ropes of the winch 15, Fig. 1, are then secured to the yoke 6, and compressed air admitted to the cylinder 12 so as to wind up the ropes and lift the frame 2 relatively to the pile 27, in which position it may be moved on the pile as a pivot. The frame may then be mounted on wheels and moved. To enable the machine to rotate on the pile 27 as a pivot, the yoke 6 has rollers which run on the upper rim of the tube 28. The tube 28 &c. may be withdrawn by means of the cylinder 12, the winches 14, 15, and the ropes 10 &c. connecting them to the yoke 6 &c. Inclined piles may be formed by inclining the machine.