Patent ID: 7140867

Claim:
A mold assembly for use in forming a pre-cured dry cast concrete block having upper and lower faces, a front face, a rear face, opposed side faces, and an integral flange extending below the lower face of the block, the mold assembly comprising: a plurality of side walls defining a mold cavity having an open mold top and an open mold bottom, a first of said side walls including an undercut adjacent the open mold bottom; a pallet having a flat surface that temporarily closes the entire open bottom of the mold cavity, and the undercut and a portion of the flat surface of the pallet define a flange-forming subcavity configured to form the flange of the block; and wherein a second side wall of the mold cavity, which is generally perpendicular to said first side wall, includes a first converging side wall portion that is moveably mounted so that it is movable between a first position at an angle with respect to vertical so that the mold cavity is wider at its top than it is at its bottom when dry cast concrete is introduced into the mold cavity, and a second position in which the bottom of the mold cavity is at least as wide as the top of the mold cavity to allow the pre-cured concrete block to be discharged through the bottom of the mold cavity, wherein the first converging side wall portion extends across the entire distance of the mold cavity between two opposed side walls that are adjacent the second side wall.