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AssigneeUnited States Gypsum Company
InventorEugene Scott STIVENDER
Estimating the term…
A vibrating flexible smoothing sheet or shroud disposed transversely of a direction of travel of a formed fiber panel including gypsum-cementitious slurry and embedded chopped fibers. The sheet is used to smooth the surface of the panel as it exits a fiber embedment station of a structural cementitious panel production line to remove grooves and other non-uniform surface imperfections to reduce the need for costly finishing after the panels are cured and cut to size. The flexible sheet is designed to float over the surface of the formed panel without tearing or otherwise damaging the surface of the heavily fiber reinforced surface layers of the panel. The vibrating sheet is pivotally mounted on the side dams of the web production line so it can float over the panel surface during use, but be raised off the line when not in use.
The method of claim 11, the smoothing device smoothing the top surface of a formed, but not yet set, fiber reinforced gypsum-cementitious structural panel comprising slurry and embedded chopped fibers, in the structural panel production line, wherein the panel is transported on a moving carrier having a direction of travel relative to a support frame, the device comprising:
The method of claim 11, wherein the vibrator is attached to a source of supply of air to vibrate the stiffening member.
The method of claim 11, further comprising weights on each side of the flexible sheet surface opposite the surface that contacts the slurry for holding the edges of the sheet from moving upward.
The method of claim 11, wherein the stiffening member is mounted about 6 to about 8 inches from a trailing downstream edge of the flexible sheet.
The method of claim 11, wherein the flexible sheet is about 2 to 4 feet in length and the width is about the same width as the panel.
The method of claim 11, comprising pivoting the flexible sheet up and away from the production line when it is not in use.
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The method of claim 11, wherein the flexible sheet has a curved wall for contacting the panel, a first upstanding wall extending upwards from an upstream edge of the curved wall, and a second upstanding wall extending upwards from a downstream edge of the curved wall, wherein the curved wall forms an angle of less than 5° with the upper surface of the panel on the upstream side of a nip formed by the curved wall and panel;
A continuous method for smoothing the top surface of a formed, but not yet set, fiber reinforced gypsum-cementitious structural panel comprising slurry and embedded chopped fibers, in a structural panel production line comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.