Apparatus for removing mortar from used brick

Apparatus for removing mortar from opposite flat surfaces of used brick comprising, in combination, elongated planar means defining a path supporting said brick on one of its flat faces thereon for forward movement along said path, means adapted to advance said brick forwardly along said path including a pair of loop members drivingly connected for synchronous movement along paths substantially parallel to the forward path of said brick and including an elongated cross member connected at its opposite ends to said loop members and extending therebetween and engaging said brick during such forward movement, means adapted to elevate said cross member to a vertical height above said planar means a distance approximately equal to one-half the nominal thickness of a brick, said means comprising a pair of substantially parallel and spaced apart elongated guides disposed on said planar means and having upper surfaces on which said cross member rides, a first grinding station disposed at a location along the length of said path, said first grinding station comprising a first abrasive roll means having its rotational axis disposed generally transversely of the forward direction of movement of said brick, said rotational axis being disposed on the underside of said planar member such that a portion of the abrasive surface of said first abrasive roll projects above the upper surface of said planar member in position to abrasively contact the bottom surface of a brick moved along said path, relatively nonabrasive means overlying the path of said brick at a location adjacent said first abrasive roll means and resiliently biased toward engagement with the top face of said brick to urge its bottom face toward engagement with that portion of said first abrasive roll means that projects above the top surface of said planar member as said brick passes between said first roll means and said relatively nonabrasive means, a second grinding station disposed along the length of said path and spaced apart from said first grinding station, said second grinding station comprising a second abrasive roll means having its rotational axis disposed generally transversely of the forward direction of movement of said brick and above said planar member for passage of said brick between said second abrasive roll means and said planar member during forward movement of said brick with its previously ground bottom face disposed on said planar member, whereby said second abrasive roll means functions to remove mortar from the top face of said brick, and means mounting said second abrasive roll means for generally vertical movement thereof with respect to the forward path of said brick and resiliently biasing said second abrasive roll means downwardly toward said planar member.