Closure system

In an apparatus for storing pallets of uncured concrete blocks during the curing thereof comprising a kiln having a front infeed and a rear discharge end, a plurality of guideways in said kiln each of which extends from the front end to the rear end of said kiln, each of said guideways being proportioned to receive a series of the pallets being stored, said guideways being arranged in a pattern wherein guideways are disposed in horizontally aligned layers and vertically aligned tiers whereby the ends of said guideways adjacent said infeed and discharge ends are arranged in a grid pattern, infeed means including means to feed pallets of blocks into any selected one of said guideways, discharge means adjacent the discharge end of said kiln, and said discharge means including means for receiving pallets of blocks from any selected one of said guideways, the improvement which comprises:

• an end closure for each of the infeed and discharge ends of said kiln, each of said end closures comprising a plurality of vertically aligned panels, vertically disposed guide means for said panels, said guide means being supported adjacent the end of said kiln, said guide means slidably engaging the ends of said panels and supporting said panels in vertical alignment with the end of said kiln, a lifting means, connecting means on each of said panels adapted to provide a connection for said lifting means, means for positioning said lifting device adjacent a preselected panel, and means for actuating said lifting means to engage it with said connecting means on said panel and to raise said preselected panel and panels above said preselected panel whereby said blocks may be inserted into the infeed end of said guideways and said blocks may be withdrawn from the discharge end of said guideways.