Machine for making concrete pipes
AssigneeInternational Pipe Machinery Corporation
InventorTarek A. Adly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A concrete pipe making machine having a pair of combined roller head and vibrating core assemblies used with two molds to prepack and vibrate concrete within the molds to simultaneously produce two concrete pipes. A controller is programmed in response to packing forces of the packerheads to control conveyors that discharge concrete into the molds and the lift speed of the packerhead and core assemblies to produce concrete pipes having uniform density throughout the length of the concrete pipes.
Claims13
A machine for making concrete pipe with the use of vertically oriented mold means having a side wall surrounding a mold chamber comprising:
- a support for holding the mold means in vertically oriented position, packerhead means located in vertical alignment with said mold chamber for packing concrete adjacent said side wall to form a concrete pipe, means supporting the packerhead means for movement into and out of the mold chamber, drive means for rotating the packerhead means, means for supplying concrete to the mold chamber above the packerhead means, lift means connected to the packerhead means to selectively move the packerhead means into and out of the mold chamber to form a concrete pipe when concrete is supplied to the mold chamber, sensor means for monitoring moisture content of concrete discharged into the mold chamber above the packerhead means, said sensor means providing a signal representative of the moisture content of the concrete, means for directing water into the mold chamber above the packerhead means and control means responsive to the signal for regulating the means for directing water into the mold chamber whereby the moisture content of the concrete in the mold chamber is maintained within selected limits during forming of the entire concrete pipe.
A machine for concurrently making at least a pair of concrete pipes with the use of upright molds having side walls surrounding mold chambers comprising:
- a support for holding the molds in vertically oriented positions, at least a pair of rotatable packerhead means located in vertical alignment with the chambers of the molds, means for supporting the packerhead means for concurrent movement into and out of the chambers of the molds to form concrete pipes in the molds, separate drive means for rotating the packerhead means, separate means for supplying concrete to the mold chambers above the packerhead means located therein, lift means connected to the means for supporting the packerhead means operable to selectively move the packerhead means concurrently into and out of the chambers of the molds to concurrently form concrete pipes when concrete is supplied to the chambers of the molds and the packerhead means are rotated and lifted relative to said molds, means for sensing the power used by each drive means for rotating the packerhead means connected to each drive means and providing signals representing each sensed power, and control means responsive to said signals for separately regulating the speed of operation of each of the separate means for supplying concrete to the mold chambers to independently maintain selected amounts of concrete in the mold chambers above each of the packerhead means whereby each packerhead means has substantially constant and independent packing forces during the concurrent forming of the concrete pipes, sensors means of monitoring moisture content of concrete discharge by the separate means for supplying concrete to the mold chambers, said sensor means providing a signal representative of the moisture content of the concrete, means for directing water into said mold chambers, and another control means responsive to the signal for regulating the means for directing water into the mold chambers whereby the moisture content of the concrete in the mold chambers is maintained within selected limits.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.