DECORATION THEREON

In the manufacture of prefabricated wall elements of cast concrete having one side coated and/or decorated with brickwork, ceramic and mosaic material or the like, coating or ornamentation has so far been carried out by the coating or ornamental material in the form of bodies, tiles or the like being placed in the desired pattern, with their exterior faces turned downwards, onto specific devices arranged at the bottom of the casting moulds, said moulds thereafter being filled with the appropriate cast compound which was then spread out over the back and at least parti¬ ally around the circumference of the bodies or plates for embedment in the elements with their fronts exposed.

As is clearly understood, the cast material in this kind of wall elements cannot be allowed to reach the front face of the bodies or tiles constituting the coating or decoration, and for this reason the devices arranged at the bottom of the casting moulds for depositing the coating or ornamental material turned in reverse positions must serve to effectively prevent this from happening. In practice therefore, the devices referred to should provide a tight seal around the circumference of each single coating or decorative element while simultaneously being capable of securing them in their predetermined positions during the casting process.

However, considerable difficulties have appeared al¬ ready at this point and especially when using bricks as coating or decorative material, resulting in heavy wear on the sealing means of the aforementioned devices. These sealing means are extremely sensitive because their sealing action is normally not allowed to exceed a compara¬ tively narrow area around the circumference of each coating or ornamental element.

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An additional, equally or even more significant draw¬ back is that each single casting mould has to be equipped with such a device individually for each coating or decorative pattern intended for the respective wall element to be cast therein.

There is finally also the requirement of thoroughly cleaning said device each time a new casting cycle is to begin.

A apparatus for continually casting the type of wall elements referred to above is also previously known, wherein the device into which the coating or decorative elements are applied prior to adding the fresh concrete has the shape of a conveyor belt. Further to this apparatus having a somewhat complex design in its entirety while also being sensitive to operational disturbances, its conveyor-shaped device intend¬ ed for the application of individual coating or decorative elements is also sensitive to wear and has to be exchanged every time a new coating or decoration pattern is required. In addition, a thorough cleaning of the device, located at the bottom of the mould and embracing the individual coating or decorative elements, will be necessary in this apparatus as well.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the afore-mentioned disadvantages associated with the prior art methods and arrangements by proposing a new method suit¬ able for this purpose, as well as an apparatus which is well adapted for carrying out said method.

Considering the fact that it is already known within the technique of manufacturing prefabricated concrete wall elements, described herein by way of introduction, to cover and/or decorate said elements with a facing and/or ornamen¬ tal material such as bricks, ceramics, mosaic or any other material in the form of bodies, plates or the like, there is thus proposed according to the invention, in order to accomplish the intended purpose, a method which is primarily distinguished by the wall elements being cast in moulds

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exposing the element surface to be coated and/or decorated, said moulds being charged with reinforcement and possibly insulation, and then filled with fresh concrete, whereafter the coating and/or ornamental material bodies, plates or the like are deposited, arranged in a pattern designed for the wall elements, in a gripping means and positioned there while fully exposing the portions intended for embedment in the wall elements, the exposed portions of the bodies, plates or the like thereafter being introduced by means of the gripper to the desired anchoring depth in the uncured concrete mass filling the wall element moulds, whereafter the positioning of said bodies, plates or the like in the gripper is disengaged, the gripper is removed from the moulds and the concrete therein is finally left to harden until the coating and/or ornamental material has been securely embedded and the completed wall elements can be safely handled before being taken out of the moulds.

With the inventive method of placinq the coating or decorative material in a gripper which is totally indepen- dent of the casting moulds and which is used to introduce the decorative material into the casting moulds after -havin first charged said moulds with fresh concrete, and then lowering it into this compound only to a predetermined dept the sealing and cleaning problems associated with prior art technique have been entirely overcome. Moreover, one single gripper for the coating or decoration material may suffice to serve an entire production line, eliminating in this way the need of a separate device for each single casting mould. In addition, this gripper may easily be given such a general design that it can be used, without any change at all, for achieving a plurality of various coating or decorative patterns.

For enabling the coating and/or decoration material bodies, plates or the like to be quickly and correctly fixed in position in the gripping means there is suggested, according to the invention, to utilize pressure-medium controlled clampinα means.

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Insertion of the bodies, plates or the like into the uncurβd fresh concrete in the wall element moulds can advantageously be done by vibrating the gripping means, which is a method that also helps to improve the quality of the ready-moulded concrete elements.

One specific device, which has been tested in practice and found particularly useful in the process of carrying out the inventive method, is primarily distinguished in that it includes a gripper having at least one working area onto which the coating and/or decorative material bodies, plates or the like can be applied, while releasably fixed, in the pattern selected for the wall elements and with the portions intended for embedment in these elements exposed, said gripper being adapted to cooperate with casting moulds for the manufacture of the wall elements, and after having been charged with reinforcement, and insulation if desired, followed by the supply of fresh concrete, these moulds will leave the element surfaces intended for coating or decora¬ tion fully exposed, the gripper and the casting moulds also being operationally movable in relation to one another.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment of a device according to the invention, the gripper is designed as a rotatable drum having a number of working areas arranged along its circumference. A further particular advantage is gained in that this drum, further to being rotatable, is also vertically and laterally reciprocable.

.To facilitate insertion of the coating and/or decora¬ tive material bodies, plates or the like into the fresh concrete, and for improving the quality of the final product, the gripping means suitably incorporates vibration generatin members.

A gripper performed in accordance with the invention will be easily operable without requiring much space if it is pivotally or rotatably journalled in frame sections articulatedly fixed to a support structure.

A gripping means which is particularly easy to operate

and charge with coating and/or decoration material bodies, plates or the like is obtained if the working area or areas of the gripper have fixed as well as movable support surfaces for a releasable grip of the coating and/or decorative material. In practical tests it has proved especially useful to have the support surfaces, serving to releasably hold the decorative material, shaped as elongate members running in parallel and forming between them grooves for the application of said material; one of these members being movable and surrounded by two fixed members. These fixed members may then preferably have the shape of ridges or rails disposed over the working area, whereas the movable members may be designed as pressure-medium fed hoses with flexible walls secured to the working area. The invention will now be described in more detail while referring to the accompanying drawings illustrating a Suitable embodiment of a device performed in accordance therewith. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one end portion of a gripping means incorporated in said device and designed as a rotatable drum with four working areas arranged along its circumference. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a portion of one of these working areas, charged with a number of bricks composed to form a simple masonry pattern on a prefabricated concrete wall element. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one end of the gripper with its associated anchoring elements. Fig. 4 is a corresponding perspective view illustrating the other end of the gripper. Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to that of Fig. 3 but seen from the opposite side of the gripper, whereas finally Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are views illustrating the auxiliary appliances for journalling and rotation of the gripper and disposed at both ends there¬ of.

As will be seen from the drawings, a gripper 1 is included in an apparatus according to the present invention for use in the manufacture of prefabricated walls of cast material such as concrete in particular, by providing said walls with a coating and/or ornamentation in the form of

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bodies, plates or similar facing and/or decorative material such as bricks, ceramics, mosaic or the like. According to the invention, said gripper can have one or more working areas; this specific embodiment exhibiting four such areas 2, 3, 4, 5 arranged along the circumference of the gripper 1 , said gripper thereby being designed as a rotatable drum. Besides being rotatable, the gripper or drum 1 is also reciprocable in its vertical and lateral directions, which is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 indicating by arrows the various alternatives of movement.

The reciprocating vertical and lateral movability of the gripper or drum 1 is accomplished by each of its ends being pivotally or rotatably journalled in its respective arm, which is articulatedly connected to a support section formed as a column 7 fixed to the floor and consisting of two interlinked members 6' 6". In fact, each one of said arms can be variably extended with the aid of a conventional, not more closely described arrangement and is further in communication, at its opposite end relative to the support column 7, with a conventional hoisting mechanism, also not shown here, by means of which the arms composed of the linked members 6', 6", together with the gripper or drum 1, can be raised or lowered as required. More _^ exactly, one 6' of the two linked members forming part of said arms consti- tutes an overhead arm section of variable extension which is articulatedly connected at one end to the support column 7, the other end being in communication with the hoisting mechanism while simultaneously articulatedly supporting the other arm section 6" which accommodates at its end freely depending from the link joint the bearings for the pivot pins 1 of the gripper or drum 1 as well as the auxiliary means for generating the rotational movements of the drum, occurring at intervals of 90 due to the circumference of the drum in this case being subdivided into four flat working areas following in sequence while forming right angles.

The interior of the gripper or drum 1 accommodates vibration generators of the kind normally used in concreting

The coating and/or decorative material, which consists of bricks 9 in the present case, can be applied to the different working areas 2-5 of the gripper or drum 1 while being releasably retained in a pattern 10 intended for the wall elements and with the portions 11 to be embedded in said elements fully exposed. To this end the working areas 2-5 have a number of fixed as well as movable support surfaces for the bricks 9. These support surfaces have the shape of elongate members 12,13 running in parallel and creating between them grooves 14 into which the bricks are applied. In the embodiment shown, one 13 of said members is movable and is surrounded by two fixed elements 12. As is especially evident from.Figs. 1, 6 and 7, the fixed elements 12 have the configuration of ridges or rails arranged on the working areas 2-5, whereas the movable elements 13 are formed as hoses with flexible walls secured to the working areas, said hoses containing pressurized medium with the aid of which the pressure in the hoses is adjustable so that the bricks 9 can either be retained on the working area or relieved therefrom. The pressure in the hoses and the adjustment thereof can be accomplished with the aid of appropriate prior art arrangements which need not be further described.

As mentioned above, the gripper or drum 1 is adapted for coaction with casting moulds in the manufacture of wall elements from a castable material such as concrete in this case. After charge with reinforcement and insulation if desired, followed by the supply of fresh concrete, the element surface to be coated and/or decorated is left exposed in the moulds so that, due to the movability of the gripper or drum, the bricks 9 while applied in a suitable pattern on one of the working areas 2-5 of the gripper or drum 1 can be brought in over the casting mould and down to a sufficient depth into the fresh concrete contained there¬ in, for the bricks to be properly embedded in the concrete.

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After introduction of the bricks by means of the gripping means down to the predetermined anchoring depth in the uncured concrete mass in the wall element moulds, the bricks are relieved from the gripper by reducing the pressure in the hoses forming part of the retaining means, whereafter the gripper is removed from the moulds and the concrete therein is left to harden long enough for the bricks to be securely embedded, and for the final wall elements to be ready for handling before being taken out of the moulds.

The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment described above and illustrated in the drawings, but can be modified in many ways within the scope of the following claims.