Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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IMPROVEMENT IN AN APPARATUS FOR AGEING ARTIFICIAL STONE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of apparatus for ageing
stone and
method thereof. More particularly, it concerns an apparatus for distressing,
in
particular visually, ageing stones and the method thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known that stones can be distressed by putting them in a rotating drum
for a
while. A number of stones is hereby provided in this drum, such that these
stones
1 o are tossed as the drum rotates, resulting in that pieces of the stone
edges break off
and these stones look older at the end of the process.
This known technique is disadvantageous in that the stones leave the drum in a
disordered manner. The further transport of the stones can take place either
in a
disordered manner, for example in container bags, or in ordered manner, for
example stacked on pallets.
The use of container bags is disadvantageous in that they are expensive and
difficult
to handle.
In order to be transported on pallets, the distressed stones which leave the
above-
mentioned drum in a disordered manner will have to be piled up and stacked up
2 o again, which can only be carried out by very expensive machines or by
means of a
time-consuming manual manipulation.
An example of a method and device for ageing stone found in the Applicant's
prior
patent application no. EP 0 860 258.
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Also known in the prior art is EP 0 860 258 which describes a method and a
device
for distressing stones whereby such stones are beaten back and forth between
the
two planar elements by subjecting one or both of these elements to a vibratory
movement.
The present invention is an improvement of the prior art method and device
disclosed in EP 0 860 258. More specifically, the present apparatus for ageing
stone aims at providing, in addition to the advantages of the disclosure of EP
0 860
258, stones with an improved visual effect of ageing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
1 o An object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus and
method
for ageing stone.
Accordingly, this object is achieved by an apparatus for ageing stone
characterized
in that it comprises:
a) an upper, substantially planar, element with an upper surface and a lower
surface, said upper element being movable between a lower position and an
upper position;
b) a lower element substantially parallel to the upper element, said lower
element being provided with driving means for driving said lower element in
a back and forth vertical movement; and
2 o c) a plurality of abrasive means made of hard material and hanging from
the
lower surface of the upper element,
wherein when said upper element is in its upper position, stones to be aged
are
loaded into the apparatus and spaced apart from the plurality of abrasive
means;
and wvhen said upper element is in its lower position, the plurality of
abrasive means
come into contact with the stones to be aged and the driving means of the
lower
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element provides a repeated and random impact on different areas of the stones
by
the plurality of abrasive means, thereby resulting in stones with an improved
aged
appearance.
Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:
d) adjustable guiding means defining a vicinity for stones to be aged.
The hanging abrasive means of the present invention are free to move in a
random
fashion. Thanks to the combination of the plurality of these hanging abrasive
means
and the driving means of the lower element, the hanging abrasive means can
move
under the impact induced by the driving means, and strike a plurality of areas
on
1 o each stone, thereby creating a worn away look on the stones.
According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the driving means induce an
up and
down or vibratory movement to the lower element, so as to produce a repeated
impact of the stones on the plurality of hanging abrasive means.
Such repeated impact on the surface of each stone thus leads to breakage and
rounding of the corners and edges of the stone which results in an improvement
in
the aged appearance of each stone. The surface of the stone, as impacted upon,
efficiently looks like it was worn away by time.
Once the stones have been striken, the upper element is moved to its upper
position
so that the aged stones can be spaced apart from the hanging abrasive means. A
2 o new set of stones can then be positioned within the vicinity of the
adjustable guiding
means and the apparatus can once again proceed with the ageing process on this
new set of stones.
in accordance with a preferred aspect, the stones are placed on the lower
element,
in a stepwise fashion, by a variety of means such as a pushing means, a
conveyor
or a walking beam.
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Preferably, the hanging abrasive means are made of hard material, such as hard
steel, cast iron or carbide. These hanging abrasive means may be chains, steel
strings or springs. Upon the repeated impact between the stones and the
hanging
abrasive means, the stones present an improved worn away by time look.
In accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, the hanging abrasive
means
are further provided with hard elements at a free end thereof. These hard
elements
are made of hard material, such as hard steel, cast iron or carbide, and can
be of
any shape, such as round, square, cubic, rectangular, triangular, half round
or
random. Upon the repeated impact between the stones and the hard elements at
the
l0 free end of the hanging abrasive means, the stones present an even more
improved
wom away by time look because of the increased abrasiveness of both the
hanging
abrasive means and the hard elements.
Also preferably, the adjustable guiding means can either project from the
lower
surface of the upper element or from the lower element. The guiding means are
adjusted according to the dimensions of the set of stones to be aged.
According to
a preferred aspect of the invention, the adjustable guiding means delineate a
substantially rectangular vicinity. More preferably, this vicinity is 1.2
meter in length
by 1 meter in width.
The object of the present invention is also achieved by a method for ageing
stones,
2 o using the apparatus described hereinabove.
As can be appreciated, the improved apparatus for ageing stone according to
the
invention provides stones with an improved aged or worn away appearance.
These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will
be
better understood upon reading the following nonrestrictive description of
preferred
2 5 embodiments thereof, made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent
upon
reading the detailed description and upon referring to the drawings in which
Figure 1 is part of the prior art and schematically represents the method
according
S to the invention of the Applicant as set forth in EP 0 860 258.
Figure 2 schematically represents a cross section view of an apparatus,
according
to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 shows a section according to line III-III in Figure 2.
Figures 4A and 4B schematically represent cross section views of an apparatus,
1 o according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure
4A
represents the apparatus in a non-operative position and Figure 4B represents
the
apparatus in an operative position.
While the invention will be described in conjunction with example embodiments,
it
will be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention
to such
embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives,
modifications
and equivalents as may be included as defined by the appended claims.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given
similar
reference numerals and in order to lighten the figures, some elements are not
2 0 referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a preceding
figure.
As can be appreciated in Figure 1, the prior art method according to the
invention
of EP 0 860 258, mainly consists in that the stones (1 ) to be aged are
provided in a
suitable device (2) between two elements (3 and 4). The stones (1 ) are beaten
preferably back and forth, as depicted, by making one or both of the elements
(3, 4)
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carry out a certain movement, in particular a vibratory movement. By beating
the
stonee (1 ) back and forth, as indicated by B, pieces will break off the
stones (1 ), so
that they look worn away by time.
Referring to Figures 4A and 4B, an apparatus for ageing stone (10) according
to a
preferred embodiment of the invention, comprises an upper element (12) and a
lower
element (14). The upper element (12) is substantially planar and comprises an
upper surface {16) and a lower surface (18). As can be more specifically
appreciated in Figure 4A, the lower surtace (18) of the upper element (12) is
provided with a plurality of hanging abrasive means (20) made of hard
material.
1 o According to the present embodiment, the hard material can be hard steel,
cast iron,
carbidie or any equivalent thereof. Accordingly, the hanging abrasive means
(20)
can b~ all chains, all steel strings, all springs or any combination thereof.
More preferably, as illustrated in Figures 4A and 4B, each hanging abrasive
means
(20) is further provided with hard elements (22) also made of hard material
such as
hard steel, cast iron, carbide or any equivalent thereof. Even more
preferably, the
hard elements (22) can be of any shape. By "any shape", it should be
understood
that etch one of the hard elements can present a round, square, cubic,
rectangular,
triangular, half-round or random shape.
As can be appreciated in Figures 2, 4A and 4B, the lower element (14) of the
2o apparatus (10) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention
is
substantially parallel to the upper element (12). The lower element (14) is
further
characterized in that it is provided with driving means.
As mentioned hereinabove, the upper element (12) is movable between an upper
position, illustrated in Figure 4A, and a lower position, illustrated in
Figure 4B.
When the upper element (12) is in its upper position (Figure 4A), a distance X
is
provided between the lower surface (18) of the upper element (18) and the
surface
(24) of the lower element (14) bearing the stones (1 ). Distance X provides
the space
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necessary to load the stones to be aged onto the surface (24) of the lower
element
(14).
When the upper element (12) is in its lower position (Figure 4B), a distance Y
is
provided between the lower surface (18) of the upper element (18) and the
surface
(24) of the lower element (14) bearing the stones (1 ). Distance Y is the
distance at
which the stones to be aged (1 ) come into contact with the free end of the
hanging
abrasi~re means (20) and more preferably with the hard elements (22).
As can also be seen in Figure 4B, the double-headed arrow illustrates the back
and
forth nnovement, in this case the up and down movement, of the tower element
(14)
to provided by driving means. As a result, stones (1) previously loaded
between the
upper (12) and lower (14) elements are thown up and down due to the vibration.
Moreover, the stones (1 ) to be aged come into repeated contact with the
hanging
abrasive means (20) and more preferably with the hard elements (22).
Consequently, the hanging abrasive means (20) and/or the hard elements (22)
can
freely: and randomly act on the stones (1 ) to be aged. The present preferred
embodiment is characterized in that the hanging abrasive means (20) and/or the
hard elements (22) can freely move under the impact of the stones (1 ) under
vibration, and randomly strike different areas of these stones (1 ).
Consequently,
after being impacted upon, the stones (1 ) present an improved worn away look.
2 o At the end of the ageing process, the upper element (12) is moved to its
upper
position (Figure 4A) in order to space the hanging abrasive means (20) and/or
the
hard dements (22) apart from the aged stones. Another set of stones (1 ) to be
aged
can then be loaded into the apparatus (10) so that the ageing process can
begin
again. The stones (1) to be aged are preferably loaded onto the surface (24)
of the
lower element (14) by way of a pushing means, a conveyor or a walking-beam
(not
illustrated herein), preferably in a stepwise fashion.
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in
detail herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be
understood that
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the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments and that various
changes
and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or
spirit
of the present invention.
