Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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1 The patent deals with reinforcements u~ed in cons-
truction , such a~ ln pillars, beams, support3, girders,
etc. The manufacture of reinforcements of thi~ kind i8
carried out either on site, where the construction i8 taking
place~ or in a factory~ in which case the prepared reiafor-
cements are transported to the construction aite to be
arranged in the place in question, that i~ for assembly.
A method of csrrying out these reinforcements elther
on ~ite or in a factory, by which a first cutting and aha-
ping operation i8 carried out on the different piecos ofiron needed for the said reinforcement. These pieces of
iron are then placed on tables or trostle bonts, where a
pre-assembly of the reinforcement to be made is carried
out. Next, the workers proceed to bind together thc mee-
15 ting points of the pre-assembled reiuforcement in the pla- -~
ce~ in queJtlon, with the re~nforcomont being ~tatic on the
trestle bents and the worker or workers mo~ing along ita ~-
lenoth until all tho necos~ary points have been bound toge- ~-~
thor~ thuo giving shape to the reinforcoment.
For binding together the mootiDg points~ the tradi- ~ ~
tional way i8 known~ ba~od on manually placing a wire at `
each point ~nd later braiding it by moan~ of 8 tool~ for
in tanco a psir of plior~ or p~ncera.
Thia traditional ay~to~ naeda apecially akilled
workors, callod ~teel erectora or atoolworkora~ who uaually
do~olop a high level of production~ in tho region of 45 to
50 Kg. of iron por hour and even up to 60 Kg. of iron per
hour por poraon. ~ e problem with this traditional mothod
of asaembly lies in the high production costs, due especia
3 lly to the high coat of akilled labour aod its ~carcity aa
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~ 1 workers of thi~ kind are needed by all conatructor~
.4 More recently, pre-shaped clips are being used which
are fitted where the reinforcement members croas. These
clip8 are provided with projectiona which are picked up by a
tool which automatically braids the said projectiona until a
perfect closure of the clip ~8 obtained. ; --
The advantage o using clips and automatic braiding
toolJ is that highly akilled labour i8 not needed but that -~
aemi-skilled workers and even apprent~ices can be used. In
thia case~ the productio~ is similar to with the previoua
~ystem, although with the inherent advantage of employment
and the pos~ib~ y of finding suitable personnel.
e system of welding the pre-assembled reinforco-;
mont at tho ~oeting points by using skilled labour iB also
15 known. Apart from the kind of welding to bo uaed~ with or - ;
without flux~ tho production in Kilograms per hour pcrl~
peraon will remain at a maximum of 60 and the weldod roin-
forcement will bo more rigid~ which is not advisable.
With slight differencos~ the workors move along tho
atructure in all these mothods of carrying out the work,
whereaa the atructuro remains static until it is complotely
bound together and ready for its aaaombly or tranJport.
Thoro~oro, ~n all tho ayatems known up to now~ theao two
conatanta sre proaonts the r~lnforcemont~ romain atatic
whilo the workers mo~e. Also in genoral terma~ tho produc-
tion turns out to bo limitod~ as has alroady boen atated~
with the maximum amount boing some 60 Kg. por hour por
p~raon.
French patent publication 2570625 published March 28, 1986
3 (Lafon et al) discloses an installation based on a fle-
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1 xible machine which has an area for the longitudinal irons
of the structure to be arran~ed and another adjacent area -~ -
for the transverse irons, which are 8tacked up. In this
instsllation, traction on the longitudinal irons is carried
out among the stacked transverse irons, taking one transver
se iron each time, which is bound in the traditional way
until the structure is completed.
This installation i8 complex ~n itself and in the way
of proceeding to make up the structure~ meaning that its
10 use in practice i8 not ~iable given that it is neither -~
chenper than trad~tional procosaes nor increases production. ~ -
one aim of the patent is to attain a method of pro- ~ ~ `
duction which provide~ a greater output of reinforcements - ~ -
of the order of at leaat 30 per cent and usually 50 per
15 cent more in equality of condltions, with which the cost of -~ -
the finished reinforcement can be quite considerably chea~
ned~ even taking i~to account the amortization or ropayment
for the installations and the toola.
Another aim of the patent i8 to obtain an automatic
or aemi-automatic installation which mo~os the reinforcements
for their pre-aaaembly and assembly~ and in which the workers
remain ststic wh~le the reinforcements are moved in front of
their work ~tation~.
To put the patont lnto operatlon~ pre-ahaped clipa
and braiding tools are uaed~ after the clipa have firat
been positioned by the worker or operator. Each worker is
pro~ided with an automatic braider and a aufficient amount
of clip~ to be arranged at the binding points of sach rein-
forcement. me operation~ of cutting and ~haping the pie-
3 ces of iron are carried out in the same way as with the ;~
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1 tradit~onal methods, with the ~pecial f~atures of the patent
coming in after the shaping of the components.
The existence i8 claimed of a set of wagons or carts
on which are situated the trestle bents or A-frames that
receive the already shaped pieces of iron~ in that these
wagons are fitted with suitable means of rolling along railJ
JO that they can move in at least one direction. When the
different pieces of iron have been ~u~tably cut and ~haped,
the pre-assembly of the reinforcement is carried out on the
tre~tle bent~ on the ~aid wagons.
In this situation, each wagon is moved along tho
rails of this pre-aasembly area to another rall in whioh
mean~ are fitted to move the wagonC at a variable speed and
in that these means go together with other ones in the
lower part of each wagon. Normally in this binding lino~
a variator motor is provided, with a connection on it~
~haft outlet for an endless chain of a ~imilar length to
that of tho rail; this endle~s chain will engage with the
projections on the wagons and move them along the assembly
track-
On thiJ assembly track, the roinforcement on the
wagon~ circulateo at a cer~ain ~peod whilo the worker~
remain Jtat~onary~ b~nding to~othor tho mooting points of
the roinforcement with tho clips and tho braidine machino
25 as oach ~oction of the roinforcomont passes in front of ;~
their work ~tations.
The number of workors is logically variable~ given
that it is obviou~ to point out that, in general terms, a
greater work rate can be achieved with a higher number of
3 operators.
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1 The traverse speed of the ~agons which carry the
reinforcement i8 variable, as was stated previously~ and it
should be considered that with an equal number of operators
or workers, tl1e speed of the wagon will be slo~er when the ~ ;
5 reinforcement i~ more complex and has a ~reater number of
binding points in each section.
At the end of the work track, any specific reinforce~
ment will be conpletely finished and ready to be moved into
stock~ loaded onto a lorry~ etc. It must be considered hore
10 that the pieces of iron for as~embly of the reinforcement on
site are placed on the wagon at the beginning of the process,
so that when the reinforcement is fini~hed, these pieces of
iron can be fastened to it so that they are controlled until
the time of assembly on site.
When the reinforcement has been taken off the wagon,
this move3 to another area with rails, adjace~t to the work -
area, where the wagons can be loaded again before moving to `~
another or to the firfit assembly line.
The pos6ible combinations of work tracks and pre-assem ~ ;
20 bly areas~ as well as unloading aroa6~ are infinite and will
depond~ as is logical, on variables, such a6 the space avai-
lable~ the ¢apacity that the in~tallation is to be providod
with~ etc.~ as will bo pointed out later in relation with tho
sheots of drawiDes.
In the pre-assembly areas~ the wagons can be provided,
if dosired~ with a gentle traverse movoment towards tho work
track~ and the worker or workers could porfectly carry out
the pre-assembly of the reinforcement during this movemont.
For purposes of clarification, and as an example, the
30 accompanying shects of drawings show an example of an
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1 installation ln which the procedure laid down in thi~ ~peci
fication could be applied.
Figure 1 ~hows, partially, a simple reinforcement.
Figure 2 shows a piece of iron~ a stirrup or hoop in ~-
S this ca8e~ pre-~haped for fitting into the reinforcement.
Figure 3 show6 a wagon oa which tho reinforcemeDts
can be placed. ;~
Figure 4 i~ a layout diagram of a possible installa~
tion.
Figure 5 shows a detail of Figure 4.
Figure 6 deal~ with the wagon mounted on the rails
of the binding tra~
Figure 7 ~hows, partially, a reinforcement with the
pieces of ~ron for as~embly.
Figuro 8 represents a ~ection of a more complicated
reinforcement.
As can be ob~er~ed in Figures 1 and 2, a pre-assem
bled reinforcement 1 ia based on longitudinal pieces of
~ron 2 and trans~erse iron stirrups or hoops 3~ wl-ich must
be jo~ned together with wire at the meeting po~nts, for
$n~tance at 4~ 5~ and 6 etc. with the help of already pre-
~haped clip~ which are placed at these point~ and with toola
that braid together the ends o~ thooo clipJ.
Figuro 3 Jhow~ a WagOD or cart 7 on wh~ch a ~tructuro
basod on trestle bonts or A-frame~ 8 - 9 has boon mounted
to procure a ~upport base for tho roiDforcoments. The
wagon movos along rails 11 and 12 using its own moans
of rolling~ which aro not shown but could be~ for inAtanco~
whool~ boaring, etc.
3 With referonco to Figure 4, we can see the arrangement ;~
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1 of a model installation as an example~ according to which
there i8 a pre-assembly area 13 in which the wagons with
the reinforcement~ receive the pieces of iron and travel
to an adjoining area 15 where the wagons are engaged by
S a chain 18 driven by a variator motor 17. In this aroa,
the workers or operator~ remain stationary and while the
reinforcement movea in front of them can carry out the
bind ng together of the points in each section. At the
ond of its travel, for example in Position 19~ the reinfor
cement i8 now completely finished and roady to be stored
or loaded onto a lorry for aite delivery.
The wagonA which are left free move to are 14,
which might be another pre-a~sembly area, for example,
from which the wagons move to area 16, where these rein-
forcements are bound together by another group of workers.This order or ~uccesfiion might be altered, making area 16
a return area only for the empty wago~ from the fir~t
pre_assembly area 13. This situatioD would re~pond, for
example~ to the fact of only one group of workers being
available.
In Figure 8 we can see an enlargement of the
preasaembly area 13 and tho po~it~on of one of tho wa~oDa
7 with the trostlo bents. A indlcatos tho direot~on ~n
whlch tho piooes of iroD entor oDto the trostlo bonts~
wh~ch ontor from direction C. The wagons 7~ onco loadod
with the pre-assembled reinforcoments~ aro transferrod in
d~rection B towards tho bind~ng line.
F~gure 6 shows a wagon 7~ ~llustratod hero
without either tre6tle bent6 or reinforcem~nts~ on the
rails 11 of the binding area. The aim of D and E i8
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1 to indicate the work station6 of the operators, in this case
on both sides of the wagon, when it is moved by the action
of the chain or rack rail 18 on the stop~ 23 and 22 of
the wagon it~elf. -~
In Figure 7 we can obser~e the final po~it~on of
the assembly irons 20, which are placed on the reinforc~ment
and bound to it, specifically to the stirrups 21, once
that the other meeting point~ ha~e been consolidated.
Fi~ure 8~ finally, show~ a reinforcoment with a ~ ;
greater number of binding points 24 ln each ~ection, than
the one shown in Figure 1. This and other types of rein~
forcements which are more complex or for special applications
can be dealt with by the procedure which i8 proposed in thi~
opecification.
On the other hand, it i8 pointed out that for rainfor-
cement~ of the kind descr$bed, and in normal condition~ a
wagon of approxlmately 11 metrss in length has proYod to
bo the most adYisable Jizs for practical reaJons.
me iDstallation described up to pre~ent ~8 ~ituated
20 OD raila arranged on the floor of a certain bay. For tho - ;~
purpo~oo iD queotion, it i~ pointed out that the same
arrsogemont can be carried out aorially~ Jo that the treotle
bentJ (A-frameJ) reob on hooko or d mil~r at a certaln d~JtaD
ce ~rom the eround.
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