Process and equipment for producing concrete products having blended colors
First Claim
1. A process for producing a multi-colored concrete product, the process comprising the steps of:
- separately metering concrete from at least two discrete batches of concrete into separate quantities that are separated in a direction perpendicular to a transport direction, one of said discrete batches having a first color and the other of said discrete batches having a second color different from the first color;
transporting the separately metered quantities of concrete in the transport direction to a hopper of a production machine;
depositing the separately metered concrete from the discrete colored concrete batches into the hopper of the production machine to produce a multi-color concrete blend; and
producing at least one concrete product from the multi-color concrete blend.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process and equipment for producing multi-color concrete products, including architectural concrete blocks, concrete bricks, modular concrete products that are suitable for use in landscaping applications, such as retaining wall blocks, concrete pavers, and concrete slabs. The invention includes a hopper that is divided into separate sections, with each section intended to contain a differently colored concrete. Each hopper section includes a controllable discharge opening that permits precise control of the amount of each concrete color that is discharged from the hopper. The colored concrete is then transported to and dumped into a hopper of a concrete product production machine, where the concrete is blended into a multi-color concrete blend for use in producing the concrete products.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A process for producing a multi-colored concrete product, the process comprising the steps of:
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separately metering concrete from at least two discrete batches of concrete into separate quantities that are separated in a direction perpendicular to a transport direction, one of said discrete batches having a first color and the other of said discrete batches having a second color different from the first color;
transporting the separately metered quantities of concrete in the transport direction to a hopper of a production machine;
depositing the separately metered concrete from the discrete colored concrete batches into the hopper of the production machine to produce a multi-color concrete blend; and
producing at least one concrete product from the multi-color concrete blend. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A process for producing a multi-color concrete blend, comprising the steps of:
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transporting concrete from at least two separate batches of concrete to a hopper of a production machine, the transported concrete from each batch comprising separate quantities of concrete that are separated in a direction perpendicular to a transport direction, and a first one of said batches having a first color and a second one of said batches having a second color different from the first color; and
after transporting, depositing the transported separate quantities of concrete into the hopper of the production machine to produce a multi-color concrete blend. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification