A rigid vacuum pad is then positioned and placed upon the panel, which is lifted away from the mould base to be stacked between plastic sheets for a curing period of between 8-12 hours before being moved to a stockyard.
The 5,000-ton Go-Con press has been designed to produce concrete components within the fol- lowing specifications of size. Length: maximum panel length 6m, minimum panel length 2.4m, ad- justable to any dimension within these two limits; Width: maximum panel width 2.7m, minimum panel width 914mm, again adjustable to any di- mension between these two limits; Thickness: maximum panel thickness 254mm, minimum nor- mal panel thickness 76.2mm.
Since all the operations on the mould, other than consolidation, take place outside the press, the use of only one mould, would result in low
CEMENT STORAGE.
MIXER
AGGREGATE AND SAND HOPPERS.
REMIXER
MOULD TRAVERSE TRACK
When everything necessary has been placed, the mould then moves on rails to pass under an automatically controlled remixer unit and is filled with wet concrete mix outside the press, fed from a holding hopper with a stirer, to a 1 to 1 water/ cement ratio. The amount of concrete mix used determines the thickness of the consolidated panel, and is calculated beforehand for a particular panel.
When the mould is filled, it is then brought clear of the unit and another filter is placed on top of the mould. Again moving on rails, it moves into the press and the mix is consolidated to remove excess air and water.
In the pressing process, a telescopic steel mould has edges arranged on the base platen which rises to meet a flat upper platen. Size changing involves rearranging mould edges only.
A few minutes under pressure is all that is re- quired before moving the panel from under the press and de-moulding by retraction of the mould edges (water/cement ratio by this time is approx. 0.5).
Far East BUILDER, July 1971
HOULD
GO-CON PRESS
VACUUM PAD
HYDRAULIC EQUIPMENT
press utilisation. Using a transfer system, allowing a number of moulds to be traversed in and out of the press in quick succession, increases output.
The press is constructed of steel fabricated ring frames, bolted together into a single unit in which is mounted the upper platen. Each ring frame houses two upstroking hydraulic cylinders, and the mould base (lower platen) is carried upon these cylinders.
In plant layout and operation studies at BRS, two types of transfer systems have been investi- gated - shuttle and circuit. In the shuttle system, one or two moulds move in and out of the press on a straight line track, and after a series of tests was not considered to be economical.
Using the circuit system, a number of moulds move from station to station on a "merry-go- round," giving satisfactory press utilisation.
The four-mould circuit has an output of about 15 panels per hour, thereby achieving an annual production of 20,000 pressings per shift. The pro-