NEWS Success factors for precast concrete in different countries CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

Minimizing binder content for better durability performance CONCRETE PRODUCTS Basic

rules for achieving optimal results when colouring building materials CONCRETE PIPES

AND MAN HOLES The foundation of quality concrete pipe for direct and indirect design

PRECAST CONCRETE ELEMENTS Ultra-modern circulation plant for the production of precast

concrete elements in China

5Concrete Plant InternationalWorldwide English Edition

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OCTOBER

2014

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Example of stones produced on the Quadra wet cast plant

Nicolock: Wet Cast Activities

A division of Nicolia Industries, NicolockPaving Stones and Retaining Walls isbacked by nearly 50 years of experiencein the production and supply of quality con-crete products. Headquartered in Linden -hurst, NY, with additional manufacturinglocations in North Haven, CT andFrederick, MD, Nicolock services theNortheast and Mid-Atlantic regions of theUnited States.

In 1999, Nicolock began a new ventureinto wet cast manufactured products by pur-chasing the assets of Hastings PavementCompany. A full service wet cast productsmanufacturer, Hastings offered a broadrange of products ranging from asphaltpavers, paving slabs, stair treads and step-ping stones as well as lawn ornaments andhand-painted figurines.

A decade after the initial purchase ofHastings, Nicolock acquired a license to

manufacture Bradstone products in theUnited States. With this new acquisition,Nicolock refocused their wet cast divisioneliminating the production of ornamentalconcrete products while putting a greateremphasis on hardscape products that inclu-ded the look of natural stone.

With Nicolock’s prominent place in thehardscape market already established,hardscape products understandably domi-nated their wet cast sales, quickly outpa-cing production capacity. Due to thisunprecedented growth, Nicolock wasready to invest in a fully automated andcost efficient means of manufacturing toincrease output, production quality.

The choice of Quadra

Nicolock chose Quadra to supply an auto-mated manufacturing facility because thedesign allowed them to continue to casttheir products without changes to theiralready well-received hardscapes products

while increasing production output andreducing costs. This production unit is cha-racterized by an optimal operational flexi-bility. The filling line and the dry productsline are separated and can operate inde-pendently or in a coordinated way.Modern methods of handling and robotsarm have been used to achieve high pro-ductivity.

The plant is fully automatic, whilst beingextremely versatile. The facility acceptsmanual secured stations. Fragile and com-plex design products can be removed fromthe mould manually by taking advantage ofthe automated cinematic of the system.

With help from Quadra’s US representati-ve, Concrete Plant Technologies, Inc.,Nicolock’s polyurethane moulds weremounted on 1400 x 1100 mm (55” x 43”)production boards to provide a platform fortheir transport through the system. Thesepallets are identified to the system throughthe use of RFID tags. The individual tags

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Quadra, 74130 Contamine-sur-Arve, France

As a market leader offering a complete line of interlocking concrete paving stones, architectural paving slabs, precast concrete products,

and segmental retaining wall systems, Nicolock Paving Stones and Retaining Walls, based in New York, has steadily increased its output and

product offerings to further secure its dominant position in the concrete industry. To address these concerns, the company has invested in

a fully automatic factory from Quadra for the production of wet cast products. Quadra’s challenge was to design a versatile production plant

to produce a board range of products with a sensible layout.

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CONCRETE PRODUCTS & CAST STONE

provide the information needed by the system to automaticallyknow how each pallet will be handled. The number of molds perpallet can varied to accommodate single large slabs or they canhold as many as 20 molds for smaller sized products. Differentheight legs on the pallets can allow for varied product heights from50 to 250mm (2” to 10”). Each stack of pallets stored by the sys-tem is configured so that a stack of pallets will yield the productsneeded to assemble a single package of finished product.

Pallets stacks handling and storage

The storage area consists of a steel framework supporting stacks ofpallets. The plant concept is built on a flat monolithic slab avoidingany need for special foundation requirements. The curing and storage systems use two identical cars to allow forfirst in/first out handling. One car works on the wet side of the manu-facturing area, bringing empty molds for filling and carrying recent-ly filled molds back for curing. The sister vehicle works on the oppo-site side of the storage area and fetches the cured products for pro-cessing and then returns the recently emptied and cleaned moldsfrom the demolding and packaging sides of the operation. Storagelocations and curing times are managed through a touch screenpanel. These graphical operator interface stations are provided inlogical locations throughout the system so operators can create,store and recall specific recipes of production parameters.

Filling line

The filling line consists of a lowerator, a conveying system, a fillingstation, 2 vibrating table and one elevator.

Curing and storage area

Mold stack transport car

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Demolding line Products quality checks before packaging

Packaging robot Finished package in progress (multi sized stones)

Empty molds on pallet stacks are presentedto a lowerator where pallets are destackedonto a conveyor. Each pallet is then trans-ported step by step to different stations toallow for successive operations:

- Oiling: Presently, the oiling operationis performed manually. Optionally thisoperation can be made by a 6-axisarticulated robot. The trajectories ofspray nozzles are defined accordingto the molds which have been recogni-zed through the RFID identification.This system prevents any oversprayand enables form release agent to bespread uniformly and regularly on allsides of the mould resulting in substan-tial savings of product.

- Concrete filling and casting:Performed manually in order to keepthe original color blending alreadyaccepted by installers. Such processguarantees the natural stone aspectwhich Bradstone products are knownfor. Quadra also offers the possibilityfor automated dosing and filling.

- Vibration: at the filling station and asecondary vibrating station for furtherconsolidation and finishing areemployed to cast the products.

Vibration frequency is automaticallyadjusted by the system based onwhich products are presented.Stacks of molds are then assembled bythe elevator and then the stacks aretransported automatically to theirassigned storage location for curing.

Fully automatic demolding line for every

shape of stone

The demolding line consists of a lowerator,a conveying system, a 6-axis robot for auto-mated demolding, a mold cleaning stationand an elevator.

The first robot is able to demold any shapeof product even with different shapes orsizes on the same pallet or if the productchanges from one pallet to the next byrecognizing the information provided bythe RFID tag. A clamping system holds themold onto the pallet while the 6-axis robotlifts the stones from their rubber mold. Next,the empty molds are processed by an auto-matic cleaning device that flips the palletupside down and blasts it with moving airknives to loosen concrete debris before it isrestacked in the elevator to be returned toits storage location for its next use.

Packaging line

The freshly demolded products from the first6-axis robot are laid onto a product turno-ver device which places the product, faceside up, onto a stone conveyor. This con-veyor then moves the products outside ofthe protected area around the robot, so thata worker can safely perform a qualitycheck without stopping the automatic cycle.The stones are then transported to a visionsystem which recognizes the kind of stone.The camera records the product’s dimensi-on, height and center of gravity positionand transmits this data to the packagingrobot. Once the packaging robot has thisinformation, the system discerns whetherthe product needs to be face side up ordown and either presents it to a turnoverdevice or lets remain on the stone conveyor.Once the system determines where a pro-duct is to be placed it in the finished packa-ge, the packaging robot picks the product itnext needs and uses it to build the packet.When completed, the package is sentdown a gravity roller conveyor for strap-ping and carriage to the inventory yard forshipping. As a result, Nicolock has realized a 50%increase in daily production output using

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only 20% percent of the normal labor force. The production crewhas been reduced from 12-15 laborers to just 3-4, including the pro-duction manager. According to Roberto Nicolia Jr, Director ofOperations/Business Development Manager, the additional of theQuadra plant has not only increased the amount of products pro-duced in a single day, but has improved quality, safety and reduceddaily operating costs. The open architecture provided by the newQuadra equipment should provide solutions for any unforeseen pro-duction challenges the future may bring.

Thanks to the flexibility of the installation, Nicolock is now able toadd any new products into their range, without any support ofQuadra. The ease of use and handling enables them to changetheir manufacturing parameters all by themselves.

Quadra applied their expertise to address all aspects of the wetcast manufacturing process. Their solution provides the flexibility touse manual processes as well fully automatic future upgrades.Quadra offers full line of production solutions which make use oftoday’s most modern componentry to facilitate concrete dosing andcasting, transport and storage of molds, mold oiling and demoldingthat includes the use of optical product recognition, RFID communi-cation and robotic integration. M

Quadra40, route de Findrol74130 Contamine-sur-Arve, FranceT +33 45003 9221, F +33 45003 6997info@Quadra-concrete.comwww.Quadra-concrete.com

Nicolock200 Henry St.Lindenhurst, NY 11757, USAT +1 631 669 0600, F +1 631 669 8052bradstone@nicolock.cominfo@nicolock.comwww.nicolock.com

BradstoneT +1 240 750 9421F +1 240 306 2910df20886@aol.comwww.bradstoneusa.comwww.bradstoneinternational.com

FURTHER INFORMATION