Abstract: An apparatus for roughing edges of solid concrete casted blocks that includes a block support conveyor for supporting and conveying a series of blocks and at least one roughing device disposed at a given distance from a block to be roughened; the device includes at least one impacting arm having a first end connected to a drive shaft having an axis and a second end connected to an impacting element; the shaft is connected to a drive element allowing the shaft to define an arcuate reciprocating motion causing the impacting element to impact the block and to crumble concrete from an edge of the block. The arm impacts the edge at an angle of about 45° relative to the axis of the drive shaft.

Abstract: An apparatus for roughing edges of solid concrete casted blocks that includes a block support conveyor for supporting and conveying a series of blocks and at least one roughing device disposed at a given distance from a block to be roughened; the device includes at least one impacting arm having a first end connected to a drive shaft having an axis and a second end connected to an impacting element; the shaft is connected to a drive element allowing the shaft to define an arcuate reciprocating motion causing the impacting element to impact the block and to crumble concrete from an edge of the block. The arm impacts the edge at an angle of about 45° relative to the axis of the drive shaft.

Abstract: A raker boom supports a plurality of independently driven and mounted rotatable raker wheels which are applied to the face of a pile of material to dislodge and move the material downwardly toward a bucket wheel and conveyor for gathering and conveying the material to a remote location for processing. The boom is capable of rotating in a vertical plane so that the raker wheels can contact and remove all of the material through the depth of a pile. By operating the raker wheels individually and mounting them independently, the raker apparatus can travel and apply the individual raker wheels over the surface of a pile of material regardless of its contour. The wheels can break up lumps of material, especially on the surface of the pile, and mix the material with other material within the pile. In one configuration of the preferred embodiment, a pair of opposed raker wheel booms are mounted on a raker carriage which itself is mounted for reciprocal travel on a raker truss.

Abstract: Apparatus for feeding material from a large supply of such material wherein a screw is horizontally disposed at the bottom of the piled material. Both ends of the screw are mounted in a trunnion bracket in a traversing carriage which supports the screw and allows axial movement relative to the trunnion carriages and skewing movement in a horizontal plane. A drive motor is mounted directly to the screw and is in turn supported in a trunnion bracket. Separate drive motors power the carriage at both ends of the screw. Proximity switches are disposed in conjunction with the front trunnion bracket to both limit the degree of skewing and to control the traversing motors on the carriages to keep the apparatus aligned and reciprocating beneath the piled material.