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August 2015
Bricks & Paving
T
he RE-1400 has a fully auto-
mated production capacity of
up to 165 000 standard stock
bricks per nine-hour shift. It offers
a range of batching configurations,
wet and dry side production handling
and production board handling, ac-
cording to Quintin Booysen, PMSA
Marketing and Sales Manager.
The new plant will be producing
95 000 pavers per nine-hour shift to
best-practice quality standards, con-
firms Jacques Bellingham, Managing
Director of Shukuma Bricks. “We are
in theprocess of applying for the SABS
mark in accordance with SANS1215
and SANS1058 standards,” Belling-
ham reveals. All products are tested
at Shukuma Bricks’ fully-equipped
in-house laboratory to ensure compli-
ance with SABS standards.
“One of the advantages of the RE-
1400 is that it allows us to change
moulds swiftly and effortlessly using
the mould changing arm. This en-
sures speedy turnaround times when
switching between the manufacture
of various products such as blocks,
stock bricks, maxi bricks and pavers,”
Bellinghan highlights.
The plant also has a topping feed
for colouring the top layer of pavers.
Moreover, production parameters
can be changed using a touch screen
interface while the machine is in op-
eration. This gives Shukuma Bricks
the flexibility to adapt to changing
moisture content and aggregate
consistency instantly without having
to stop the production cycle.
Moisture in the aggregate is com-
pensated for bymicrowavemoisture-
sensing measurement probes in the
aggregates and mixer. The RE-1400
comes standardwith linear transduc-
ers and servo-proportional hydraulic
valves which provide high-perfor-
mance closed loop control. Two (or an
optional four) 7.5 kW shaft vibrators
allow vertical directional vibration,
while a variable speed drive provides
frequency control.
Shukuma Bricks’ wet-side convey-
ing system is fitted with a quality
testing stationwhich rejects products
that fail the required standard. Wet
concrete can easily be returned to
the mixing station. A rotary brush
cleans the fine edging on top of the
hollow blocks, resulting in a perfect
finish every time. Newly-formed wet
blocks can be pre-sprayed with a fine
mist spray to add additional surface
water where required.
The plant boasts fully automated
pallet and product handling. Wet
blocks or other products on the pro-
ductionboard are stacked in a stacker
(elevator). Once a fully loaded set of
bricks or blocks has been accumu-
lated, it is then transferred onto racks
in the curing chamber.
Before strapping, the day-old
blocks or bricks are packedonto a slat
conveyor using a packer head that
automatically stacks the products
into the correct pack size, ready for
strapping, which is a fully automated
process. After strapping, the slat
conveyor transports the products to
the outside storage yard for further
curing. The whole plant is monitored
and managed from the control room
bymeans of a supervisory control and
data acquisition (SCADA) system. This
provides visual animated graphics
of the machine and plant operation.
Machine parameter control and data
capture allow for remote control of
the plant, in addition to retaining
historic and daily data for plant man-
agement.
■
Shukuma Bricks ramps up capacity
PanMixers SouthAfrica (PMSA) has supplied its largest precast concrete
brick and blockmakingmachine, the RE-1400, to Shukuma Bricks for
its new manufacturing plant at Greenbushes in Port Elizabeth.