Multilayer machine manufactures many types of concrete products

Rodnichok, a Ukrainian company that has been doing business for over 10 years in the Chernovtsy region, manufactures a great variety of building products and exhibits a high degree of professionalism. In this endeavor, General Manager Ivan Semenyuk relies on state-of-the-art production lines operated by highly motivated, thoroughly trained employees. Beyond concrete blocks, pavers and other products used in garden design and landscaping, the company also manufactures windows, doors, styrofoam panels, sandwich units and system components used for roof coverings. In total, ten different categories of construction products are manufactured at the Bojan site.

The manufacturing capacity for concrete blocks has been expanded by the installation of a new production line. The fundamental requirements determined for this investment included a cost-efficient production line offering a very high degree of flexibility and maximum availability whilst also complying with the exceedingly high quality standard implemented by Rodnichok. For this project, it was very important to ensure a simple link to the existing concrete mixing unit. As the supplier of this production line, the Neunkirchen-based company ZBM Zenith was chosen, which has been manufacturing state-of-the-art block machines for over 50 years.
At the very heart of this line is the Zenith 844 stationary multilayer machine. Over 200 systems of this type have already been installed worldwide. An extremely low capital expenditure, small footprint and a very high degree of production flexibility are some of the key benefits offered by this multilayer system, which has been improved continuously. In addition, only one machine operator and one forklift driver are needed, keeping the number of staff at a very low level. Further advantages
include the low degree of maintenance and spare parts required.
The machine is operated from a soundproof control room equipped with a state-of-the-art Siemens S7 control unit and visualization via a very user-friendly, self-explanatory, menu-based touch panel. Production parameters are entered and stored according to separate machine section visualizations. The touch panel is used to enter mix designs and machine parameters for most diverse molds and production schedules. The production line features a pallet magazine, a pusher conveyor for the pallets and a roller conveyor for the finished cubes.
As the biggest multilayer machine offered by Zenith ZBM, the 844 model has been mainly designed to manufacture concrete paving stones, curbstones and a large number of similar products used in garden design and landscaping in heights from 50 to 500 mm. The required constant stone heights are ensured by a twin-section vibration table and an individually adjustable frequency control for the vibrator drives. In this respect, it is also important that the molds be filled uniformly via an accurately routed filler car with adjustable scrapers.
In multilayer production, freshly manufactured products are stacked upon each other up to a defined cube height (640 mm) where the individual layers are separated from each other by a sufficiently high layer of dry sand. The production process progresses as follows:
A small lifting table takes up an empty pallet that is positioned precisely under the mold box and the mobile vibrating table. Once the mold has been filled, the vibration process starts. The fresh concrete products are demolded directly onto the pallet immediately after removal of the vibrating table. This process is repeated immediately thereafter, and the layers of fresh blocks are stacked upon each other. This cycle is repeated for as many times as needed to reach the maximum stacking height. Following this step, the pallet with the product cube is automatically moved onto the roller conveyor. At the same time, a new pallet is moved out of the magazine and transported onto the lifting table via the pusher conveyor. A forklift transports the pallet with the layers of fresh concrete products into the curing area. At a later point in time, the cured products are stacked to create saleable units by means of a specially designed clamp, and packaged ready for shipping.
The production line could be assembled and commissioned within a very short period. At Rodnichok, employees are enthusiastic about the favorable cost-output ratio and the high degree of flexibility. Further benefits include the quick and easy cleaning of the machine and its low degree of servicing and maintenance. In this project, all quality requirements on the concrete products have been exceeded by a clear margin.
The design of the ZBM Zenith 844 multilayer machine enables an incremental upgrade to implement a fully automatic circulation system. In this respect, the Rodnichok management has indeed taken a future-proof decision by investing in this machine.