Inventors:
Ronald D. Schmidgall - Mediapolis IA
Assignee:
Hawkeye Concrete Products Co. - Mediapolis IA
International Classification:
F27D 100
F26B 1900
E04B 112
A45B 904
Abstract:
A canopy kiln system is provided in the form of a flat-topped tent of flexible material (lightweight canvas, etc. ) having depending walls to form, when in use, an enclosure for housing one or more articles to be treated or cured, one example being in the curing of cast concrete pipe. One end of the roof of the tent is attached to a wall or the like and is stretched out overlying the articles and has its free end provided with a transverse stiffener, referred to as a strongback. The strongback is detachably connected to support structure remote from the wall and the sides or curtains of the canopy form walls. The folding mechanism comprises an overhead hoist that picks up the strong-back and moves it--and of course the canopy--toward the wall. During this movement, intermediate lift mechanism picks up an intermediate part of the roof to keep it from sagging. At a predetermined point during pick-up of the canopy, the strongback is transferred to a cradle which carries the canopy completely to the wall in its folded position.