Model of the Lasco PSP 1250.

German machine manufacturer Lasco Umformtechnik has launched a new hydraulic press that offers flexibility in the production of supplementary blocks for the construction industry.

The new Lasco PSP, which will be promoted at this month’s bauma construction equipment exhibition in Munich, Germany, has been developed to enable pressing elements of variable lengths and wall thicknesses in cycled production. It is already attracting considerable attention particularly in the sand-lime industry, says its manufacturer.
“So far, supplementary blocks – which are needed for applications such as window openings or complementary blocks for bond masonry – had to be sawn from autoclaved sand-lime wall elements,” says a spokesman for Lasco. “This traditional process is rather uneconomical because of its relatively high consumption of raw materials, energy and time, on the one hand, and the high amount of waste generated when sawing autoclaved elements and thus high disposal costs, on the other.”
With the PSP, Lasco is making another contribution to rationalisation in the building materials industry, he says.
“Up to 80 per cent of the usual sawing effort for the production of supplementary blocks from large-sized blocks and elements can be avoided,” the spokesman points out. “This apart, the length optimisation of the green blocks minimises the raw material input and the amount of waste generated. The patented tool system of this special press, based on the Lasco KSP-series, allows the production of variable block lengths from 100 mm up to 850 mm.”
To achieve this, the blocks are rotated 90 degrees – contrary to the traditional production process, where they are pressed in the longitudinal direction. The length of the block can be varied by changing the filling level. The punch movements in the press are computer-controlled via the interface signal of the laying software, he explains.

Shifting tool
Elaborating on the system, the spokesman says: “The unique shiftable forming tool of the PSP – patented by Lasco – can be used for multiple wall thicknesses and lengths. Only the mould in the press centre at the time of the working stroke is filled and pressed. If supplementary blocks of different wall thicknesses are required, the complete tool (upper punch, lower punch and press table with moulds) is shifted hydraulically in horizontal direction. This happens fully automatically within seconds.
 “An industrial robot removes the green blocks from the conveyor belt with a recently-developed vacuum gripper. The individual vacuum chambers are controlled automatically depending on the length of the block.”
Lasco is a leading supplier of hydraulic presses for the production of building materials as well as comprehensive automation and handling equipment. In addition, the company also plans and delivers turnkey sand-lime block plants.
With its headquarters in the Bavarian city of Coburg and a worldwide network of representative offices and service bases, Lasco Umformtechnik develops and produces machine tools and associated equipment as well as automation technology. Its products have been applied for more than 140 years in more than 50 countries.