CEB Design

Overview
Design

Components
The Liberator consists of -
 * A Hopper at the top which you fill with loose dirt. This is made from welded steel. We made the hopper six feet wide, so it can hold a lot of dirt.
 * Grate and grate shaker - the grate is at the bottom of the hopper. The grate shaker shakes it so that soil falls through into the compression chamber, while large stones and things like that are caught in the grate.
 * A frame that bolts together for easy assembly and disassembly.
 * A compression chamber where the bricks are actually pressed. This is a metal box with a nylon liner bolted on the inside. The liner gives the bricks a smoother finish. It will have to be replaced every hundred thousand bricks or so.
 * Hydraulic cylinders - These are the muscles of the machine; they apply the pressure to the dirt. They are readily removable with pins. There are two hydraulic cylinders:
 * The soil drawer - this moves from left to right and performs the dual function of loading soil into the compression chamber and ejecting blocks from the machine
 * The main cylinder, which moves up and down and compresses the blocks
 * Tractor mount, where an external hydraulic power source can be attached to the hydraulic cylinders.
 * Pressure gauge, which monitors the amount of pressure used by the hydraulic system to ensure a certain density of brick.
 * Controller Box controls the timing and sequence of operations.