Cyclicly-operable machine adapted to produce and assemble cope and drag mold parts

Abstract

A cyclicly-operable molding machine for producing and assembling cope and drag mold parts. A rotary turntable which supports four pairs of flask sections is repeatedly indexed to move the pairs repeatedly and successively in a circular path through four stations, namely, (1) a working station where the flask sections are variously and automatically handled and in cooperation with a pattern-carrying match plate are filled and compacted with foundry sand so as to produce the two mold parts, (2) a core-setting station where, if required or desired, a core may be applied to one of the formed mold parts, (3) a stripping station wherein the flask sections are again variously handled to strip the sections from the mold parts and the latter are assembled and then deposited on a bottom board which is ejected from the machine, and (4) an idle or dwell station where an empty pair of flask sections awaits handling of a preceding pair of flask sections at the working station before being returned to such station for refilling thereof at the commencement of the next machine cycle.

Having thus described the invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 
     
       1. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine for simultaneously producing cope and drag mold parts and thereafter assembling them to produce a composite mold, in combination, a framework establishing a working station where the mold parts are produced and a stripping station where said mold parts are assembled, a fixed match plate support located at said working station, a pattern-carrying match plate associated with said support, upper and lower squeeze plates positioned above and below said support, an upper reaction platen and a lower lifting platen located at said stripping station, a flask carrier having a pair of upper and lower vertically spaced and relatively fixed flask supports, cope and drag flask sections normally and removably resting by gravity on said flask supports respectively and positioned in spaced apart relation, said carrier being movable between a first position at said working station wherein said flask supports straddle the match plate support and a second position at said stripping station wherein said flask supports are interposed between said platens, means located at said working station and operative when the carrier is in its first position to lift the match plate and the flask sections vertically from their respective supports, to assemble said match plate and flask sections to define upper and lower flask cavities on opposite sides of the match plate, to introduce sand .Iadd.by air under pressure .Iaddend.into such cavities .Iadd.simultaneously while the cope flask section is in overlying relation with the drag flask section .Iaddend.and .Iadd.then .Iaddend.compress the .[.same.]. .Iadd.sand in said cavities in order .Iaddend.to produce cope and drag mold parts within the flask sections, and to restore the match plate and also the flask sections with the mold parts therein to their normal positions on their respective supports, means located at said stripping station and operative when the carrier is in its second position to move said flask sections and platens relatively to one another so as to lift the flask sections vertically from their respective supports, to assemble said flask sections upon each other in order to establish the composite mold, to force the mold from the flask sections, and to restore the empty flask sections to their normal positions on their respective supports, and means for successively moving said carrier between said first and second positions. 
     
     
       2. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 1 and wherein said carrier is in the form of a rotary turntable mounted on said framework midway between said stations, said flask supports are eccentrically disposed on and movable bodily with said turntable, and said means for successively moving said carrier between its first and second positions comprises an intermittent unidirectional driving mechanism for the turntable. 
     
     
       3. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 1 and wherein said carrier is in the form of a rotary turntable mounted on said framework midway between said stations, said flask supports are eccentrically disposed on and movable bodily with said turntable, said framework further establishes a core-setting station and a dwell station, the working, core-setting, stripping and dwell stations are quadrilaterally disposed about said turntable, and said means for successively moving the carrier is in the form of an indexing mechanism which is effective during each actuation thereof to rotate the turntable unidirectionally throughout an angle of 90° whereby said flask supports, in moving from the working station to the stripping station, are caused to dwell at the core-setting station in order to permit a core to be inserted between the separated cope and drag mold parts, and in moving from the stripping station to the working station are caused to dwell at the dwell station. 
     
     
       4. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 1 and wherein said carrier is in the form of a rotary turntable mounted on said framework, said flask supports are eccentrically disposed on and movable bodily with said turntable, said framework further establishes a core-setting station, said working station, core-setting station and stripping station are circumferentially spaced about said turntable, and said means for successively moving the carrier is in the form of an indexing mechanism which is effective upon successive actuations thereof to move said carrier from the working station to the core-setting station, from the core-setting station to the stripping station, and from the stripping station back to the working station. 
     
     
       5. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming .[.mechanism.]. .Iadd.machine .Iaddend.for simultaneously and successively producing cope and drag mold parts and thereafter assembling such parts to produce a composite mold, in combination, a framework establishing a working station where the mold parts are produced and a stripping station where said mold parts are assembled, a match plate support located at said working station, a pattern-carrying match plate resting normally on said support, and upper and lower squeeze plates above and below said support, an upper reaction platen and a lower lifting platen located at said stripping station, a rotatable turntable mounted on said framework midway between said stations, a plurality of pairs of upper and lower vertically spaced and relatively fixed flask supports eccentrically mounted on said turntable in circumferentially spaced relationship, cope and drag flask sections normally resting by gravity respectively on each pair of upper and lower supports, means for successively indexing said turntable throughout a predetermined degree in order to bring one pair of flask supports into vertical register with said match plate at said working station with the flask sections thereon straddling said match plate and simultaneously to interpose another pair of flask supports between said platens at the stripping station, means at said working station and operative in between turntable-indexing operations to move said match plate, the flask sections which straddle the same, and the squeeze plates relatively to one another and in such manner as to lift said match plate and flask sections vertically from their respective supports, to assemble said match plates and flask sections to define upper and lower flask cavities on opposite sides of the match plate, to introduce sand .Iadd.by air under pressure simultaneously .Iaddend.into such cavities and .Iadd.then .Iaddend.compress the .[.same.]. .Iadd.sand .Iaddend.in the cavities to produce cope and drag mold parts within the flask sections, and to restore the match plate and flask sections with the mold parts therein to their normal positions on their respective supports, and means at said stripping station and effective in between turntable-indexing operations to move said flask sections and platens relatively to one another so as to lift the flask sections vertically from their respective supports, to assemble the flask sections with the mold parts thereon upon each other and thus establish a composite mold, to force the latter from the assembled flask sections, and to restore the empty flask sections to their normal positions on their respective supports. 
     
     
       6. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 5 and wherein the pairs of upper and lower flask supports on the turntable are four in number and are disposed on the turntable in quadrilateral relationship, the indexing means for the turntable is effective during each indexing operation to rotate the turntable unidirectionally throughout an angle of 90°, and the working station and stripping station are disposed on opposite sides of the turntable in diametrically opposed relationship. 
     
     
       7. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 6 and wherein said turntable comprises a vertically disposed column, and vertically spaced upper and lower turntable spiders mounted on the column, the spiders include each a series of four radially diverging spider arms on which said flask supports are mounted, and each flask section extends in chordal fashion on, and bridges the distance between, two adjacent spider arms. 
     
     
       8. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 7 and wherein each flask support is provided with .Iadd.at least one .Iaddend.upstanding leader .[.pins.]. .Iadd.pin .Iaddend.which .[.project.]. .Iadd.projects .Iaddend.into .Iadd.a .Iaddend.pilot .[.holes.]. .Iadd.hole .Iaddend.in associated relation with the .[.corresponding.]. .Iadd.associated .Iaddend.flask .[.sections.]. .Iadd.section .Iaddend..[.for establishing.]. .Iadd.whereby .Iaddend.precise circumferential and radial positioning of the flask sections on their respective turntable spiders .Iadd.is established.Iaddend.. 
     
     
       9. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 7 and wherein the means for successively indexing said turntable comprises a Geneva drive mechanism which embodies a Geneva actuator mounted on said framework adjacent to the periphery of the turntable and having a vertically disposed oscillatory output shaft, and a Geneva arm having its proximate end fixedly secured to said output shaft and provided at its distal end with a retractable and extensible shot pin which is adapted, when extended, to be successively engageable with a series of elongated radially extending guide slots which are formed in said radially diverging spider arms of one of said turntable spiders, and the Geneva drive mechanism also embodies means for actuating said shot pin. 
     
     
       10. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 9 and wherein the Geneva actuator of the drive mechanism underlies the plane of the lower turntable spider, and the guide slots are formed in the radially extending arms of said lower turntable spider. 
     
     
       11. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 10 and wherein each spider arm of the lower turntable spider includes a pair of parallel side bars having anti-friction liners on their opposed sides, .Iadd.and .Iaddend.the liners establish the guide slots in such spider arms. 
     
     
       12. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 10 and including, additionally, means at the distal end of each spider arm of the lower turntable spider establishing a turntable stabilizing socket, and an hydraulically-operable extensible and retractable shot pin movable mounted on the framework and adapted, when extended, selectively to enter one of said stabilizing sockets. 
     
     
       13. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine for simultaneously producing cope and drag mold parts and thereafter assembling them to produce a composite mold, in combination, a framework establishing a working station where the mold parts are produced and a stripping station where the said mold parts are assembled, a match plate support located at said working station, a pattern-carrying match plate associated with said support, upper and lower squeeze plates positioned above and below said support, an upper reaction platen and a lower lifting platen located at said stripping station, a flask carrier having a pair of upper and lower vertically spaced and relatively fixed flask supports, cope and drag flask sections normally resting on said flask supports respectively and positioned in spaced apart relation, said carrier being movable between a first position wherein said flask supports straddle the match plate support and a second position wherein said flask supports are interposed between said platens, means located at said working station and operative when the carrier is in its first position to establish successive stages of relative movement between the match plate, the flask sections, and the squeeze plates including a first stage wherein the drag flask section and the lower squeeze plate move upwardly so that said drag flask section, match plate and cope flask section are lifted successively from their respective supports and are assembled upon one another to define cope and drag flask cavities into which molding sand is blown .Iadd.simultaneously.Iaddend., a second stage wherein the lower squeeze plate alone moves upwardly and effectively compresses the sand in said cavities against the upper squeeze plate in order to produce cope and drag mold parts, and a third stage wherein the lower squeeze plate and said flask sections with the mold parts therein move downwardly to restore the cope flask section, the match plate and the drag flask section successively to their respective supports, .[.and.]. means located at said stripping station and operative when the carrier is in its second position to establish successive stages of relative movement between the flask sections and the platens including a first stage wherein the lifting platen moves upwardly so that the drag flask section with its contained drag mold part and the cope flask section with its contained cope mold part are lifted successively from their respective supports and assembled upon each other in order thereby to assemble the composite mold and clamp the latter between the lift and reaction platens, a second stage wherein the flask sections are moved upwardly to strip the same from the clamped mold, and a third stage wherein said lifting platen, flask sections and mold move downwardly so as to restore the cope and drag flask sections in an empty condition to their respective supports and carry the mold downwardly while resting on said lifting platen to a level below the drag flask section for lateral ejection from the stripping station.Iadd., and means for successively moving the carrier between its first and second positions.Iaddend.. 
     
     
       14. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 13 and wherein said lower lifting platen at the stripping station is in the form of a bottom board, and there is provided in the vicinity of said stripping station means for pushing said bottom board, together with the mold thereon laterally out of the stripping station. 
     
     
       15. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 14 and wherein the means at the stripping station for effecting relative movement of the flask sections and platens embodies a vertically shiftable platform on which the bottom board rests, and the means for pushing the bottom board laterally out of the stripping station comprises an hydraulically-operable cylinder and plunger assembly positioned adjacent to the stripping station and including a plunger engageable with said bottom board when the latter is in its terminal lowermost position. 
     
     
       16. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine for simultaneously and successively producing cope and drag mold parts and thereafter assembling such parts to produce a composite mold, in combination, a framework including a pair of laterally spaced sides which are generally C-shaped in configuration and .[.presents.]. .Iadd.embody .Iaddend.horizontal upper and lower legs and vertical connecting bight portions, the region existing forwardly of the bight portions and between said upper and lower legs of said .[.side supports.]. .Iadd.sides .Iaddend.establishing a working station, a pair of laterally spaced vertical corner posts positioned forwardly of said .[.side supports.]. .Iadd.sides.Iaddend., an upper frame extending between said upper legs and the corner posts, and a lower frame extending between said lower legs and the corner posts, the region of said framework adjacent to and rearwardly of said corner posts establishing a stripping station, the regions on opposite sides of said framework and laterally outside the confines thereof establishing a pair of dwell stations, said stations being quadrilaterally arranged about a vertical axis substantially midway between said working and stripping stations, a turntable mounted for rotation about said vertical axis and including a central column, an upper spider and a lower spider, each spider including a series of four radially extending spider arms, adjacent arms extending at a right angle to each other and the arms of the upper spider extending parallel to and overlying the arms of the lower spider, a series of four cope flask sections normally supported in chordal fashion on said upper spider with their ends loosely resting on adjacent spider arms, a series of four drag flask sections similarly normally supported in chordal fashion on said lower spider and directly underlying the cope flask sections whereby the cope and drag flask sections are paired vertically, means for indexing said turntable successively through an angle of 90° whereby successive indexing operations of the turntable will cause the paired flask sections to travel in a circular path leading into and extending out of said stations, means operative immediately after each indexing operation for locking the turntable in a fixed position wherein each of said paired flask sections is effectively disposed at one of said stations, a match plate support fixedly disposed in said working station, a match plate normally resting on said support and adapted to be straddled by each pair of flask sections when the latter are disposed at the working station, means located at said working station and operative in between turntable-indexing operations, first, to lift the match plate and the two associated flask sections from their respective supports, then, to assemble said flask sections in order to define upper and lower flask cavities on opposite sides of the match plate, then, simultaneously to .[.introduce.]. .Iadd.blow .Iaddend.molding sand into such cavities.Iadd., .Iaddend..[.and.]. .Iadd.then to .Iaddend.compress the .[.same.]. .Iadd.sand .Iaddend.in said cavities in order to produce cope and drag mold parts, and finally, to restore the match plate and said associated flask sections with the mold parts therein to their normal positions on their respective supports, and means .Iadd.located .Iaddend.at said stripping station and operative in between turntable-indexing operations, first, to lift the associated flask sections .[.from.]. .Iadd.with .Iaddend.the mold parts therein from their respective supports, then, to assemble said flask sections upon each other in order to establish a composite mold, then, to force the composite mold from the assembled associated flask sections, and finally to restore the empty flask sections to their normal positions on their respective supports. 
     
     
       17. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim .[.19.]. .Iadd.16 .Iaddend.and wherein each flask support is provided with upstanding leader pins which project into pilot holes which are associated with the .[.corresponding.]. .Iadd.associated .Iaddend.flask .[.sections.]. .Iadd.section .Iaddend..[.for establishing.]. whereby precise circumferential and radial positioning of the flask sections on their respective turntable spider arms .Iadd.is established.Iaddend.. 
     
     
       18. In a cyclicly-operable mold-forming machine, the combination set forth in claim 1 and wherein the cope and drag sections have associated respectively therewith cope and drag upsets which are in turn respectively associated with and movable relatively to the upper and lower squeeze plates.