Automatic mold-handling system

Claim 1

In combination with a molding machine adapted to form a mold on a bottom board and to eject the bottom board therefrom, the bottom boards being successively ejected from the machine in predetermined intervals, a first support means comprising first and second spaced-apart tracks extending transversely to the direction in which the bottom boards are ejected from the machine, one end of said first and second tracks being positioned adjacent the location where the bottom boards are ejected from the machine, the other ends of said first and second tracks being positioned laterally of the machine, a first carriage movably mounted on said first and second tracks and being movable from a first position adjacent said one end of said first and second tracks to a second position adjacent said other ends of said first and second tracks, a first power means connected to said first carriage means for moving said first carriage means from said first to said second positions, said first carriage mEans having third and fourth tracks mounted thereon extending transversely to said first and second tracks in a plane thereabove, said third and fourth tracks adapted to movably support a first pallet thereon adapted to receive the bottom board thereon from the molding machine, a second support means having one end positioned adjacent said one end of said first and second tracks and including fifth and sixth tracks thereon adapted to receive said first pallet thereon from said third and fourth tracks after the bottom board and mold has been placed thereon, the successive ejection of bottom boards from the molding machine causing the pallets to be moved from said third and fourth tracks onto said fifth and sixth tracks, the successive movement of the pallets onto said fifth and sixth tracks causing the pallets thereon to be moved from said one end of said second support means to the other end of said second support means, a third support means at the other end of said second support means extending transversely thereto and having one end positioned at the said other end of said second support means, the other end of said third support means being positioned laterally thereof, said third support means having seventh and eighth spaced-apart tracks thereon extending transversely to said fifth and sixth tracks, a second carriage means movably mounted on said seventh and eighth tracks, said second carriage means including ninth and tenth tracks thereon which are parallel to said fifth and sixth tracks and which are adapted to receive a pallet thereon which passes from said other end of said second support means, a second power means connected to said second carriage means for moving said second carriage means from first to second positions on said third support means, a fourth support means parallel to said second support means and positioned laterally thereof, said fourth support means having one end thereof positioned laterally of said one end of said second support means and having its other end positioned laterally of said other end of said second support means, said fourth support means having eleventh and twelfth tracks thereon parallel to said fifth and sixth tracks, said eleventh and twelfth tracks adapted to receive a pallet thereon from said ninth and tenth tracks, a third power means on said second carriage means for moving a pallet from said ninth and tenth tracks, when said second carriage means is in its said second position, onto said eleventh and twelfth tracks, a fifth support means having one end positioned at said one end of said fourth support means extending transversely thereto, said fifth support means having its other end thereof positioned laterally of said one end of said fourth support means, said fifth support means including thirteenth and fourteenth tracks which are transverse to said eleventh and twelfth tracks and parallel to said first and second tracks, a third carriage means movably mounted on said thirteenth and fourteenth tracks between first and second positions, said third carriage means including fifteenth and sixteenth tracks thereon which are parallel to said eleventh and twelfth tracks and which are adapted to receive a pallet thereon, when in its first position, from said eleventh and twelfth tracks, a fourth power means connected to said third carriage means for moving said third carriage means from its first to second positions, a sixth support means having one end thereof positioned laterally of said one end of said fourth support means and including seventeenth and eighteenth tracks thereon parallel to said eleventh and twelfth tracks, said seventeenth and eighteenth tracks adapted to receive a pallet thereon from said fifteenth and sixteenth tracks of said third carriage means when said third carriage means is in its second position, a fifth power means adapted to move the pallet from said third carriage onto said seventeenth and eighteenth tracks, a fourth carriage mEans movably mounted at the other end of said sixth support means, said fourth carriage means including nineteenth and twentieth tracks thereon which are parallel to said seventeenth and eighteenth tracks, said fourth carriage means being movable from a first position, whereby said nineteenth and twentieth tracks are aligned with the ends of said seventeenth and eighteenth tracks, to a second position laterally thereof, a sixth power means connected to said fourth carriage means for moving said fourth carriage means between its first and second positions, a seventh support means having one end thereof positioned laterally of said other end of said sixth support means and including twenty-first and twenty-second tracks thereon parallel to said seventeenth and eighteenth tracks, said twenty-first and twenty-second tracks adapted to receive a pallet thereon from said fourth carriage means when said fourth carriage means is in its said second position, a seventh power means for moving a pallet from said fourth carriage onto said twenty-first and twenty-second tracks, the outer end of said seventh support means being positioned adjacent one end of said first support means, said twenty-first and twenty-second tracks being aligned with said third and fourth tracks when said first carriage means is in its said second position so that a pallet can roll from said twentyfirst and twenty-second tracks onto said third and fourth tracks, and control means for selectively controlling the operation of said first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh power means.