Automatic molding apparatus and mold-making machine therein

Claim 2

An automatic mold making apparatus comprising, a mold making machine having a plate holder supporting a mold cavity-forming plate assembly substantially vertically, and respective mold flask and ram assemblies on opposite sides of said plate holder and each reciprocable horizontally toward and away from the latter to compact a mold in the flask and to eject the compacted mold from the flask in an upright position, conveyor means for carrying the molds to an assembly station, means for transferring the ejected molds onto said conveyor means including means for turning through 90* each upright mold which has a drag cavity therein so as to position the drag cavity facing upwardly to receive a core, and means at said assembly station for stacking molds with the cope cavity in one mold facing downwardly in registration with the upwardly facing drag cavity in another mold.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plate assembly coacts with one of said flask and ram assemblies to form a cope mold and coacts with the other of said flask and ram assemblies to form a drag mold, said conveyor means comprises a drag conveyor and a cope conveyor, and said means for transferring the molds onto said conveyor means comprises means for transferring the ejected cope mold onto the cope conveyor in an upright position with its cavity facing toward the drag conveyor, and means for turning the ejected drag mold 90* and positioning it on the drag conveyor with its cavity facing upwardly.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said means at the assembly station for stacking molds comprises, means for transferring each drag mold from the drag conveyor with its cavity facing upwardly, means for transferring each cope mold from the cope conveyor in an upright position and then turning the cope mold 90* to a position overlying the corresponding drag mold with its cavity facing downwardly and registering with the upwardly facing cavity in the drag mold.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plate assembly coacts with both flask and ram assemblies to form cope and drag cavities in opposite faces of both molds, and the ejected molds of each pair are transferred one after the other onto said conveyor means with the cavity of each facing upwardly.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said means for transferring the molds onto said conveyor means comprises, a pair of mold setters for receiving the respective molds in an upright position after their ejection and for turning each upright mold 90* to position its cavity facing upwardly and then releasing the mold.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said means at the assembly station for stacking molds transfers the successive molds from said conveyor means with the cope cavity of each cope mold facing downwardly and the drag cavity of each drag mold facing upwardly and stacks them in succession one on top of the other.

Claim 8

An automatic mold making apparatus comprising, a plate holder for supporting a mold cavity-forming plate assembly substantially vertically, a first mold flask and a squeeze ram cooperable therewith mounted at one side of said plate assembly and reciprocable substantially horizontally toward and away from the latter; a second mold flask and a squeeze ram cooperable therewith mounted at the opposite side of said plate assembly and reciprocable substantially horizontally toward and away from the latter, means for holding said flasks against the opposite sides of said plate assembly, means for advancing the squeeze rams substantially simultaneously toward said plate assembly to compact sand in the respective flasks, means for retracting the flasks and squeeze rams away from said plate assembly and for ejecting the compacted molds from the respective flasks, means for filling the flasks with sand after the ejection of the compacted molds Therefrom, conveyor means for conveying the compacted molds to an assembly station after their ejection from the flasks, and means at the assembly station for stacking one mold on top of another with a cope mold cavity in one mold facing toward a drag mold cavity in the other.

Claim 9

An automatic mold making apparatus comprising, a plate holder for supporting a mold cavity-forming plate assembly substantially vertically, a first mold flask and a squeeze ram cooperable therewith mounted at one side of said plate assembly and reciprocable substantially horizontally toward and away from the latter; a second mold flask and a squeeze ram cooperable therewith mounted at the opposite side of said plate assembly and reciprocable substantially horizontally toward and away from the latter, means for holding said flasks against the opposite sides of said plate assembly, means for advancing the squeeze rams substantially simultaneously toward said plate assembly to compact sand in the respective flasks, means for retracting the flasks and squeeze rams away from said plate assembly and for ejecting the compacted molds from the respective flasks, means for filling the flasks with sand after the ejection of the compacted molds Therefrom, conveyor means for conveying the compacted molds to an assembly station after their ejection from the flasks, and means at the assembly station for stacking one mold on top of another with a cope mold cavity in one mold facing toward a drag mold cavity in the other.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said plate assembly coacts with one of said flasks and the respective ram to form a cope mold and coacts with the other of said flasks and the respective ram to form a drag mold, and said conveyor means comprises a substantially horizontal drag conveyor and a substantially horizontal cope conveyor at a higher level than the drag conveyor, and further comprising, means for transferring the ejected cope mold onto the cope conveyor in an upright position with its cavity facing toward the drag conveyor, means for turning the ejected drag mold 90* and then transferring the drag mold onto the drag conveyor with its cavity facing upwardly to receive a core while on said drag conveyor, and stacking means at the assembly station for turning the cope mold 90* to position its cavity facing downwardly and overlying the corresponding drag mold before being stacked thereon.

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said means for transferring the ejected cope mold onto the cope conveyor comprises, a table disposed below the flask in which the cope mold is formed, means for raising said table to receive the cope mold as it is ejected from the respective flask and for lowering the cope mold to the level of the cope conveyor, and means for sliding the cope mold horizontally from said table onto the cope conveyor.

Claim 12

Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said means for turning and transferring the ejected drag comprises, rail means having an upwardly extending vertical segment, a lower horizontal segment and a 90* arcuate bend joining said vertical segment to said horizontal segment, a transfer car movable along said rail means between a raised vertical position for receiving the drag mold as it is ejected from the respective flask and a lowered horizontal position holding the drag mold with its cavity facing upwardly, and means for moving the drag mold horizontally from said last-mentioned position on the transfer car over onto the drag conveyor.

Claim 13

Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said stacking means at the assembly station comprises, a rotatable transfer unit having releasable clamp means thereon, means for sliding the cope mold in said upright position from the cope conveyor onto said transfer unit, and means for actuating said clamp means to hold the cope mold on said transfer unit while the latter is being turned 90* to position the cope mold with its cavity facing downwardly and for releasing said clamp means to release the cope mold from said transfer unit after being turned 90*.

Claim 14

Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein both molds ejected from the respective flasks have a cope cavity in one face thereof and a drag cavity in the opposite face, and means transferring the molds ejected from the respective flasks one after the other onto said conveyor means with the drag cavity of each facing upwardly.

Claim 15

Apparatus according to claim 12 and further comprising, a pair of mold setters for receiving and holding the respective mold in an upright position after ejection from the respective flasks, means for turning each mold setter 90* to position the respective mold with its drag cavity facing upwardly and then releasing the mold from the mold setter, and means for sliding the released mold substantially horizontally over onto said conveyor means.

Claim 16

Apparatus according to claim 13 and further comprising means for forming sprue holes in the molds while held in an upright position in the respective mold setter.

Claim 17

Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said stacking means at the assembly station transfers the successive molds from said conveyor means with the cope cavity of each facing downwardly and the drag cavity facing upwardly and stacks them in succession one on top of the other with the cope cavity in one mold registering with the drag cavity in the next lower mold in the stack.

Claim 18

Apparatus according to claim 12 and further comprising, means for forming sprue holes in the molds as they are transferred onto said conveyor means, and means for pouring molten metal into said sprue holes in the stacked molds at said assembly station.