Apparatus for making sand molds

Claim 1

An apparatus for making sand molds comprising: two mold chamber means, each having side walls and a connecting wall; a chamber in each of said mold chamber means being defined by inner surfaces of said side walls and said connecting wall and with each of said chambers being open opposite the inner surface of each respective connecting wall; first fluid motor means for moving said mold chamber means toward and away from each other in a first plane; plate means respectively reciprocably mounted in said mold chamber means; pattern carrier means movable substantially only in a second plane transverse to said first plane, from a first position remote from said mold chamber means to a second position between said mold chamber means; said pattern carrier having a side wall configuration on each side thereof conforming to the side walls of said mold chamber means and the side walls of said pattern carriage being spaced apart respectively slightly less than the spacing between the side walls of said mold chamber means, said side walls on each side of said pattern carrier in said second position being received within the side walls of said two mold chamber means with at least a portion thereof being confined within the enclosing side walls of said two mold chamber means; said mold chamber means in the second position being disposed in spaced relationship to each other in the first plane; means associated with each of said mold chamber means and adapted to introduce mold sand into the confined spaces between said pattern carrier means and said respective plate means in said mold chamber means when said pattern carrier means is in said second position; said first fluid motor means being adapted to compress mold sand introduced into said confined spaces around said pattern carrier means when the latter is in said second position and said plate means are fixed in a position adjacent the surfaces of the respective connecting walls; said fluid motor means moving said mold chamber means, along with the plates in their fixed positions, toward each other, and from said second position to another position where said mold chamber means are closer to each other, but are still in spaced relationship, so as to form a sand mold; and second fluid motor means operable independently of said first fluid motor means and connected to said plate means in said mold chamber means and adapted to move said plate means from a position adjacent the surface of the respective connecting walls towards the open end of said respective mold chamber means in order to displace the sand mold from said mold chamber means when said pattern carrier means is in said second position.

Claim 2

An apparatus for making sand molds comprising: two mold chamber means, each having side walls and a connecting wall; a chamber in each of said mold chamber means being defined by inner surfaces of said side walls and said connecting wall and with each of said chambers being open opposite the inner surface of each respective connecting wall; first fluid motor means for moving said mold chamber means toward and away from each other in a first plane; plate means respectively reciprocably mounted in said mold chamber means; pattern carrier means movable substantially only in a second plane transverse to said first plane, from a first position remote from said mold chamber means to a second position between said mold chamber means; said pattern carrier having a side wall configuration on each side thereof conforming to the side walls of said mold chamber means and the side walls of said pattern carriage being spaced apart respectively slightly less than the spacing between the side walls of said mold chamber means, said side walls on each side of said pattern carrier in said second position being received within the side walls of said two mold chamber means with at least a portion thereof being confined within the enclosing side walls of said two mold chamber means; said mold chamber means in the second position being disposed in spaced relationship to each other in the first plane; means associated with each of said mold chamber means and adapted to introduce mold sand into the confined spaces between said pattern carrier means and said respective plate means in said mold chamber means when said pattern carrier means is in said second position; said first fluid motor means being adapted to compress mold sand introduced into said confined spaces around said pattern carrier means when the latter is in said second position and said plate means are fixed in a position adjacent the surfaces of the respective connecting walls; said fluid motor means moving said mold chamber means, along with the plates in their fixed positions, toward each other, and from said second position to another position where said mold chamber means are closer to each other, but are still in spaced relationship, so as to form a sand mold; and second fluid motor means operable independently of said first fluid motor means and connected to said plate means in said mold chamber means and adapted to move said plate means from a position adjacent the surface of the respective connecting walls towards the open end of said respective mold chamber means in order to displace the sand mold from said mold chamber means when said pattern carrier means is in said second position.