Interlock actuating means for mold assembly

Claim 1

In a mold assembly in which cantilever mounted cores are held tightly in compression at their free ends during a portion of the molding cycle by reciprocable wedge members which engage the cores and are arranged in separate banks, an improved means for moving the wedge members into and out of engagement with said cores comprising a plurality of crankshafts supported for rotation on axes normal to the direction of motion of said wedge members, segments of each of said crankshafts being offset from the axis of rotation of the respective crankshaft, each of said offset segments journalling a wedge-attaching member for angular motion, a detachable connection between each of said attaching members and a wedge member comprising a generally T-shaped projection and an accommodating T-shaped slot receiving said projection carried by said attaching and wedge members, the wedge-attaching members of any one crankshaft being attached to a single bank of said wedge members, and an actuating means for rotating said crankshafts, said actuating means including a pinion gear carried on each of said crankshafts, a toothed rack supported for rectilinear motion meshing with said gears and a hydraulic power element for moving said rack, whereby rotation of each of said crankshafts provides reciprocating motion, in unison, of the wedge members in its respective bank.