CA1173625A - Vertical face shake out for foundry molds - Google Patents

Abstract

VERTICAL FACE SHAKE OUT FOR FOUNDRY MOLDS
ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE

This invention pertains to a shake out apparatus for very large molds involving castings of up to a weight of one hundred tons or more and pri-marily incorporates a vibrating vertical wall against which a mold and/or a large casting is pressed while supported by a crane, or the like, to cause the casting and its elastic to separate and causing clinging sand to separate from the inside faces of the flask and any remaining core sand can be separated by again pressing the casting against the vibrating vertical wall.

Description

~7~25 VERTICAL FAC~ S~AKF OUT FOR FOIJNDRY ~-lOLDS
sAcK~RouND F TIIE I~I~F.NTI~N

Field Of The Invention: This concep-t has to do with foundry practices related to "shake out" devices and particularly related -to shake out equipment for cleaning very large castings of up to a hundred tons or more in weight.
Description Of ~he Prior Art: E-leretofore, Eoundries have always had a definite need for "shake out" devices to seyarate a molded casting frorn the mold and -to remove all of the sand from the inside of the mold. ~s herein used the -term "flask" has reference to the outside container for the sand mold and it is this sand that must be removed by the shake out.
The flask basically comprises a four sided box and wllen preparing a mold the cen-ter core is inserted first af-ter which a pat-tern is ~laced in the molcl and which actually comprises -the form of the cas-tiny. ~ancl is pac~ed around the pa-t-tern af-ter which the pat-tern is carefully removed and the void which this leaves is filled by pouring hot metal into the mold and this is allowed to set to form -the final casting. It is the cleaning of all of this e~uipment that this invention is concerned with. It has been the practice to remove - the casting as well as -the casting the core and the sand by vibratory action and this ac-tion is obtained by use of the "shake ou-t" devices referred to.

~73~25 ~ typical me-thod usecl Eor shaking ou-t molds utilized a shake ou-t table par-i,icularly where large castings were involved, In use o-f -the shake out table the entire mold was placed uPon the -table which vibrated up and do~n in a vertical direc-tion and this vibration caused the flask and the foundry sand as well as the casting to separate witll the sand falling through holes provided for that purpose in the shake out table. The flas~ and the cas-ting were rernove~ by a crane so that, ln effect, all of the various pieces were deposited on the table where they would remain until they were lifted off.
Some foundries have u-tilized what is known as a "shake ou-t feeder" wherein the mold was placed at the inlet of the feeder by means of a "push-out" wllich was nothing more -than a large plunger tha-t puslle~ the casting and the sand out of the flask and caused it to drop in-to the inlet of the Eeeder. I'he feeder conveyed the materials forward by a vibratory action so that the castiny and the molding sand were sub~ected -to thls vibration. The sand dropped throug}l holes in the deck of the feeder and -the casting rode on top of-this deck and eventuaily ~as discharged over the end of the feeder.
The degree of cleaning o~tained depended upon the length of time the par-ts were retained Oll the vibrating deck.

S~r~RY _F TEIE IMVENl'IC)N

This inven-tion includes a basic supnort struc-ture for a vibratory vertical front wall that is --2~

~3~73~5 suspended from the s-truc-ture and lsolated from the structure, including isolating s~rings at the bo-ttom of the wall, airmounts -that comprise air sprinys above and below a pair of vibratory excitors mounted behind the vibratory wall which in additlon to isolatin~ the wall also act as shock absorbers ~hen a heavy casting first "collidesl' with the vertical wall. The vibratory wall is comprised of a thick steel plate secured to a heav~ steel block of similar size with a -thick slab of rubber sandwiched between -the steel plate and block with the complete sandwich secured together by bol-ts, or the like. This rubber sandwich ac-ts to absorb some of the shock resulting from the pounding of a large and heavy cas~ing against the vibra-ting wall and importantly, also reduces the sound level of the noise resulting from the vibrating action. In fact, when the vibrating wall is operating wi-thout a mold in engagement with -the wall, the sound level may approximate 55db and when in actual operation vibrating a casLing, the sound level is no more than 85db, which for a shake out o:f any capaci-ty is very quiet and when considered in rela-tion -to the capacity of -this equipment is exceptionally quiet.
The vibrating frontwall of this shake out is disposed vertically ancl is especially adapted to the cleaning of large cas-tings weighing upwardly of ten tons and including exceptionally large cas-tincJs of up to one hundred tons, or more. Such excessively large castings were not adaptable to cleaning on the previously existing sha~e out tables or feeder shal~e outs of the ~ 7~3625 prior art but.the ver~ically disposed vibrating wall enabled such castings to be suspended by a crane in contact with the vertical wall to be vibrated in a manner effectivel~ to provide complete cleaning and separation of the casting from the flask and core sand. The vertical vibrating wall not only revolutionizes the foundry shake out practices especially for large castings but does so with equipment that can be manufactured at substantially lower cost than the shake outs previously used.
In summary of the above, therefore, the present invention may be broadly seen as providing a foundry shake out apparatus for large castings including a rigid support structure having a substantially vertical upright, a diagonal bracing structure for the upright having a top portion overlying the upright forming an extension beyond the face of the upright, a front wall disposed in a vertical plane suspended on the support structure from the extension, isolator shock absorbers disposed horizontally and operable in a horizontal direction between the vertical wall and the support structure to absorb shocks from the ca~tings, vertically operable isolators supporting the wall operating in a plane parallel with the wall, a pair o~ vibrating devices mounted on the rear face of the wall having vertical operating shafts rotating in opposite directions to cause the wall to vibrate back and forth, the wall comprising an assembly having a metal face plate and a relatively heavier metal block secured together with a rubber slab mounted between the face plate and metal block to form a composite sandwich structure which also absorbs the shocks, the vibrating devices being mounted centrally of the vertical wall directly on the /j A

~73~5 bac~ side of such wall between upper and lower groups of the isolator shock absorbers and operable to vibrate horizontally, the isolators operable vertically comprising isolator springs mounted under the bottom end of the vertical wa].l, and suspension isolators mounted between the top of the vertica]. wall and the extension of the braci.ng structure portion overlying the upright, both the suspension isolators at the top of the wall and the isolators under the bottom end of the wall being operable to suspend the vextical wall for vibrating freely relative to the support structure.

sd/ ~! _., 5_ 3~S

DESCRIPTION OF_T~IE DXAllINGS

The foregoincJ and other and more s~ecific objects of the invention are attained by the struc-ture and arrangemen-t illustrated in the accompanying drawings wllerein Figure 1 ls a general side elevational vlew of the present shake out apparatus including a vertically disposed vibra-tory wall structure mounted on a basic support s-tructure in isolated relationship;
Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the shake out apparatus showing the front face of the . vibratory wall with the top isolators suspending -the wall s-tructure from the support structure and bottom springs supporting and isola-ting the wall from the support structure at -this location; and Figure 3 is a general plan view o:f the sha]ce out apparatus showlng the cons-tr.uction o:E the basi.c support s-tructure and the ver-tically disposed vibratory wall at the ~ront of the structure.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED E~BODIMENT

_. i In the concept of this invention it was found that the excessively large molds for very large and heavy castings were no-t adaptable to Eoundry shake out operations u-tilizi.ng the usual sllake out table, or feeder, where the castings ~ere ~so large and heavy, because oE -tlle extreme di:Eficulty in en~ineering a vibrating unit to handle such massive weigllts. Bv sus-~L7~25 pending a large mold on a crane hook it was demonstra-tecl that such large unlts could be pressed against the face of a vibrating vertical wall and held there -to be vibrated clean of core sand and separate the casting from the flask.
~ eferring to Figure 1 oE the drawings it will be seen that the basic supporting structure 10 is rigidl~ mounted Oll and secured to a subs-tantial base foundation 11. A pair of diagonals 12 ex-tend upwardly at an angle toward the front of the structure and project over a pair of uprigh-ts 13 forming the front structure of the basic support. The uprigh-ts 13 and the diagonals 12 are connected by a series of bracing connecting members 1~, 15 and 16 which reinforce the support structure in the several direc-tions required and a cross-member 17 connects -the diagonals 12 at the top where they extend outwardly over -the uprigh-ts 13.
A bracket assembly 18 is mounted on and rigidly securecl to the support struc-ture by means of the cross member 17 for a purpose hereinafter to appear. Both the diagonals 12 and the uPright members 13 are mounted on and secured to horizontal base members 19 which in turn are secured to transverse base members 20 at the rear of the basic suppor-t structure. r~he members 19 extend forwardly of the uprigh-ts 13 as will best be seen in Figure 1.
The uprights 13 are connec-ted by plates 21 and 22 ex-tendlng across -the front of the uprlghts and secured there-to by we].cling , or the like. The plates 21 and 22 are located adjacen-t to the -top and bottom respectively of the uprights ancl are each backed up and reinforced by series of spaced web plates 23 extending between the upriyh-ts and welded to -the uprights and to the back sides of the plates 21 and 22 to provide a rigid bearing structure, or back-up against which vertically spaced sets of horizontal isolators are adapted to bear as hereinafter described.
The bracket assembly 18 at the top of the basic support structure 10 provides a mounting connection for a series of suspension isolators 24 that are connected to and suspend a front wall structure 25 from the basic support struc-ture. The ~lall structure 25 hangs more or less free from the top oE the support structure by means of the suspension isolators 2~ and is construc-ted oE a heavy steel face plate 26 and a heavy steel block 27 with a heavy slab of rubber 32 sandwiched there between.
The sandwiched assembly i.s secured toyether pre:Eerably by bolts and vertically spaced yuide blocks 2~ at each side of the steel block 27 are secured to the support structure upright members 13 by welding and engage the opposite sides of the block 27 to prevent lateral displacement of the wall assembly 25 and ac-t to yuicle and confine the assembly -to its normal operative position.
The front wall assembly is supported at the bottom by isolating springs 29 disposed between the base structure and the bottom edge oE the wall assembly.

~ "

3~5 The springs 29 are mounte~ on a memher 39 extending between and secured to -the base members 19 by welding.
Twovertically spac~lgroups o~ horizontal isolator springs 30 and 31 are disposed hehind -the front wall assembly at upper and lower locations corresponding with the positions of -the back-up plates 21 and 22 on the support structure so -that these springs can act to iso1.ate the front wall structure from the support structure during operation and when a heavy casting suspended from a crane, as indicated in Figure l, first collides wlth the steel plate 26, the shock resulting from this massive weight is absorbed largely by -the springs 30 and 31 but the rubber slab 32 also absorbs some of the ini-tial shock of this collision and deadens the souncl as well.
It should be pointed out that the bolted connection securing the rubber slab 32 between the stee]. block 27 and the steel p:Late 26 includes an angle member 33 at each side of the assembly and which is securecl -to the respective sides of the bloc}; 27 by welding so that an outstanding :Elanye is p.rovi.ded behillcl the slab 32 at each side and it .is through this .Elange that the bol-ts 34 extend after after ~assing through -the steel plate 26 and the rubber slab 32. The steel face plate 26 thus is replaceable shoulcl it become damaged or unduly worn due to the heavy service.
The isolator springs 30 and 31 actually are air~ounts, as shown ancl in adclition to their functi.on as shock absorbers against the impacts of heavy castinc.ls, ~7~6~5 also act as isolators to the vibratory action oE -the front wall assemb.ly 25 under the excitation of a pair of vibra-tory excitors 35 mounted on the bac~ side of the steel bloc}; 27 between -the isolator a.ir mounts 30 and 31. The operating shafts of these exci-tors are disposed vertically and rotate in opposi-te directions to cause the wall assembly 25 -to vibrate back and forth and it is this recivrocating vibratory action that pounds a flas]c bearing against the face pla-te 26 to cause the casting to fall clear and the clinging sand to come loose from the flask. The excitors 35 are electrically operated and the usual eccentric we.ights disposed at the top and bottom of the excitors are enclosed by housings 37 as best shown in Figures 1 and 2.
The entire fron-t wall assembly 25 is completely free to vibrate in this manner since the ~all assembly is supported at -the bottom Oll -the row of steel coil .isolator springs 29 ~hich provide undersuppor-t for -the vibrating wall as well as isolating the ~7all Erom the basic supportiny structure and the top suspension arm isolators 29 are primarily for safety purposes to not only help support the wall assembly but especially function to prevent the vibrator ~lall 25 from separating completely from the support structure 10~ If these connections 24 were not utilized the vertical wall 25 might fa].l forward and constitute a serious hazard to foundry personnel.
As shown in Figure 2, a pair of re-taining brackets 38 are mounted at respectively opposide sides ~736~S

of the ve~tical wall structure 25 for the a-ttachment of a suitable cable should it be thought necessar~ by some users to bind a cas-ting to the vibrating wall to maintain contact for effective shake out but it has been found that mere suspension of a massive casting and flask against the face 26 of the vibratlng wall is fully capable o~ obtaining the degree o~ vibration of the casting and flask necessary to effect separation and shake out of the core sand.
The vertical face shake out of this invention involving the basic principle of a vibrating vertical face to perform the shai~e ou-t function by suspending the mold agains-t such vibrating face by means of a crane represents a highly effective apparatus for separating such massive castings from the flasks and to clean out the core sand. In operation an entire mold is sus-pended by the crane and pressed against the vibrating vertical face 26. In a matter of seconds -the bottom of the mold is caused to drop free together with the core and the casting as well. The flask is con-tinued -to be held agains-t the vibrating vertical wall until all of the sand clinying to the inside surfaces is dislodged and drops free, after which the clean flask may be moved away. If necessary, the core and casting can be again pressed against the vibrating vertical wal1 to remove all traces of core sand which may remain after the initial separation.
In actual operation, as indicated in Figure 1, the entire mold is brought to the shake out by a ~73~5 crane and lowered to the foundry -Eloor whereupon a foundry operator disconnects the C clamps normally used to lock the core bottom to the flas]c, but when these clamps are released the core and eas-ting usually continues to adhere to -the :Elas]c because o:f the strong bonding capability of the hot molding sand contained in the ~lask. The entire mold assembly is now pressed against the vibrating vertical wa].1 25 by the crane and the vibration of the unit causes the mold and eore -to drop free of the flask almost immediately. The flas]c is then lifted slightly by -the erane and pressed firmly against the vibrating wall to remove a]l of the stubborn-ly clinging molding sand from the internal side walls.
The eleaned flask is removed by erane from the sha]ce out but -the hot casting and the core remain. To separate the internal core clinging to the easting, from the hot easting, the cas-ting is pressecl against the vibrat:ing vertieal wall and the eore drops free a:Eter whieh the hot easting is removed from the shake out by the crane.

2~ From the foregoing it will be seen that a foundry shake out apparatus has been provided tha-t ineorporates a vertieally disposed vibratory wall isolated from supporting strueture and adapted to vibrate large easting molds held against the face of the vibrating wall.

Claims (4)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A foundry shake out apparatus for large castings including a rigid support structure having a substantially vertical upright, a diagonal bracing structure for the upright having a top portion overlying the upright forming an extension beyond the face of the upright, a front wall dis-posed in a vertical plane suspended on the support structure from said extension, isolator shock absorbers disposed horizontally and operable in a horizontal direction between the vertical wall and the support structure to absorb shocks from said castings, vertically operable isolators supporting said wall operating in a plane parallel with the wall, a pair of vibrating devices mounted on the rear face of said wall having vertical operating shafts rotating in opposite directions to cause said wall to vibrate back and forth, said wall comprising an assembly having a metal face plate and a relatively heavier metal block secured together with a rubber slab mounted between said face plate and metal block to form a composite sandwich structure which also absorbs said shocks, said vibrating devices being mounted centrally of the vertical wall directly on the back side of such wall between upper and lower groups of said isolator shock absorbers and operable to vibrate horizontally, said isolators operable vertically comprising isolator springs mounted under the bottom end of said vertical wall, and suspension isolators mounted between the top of the vertical wall and said extension of the bracing structure portion overlying said upright, both said suspension isolators at the top of the wall and said isolators under the bottom end of the wall being operable to suspend the vertical wall for vibrating freely relative to the support structure.

2. A foundry shake out apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said vibrating device includes a pair of excitors having vertical axes and rotating in opposite directions to cause said vertical wall to reciprocate back and forth.

3. A foundry shake out apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said face plate and metal block are secured by bolts passing through the face plate and rubber slab adjacent to respectively opposite side edges of the face plate, and flanged members secured to respectively opposite sides of said metal block, said bolts passing through an outstanding flange of each of said flanged members.

4. A foundry shake out apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein one or more guide blocks are disposed at respectively opposite sides of said heavy metal block and secured to said support structure to guide and confine said front wall assembly to its operative position.