GB1403857A - Method and apparatus for stripping a sectionalized mould from a cast - Google Patents

Abstract

1403857 Apparatus for stripping moulds from castings GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 19 Jan 1973 [24 Jan 1972] 2881/73 Heading B3F An apparatus for stripping a multipart mould 12 from a cylindrical casting 14 comprises an arbor 16, clamping means 33 movable radially relative to said arbor, said clamping means being able to engage a mould section disposed about said arbor, means for retracting the clamping means 33 from said arbor to apply a force to the engaged section of said mould, means for maintaining stripped mould sections at a radially displaced location relative to the casting 14 in a plane parallel to the plane of the section when on the casting, and means for moving the clamping means 33 towards the arbor to apply force to individual mould sections to reassemble the sections into a cylindrical structure. The mould may be a centrifugal casting mould composed of four arcuate sections 12a having quadrants of annular plates 12b attached thereto. It is lowered over the arbor 16 and supported on a turntable 26 with pins 69 extending from the end of the mould being received in radially extending slots 70. After the bolts holding the mould sections 12a together have been removed, a carriage 43 carrying the clamping means 33 and a support 52 is moved along rails (45) by a piston and cylinder unit 48 until the front end 53 of the support 52 engages the arbor 16. The jaw 33 is then moved forward by a large diameter piston and cylinder unit 42 until it contacts the mould. Pins 41 are then driven through aligned apertures in the jaw 33 and mould brackets 39 to lock the jaw to said brackets. Plates 75 are now expanded radially outward from the arbor 16 to engage the inner periphery of the casting 14 and the jaw 33 retracted by the unit 42 to strip the engaged mould section from the casting . The carriage 43 is then withdrawn until the stripped mould section reaches a desired position on the turntable 26, at which point the pins 41 are moved upwards to free the jaw 33 from the mould section and said section left standing on the turntable supported by its annular plate segment 12b. After a further retraction of the carriage 43, the turntable is rotated to bring another mould section into alignent with the jaw 33 and the process repeated until all the sections have been stripped from the casting. The casting may now be lifted vertically off the arbor 16 and the mould reassembled by pushing its sections back towards the arbor using the jaw 33. Operation of the machine is controlled by limit switches and stepping relays which generate output signals on successive terminals to initiate the various hydraulic drives.