US1960366A - Apparatus for freeing and removing hollow castings from flasks - Google Patents

Description

May 29, 1934. c. D. BARR ET AL APPARATUS FOR FREEING AND REMOVING HOLLOW CASTING$ FROM FLASKS Filed Jan. 5. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORS. Lnmr/rcs .0. 5mm STA-fills 0. Maxzzy BY J 60.6 L 600 x;

w aa 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r Iww w W5 a W W I I I I: llll I PIIII HH HHH I I M MN HI I II I HI I I I IHunnnWIflflHuuuI I I I nInJIInkwIII IIIII w\ m flag mm c u a N m a III I i I I- II ill I M I m E 4 I I III II. \I Ill |I I. I a I III I OZ; I Z. 0 OQ hu I I. 7 a o o \m Illl o o o H A MMIIII -II II I I I I 3 7 I I MI... .I I um I cs. I III .I mm NA Y uH B y 1934- c. D. BARR ET AL I APPARATUS FOR FREEING AND REMOVING HOLLOW CASTINGS FROM FLASKS Filed Jan. 5, 1952 Patented May 29, 1934 I i APPARATUS FOR rename AND REMOVING HOLLOW onscrmes FRYOM FLASKS Clarence D. Barr, Stephen D. Moxley, and Jacob L. Cooper, Birmingham, Ala., assignors to Sand Spun Patents Corporation, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of Delaware Application January 5, 1932, Serial No. 584,872

4 e 8' Claims. x (or. 22-94) Our present invention,relates to mechanism Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail pf the grapple for for removing hollow castings from. sand-lined grasping and pulling the pipe from its flask. flasks in which they have been cast centrifugally. Fig. 3 is a transverse view of the flask sup- In casting hollow metal bodies centrifugally, port taken on the line 3-3, of Fig. 1.

, such-for instance as cast iron pipes formed in Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the line 4-4 60 sand-lined molds or flasks, the castings are often of Fig. 1. very diificult to remove because the sand lining Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the is usually densely c'ompacted'in the flask and p shing pl ng r nd h fl k Support w t he the casting, when formed centrifugally, becomes grapple in open position ready to grasp an end rather firmly bound therein, making it exof the casting, and 65 tremely difficult to remove endwise, and this is Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the apparatus especially true with cast iron pipes having a shown in Fig. 5. protuberance, such as a bead, at the spigot The apparatus includes a support for the end and 9, bell at the other end, flasks which 'in the instance shown, comprises It has been proposed to free the castings from a pair of cradles 10, spaced apart a suflicient 70 the flask by disintegrating the sand lining distance to constitute rests for the flasks 12, around the casting by means of a hollow auger, to support them horizontally, said cradles beand also by removing the sand lining by means ing shown as supported upon and secured to of a jet or jets of fluid under pressure, and while I-beams 13, and each having a curved upper face these methods have proven satisfactory, when 14, to conform to the radius of the flask or sub- 75 employed in connection with pipes up to 12" stantially so. 'Each'cradle may also include op- -in diameter, some difflculties are presented when positely arranged vertical uprights 15, bolted to an attempt is made to employ them in connecthe I-beams 13, and also to I-beams 16, extending tion with pipes of larger dimensions, as for at right angles to the I-beams 13. The distance instance 14" and over, and of lengths 1'6 and between the uprights of each pair is just suf- 80 ver, ficient to permit a flask 12, to be supported The objects of the present invention are to therebetween. The upp ends of e up s r provide a novel 'method of an apparatus for are beveled outwardly as at 17, to guide the removing hollow metal castings from the: sand flasks toward the cradle seats as they are lowlined flasks in whicl they have been castand ered by the overhead crane (not shown).

' wherein large and heavy flasks and -their con- An abutment is arranged in line with the said taineci castings may be easily handled with a supports and in the instance shown, consists minimum of labor, exertion and time, of a base 18', carrying an annular member 19,

Briefly and'generally stated our improved apof suflicient size to form a stop to prevent endparatus comprises a support for a flask, which Wise movement of the flasks 12, when force is 90 support includes an abutment to prevent endexerted longitudinally thereof, as when a castwise movement of the flask in one direction during i being pushe d and pulled therefrom The ing the extracting operation, a plunger movable a n member 15 preffimbly Provided h a within and lengthwise of the flask to push the removable wear'plate 19 g bolted Phereto, which 40 casting eridwise thereof so as to break the may f g fromf tune tune which 95 bond between the sand lining and theflask $2 e are anged a .1 ate 0f different a'ndcause an end of the casting to be projected Fig we a Shown the flask 12 in through an P flasliiand longltudmauy sition upon its supports with one end thereof, mova l p e q q havmg a grapplc edapted namely the bell end 12', abutting the abutment grasp the Prolectmg 9 of the castmg and member 19(. In said figure the reference char- P bodily from the flaskacter 20 indicates the hollow casting which is- The invention comprises other features of shown as :M0911 and spigot pipe and 21 indi, novelty whi h w be hereinafter pointed out cates the sand lining between the flask and the in detail in the following specification and casting. In this figure the casting is shown 105 claims. as partly pushed from its flask, and through In the accompanying drawings wherein we the annular abutment to expose the bell end so i have illustrated one embodiment of our inthat itmay be grasped by a grapple and then v ntion, I completely withdrawn from the flask by mean- Fig. 1 is a side elevation. anism to be presently described. 1

The means for breaking the bond between the sand lining and the flask and for pushing the casting and the lining endwise of the flask, consists of a plunger 22, having a head 23, of approximately the diameter of the bore of the flask, said plunger being removably mounted upon the extension 22* of head 22', supported from a carriage 24, having wheels 25, traveling upon trackways 26, as more clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The plunger may be withdrawn from the flask by any suitable means. In the present instance 'I have shown this means as consisting of a weight 27, connected to the carriage 25, by means of cables 28, trained over idlers 29, as more clearly shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6.

The means for advancing the plunger 22, consists in the instance shown, of a hydraulic or pneumatic power cylinder 36, having one end of its piston 31, directly abutting the outer end of the plunger 22, through a concave convex connection 32, which serves to take care of any difliculties that might arise through misalignment between the pistons 31 and plunger 22. The fluid power medium for the cylinder is controlled by a 3-way valve 33, shown conventionally in Fig. 5. Obviously, this valve may be of any improved construction. It will be clear that the return movement of the pistons 31, is accomplished by the weight 27, and cables 28, when the valve is positioned to permit escape of the actuating fluid from the power cylinder.

From the foregoing it will be seen that with the mechanism thus far described a hollow casting may be pushed lengthwise of a flask resting horizontally upon its supports with one end engaging the annular abutment member 19, as more clearly shown in Fig. 5. Thus the bond between the sand lining and the flask is broken by a pushing force directed against one end of the casting to be removed and exerted lengthwise thereof.

In order to completely remove the casting from its flask, we provide a pulling means which is brought into operation immediately an end of the casting has been projected through an end of the flask.

Since the art of pulling the casting from its' flask also serves to cause the clinging sand to become detached from the casting, some dust is created, and in order to take care of this and to provide means for collecting and for transferring the detached sand to a point where it may be reconditioned for further use, we prefer to pull the casting directly into an enclosure 34, as shown in Fig. 1, with which dust exhaust pipes 35 communicate, said pipes being connected to any suitable exhaust apparatus of the cyclone or other type.

The castings are pulled lengthwise onto transversely arranged rails 36, supported upon the floor of the enclosure and upon which they may be rolled from the enclosure to the cleaning station (not shown). A portion or portions of the floor of the enclosure above a pit or well is covered by a grating 37, beneath which are supported hoppers 38, which lead the detached sand to the sand reconditioning apparatus. A stop 39, may be located adjacent one of the rails 36, to properly position the castings upon the rails.

The pulling device for withdrawing the castings comprises, in the instance shown,.a grapple as more clearly illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 5,

The grapple includes, a fixed jaw 40, and a movable jaw 41, both jaws being mounted upon a wheeled carriage 42, which may be caused to travel back andforth upon an I-beam or other trackway 43, extending longitudinally through the enclosure 34. The-forward end of the fixed jaw 40, is beveled as at 44, to facilitate its guidance into the end of the hollow casting, and the movable jaw 41, which is pivoted at 45, has a nose 46, adapted to grip the bell end of the casting. The movable jaw also has a shoulder 47, adjacent, but in rear of the nose and so positioned that it will contact with the bell end of the hollow casting when the grapple is brought into grasping relation with the casting and thus automatically bring the two jaws into gripping contact with the said bell end as more clearly shown in Fig. 2. The movable jaw 41, is also provided with a seat 48, in rear of the shoulder 47, with which the free end 49, of a pivoted latch 50, may engage in order to retain the movable jaw into gripping relation with the casting until it is to be released. The latch 50, which is pivoted at 51, is normally urged by gravity into seating relationship with the movable jaw, and is automatically shifted to unlatching position by a stop 52, fixed to the trackway 43, and with which the upper end 53, of the latch engages, all as more clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it being understood that the stop is so positioned that it will actuate the latch to release the movable gripping jaw when the pulling device has withdrawn the casting from its flask and positioned it properly upon the rails 36.

The grapple is actuated by means of a system of cables as more clearly shown in Fig. 1. One cable indicated by the numeral 54, is connected at one end to the fixed jaw 40, of the grapple,

and from thence extends through the enclosure 34, and is looped around fixed sheaves 55, located adjacent the lower end of a hydraulic cylinder 56, and around movable sheaves 57, mounted at the upper end of a plunger 58, a portion of which plunger is movable in the cylinder as a piston. The other end of the cable is attached to one of said sheaves. Obviously if fluid is caused to enter the lower end of the cylinder 56, the plunger 58, with its sheaves 57, will be elevated thus causing a direct outward pull upon the cable 54, and if the grapple jaws are attached to the casting the latter will be pulled from its flask and deposited upon the rails 36, and the grapple then released by reason of its latch 50, coming into contact with the fixed stop 52.

A second cable 59, is attached at one end to the grapple carriage 42, and then passes over a pulley 60, mounted at one end of the trackway 43, as shown in Fig. 1. From thence the cable .59, extends over a series of idlers 61, and then over a sheave 62, mounted upon an overhead beam 63, with portions of the cable looped about sheaves 64, carried by the upper end of the plunger 58, this arrangement being such that the looped portions of the cable will 'be shortened and lengthened by the upward and downward movementsof the plunger 58, as will be obvious. The slack in the cable 59, is taken up by the idler pulley 65, and its associated weight 66, said pulley and weight being suspended in a, loop or slack portion 6'7, of the cable at the point where it is trained over and under the series of idlers 61, as more clearly shown in l.

From the arrangement of cables shown and described it will be seen that the grapple and its carriage may be caused to move back and forth upon its trackway 43, by raising and lowering movements of the double acting plunger 58.

Obviously as the plunger moves upward it imparts a pulling force upon thecable 54,, and at the same time the cable 59.;is let out or slackened because of the shortening of the cable loops between the, fixed and movable sheaves 62 and 64. When the plunger is lowered just the reverse takes place; the loops in the cable 59 are gradually lengthened, and the grapple carriage with its grapple is then moved into position to grip the casting. The actuating fluid for the cylinder 56, is admitted 'anddischarged at opposite ends thereof, by means of a suitable 3-way valve of any preferred construction.

The operation of the apparatus will be clear from the foregoing detailed description and without further explanation, it being apparent that through said operation a novel method is employed for freeing and extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks, which consists in first exerting endwise pressure against one end of the casting and the sand lining to break the bond between the lining and the inner wall of the flask and to project one end of the casting through one end of the flask, and thereafter force exerted longitudinally of the casting while maintaining the flask against endwise movement.

By the arrangement shown wherein the head 23, is removably mounted upon the extension 22 of the head 22*, and wherein the abutment ring 19', is also removable, these parts are interchangeable for corresponding parts of a different size, and the apparatus may thus be readily adapted for use in connection with flasks of different diameters.

While we have shown an apparatus for supporting a single flask only, it is to be understood that in actual operation we prefer to employ .two, three or more units of the same construction, said units to be located side by side as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, in order to take care of flasks and castings of different diameters.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for extracting hollow cast ings from sand-lined flasks wherein the sand lining is tightly compacted between the outer surface of the casting and the inner wall of the flask, comprising an open support into which a.flask may be lowered from above and supported in a substantially horizontal position, an abutment at one end of the support for engagement by an end of the flask to prevent endwise movement thereof in one direction, said abutment having an opening at least as large as the diameter of the casting and thru which the latter may be projected, a plunger located at one end of the support .in alinement therewith,

means for imparting a short movement to the plunger lengthwise of the flask and operable to engage and project an end only of the casting thru an end of the flask, and a longitudinally movable pulling device having a grapple adapted 79 to engage the projected end of the casting and completely removing the casting by a pulling of the casting and the inner wall of the flask, comprising an open support including oppositely-disposed spaced-apart uprights between which a flask may belowered and supported in a horizontal position, an abutment at one end of the support for engagement by an end of the flask to prevent endwise movement thereof inone direction, said abutment having an opening larger than the diameter of the casting and thru which the latter may be projected, a fiuidactuated plunger located at one end of the support in alinement therewith, said plunger having a relatively short movement lengthwise of the flask and operable to engage and project an end only of the casting thru an end of the flask, and a longitudinally movable pulling device having a grapple adapted to engage the projected end of the casting and pull it bodily from the flask.

3. An apparatus for extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks as defined in claim 1 and including a trackway extending forward from the abutment, a carriage movable upon the trackway and upon which the grapple is mounted, separate cables connected to the grapple and carriage, respectively, and power means for operating the cables for the purpose specified.

4. An apparatus for extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks as defined in claim 1, and including a trackway extending forward from the abutment, a carriage movable back and forth upon the trackway and upon which the grapple is mounted, separate cables connected to the carriage and grapple, respectively, and a power plunger common to both cables for operating the latter to pull the grapple and carriage back and forth alternately.

5. An apparatus for extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks as defined in claim 1,115 and including a trackway extending forward from the abutment, a carriage movable back and forth upon the trackway and upon which the grapple is mounted, said grapple having a fixed and a movable jaw to embrace the inner and 120 outer walls of the casting and wherein the movable jaw has a nose adapted to engage the outer wall of a casting and a shoulder positioned to engage an end of the casting to move the nose into gripping position with the outer wall of 125 the casting when the fixed jaw is moved into the open end thereof.

6. An apparatus for extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks, comprising an open cradle into which the flask may be lowered and 1330 supported in a horizontal position, opposed spaced-apart uprights for holding the flask against lateral movement, an abutment at one end of the support for preventing endwise movement of the flask, said abutment having an 135 opening larger than the diameter of the casting and thru which the latter may be projected, a power plunger at one end of the support having a head mounted for universal movement and adapted to enter the supported flask and push 340 a casting lengthwise thereof, and a carriage upon which the head is mounted.

7. An apparatus for extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks wherein the sand lining 1 is tightly compacted between the outer surface 145 of the casting and the inner wall of the flask, comprising a fixed support for holding a flask in a substantially horizontal. position and said support including cradles having spaced-apart q upstanding arms, an abutment at one end of .the support, said abutment having an opening larger than the diameter of the casting and thru which the latter maybe projected, a power plunger at one end of the support, said plunger having an interchangeable head mounted for lateral movement and adapted to enter the flask and engage and push a casting longitudinally thereof, a wheeled carriage upon which the head is mounted, a grapple movable toward and from the other end of the flask and adapted to grasp a casting and pull it bodily therefrom, and a trackway for supporting and guiding the movements of the grapple.

8. In apparatus of the character described for extracting hollow castings from sand-lined flasks, including an open support for holding a flask in a substantially horizontal position during the extracting operation and into which a flask may be lowered from above, said support comprising spaced-apart cradles each having a curved seat and oppositely-disposed spaced-apart uprights tor preventing lateral movement of a supported flask, a vertically-extending abutment at one end 01' the support for preventing endwise movement of the flask, said abutment having an opening therein larger than the diameter of the casting to be projected from the flask,

and a short-stroke power plunger located atthat end of the support opposite the abutment, said plunger adapted to enter a supported flask to engage an end of a castingtherein to project the opposite end of the casting through the opening inthe abutment. V

, CLARENCE D. BARR.

STEPHEN D. MOXLEY. JACOB L. COOPER.

Images