US3547181A

US3547181A - Casting apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3547181A
Application number: US722692A
Authority: US
Inventors: Dong Sing Lewis
Original assignee: GERITY SCHULTZ CORP
Current assignee: GERITY SCHULTZ CORP
Priority date: 1968-04-19
Filing date: 1968-04-19
Publication date: 1970-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 1987-12-15
Also published as: DE1908316B2; FR2006498A1; GB1223382A; DE1908316C3; DE1908316A1

Description

United States Patent Inventor Dong Sing Lewis Toledo, Ohio Appl. No. 722,692 Filed April 19, 1968 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 Assignee Gerity-Schultz Corporation Toledo, Ohio a corporation of Ohio CASTING APPARATUS 10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

11.8. C1 164/265, 164/131,]64/316, 164/327 Hut. Cl B22d 31/00, B22d 5/02 Field of Search 164/262,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,023,040 12/1935 Adams 164/262 2,848,770 8/1958 Schuchardt 164/265 3,328,853 7/1967 Pekrol 164/262 3,333,628 8/1967 Canner 164/269 Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Assistant Examiner-John E. Roethel AttorneyWilson & Fraser ABSTRACT: A die casting machine having a rotatable turntable structure containing a plurality of spaced apart cast article supporting spud members extending generally radially outwardly from the turntable to cooperate with a pair of cooperating dies. The cast article is cast onto and supported by the spud member which is moved to selective positions away from the dies and is also rotated about the axis of the spud member subsequent to its movement away from the casting station.

PATENTEU 0501 5 I970

sum

1 or 5 INVENTOR.

Dom Sme- Lam's PATENTEU [15m 5 19m SHEET 2 BF 5 D g INVENTOR. OMG HUG Mimi-7 PATENTED 05m 5mm 3,547; 181

sum 3 or 5 INVENTOR.

DONG SING LEW/Q B PATENTEB DE; 1 5 I970 SHEET R BF 5 m OE . -l N VENTOR.

Dome S: we LEW/s Animus);

PATENTED DEC] 5 1970 SHEET 5 BF 5 FIG. 6

- INVENTOR. Dome Sme Laws CASTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention v I The invention pertains to a die casting machine wherein there is provided a structure for supporting the cast article after being ejected from the dies. The supporting structure is capable of moving the cast article away from the dies and rotating the article subsequent to moving away from the casting station.

v .2. Description of the Prior Art 1 Die casting machines are known wherein the cast article is automatically moved from the dies to a trimming station. The US. Pats. to J. R. Schuchardt No. 2,848,770 entitled DIE CASTING AND TRIMMING APPARATUS," and G. G. Pekrol No. 3,328,853 entitled DIE CASTING AND TRIMMING MACHINE each disclosed apparatus wherein an article is cast in one position and then is rotated by means of a turntable-like apparatus to a circumferentially displaced trimming station. The U.S. Pat. to H. M. Canner No. 3,333,628 entitled DIE CASTING APPARATUS discloses an apparatus wherein an article is cast on a supporting mechanism at one situs and is thereafter moved longitudinally to quenching and trimming stations.

SUMMARY One of the primary objects of the present invention is the production of a die casting machine which will improve the die casting operation by the provision of a machine in which the casting, quenching, trimming andstripping stations cycle automatically and simultaneously. The operations performed by the machine of the invention will effectively and automatically produce finished die cast articles witha relatively low scrap and reject factor.

Broadly, the above, as well as other objects of the invention may be achieved by a die casting machine which comprises a pair of cooperating die casting dies having facing cavities; means for moving the dies into and out of closed casting position; a turntable mounted in association with the dies; spud means mounted on the turntable and cooperating with the dies for supporting a cast article; means for rotating the turntable whereby selective ones of the spud means will align with the dies; and means'for rotating the spud means about an axis which is substantially transverse to the axis of rotation of the turntable. A

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the .art from reading the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a die casting machine incorporating the concepts of the invention with portions broken away to more clearly illustrate the structure;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the machine illustrated in FIG. 1 with the die casting dies in a closed casting position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view similar to FIG. 2 with the die casting dies in an open positionand the turntable in an elevated position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the cooperating cover and ejector die members;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the machine illustrated in FIG. 2 taken along line 5-5 thereof; and v FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, more specifically illustrating the cast article supporting structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a die casting machine which includes a stationary platen 10 supported upon a floor engaging support frame 12 and a furnace structure 14 for melting and holding or containing the molten metal to be employed for producing metal die cast articles. Extending upwardly from each of the four corners of the stationary platen 10 are vertical guide rods or stanchions 16. The lowermost ends of the guide rods 16 are anchored to the stationary platen 10 in any suitable fashion, while the uppermost ends are likewise anchored to a stationary back plate 18.

Intermediate the stationary platen l0 and the stationary back plate 18 is a movable platen 20. The movable platen 20 is mounted for reciprocation on the guide rods 16 and is provided with suitably disposed apertures at the four corners thereof to enable a proper sliding fit on the guide rods 16.

A crossarm 22 having diametrically opposed outwardly extending portions 24 is positioned between the back plate 18 and the movable platen 20. The crossarm 22 is interconnected to the movable platen 20 by means of

toggle linkages

26 and 28 pivotally interconnected and coupled between the outwardly extending portions 24 of the crossarm 22 and yoke members 30 affixed to the upper surface of the movable platen 20. Another linkage member 32 is provided between the linkage 28 connected to the movable platen 20, and the back plate 18. v

The crossarm 22 is connected to a piston rod 34 of a hydraulic cylinder 36 which is secured to the stationary back plate 18. The hydraulic cylinder 36 is of any conventional type connected to a source of pressure fluid having suitable controls for the introduction and exhaustion of a pressure fluid. The pressure fluid source, lines,and associated controls for the hydraulic cylinder 36 are now shown for the sake of clarity and brevity. Suffice it to say that the hydraulic cylinder 36 is effective to selectively impart vertical movement of the crossarm 22 and the associated movable platen 20 as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

It will be appreciated from an examination of FIGS. 1 and 2 that when the movable platen 20 is in its lowermost vertical position, the load thereof is carried by the stationary back plate 18 through the

linkage members

28 and 30.

Mounted on the upper surface of the stationary platen 10 is a stationary cover die 40 having a molten metal conduit or gate 42 which is placed in communication with the molten metal within the furnace 14 by means of a nozzle 44 which is attached to the end of a hollow cylinder or gooseneck 46. The gooseneck 46 is disposed in part within the molten metal which is contained within the furnace I4 and is provided with port means, not shown, to permit the flow of molten metal into the hollow interior of the gooseneck 46. Molten metal is injected into the interior of the gooseneck 46 by a molten metal injecting system which includes a fluid pressure actuated cylinder 48 affixed to an A-frame supporting structure 50 and an associated metal plunger 52.

An ejector die 60 is mounted to the undersurface of the movable platen 20 by a depending support member 62 and is adapted to be supported in such a fashion that the cavities therein align and face the corresponding cavities in the stationary cover die 40. There must be precise alignment of the cover die 40 and the ejector die 60 so that the mating cavities .of the separable die halves, including the gate 42, the runner A tending shaft 54 which is aligned with and adapted to extend The cavities of the cover die 40 and the ejector die 60 are I suitably formed to provide a cavity 64 for the introduction of the distal end of a cast article transfer spud means includes a turntable 70 which is supported for vertical movement on a shaft 72 which extends generally upwardly from a pressure .fluid actuated cylinder 74 mounted beneath the stationary a platen 10. The shaft 72 extends through a coaxially arranged [.11 hollow shaft 75 disposed to extend through the stationary platen which is typically fitted with suitable bearing means 76,.shown clearly in FIG. 6 enabling relative rotational move ment to be effected between the hollow shaft 75 and the sta- -itionary platen 10. A secondary or lower turntable 77 is in- ,tegrally affixed to the upper end of the collar 75 and is "adapted to rotate therewith. The other or lower end of the collar 75 is connected to the output shaft of a gear reduction unit 78 which imparts rotating movement to the collar 75 and the 1. associated turntable 77. The lower turntable 77 has a plurality of upstanding guide rods 79 which are adapted to extend through suitably formed bearing lined apertures in the turnta- He 70. It will be appreciated that upon suitable actuation of ,the pressure fluid actuated cylinder 74, the shaft 72 and its as- .f :sociated turntable 70 may be selectively moved vertically up or down. The vertical movement of the turntable 70 is guided i' not only by the shaft 72, but also by the upstanding guide rods 79. Further, rotational movement may be imparted to the ifturntable 70 .by suitable energization of the gear reduction unit 78 whichcauses the hollow shaft 75 and the turntable 77 to rotate therewith. When the turntable77 rotates, simultanef ous rotation is caused in the turntable 70.

Quadrantly spaced-on the upper surface of the turntable 70 a plurality of cast article supporting spuds 80. The spuds 80 ---are mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis within'pillow {blOCk bearings 82. The distal portions of the spuds 80 are adapted to be selectively positioned within the cavity 64 formed between the cover die 40 and the ejector die 60 when the same are in a closed relation as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The innermost ends of the cast article supporting spuds 80 are coupled to the output shaft 84 of a pressure fluid actuated indexing mechanism 86 by a flexible coupling 88 which compensates for torque and axial alignment of the spuds 80 and their associated output shafts 84. In effect, the flexible coupling 88 acts to cushion the torque applied to the spuds 80" by the mechanism 86. The indexing mechanism 86 iseffective to impart step-by-step rotational movement of the spuds 80 "upon the introduction of pressure fluid from an appropriate source in a manner synchronized with the actuation of the other components of the machine, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter. While the pressure fluid actuated indexing mechanism 86 is illustrated as being positioned with the longitudinal axis thereof disposed generally horizontally, it will be understood that the mechanism could likewise be disposed on the turntable 70 with the longitudinal axis being vertical. The pressure fluid for actuating the indexing mechanism 86 is typically introduced into the main cylinder thereof through ports 89 which are in'communication with a "source of pressure fluid through conduits which extend centrally of a depending stationary hollow shaft 90 and an exten- Sion thereof 92 which is affixed to the turntable 70 and rotates therewith. Of course, a fluidtight seal is provided between the stationary shaft 90 and the extension 92 thereof so that no pressure fluid is permitted to escape therefrom. A cam operated valve 94 is connected between the maincylinder of camming surfaces thereon to thereby vary the position at which the turntable 70 and the spuds 80-are at the moment of actuation of the indexing mechanism 86; Accordingly, as the turntable 70 is caused to rotate, relative movement is effected between the cam operated valve 94 and the camming surfaces of the collar 96, so as to intermittently actuate the valve 94 to allow pressure fluid to be introduced into the indexing mechanism 86 periodically to impart rotation to the output shaft 84 and the associated spud 80. In the preferred embodiment, the indexing mechanism 86 is set to rotate the spud 80 180 in one direction upon the initial actuation thereof and then rotate the spud 80 180 in the opposite direction to its initial position.

It will be noted from an examination of FIG. 5, in particular, that the machine of the invention contains four separate stations; namely, a casting station generally indicated by letter A; a quenching station indicated by letter B; a trimming station indicated by letter C; and a stripping station indicated by letter D.

The foregoing description has been directed primarily to the mechanism for transferring the cast article from one station to another. At this point, more specific description will be made to each of the various stations. Initially, the casting station A which includes the stationary cover die and the movable ejector die 60, the gooseneck 46, the molten metal injecting cylinder 48, and the molten metal furnace 14 must have a provision for changing or replacing the nozzle 44 on the end of the gooseneck 46. To accomplish this objective, there is provided an A-frame supporting structure which is supported by a pair of spaced apart horizontally disposed

rack arms

100 and 102. The inner ends of the

rack arms

100 and 102 are affixed to the stationary platen 10. Suitable pinions, not shown, are rotatably secured within the A-frame supporting structure 50 and are further commonly coupled to a shaft 104 having an exteriorly positioned manually actuated drive wheel 106. The

, pinions are adapted to mesh with the teeth on the respective racks and 102 and cooperatively are effective to impart movement to the A-frame structure 50 toward and away from the stationary platen 10, and more particularly, effect movement of the nozzle 44 of the gooseneck 46 relative to the gate 42 of the cover die 40. Since the nozzle 44 extends upwardly beyond the lower surface of the stationary platen 10, provision must be made to permit the nozzle assembly to be lowered beneath the platen 10. Toward this end, the gooseneck 46 is pivotally mounted with the A-frame structure 50 as generally indicated by reference numeral 108. The gooseneck 46 is held in a fixed position with the nozzle assembly 44 adjacent the gate 42 of the cover die40 by threaded fastener means 110, as illustrated in FIG. 1. By loosening the fastener means 110, the gooseneck assembly 46 may be pivoted about the pivot point 108 in such a manner that the nozzle 44 may be lowered to clear the bottom of the platen 10 and be moved away therefrom by manually operating the hand wheel 106. Thereby, the nozzle 44 may be replaced with facility, and the gooseneck assembly 46 may thereafter be'repositioned such that the nozzle 44 is adjacent the gate 42 of the cover die 40.

The next adjacent station in a counterclockwise direction from the casting station A as viewed in FIG. 4, is the quenching station B. The quenching station '13. comprises a spray booth 112 having suitably arranged spray heads 114 for directing the application of an atomized coolant to the cast article 116 to conduct a sufficient amount of heat energy away from the cast article to enable the metal to cool, harden and set to be suitable for clean trimming.

The quenching station B functions to cool the cast articles a sufficient amount to assure that the metal has shrunk its full amount to set the dimensional characteristics thereof prior to trimming. V

The following station is the trimming station C which typically includes trimming dies 117 and 118 which cooperate to I effectively remove the cast article from the sprue, flashing, and runners.

Any die casting has a parting line at the point where the two die halves of the casting dies 40 and 60 meetQThis parting line is identified by a thin flash of metal that is formed where the molten metal is forced under pressure between the mating die surfaces. The flash and parting lines, together with the gate 142 and runners 143 must be removed before the die casting is usable. This is accomplished by trimming dies of the type typically referred to as a push-through trimming die which employs a trimming plate 117, and a punch or pusher die 118. The punch 118 is secured to the under surface of the movable platen by depending support member 120. The trimming plate 117 is provided with an aperture of the shape of the casting so that when the die casting is placed in between the trimming plate 117 and the punch 118 and the punch 118 forces the casting through the trimming plate 117. The flash is pinched off between the edges of the punch 118 and the edges of the trimming plate die 117.

The trimmed cast article, or articles, in the case of multipart casting, is caused to drop onto a conveyor or chute and typically travels from there to a suitably disposed receptacle for shipping or later handling.

The final station isthe stripping station D which is specifically illustrated in FIG. 6. The, mechanism of the stripping station D is effective to remove the metal forming the sprues, flashing, and runners from the supporting spuds 80, causing the material to fall onto a chute or conveyor, whence it is delivered to a suitable receptacle from which it is available for remelting and subsequent casting operations The stripping mechanism includes a base 130 suitably affixed to the stationary platen'10. A slideway 132 is formed to extend longitudinally along the upper surface of the base 130 and is adapted to receive a cam actuated stripping'slide 134. Beneath the slideway 132, there is an elongate cavity 136 which is formed to guide a peg 138 depending from thebottoin of the stripping slide 134. A compression spring 140 is disposed within the cavity 136 and has one end secured to the base 130 by a fastener 142 and the other end acting against the peg 138. The spring 140 functions normally to apply sufficient force to urge the peg against the innermost shoulder 144 of the cavity 136, thereby maintaining the stripping slide 134 ina position to the left of that illustrated in FIG. 6. The stripping slide 134 is provided with a channel 146 at the upper surface thereof and a camming surface 148 formed at the-left hand-side of the slide as viewed in FIG. 6.

At the innermost side of the stationary base 130 is an upstanding backup plate 150 having a generally U-shaped yoke portion 152 formed at the upper end thereof. In the relative position of the components of the machine as illustrated in FIG. 5, it will be seen that the portion of the spud 80 between the pillow block bearing 82 and the collar 153 is positioned within the space or zone defined by the yoke portion 152 of the backup plate 150, and the inner surface of the collar 153 is in engagement with the outer surface of the backup plate 150 thereby to millitate against any inward movement of the spud during a stripping operation.

Depending from the lower surface of the movable platen 20 is a supporting member 156 having a camming attachment 158 at the distal end thereof provided with a camming surface 160 for camming engagement with the camming surface 148 of the stripping slide 134. It will be appreciated that when the movable platen 20 is in a raised position, the stripping slide is caused to be moved by the spring 140 to a position at the left of the position illustrated in FIG. 5 and is then cammed to the position illustrated in FIG. 5 upon the lowering of the platen 20 and associated support member 156 and the camming attachment 158 whereupon the cooperation of the downwardly moving camming surface 160 acts against the camming surface 148 of the slide 134 to move the slide 134 against the bias of the spring 140.

Once again referring specifically to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, there is illustrated a mechanism for providing a counterbalancing characteristic to the heretofore described apparatus. More specifically, a pair of

air cylinders

160 and 162 is affixed to the upper surface of the back plate 18. Each of the

cylinders

160 and 162 is provided with an inlet 164 which, through suitable lines 166, is in communication with a source of pressure fluid. An associated piston rod 168 projects downwardly from each of the

cylinders

160 and 162 and extends through a suitable aperture in the back plate 18. The free ends of the piston rods 168 are respectively attached to the movable platen 20. In operation, a constant air pressure is maintained at the inlets 164 which tends to urge the piston rods 168 and the movable platen 20 upwardly. On the downward movement of the platen 20, typically a quick dump valve means is utilized in the inlet 164 to maintain regulated air pressure within the

cylinders

160 and 162 and to vent to atmosphere during the downward cycle. On the upward movement of the platen 20, the upper end of the

cylinders

160 and 162 are suitably vented to atmosphere. However, since there is a constant pressure admitted to the

cylinders

160 and 162, they act to counterbalance the weight of the platen 20 during its downward movement. In the preferred embodiment, at neither of the terminal positions, either fully up or completely down, of the platen 20, will the piston and piston rods 168 be permitted to reach a fully stopped position with the piston against any internal stops.

In a typical duty cycle of the apparatus described above, the machine is initially in the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein the dies 40 and 60are in a closed position preparatory to casting. The shot cylinder 48 is actuated causing the plunger 52 to forcefully inject molten metal from the furnace 14 through the gooseneck 46 into the nozzle 44. From the nozzle 44, the molten metal is injected into the mating impressions of the dies 40 and 60. The molten metal flows into the impressions of the dies 40 and 60 and also around the distal end of the spud which is positioned to project into the cavity 64. Then the hydraulic cylinder 36 is energized to move the crossarm 22 and the movable platen 20 into the position illustrated in FIG. 3. The upward movement of the movable platen 20 is, of course, assisted by the constant counterbalancing pressure exerted by the cylinders and 162 between the back plate 18 and the platen 20. As the platen 20 is moved upwardly, the ejector die 60 is carried upwardly therewith. During the upward movement of the platen 20, the shaft 54 extends through the aperture 56 thereof and contacts the ejector plate of the ejector die 60 causing the ejector pins to be depressed and thereby force the castingaway from the ejector die 60.

Simultaneously with theupward movement of the platen 20 and the ejector die 60, the turntable 70 and the associated spuds 80 are caused to be moved upwardlythrough the action of cylinder 74. Upon energization of the cylinder 74, the shaft 72 if is forced upwardly through the collar 75. It will be appreciated that upon being released from the ejector die 60, the upward movement of the casting and the associated turntable 70 and spuds 80 is halted and the ejector die continues its upward travel to permit movement of the casting in a horizontal plane.

The turntable 77 is then caused to rotate by means of the gear reduction unit 78 which drives the collar 75 affixed to the lower turntable 77. The upstanding guide posts 79 effect simultaneous rotary movement of reciprocating turntable 70 and the associated spuds 80. Manifestly, as the turntable 70 is rotated, the indexing units 86 also are rotated therewith. As the turntable 70'is rotated relative to the depending shaft 90, the cam actuated switches 94 which control the admission of pressure fluid into the indexing units 86 are cammed by the camming collar 96 affixed to the shaft 90. If-the collar 96 is adjusted to cause the actuation of the switches 94 before the spud 80 reaches the quenching station B, the spud 80 carrying the part cast at the casting station A will rotate the entire casting through about a horizontal axis. The point at which the casting is to be rotated by the indexing units 88 will depend upon the nature of the casting.

Suffice it to say, the casting is then moved to the quenching station B where the spray heads 114 direct a spray of coolant on the casting. The quenching action at station B occurs simultaneously with a casting operation which is being accomplished at station A. It will be understood that prior to the commencement of each casting operation, the pressure fluid iirthe cylinder 36 is allowed to escape, permitting the movable platen 20 and the associated ejector die 60 to move idownwardly until it is properly positioned on the cover die 40. Simultaneously with the aforementioned downward movement of the platen 20, the turntable 70 is caused to be lowered separated thereby permitting the casting to be properly located therebetween. The cycle is continued whereupon the trimming dies 117 and 118 closed by the lowering of the platen 20 which effectively removes the cast article from the g ate, runners, and flashing. The cast article thus removed typieally falls to a chute or conveyor therebeneath.

'[Finally, the cycle is repeated and that portion of the casting yyhich includes the gate, runners, and flashing-is moved to the .stripping station D where the remaining metal scrap is stripped off from the spud 80. When the turntable 70 is lowered, spud 8:0, is disposed within the channel 146 of the stripping slide 134 such that the metal to be removed is on the outer side of the slide and the collar 153 abuts against the outer surface of the backup plate 150. Upon the downward movement of the platen 20, the camming surface 160 of the camming attachment cams the camming surface 148 of the stripping slide r134 to move the same against the metal attached to the end of *t'hespud 8 to remove the same therefrom. Typically, the .metal thus removedfalls downwardly onto a chute or con- 've yor and is returned to the furnace 14 for rernelting.

"-While mention has been made heretofore that the trimming station C employs a push through type trimming die, it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that the apparatus of the invention is adaptable for incorporation of a number of different .types of trimming die arrangement such as a positive knockout vtype or other types well known in the art. Suffice it to say that the apparatus readily adopts itself to many types of trimming dies.

:Also, the description of the machine has made reference to there being four spuds 180. Manifestly, the number of spuds J80 may'be varied to suit the particular application desired. [It will be appreciated that the apparatus described hereinabove provides a means for producing castings with .great efficiency, continuity of parts, and minimal amount of labor necessary to satisfactorily perform the operation.

l'n accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes l have explained the principle and mode of operation of my in vention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without de- Iparting from its spirit or scope.

- flclaim: I "l. A vertical die casting machine comprising:

a casting station including a stationary lower die member and a moveable upper die member;

, Yi'neans for vertically moving said die member into and out of closed casting relation;

means for injecting molten metal into said die members when said die members are in closed casting relation for producing a cast article having associated flashing;

a plurality of cast article and flashing supporting means cooperating with said die members of said casting station onto which the cast article and associated flashing are formed;

a quenching station circumferentially spaced from said casting station for cooling the cast article and associated flashing;

a trimming station circumferentially spaced from said quenching station for removing the cast article from the associated flashing; v i

a stripping station circumferentially spaced from said trimming station for removing the residual flashing from said supporting means, including means for applying a force to said residual flash to strip said flash from said cast article supporting means;

means for sequentially moving said cast article and flashing supporting means to each of said casting, quenching, trimming and stripping stations; and

means for rotating said supporting means about a horizontal axis through at least between said casting and trimming stations to properly position the cast article in said trimming station. I

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said means for sequentially moving said cast article and flashing supporting means includes a turntable which is rotatable about a vertical axis.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 ,wherein said turntable is mounted on a vertically extending shaft.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 wherein said shaft is provided with means to impart selective vertical movement thereto. v

5. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said. means for vertically moving said die'members includes a vertically movable platen member connected to one of said die members.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 which further includes a stationary back plate having depending linkage means interconnected to said movable platen member.

7. The invention defined in claim 6 including a stationary shaft depending from said back plate for selective engagement with the movable one of said dies for ejectingthe cast article therefrom upon the upward movement of said movable platen and said die member.

8. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said stripping station consists of a cam actuated stripping means for removing the flashing from said supporting means.

9. The invention defined in claim 8 wherein said cast article and flashing supporting means include an integral collar, and said stripping station includes a fixed support which cooperates with said collar positively retaining said supporting means against outward axial movement upon actuation of said cam actuated stripping means.

10. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said means for sequentially moving said supporting means includes a second rotatable turntable, said second turntable disposed beneath said first mentionedturntable, and second turntable having upstanding linkage means which imparts rotary movement to said first mentioned turntable and permits vertical displacement therebetween.