Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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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.
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~ 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
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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
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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
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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-
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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.
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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,
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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
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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
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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.
