Process and apparatus for the transport of a train of flaskless casting molds

For transporting a train (15) of flaskless molds using a simply designed system along a storing, teeming and cooling run or part of a conveyor in a foundry so that the castings are made highly true to size, the forces needed for speeding up and slowing down the mold train (15) are caused to take effect at a desired level on the mold train (15) and, together with the forces acting oppositely to the thermal expansion of the molds (7) within the mold train (15), the forces are transmitted to the full length of the mold train only by the molds (7) themselves.

The present invention is with respect to a process and an apparatus for the 
transport of a train of flaskless molds along a storing, teeming and 
cooling conveyor in a foundry and having at least one straight conveyor 
run, new teeming molds joining, one after the other, a back end of the 
mold train and filled molds being taken therefrom at the same rate from a 
front end of the train. 
On working with flaskless molds, the reinforcing effect of a flask is not 
produced. Mold flasks are, generally speaking, high-price structures which 
have a very high wear rate and are very likely to be damaged. The use of 
flaskless molds, for this reason, keeps down running costs under the level 
if flasks are used. However, it has been seen from experience that, 
because there is no flask reinforcing effect, mold parts may be broken or 
bent or parts of them get out of line with each other. Furthermore, the 
mold parts may become greater in size than is desired so that more waste 
is produced. These shortcomings are not fully taken care of by known 
flaskless molding systems of the sort in question: For reinforcing the 
side faces of the molds, running in the transport direction, attempts have 
been made, it is true, at using gripping plates or guiderails or the like 
running along the length of the mold train. In most cases the end faces 
running normal to the direction of transport of the molds are not normally 
reinforced; if the molds have horizontal parting planes, or if the parting 
planes are upright, the end faces will frequently be acted upon by forces 
likely to be the cause of castings being produced which are not true to 
size. 
German Auslegeschrift specification No. 2,417,197 is with respect to an 
apparatus of the sort noted with a wheel conveyor between a mold-producing 
station and a shake out station, the wheels turning about fixed axes and 
being used for supporting a palette with one horizontally parting mold on 
it. In the case of this known system, the palettes are longer than the 
molds. For this reason, the ends of the palettes are kept against each 
other for transmitting the forwardly acting and braking forces. The 
separate molds are spaced. Because the separate molds are not reinforced 
or gripped in the transport direction, it is possible for expansion to 
take place with the outcome that the castings may not be true to size. The 
thermal expansion taking place after teeming is frequently so high that 
the spacing between the molds as noted may be bridged over. If the 
expansion of the cope and the drag is different or if the cope is somewhat 
smaller than the drag in size, there may be undesired slipping of the cope 
on the drag, this danger being more specially likely in the case of a mold 
waiting its turn to be filled and next to the last mold to be filled. 
Quite in addition to this, however, the thermal expansion, which is not 
limited in the known system, of the molds is responsible for "growth" of 
the castings if a material is being processed which undergoes expansion 
while cooling down, for example with gray cast iron in the graphitization 
stage. 
In the case of further known systems (see German Pat. Nos. 1,583,526 and 
1,783,120), use is made of a power conveyor belt onto which the molds are 
pushed. On braking the conveyor belt the belt will, however, still go on 
moving to a certain degree uncontrolledly so that it is not possible to 
make certain that the molds are kept together without any spaces 
therebetween, this being necessary if they are to have the effect of 
supporting each other in the transport direction. If, in this respect, on 
the other hand the overall forward force takes effect on the last mold in 
the train, that is to say the last mold in the direction of transport, and 
the conveyor belt is moved by the mold, something which has been attempted 
more specially in the case of molds with upright parting planes, there 
would be an overgreat danger of the mold being crushed. In the case of 
such systems as well there is, for this reason, no regular and full 
reinforcement of the molds. 
On the footing of this prior art, one purpose of the present invention is 
that of designing a process of the sort noted, and an apparatus for 
running the process, which make it possible for castings to be produced 
true to size in a way which so far has not been thought to be possible, 
while nevertheless taking care of the shortcomings of known systems. 
The process of the present invention is characterized in that the molds, 
which have upright end and side faces normal to a conveyor plane, are 
lined up in the mold train with their end faces resting against each 
other, in that speeding up and braking forces adjusted as necessary and as 
needed for the transport of the mold train are caused to take effect on 
the train, the speeding up force taking effect at the back end of the mold 
train and the braking force taking effect at the front end thereof, such 
forces being transmitted together with any forces acting against thermal 
expansion within the said train along the full length of the train only by 
the molds from one mold to the mold next thereto. 
Because of the supporting effect of the molds on each other in the 
transport direction and opposite thereto, the transmission of forces along 
the full length of the mold train is only through the molds themselves, 
this giving a useful effect. In other words, the molds have the desired 
effect of reinforcing each other at their end faces, which are normal to 
the direction of transport. The side faces, running in the direction of 
transport, of the molds may in any case, be reinforced or supported by 
gripping plates or the like so that, generally speaking, there is a 
flask-like reinforcement of the molds together with its useful effects in 
producing castings which are true to size and accurate. The fact that the 
driving and braking forces may be adjusted, gives the useful effect of its 
being possible to make changes from case to case by adjusting the forces 
acting from the outside on the mold train so that it is possible to put an 
end not only to undesired expansion of the mold train and undesired 
slipping of mold structures in relation to each other, but furthermore to 
any damage to mold parts. At the same time, because of this, the power 
needed may be decreased to the lowest possible level, this not only 
lowering running costs, but furthermore making it possible for the mold 
train to be moved smoothly without any blows. 
In many cases, a specially useful effect is produced if, as a preferred 
part of the invention, the mold train, when not in the speeding up stage 
is pushed together, more specially in the resting stages, by an adjustable 
force acting oppositely to the thermal expansion forces of the molds so 
that the separate molds are reinforced. This measure may, more specially 
give a useful effect if the mold train has to be stopped, for example 
because the supply of liquid metal has run out. The thermal expansion 
taking place to a marked degree in such stages in which the molds are not 
moved in the prior art, is stopped in the invention by the force pushing a 
train together. A useful effect is produced if the force keeping the mold 
train together is greater than the force needed for completely stopping 
thermal expansion of the mold train. In this respect thermal expansion of 
the mold train is not then possible. As a further development of this 
teaching of the invention, the force keeping the mold train together may 
be smaller than the force needed for causing slipping of the mold or parts 
thereof waiting its turn to be filled next to the mold, which was last to 
be teemed up, on supports of said mold. In this way it is possible to make 
certain that, when overgreat forces are produced within the mold train, a 
certain stretching of the same may take place so that the forces are 
leveled off. However, the force pushing the mold train together is kept 
up. It is best for the molds to be so designed in this respect that the 
force necessary for causing slipping of that mold or parts thereof next to 
the last-filled mold and waiting its turn to be filled, on its support is 
in any case greater than the force produced by thermal expansion within 
the mold train so that no expansion of the mold train in fact takes place, 
even although normal thermal expansion forces take effect. 
A transport apparatus for running the process as noted at the start, 
characterized in that, in the case of a conveyor stretching from a 
mold-producing station to a shake-out station and having at least one 
straight run, said conveyor having transport structures for supporting one 
or more molds and having turning supports for turning about fixed axes, 
the length of each transport structure as measured in the transport 
direction is smaller than the length of the mold or molds placed thereon, 
such mold or molds stretching out to the back and in front of each 
transport structure and in that the transport structures placed at the 
front and back ends of one run of the train are drivingly joined up with a 
driving unit and, in the other case, with a braking unit by way of at 
least one adjustable torque-limiting slip clutch. These measures make it 
possible to make certain that forces are transmitted by the molds 
themselves along the full length of the mold train and make it possible 
for the driving and braking forces to be changed from case to case, this 
furthermore being true of forces acting in the opposite direction to the 
thermal expansion forces. The measures of the present inventon furthermore 
make certain that the molds are kept on their separate supports in a 
resting condition even although they have the effect of supporting each 
other on transport. At the same time the fact that the sled or 
carriage-like transport units may readily be moved is important. 
As part of a useful further development of these measures, the driving unit 
may be made up of at least one turning driving support or wheel joined up 
with a driving machine by way of a slip clutch, the driving machine being 
able to be locked, at least in the direction opposite to the transport 
direction and the brake unit is made up of at least one turning brake 
support or wheel which is joined up by way of the slip clutch with at 
least one brake machine which may be locked at least in the transport 
direction. The driving wheel and the braking wheel may, in this respect, 
best be designed for taking effect frictionally on the transport 
structures thereon in such a way that the force able to be transmitted 
thereby is greater than the greatest force which may be transmitted by the 
slip clutch, this having the effect of greatly decreasing wear. The wheels 
placed between the driving unit and the breaking unit may be designed as 
simple support wheels which are not powered so that a very simple 
structure is made possible. 
As part of a further development of the invention, each run of the wheel 
conveyor is designed running downhill in the transport direction to such a 
degree that the resistance taking effect on its wheels is generally 
equalled by the downhill running effect completely. Because the friction 
is equalled there is, as a useful effect, generally the same level of 
supporting forces along the full length of the mold train between the 
separate molds. Furthermore, the force needed for moving the mold train 
may be kept generally low, so that it is smooth in operation. 
It is frequently the case that as a new mold is joining the back end of the 
mold train, trouble conditions such as the parts of a mold being slipped 
in relation to each other, loss of form of mold parts or damage to mold 
parts such as breakage may take place, this, as well, having undesired 
effects on the accuracy of the castings. Molds coming up at the back end 
of the mold train have to be moved somewhat faster than the train so that 
they may come up against the back end itself. In order, in this respect, 
to make certain that the mold parts are not acted upon by blows, which 
might be responsible for the trouble conditions noted, as part of a 
further useful development of the invention, the joining up speed of the 
last mold in each case to be moved up to the end of the mold train is such 
that, as the mold comes up to the mold train, the kinetic energy freed is 
cushioned plastically by the mold material and in the case of molds with 
horizontal parting lines, such forces will not be the cause of the two 
mold parts being slipped in relation to each other. The speed by which the 
mold, joining the train, is faster than the train, is best not greater 
than 5 cm/s. For making this part of the process of operation of the 
apparatus possible, it is possible to have at least one supply unit in the 
form of a driving wheel, the driving wheel being joined up by way of a 
slip coupling, whose transmission torque may be adjusted, with a driving 
machine and it is designed for frictionally acting upon a transport 
structure supporting the mold. The slipping clutch may, in this respect, 
be adjusted to a generally low torque so that the driving machine has the 
effect of causing slipping of the clutch once the mold comes up against 
the back end of the mold train and, for this reason, there is no bending 
or other loss in form of the mold. 
The adjustable torque slip clutches used may be designed, as a further 
useful development of the invention as contactless magnetic clutches and, 
more specially, magnetostatic hysteresis clutches so that there is no wear 
.

A foundry plant of the sort to be seen in the figures is made up, as may 
best be seen from FIG. 1, of a mold-producing station 1, in which 
flaskless casting molds are made, a shake-out station 2, in which mold 
sand is cleared from the completed castings, and a storing, teeming and 
cooling down conveyor 3a, 3b, on which the molds make their way from the 
mold-producing station 1 to the shake-out station 2. The part of the 
conveyor coming after the mold-producing station is a storing part for 
offering up completed molds for filling with metal. Next there is the 
teeming conveyor part in which a ladle 4 full of metal is used for filling 
the molds. There is a metal line at 5 for supply of metal from a melting 
furnace (not figured) to the ladle. After the teeming part of the conveyor 
with the ladle 4 there is the cooling part in which the castings are 
cooled down till they are at the shake-out temperature. In the plant of 
FIG. 1 the storing, teeming and cooling down conveyor is made up of two 
conveyor runs working in opposite directions. 
For forming the storing, teeming and cooling down conveyor with its two 
runs moving in forward and backward directions there is a wheel conveyor 
run 6 with wheels turning about fixed axes. For taking up the molds, 
numbered 7, and which in the present case are double-block molds with a 
horizontal parting plane between a cope 11 and a drag 12, transport 
structures are placed running on the wheels of wheel conveyor run 6, such 
transport structures in the present case being in the form of palettes 8 
each supporting one mold 7. At the end of the cooling down part of the 
conveyor, the palettes 8 are cleared from the conveyor by a pushing plate 
marked 9 in FIG. 1 and then put on to the back end of the forwardly moving 
conveyor run for taking up a new mold as it comes out of the 
mold-producing station 1. At the other, front end of the forwardly moving 
conveyor run, the palettes 8 together with the molds 7 thereon, are moved 
over onto the other, backwardly running conveyor run and, for this 
purpose, there are at ends of forwardly running conveyor run 3a and of the 
backwardly running conveyor run 3b moving over units acting in the 
direction of arrow 10. Such units may take the form (see FIG. 3) of a 
carriage having a lifting system and able to be moved in the direction 
normal to the conveyor direction. The copes 11 and the drags 12 of the 
horizontally parting molds 7 are, in the present working example of the 
invention, to be quite the same in size and they have end faces 13 and 
side faces 14 which are normal to the plane of transport or of the 
conveyor. The length of the molds 7 is, as may be seen from FIG. 2, 
greater than the length of the mold palettes 8, at least in the transport 
direction so that the molds 7 may be placed on the palettes 8 with their 
ends sticking out at the front and the back past the edges of the 
palettes. For this reason, the molds may have their upright end faces 
resting against each other so as to give a direct supporting effect and in 
the forwardly moving conveyor run 3a and the backwardly running, opposite 
conveyor run 3b of the storing, teeming and cooling down conveyor two 
trains 15 of molds are produced without any spaces inbetween them, see 
FIG. 1. For this reason, the transmission of forces, that is to say the 
driving, braking and possible thermal expansion forces within each mold 
train 15 goes by way of the molds 7, the palettes 8 on which they are 
rested not being used for the transmission of forces. Because the molds 
have their end faces resting against each other, a certain reinforcing 
effect is produced, this making certain that the castings are produced 
true to size. 
Each of the mold trains 15 has, as may be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, a 
driving unit 16 placed at its back end and which, in the present case, is 
best made part of the wheel conveyor run 6, while at the other, front end 
of each conveyor run, there is a braking unit 17 which is best made part 
of the wheel conveyor run 6 as well. The driving unit 16 and the braking 
unit 17 (see FIG. 3) have a driving machine 18 and, in the other case, a 
braking machine 19 acting through a driving connection with, in each case, 
a torque limiting or slip clutch 20, whose limiting effect may undergo 
adjustment so that the driving forces acting on the mold train 15 and the 
braking forces acting thereon may be changed at will, this making certain 
that no uncontrolled forces take effect on the mold train 15 in question 
so that the molds 7 are carefully, that is to say not roughly, processed. 
The driving unit 16 and the braking unit 17 are made up, as may be seen 
from FIG. 2 furthermore, of at least one driving wheel 25 and, in the 
other case a braking wheel 26 on which the palettes, heading for the end 
of the conveyor run, are frictionally rested. For stopping wear, this 
friction effect is best stronger than the greatest possible torque which 
may be transmitted by the slip clutch 20 in question so that if there is 
any slip, it will take place at the clutch and not between the wheel 25 or 
26 and the palette. The wheels of the wheel conveyor run 6, placed between 
the driving unit 16 and the braking unit 17 are best designed in the form 
of freely running support wheels 27. In place of wheels 25, 26 and 27 it 
is furthermore possible to have rollers stretching over the full breadth 
of the wheel conveyor run 6. In the present working example of the 
invention, the wheels are paired and placed on opposite sides of the 
conveyor. Furthermore, in the present working example, the driving unit 16 
and the braking unit 17 are designed stretching along the length of one 
palette 8 in view of the fact that they each have three pairs of wheels so 
that the driving and braking forces may be transmitted whatever the 
adjustment of the slipping clutches 20 completely and without any slip. As 
a driving machine 18 and a braking machine 19, use is best made of 
electrodynamic geared machines. For overcoming effects of friction of the 
two-wheel conveyor runs 6, they are at such a slope to the horizontal (see 
FIG. 2) that the bearing friction taking effect on the wheels, and other 
forces acting against motion of the mold trains are balanced by the 
downhill driving effect of the palettes 8 and their molds 7 on the 
conveyor runs. 
In the resting, stopped condition, the driving machine 18 is at least 
stopped from turning in a direction opposite to that of transport while 
the braking machine 19 is locked for stopping motion in the transport 
direction and, for this purpose, the driving machine 18 may have a ratchet 
30 while the braking machine 19 may have a locking brake 31 which 
automatically takes effect when the machine is stopped. Inasfar as the 
train of molds kept together in this way is acted upon by thermal 
expansion forces having the tendency of increasing the length of the 
train, such forces are stopped from taking effect by the locked driving 
machine 18 and the locked braking machine 19 up to a force level as fixed 
by adjustment of the slip clutches 20, that is to say the forces within 
the train do not have any effect outside the train. The slip clutches 20 
are, for this reason, best so adjusted that no slip takes place because of 
thermal expansion, that is to say, putting it differently, there is no 
increase in length of the mold train 15. The thermal expansion forces may 
be readily worked out or measured because, as tests have made it clear, 
there is no summating effect along the length of the train. 
With the adjustment noted of the slip clutches 20, a slipping of the 
complete molds 7 on the palettes 8 or of the copes 11 on their drags 12 
might be feared, but, however, the force necessary to take care of any 
such slip may be readily worked out by testing and is normally known. 
Slipping of the molds 7 on the palettes 8 or of the copes 11 on the drags 
12 does not take place if the force needed for producing such slip is 
greater than the force produced by thermal expansion. This condition is 
readily kept to if the molds 7 have the effect of supporting each other, 
as in the present working example, because the copes and drags are of the 
same size so that there is a full support of drag against drag and cope 
against cope along the train; furthermore at the back of a conveyor run, 
the first mold to be filled, and in which thermal expansion may take 
place, would have to have the effect of pushing all molds in the storing 
run of the conveyor to the back of it so that the slip-producing force as 
measured for one mold, is multiplied. In the case of molds whose copes are 
somewhat smaller than the drags so that the copes are not rested against 
each other, the same effect may be produced by weighting the molds and in 
order, in cases of this sort to see that there is no slip of the copes on 
their drags in the storing run of the conveyor with molds 7, the forces 
which may be transmitted by the slip clutches 20 may be adjusted to a 
value which is a little less than the force which would produce slip 
between the copes and drags, so that it would be more likely that there 
would be a small change in the length of the train of molds 15 than a 
slipping of the copes on the drags of the molds in the storing conveyor 
run. This case is, however, unlikely under normal running conditions. 
For getting on the move and speeding up the mold train 15 so that it is 
moving at the normal operation speed, the driving unit 16 is put into 
operation for producing the necessary force for getting the mold train 15 
started up. The adjustment of the slip clutch 20 of unit 16 is, in this 
respect, representative of the limit of the speeding up force. Putting 
into operation the braking unit 17 with the braking machine 19 is not 
necessary at this stage, but the locking brake 31 has to be taken off. The 
parts of the braking unit 17 are, in this case, simply turned by way of 
the palettes 8 moving over the braking wheels 26. In this respect, 
friction, for example of the geared machine 19 has an effect opposite to 
the force moving the molds along. The speeding up or acceleration forces 
transmitted by way of the one end face 13 of a mold to the next mold 7 
become less and less towards the front end of the conveyor run. For this 
reason, more specially the back part of the mold train in which thermal 
expansion is likely to have undesired effects is, for this reason, 
safeguarded because the molds 7 are locked against each other with a 
reinforcing effect. Once the train has been speeded up to the transport 
speed, the brake machine 19 is out into operation, this keeping the 
transport speed at an unchanging level. This is possible by operation of 
brake 31. The braking force acting on the mold train is, in this respect, 
the same as the force for which torque transmitted by the slip clutch 20 
is responsible. The slip clutch used with the braking machine 19 is best 
adjusted to a somewhat lower torque than the slip clutch 20 of the driving 
machine 18 so that the effect of the driving force is somewhat greater 
than that of the braking force. In the working example figured, the geared 
machines 18 and 19 for driving and braking, are put into operation at the 
same time. In the speeding up stage, the geared braking machine 19 is 
turned without producing any braking force and, for this purpose, there is 
a freewheel 32, placed in the driving connection with the brake wheels 26, 
and letting the wheels 26 be overtaken. Once, however, the braking wheels 
26 are turned by the palettes 8 more quickly than the geared braking 
machine 19 or the output of the gearbox used therewith, freewheel 32 will 
be a force-transmitting part so that the braking machine 19 is now turned 
by the braking wheels 26. The electrodynamic machine 19 is, in this case, 
run as a generator. The braking force acting on the mold train 15 is then 
the same as the generator force. Once the generator function of breaking 
electrodynamic 19, which may an electric motor, is started, it has the 
effect of controlling speed. With the help of the braking machine which, 
at first, may be turned freely by way of the freewheel 32, but which is 
run as a generator after overtaking by the train 15, the useful effect may 
be produced of automatically and exactly sensing the end of the speeding 
up stage with the outcome that a very even motion of the train is made 
possible. The speed ratio of the gearbox of the braking machine 19 is best 
made somewhat smaller than the speed ratio of the gearbox used with the 
driving machine 18 so that, with the same speed of the machines at the 
braking unit, there will be somewhat smaller gearbox output speed than at 
the driving unit, this making certain that, even in the last part of the 
speeding up stage and in normal forward motion, a controlled, certain 
generator force is on hand as a braking force so that the train of molds 
is kept together completely regularly or kept lined up. 
The gearboxes for the driving machine 18 and the braking machine 19 may be 
united with such machine or, as is to be seen in the present working 
example, may be in the form of a separate gearbox marked 33. For stopping 
the motion of the mold train, the driving unit 16 is put out of operation 
by switching off the dynamo electric machine 18 and, at the same time, the 
brake 31 of the braking machine 19 is put into operation so that the 
braking machine 19 (an electric motor) is locked and stopped. The braking 
force acting on the train of molds is, in this case, the same as the force 
produced by the torque which may be transmitted by the slip clutch 20 in 
question. The locked brake 31, together with the automatically working 
ratchet 30 at the driving unit 16, is responsible for the gripping of the 
molds in the train between each other, desired more specially when the 
train is not on the move, between the driving unit 16 and the brake unit 
17 so that there is in fact a reinforcing effect on the molds 7. 
In addition to the end-on reinforcing effect on the molds 7, the side faces 
14 may be reinforced and, for this purpose, as may best be seen from FIG. 
4, gripping plates 21 may be used taking effect against the side faces 14 
of the molds 7. In the working example to be seen, the gripping plates 21 
are joined together by two-armed angled levers 22 or bell cranks forming a 
weighting iron part 23 placed on the cope 11 for keeping it down and 
weighting it. The angle levers 22, together with their arms running out 
past the sides of the weighting iron part 23, and forming opening scissors 
structure, in which, for giving a self-locking effect and producing 
further weighting of the cope, a heavy bar 24 may be placed. Together with 
the supporting or reinforcing of the ends of the molds and the gripping 
effect on the mold train, there is a reinforcing of the molds 7 on all 
their upright sides which is equal in effect to a flask and which makes it 
possible for the castings to be produced true to size in a way which, 
before the present invention, was not thought to be possible. 
For moving up new molds as produced by the mold-producing station 1 against 
the back end of the mold train 15 there is a supply unit 127 coming before 
the driving unit 16, while, coming after the braking unit 17 of each train 
15, there is a moving over unit 28 for moving the furthest forward mold of 
the mold train to be taken and pulled from the front end of the conveyor 
run. The supply unit 127 and the moving over unit 28 are made up in the 
present case (see FIG. 3) as well of three pairs of driving wheels 25 
which, by way of slip clutches 20 which may be adjusted for changing the 
torque clutched thereby, are joined up with a driving machine 29. Because 
at the supply unit 127 and the moving over unit 28 only one palette with 
its mold has to be speeded up and got on the move, the slip clutches 20 
may be adjusted to a generally low torque transmission so that the driving 
machines 29 used therewith will be slipping, even if there is only a small 
resistance, this being for stopping any damaging forces acting on the mold 
in question. A pushing or forward force of the supply unit 127 of the 
order of 100 N has turned out to give a good effect. The supply unit 127 
and the moving over unit 28 are run at a speed a little greater than the 
transport speed of the mold trains with which they are used so as to 
produce the desired supply and handing over effect and the difference in 
speeds at the supply unit 127 is best such that the kinetic energy freed 
here when the mold comes up against the back end of the mold train on 
joining the train is cushioned within the plastic range of the mold sand 
and does not have the effect of moving the cope in relation to the drag 
thereunder. A speed difference of the order of 5 cm/s has been seen to be 
more specially useful. In the present working example, the moving over 
unit 10 are united with the supply unit 127 and the moving over unit 28. 
If, as in the present working example, one driving machine and the slip 
clutch 20 joined therewith is to be used for driving a number of wheels or 
pairs of wheels, the wheels are naturally enough drivingly joined up by 
chains, gearwheels or the like. 
FIGS. 5 and 6 are again a view of a transport system for a mold train 15 
made up of molds 7 with upright parting planes or lines. Such molds may, 
for example, be monobloc molds which are all the same in the case of FIG. 
5 or of "double block" molds, each made up of a cope and a drag which, 
after being produced, are turned through 90.degree., see FIG. 6. The 
transport of the mold train 15 is, in this case, undertaken in steps as 
the train is joined by new molds coming from the mold-making station, not 
figured. In the stage in which the train is on the move, the molds 7 of 
the train, which do not have any spaces between them, are rested on a 
number of transport structures placed one after the other, such transport 
structures being walking beams 24, whose beams or rails are placed singly 
between support beams 35 stretching along the full length of the mold 
train 15, such support beams or rails having the necessary play between 
them and the walking beams 34. The support beams 35 are not moved in the 
length-direction. The walking beams 34 are taken up by a wheel conveyor 
run which in design and function is generally like the wheel conveyor run 
6 to be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. For this reason, like parts are given like 
part numbers. The wheel conveyor run 6, for this reason, in the present 
working example as well, made up of driving wheels 25 for forming a 
driving unit, braking wheels 26 at its front end for forming a braking 
unit and freely running support wheels 27 placed between the driving and 
braking units. The driving wheels 25 and the braking wheels 26 are joined 
in the present working example by way of a slip clutch in each case, whose 
torque transmission may be adjusted, with a geared machine, that is to say 
in the one case as a driving machine while in the other case (of the 
braking wheels 26), use is made of a geared machine as in the FIGS. 2 and 
3 with a locking brake of the same sort as marked 31 in FIG. 3; 
furthermore, in the driving connection and the braking unit there is a 
freewheel 32 as in FIG. 3. The operation of the system on speeding up, 
transport and braking is the same as detailed in connection with FIGS. 2 
and 3. The walking beams 34 in the case of the present working example are 
used for transporting a number of molds 7, placed one after the other, at 
a time. The length of the walking beams 34 is, however, such that the 
molds 7 placed thereon have a somewhat greater overall length. On lining 
up the molds in the right way, it will be seen that, for this reason, the 
molds will be sticking out to the front and the back so that the 
transmission of power on motion of the walking beams 34 is only within the 
mold train 15 so that the same is kept together even when it is on the 
move and the effects of inner thermal expansion are limited or made of no 
effect, the slipping torque of the clutch used with the driving wheels 25 
being adjusted to such a value that only the force (and no greater force) 
needed for moving forward and accelerating the mold train 15 is produced. 
The slip clutch joined up with the braking wheels 26 may, in this respect, 
be adjusted to a somewhat smaller value. 
In the rest stages, caused for example when liquid metal has run out, the 
mold train 15 may be taken up by the walking beams 34, the driving wheels 
25 being locked against turning in a direction opposite to the transport 
direction and the braking rolls 26 being locked against turning in the 
transport direction for stopping thermal expansion in the length-direction 
of the mold train 15, as was the case with the working example of the 
invention of FIGS. 2 and 3. 
In this case as well a ratchet in the one case and a locking brake in the 
other, may be used. The force acting against the thermal expansion force 
is in line with the force representative of the torque transmission for 
which the clutches 20 are adjusted and which, for completely stopping any 
thermal expansion in the length-direction, is best greater than the 
thermal expansion force. If the mold train 15 is supported on the support 
beams 35 in the resting stages, thermal expansion will furthermore be 
stopped by the friction force where the molds are rested on the support 
beams. 
The support beams 35 and the walking beams 34 used as transport structures, 
may be changed in level in relation to each other so that the mold train 
15 is supported on the walking beams 34 (see FIG. 5) or on the support 
beams 35 (see FIG. 6). The mold train 15 when resting on the walking beams 
34 is moved by the beams 34 in each step by a distance equal to the length 
of one mold forwards and at the end of such step is taken up by the 
support beams 35 and then the walking beams 34, clear of the molds, are 
moved back into their starting positions. This may be done for example by 
changing the direction of motion of the driving wheels 25. In this 
respect, the distance between the separate walking beams to be kept the 
same by parts moving with the beams. However, the beams are freed as soon 
as the walking beams come up against the train. 
Between the walking beams 34 furthest to the back and the mold-producing 
station, not figured, there is a supply unit 127 which is made up of a 
pusher carriage 36 supported on driving wheels 25 and which has beams with 
the same spacing between them as the walking beams 34, such beams being 
able to be moved between the support beams 35. The pushing carriage 36 is 
joined up with the next walking beams 34 by way of guidepins 37 making 
certain that the two system are truly lined up. For lining up the mold 
which may be pushed onto the carriage 36 by a stamp 38, adjustable breast 
plates 39 are present, of which one may be fixed against an adjustable 
stop on the frame of the carriage 36 and the other may be moved by a 
piston-and-cylinder unit so that the mold, pushed inbetween plates 39 is 
pushed against the adjustable plate and, for this reason, moved into the 
true position. For double-block molds made up of a cope 11 and a drag 12 
use will be made of a carriage with forks at an angle and which, see FIG. 
6, may be turned about axis 40 through 90.degree. so that the mold parting 
lines 41 are then normal to the transport plane. 
The driving wheels 25 used with the supply unit 127 are, as well, joined up 
by way of an adjustable slip clutch with a driving motor. The torque 
transmitted by this slip clutch is to be so adjusted in this respect that 
the mold moving force produced thereby is about 100 N. Once the resistance 
of the mold as it comes up against the back end of the mold train 15 gets 
to this force, there will be slipping of the clutch so that the mold will 
certainly not be bent or otherwise damaged. The speed of the driving 
wheels 25 of the supply unit 27 is adjusted to such a value in this 
respect that the mold joining the moving train 15 is about 5 cm/s faster 
than the train itself. The kinetic energy freed when the mold comes up 
against the back end of the mold train 15 is then cushioned plastically by 
the mold material so that there is no sharp blow against the end of the 
train and, for this reason, no loss of form or other damage. A new mold is 
best joined up with the back end of the mold train 15 when the walking 
beams 34 are causing forward motion of the molds, the support beams 35 
being lowered. On backward motion the furthest forward mold 7 in the train 
is pushed clear onto a transport unit 42 running onto a shake-out station, 
which is not detailed in the figure. The backward motion of the carriage 
36 into its starting position may be best caused as well be changing the 
direction of turning of its driving wheels 25, although it would 
furthermore be possible for the walking beams not to have their own 
driving system and for them to be joined up with the carriage 36, for 
example by a transport chain acting on the walking beams 34 and the 
carriage 36. 
The slip clutches 20 used in the present invention are best designed as 
contactless magnetostatic hysteresis clutches so that there is no wear.