Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US5253698?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-08-21 03:38:08
Document Index: 707818738

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Patent US5253698 - Combination sand cleaning and heat treating apparatus for sand casted ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsSand castings are removed from their molds before cooling and reheated in a heat treating booster furnace. The castings are transferred from the booster furnace to a rotary drum filled with agitation media. As the castings pass through the media drum, they are simultaneously cleaned of sand particles...http://www.google.com/patents/US5253698?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5253698 - Combination sand cleaning and heat treating apparatus for sand casted metallic parts and methodAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS5253698 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/841,418Publication dateOct 19, 1993Filing dateFeb 26, 1992Priority dateJan 23, 1990Fee statusPaidPublication number07841418, 841418, US 5253698 A, US 5253698A, US-A-5253698, US5253698 A, US5253698AInventorsJohn R. Keough, William R. Keough, Bela V. KovacsOriginal AssigneeApplied ProcessExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (9), Referenced by (34), Classifications (7), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetCombination sand cleaning and heat treating apparatus for sand casted metallic parts and methodUS 5253698 AAbstract Sand castings are removed from their molds before cooling and reheated in a heat treating booster furnace. The castings are transferred from the booster furnace to a rotary drum filled with agitation media. As the castings pass through the media drum, they are simultaneously cleaned of sand particles and down-quenched by the agitation media. The system is particularly suited for austempering cast iron parts.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the temperature of the agitation media is about 700� F. upon entering the agitation container.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the booster furnace raises the temperature of the parts to between about 1500� F. and about 1700� F.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said booster furnace raises the temperature of the metal parts to about 1500�-1700� F.
17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said heat sink agitation media enters the agitation container at about 700� F.
29. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the booster furnace raises the temperature of the parts to between about 1500� F. and about 1700� F.
31. In a foundry including means for demolding hot, sand-cast metal parts from sand molds in which the parts are cast, the improvement comprising:a booster furnace for receiving the hot, demolded, sand-cast metal parts from said demolding means, said booster furnace being capable of raising the temperature of the parts to a pre-tempering temperature; and a quenching means including a rotary drum, a non-melting, non-reactive agitation media partly filling the drum, and a worm screw in the drum for urging the media and the parts through the drum; the agitation media being of a type adequate to simultaneously (a) remove heat from the parts of a rate sufficient to quench the parts and (b) clean the parts by impact; wherein the booster furnace is located with respect to the demolding means such that the demolded parts do not cool below about 1400� F. before the parts are received in the booster furnace means. 32. The improvement of claim 31, wherein the booster furnace means is adapted to raise the temperature of the molded parts to about 1500�-1700� F.
34. In a foundry including means for demolding hot, sand-cast metal parts from sand molds in which the parts are cast, the improvement comprising:an agitation container for receiving and agitating the demolded, sand-cast metal parts therein, and a non-melting, non-reactive agitation media partly filling the agitation container, the agitation media being of a type simultaneously adequate to (a) remove heat from the parts at a rate sufficient to quench the parts and (b) clean the parts by impact; and a booster furnace between the demolding means and the agitation container, for receiving hot, demolded sand-cast metal parts from the demolding means, said booster furnace being capable of raising the temperature of the parts to about 1500�-1700� F. prior to delivery of the parts to the agitation container, wherein the agitation container is located with respect to the demolding means such that the parts received in the agitation container have residual heat sufficient for heat treatment of the parts, and have not cooled below about 1400� F. prior to being received in the agitation container. 35. The improvement of claim 34, wherein the agitation container comprises a rotary drum and a worm screw in the drum for urging the agitation media and the metal parts through the drum.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sand casting has long been used to form cast metal parts such as pistons, crankshafts, connecting rods and engine blocks. Although sand casting is a generally economical method of producing cast metal parts, it is typically considered labor intensive, particularly insofar as removing the mold sand from the cast parts. More particularly, whether manual or mechanized procedures are used for scraping, brushing and/or abrading the mold sand from the cast parts, it is generally held that removing such sand from a casting is one of the most expensive aspects of foundry processing. Conventional methods in which operators blow the sand off the cast parts with pressurized air have been known to require one-third of the total energy requirement of making a cast part. Before air-blasting, the cast part must also be cooled for handling. Later, the cast part will have to be reheated for heat treatment, if heat treatment is desired. In the practice of this prior art method, laborers use shop air sources with a nozzle to individually blow the loose sand from the sand-casted metal parts. This poses three particular problems: (1) the blow-off is labor intensive; (2) very high noise levels due to the blow-off operation render OSHA compliance difficult in order to avoid hearing loss of the laborers; and (3) time requirements are too high because the part must be cooled before it is blown off, requiring re-heating at a later time to perform heat treatment. Furthermore, the previous method was inefficient because the residual heat left over from the casting process if not utilized for the heat treatment process because the laborers cannot handle metal parts at 1400�-1700� F. in order to blow-off the clinging sand.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As seen in FIG. 1, hot cast parts 10 are placed on shakeout apparatus 12 which separates the cast parts from their sand molds. During the shakeout process, unified portions of the sand molds 14 are broken down into smaller clumps 16, which fall through openings in the shakeout apparatus 12 to sand reclamation apparatus 17 below, leaving cast parts 10 coated with an uneven layer of sand particles. Shakeout apparatus 12 is preferably angled downward to allow cast parts 10 to be transported in the direction of arrow 19 as shown. Shaker apparatus 12 is wellknown in the art and its details do not form a part of this invention. Before the cast parts cool down, they are transferred into furnace 18, e.g. via conveyor 20 which is associated with shakeout apparatus 12. The furnace 18 is located closely enough to the place of cating the parts 10 and to the shakeout apparatus 12 that, upon entry of the hot cast parts 10 into the furnace 18, their temperature typically falls only to no lower than about 1400� to 1500� F. As this temperature is not sufficient for desired heat treatments to be later performed, the temperature of the parts must be boosted to about 1500� to 1800� F.
Furnace 18, which may take the form of a luminous wall gas-fired booster furnace, boosts the temperature of hot sandy cast parts 10 to a uniform temperature. For example, in the case of cast iron parts, the furnace may be operated to raise the temperature of the parts to about 1500� F. to 1700� F. for subsequent austempering heat treatment. As will be realized by one skilled in the art, different temperatures will be required for different types of parts, although these temperature ranges are typical. Typically, the residence time within the furnace is from about 10-30 minutes, again, depending on the parts being heated. The furnace may be further equipped with a shake walker conveyor angled downward in the direction of the cast-part travel for supporting and further shaking the sand off the cast parts. The furnace may have perforations on the bottom to allow the loose sand to fall below and be captured by a sand reclamation apparatus.
For example, for ferrous cast parts 10, preferred pellets are copper and steel shot, having a diameter, e.g., of about 1 millimeter. Any conceivable shape of elements forming agitation media 26 may be used. Preferably, agitation media 26 is present in amounts of about 10 pounds per pound of cast part. Agitation media 26 is constantly being added to media drum 22 at spout 28 to maintain a desired level of agitation media in the drum, making up for agitation media exiting from the media drum as hereinafter described. Preferably, the media drum is filled about 1/3 full with agitation media, shown as shot 29. For example, it has been found suitable to fill a drum having a three foot diameter to about a one foot level. In order to heat treat hot cast parts 10, the incoming agitation media may be heated to a predetermined temperature capable of performing heat treating. For example, in order to austemper the surface regions of hot cast iron parts, incoming steel shot agitation media may be maintained at a temperature of about 700� F. One such device for maintaining the shot temperature may be a cooling conveyor which circulates the shot recovered from the media drum through a cooling medium, such as air, and readmits the shot through spout 28 after it has cooled, detailed below.
Through the walls of media drum 22 at the outlet end are perforations 32 large enough to allow pellets 29 and sand grains 34 to pass therethrough. A media drum having a length of 50 feet with 25-two foot long flights of a helical vane has been found suitable. Preferably, on this design media drum, perforations 32 are located in the area of only the last three flights nearest the outlet end of the media drum, i.e. about the last 10-15% of the length of the media drum. One "flight" is considered to be a 360� rotational length of the helical vane. Pellets 29 and sand trains 34 exiting via perforations 32 are reclaimed, e.g. by the process shown in FIG. 1 wherein falling pellets 29 and sand grains 34 fall onto a screened cooling conveyor belt 36 which has a mesh size such that pellets 29 are caught and sand grains 34 pass through. Alternatively, the shot may be magnetically removed from the sand and moved onto the cooling conveyor 36. Sand grains 34 are then caught by a sand reclamation apparatus, such as conveyor 38 as shown. Sand reclamation apparatus 17 and 38 may be one and the same, as the sand reclamation apparatus can extend from one end to the other end of the entire cleaning--heat treatment apparatus. The screen of screened conveyor belt 36 may be constructed of electromagnetic material to further aid in catching pellets 29, if the shot is metallic.
Pellets 29 exiting from media drum 22 are at a higher temperature than pellets 29 entering the media drum due to the heat transferred from cast parts 10 to pellets 29. Consequently, the agitation media 26 or pellets 29 which enter the rotary drum at a temperature of about 700� F. will be heated by the hot cast parts 10 more and more as they both travel through drum 22 until pellets 29 are themselves at a temperature of about 1000�-1700� F. To cool pellets 29 to the desired temperature for re-filling media drum 22, pellets 29 may be conveyed on an open-air conveyor which is designed to be long enough for pellets 29 to cool in air before being returned into media drum 22 at spout 28. Any other conventional cooling means may be employed for this purpose. Known liquid cooling devices may be used.
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heat treatmentUS8066053Sep 17, 2007Nov 29, 2011Consolidated Engineering Company, Inc.Method and apparatus for assisting removal of sand moldings from castingsUS8663547May 2, 2012Mar 4, 2014Consolidated Engineering Company, Inc.High pressure heat treatment systemDE4427586C1 *Aug 4, 1994Jul 20, 1995Johann MuehlbauerAppts. for treating used foundry sandWO2005014207A1 *Aug 11, 2004Feb 17, 2005Bend Robert JCombined sand removal and heat treatmentWO2008140518A1 *May 9, 2007Nov 20, 2008Richard KempfA casting shake-out unit and a vibratory conveyor* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification164/269, 164/5, 148/538, 164/270.1International ClassificationB22D31/00Cooperative ClassificationB22D31/007European ClassificationB22D31/00A2Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionNov 4, 2004FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 12Nov 14, 2000FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Mar 24, 1997FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Feb 26, 1992ASAssignmentOwner name: APPLIED PROCESS, MICHIGANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNORS:KEOUGH, JOHN R.;KEOUGH, WILLIAM R.;KOVACS, BELA V.;REEL/FRAME:006223/0869;SIGNING DATES FROM 19920205 TO 19920211RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google