Casting Metals.
Year: 1886

page_text: Casting Metals.
I, MATTHEW ROBERT MOORE, of Indianapolis, in the County of Marion and State
of Indiana, one of the United States of America, engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
In making sand molds, difficulties are encountered in effecting a uniform
compression of the earthy material when the pattern is of such form as to be
much higher in one part than in another:
J
The sand being applied in such quantities as to fill the box, technically the half-
flask, and also to fill a. receptacle above it, which I term a sand-box, the different
depths of the loose earthy material at different points require a correspondingly
increased descent of the compressing instrument or agent over those parts where
the pattern is absent, or where, if present it is thin or low..
My improved machine compresses the, properly dampened molding Band
uniformly around the patterns by the method for which United States Letters
Patent were granted me numbered 302349, since reissued, and British Letters
Patent numbered 10436, both dated July 22d 1884, and Canadian Letters Patent
numbered 19996, dated August 4th, 1884.
The raising of the cover or platen into the vertical position made the former
machine so high that it was difficult to operate. A counter-weight was required
to facilitate the raising of the platen, and when moderate dimensions were
exceeded, such weight was inconveniently great. The strains experienced when
large areas were under pressure rendered the clamping of the platen insecure or
clumsy, or both, and the operation was slow and laborious.
".
The present invention is designed to obviate these defects. It can be very easily
and expeditiously handled. It can produce the two parts of the mold (nowel and
cope) alternately. The molds can be closed and clamped for pouring as fast as
made.
I employ two pattern-boxes with two sets of mechanism so as to receive a fresh
balf-flask and allow it to be treated before the one last filled and compressed has
been taken off. It combines the two sets of mechanism under conditions which

page_text: allow the boxes or pattern chests to be raised and lowered alternately, and which
also allow the whole system to be turned around horizontally.
The patterns and their connected parts in one pattern-chest balance the patterns
and their connected parts in the other pattern-chest.
The accompanying drawings represent what I consider the best means of
carrying out the invention. .
Figure 1 is a general side elevation.
Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view. In this figure the pattern chests and their
connections are turned at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the pattern-chest.
Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show details of the pattern-chest.
Figs. 4 and 5 are elevations partly in vertical section.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section in the plane of the cam shaft.
Fig. 7 is an elevation showing the same parts; and
°
Fig. 8 is an elevation partly in vertical section, showing a valve and the means
for operating.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures where they occur.
The cover C is a rigid platen having the proper flexible bags in its under face.
and fixed in a horizontal position, by means of nuts set on threaded posts A¹ A' A³
strongly supported in a base A. The bags R of India rubber are connected by
pipes with a source of air under pressure controlled by a valve M¹.
Surrounding the post A¹ near the centre of the apparatus, and capable of
revolving upon it, is an upright sleeve D having rigid arms on which by a system
of levers a pair of pattern-chests L' L', are mounted so that the system is capable
of revolving, and also of allowing the pattern-chests to be alternately raised and
lowered by tilting the levers while balancing or partially balancing each other, and
preserving always a horizontal position of each pattern-chest.
The bottom of the sleeve D is flanged and rests on a ring of anti-friction rollers
which carry the weight and allow it to turn easily. One of the pattern-chests
contains the patterns, &c., required to form the nowel or drag; the other carries
those which form the cope of the mold.
The two pattern-chests and the flasks to be placed thereon should be similar
in size.
The two levers E¹ Es are pivoted to the sleeve D at different levels, one above
the other, and are knuckled to the pattern-chests at corresponding points, so that
the pattern-chests and the flasks carried thereon can move up and down alternately
while the level position of each is maintained at all times. The tilting motion of
the levers E¹ E' and consequently the rising and sinking of the pattern-chests, is
limited as required by adjustable stops, which are made in form of screws tapped
through arms extending down from the upper lever E. These screw-stops, in the
extreme position of the tilting, strike against arms on the sleeve D and arrest the
motion. The levers E¹ E are broad skeleton frames and connect at points widely
separated laterally so that they also hold the pattern-chests firmly against all
twisting strains.
In molding many shapes I not only cause each pattern to be protruded and
withdrawn as required through a plate S having a close fitting hole which I term
a silhouette plate, but also divide the pattern and draw the parts successively.
Each pattern-chest is provided with two or more pattern-slides I, J, one within
the other, to which the various parts into which the pattern has been divided are
attached. I so connect the parts of the pattern by these slides that they can be
drawn from the sand successively, being operated by means of the hand-levers h¹ h³,
which are pivoted on each side to the knuckles e, of the pattern-chests and
connected by links g, to levers G. Links k connect these levers to cranks or
levers K¹ on short shafts K, extending through the trunions of the outer slides I,
and carrying cams K* K*, working in horizontal slots in the several slides, so that
a partial revolution of the shafts K will give a vertical movement to each inner
slide, but not to all at the same time. The patterns employed may be varied, but
J

page_text: the mechanism in the two pattern-chests are alike, and that on one side of each
chest is a counter-part of that on the other side."
A description of one shaft and its connections will suffice for all.
The outer pattern slides I of the two chests are connected with each other by
means of levers. I show two levers HH, upon each side of the machine, but
they are adjustably secured together, and constitute essentially a single lever
supported upon the arm D'. Each lever H H supports by means of links H³
two shafts K, one in each pattern chest L1 and L2, the chests thus balance each
other, and require no counter-weight.
A cam K, on each shaft K operates in a horizontal sliding box s, which is
carried in the outer slide I, and serves as a fastening-dog or bolt to hold or release
it by being engaged in or disengaged from a corresponding cavity in the adjacent
portion of the pattern-chest L. It locks the slide I against sinking until the
inner slide J has been drawn from the sand by the action of the cams K', after
which the further rotation of the shaft K draws the bolts, and leaves the whole
system of slides at liberty to sink.
Finally the levers G operated by h¹ or h² bring the pattern slides I J down
together as far as may be required. The arrangement of these parts are shown in
detail in Figs. 1, 3, 6 and 7. Only two pattern slides in each pattern box are
shown, but as many as desired may be similarly operated, the shafts being
prolonged, and bearing cams to suit.
A single sand-box O is mounted on the post A¹, with liberty to sweep horizontally
around. It sweeps only a portion of a circle, being moved back and forward
between the filling and the compressing points. It is used over a flask on either
pattern-chest as it comes into position and serves to hold the extra sand to be
compressed into the flask.
•
I make in the base A under the cover or platen C a stout circular piece A', of
large area, which is turned off and provided with packing to serve as a stationary
piston, on which a corresponding cylinder P is tightly fitted, with liberty to rise
and sink. Air under pressure being admitted between the cap and the piston,
causes the cap to rise and carry up the pattern chest and its load against the cover,
and firmly hold them there during the compressing operation. This may be done
by air from the same source and at the same tension as depresses the diaphragm or
diaphragms in the cover, because the piston is of sufficiently greater area than the
faces of the diaphragms.
In order to bring the parts in position for the compressing operation, a flask and
superposed sand-box are placed on a pattern-box, and the movable parts are
rotated to bring the whole beneath the sand hopper Q, where the flask and sand-
box are filled. Coming from the feeding or filling hopper Q towards the cover C
with a surplus of sand, the flask and sand box outweigh the corresponding parts
on the opposite ends of the levers E¹ E³, and are kept down by gravity so as, by
the horizontal rotary motion, to sweep under the platen C.
A swinging gravity catch O¹ pivoted above to the frame, engages any suitable
notch or shoulder formed on or in the sand box, to stop said sand-box and hold it
in proper place under the platen.
Another catch B engages the pattern-chest, and holds it also stationary. Next
the valve M¹ is opened, admitting air at a high pressure to raise the cap or
cylinder P, and by its aid the pattern chest, flask and sand-box are raised up
against the cover. The joint between the bottom face of the cover and the top of
the sand-box is guarded on the inside by a sheet metal packing C¹, which projects
downward from the face of the cover, as shown in figure 3. It prevents the India
rubber or other flexible material of the elastic bags R, constituting the presser,
from being injured by the joint.
Air or other fluid under pressure is first admitted to the space under the.
3 movable cap P through a suitable pipe M and valve M³ operated by a hand
lever M. I provide a connection pipe N and valve N', the latter operated by a

page_text: The machine being so placed that the pattern-chests occupy the positions indi-
cated in Fig. 2, the one L' on the left side in Fig. 1, which we will call the North
side and assume to contain the pattern for the drag, will be under the feeding
hopper Q An empty flask having been previously placed on it, and the pattern-
slides raised and locked, the attendant brings the sand-box over, and allows it to
rest on the top of the flask. He then opens the gate or sand valve q, of the
feeding hopper, and allows the flask and sand-box to fill with sand. He then
closes q, and turns the sleeve D and the entire system of revolving mechanism in
the direction shown by the arrows. The adjustable scraper F attached to the side
of the cover C by screws f set in slots, sweeps off all superfluous sand from the top
of the sand-box as it passes under. When the right position is reached, the entire
revolving system is arrested, and held by the catch B. The same or another
attendant then turns the valve M' admitting the air to raise the cap P, and the
pattern-chest, flask and sand-box supported thereon, are carried up against the
platen C, the opposite pattern-box correspondingly sinking.
During the last part of this rising movement the action of the sand-box against
the valve-stem n, opens the valve N' and air is admitted through the pipe N to
act upon the platen C, and the bags R held under it swell downward, compressing
the dampened sand uniformly upon and around the pattern.
The valve M' being now properly turned to shut off the compressed air and to
liberate that already received, the flask is relieved from pressure, and the rubber
bags R are drawn up by their elasticity or by any other convenient means. A fine
wire may be drawn across by hand or by machinery if found necessary or desirable,
in treating large flasks to cleanly divide the compressed sand remaining in the
sand-box from that in the flask. The attendant next trips the catch B with his
foot, and pushes the pattern-chest forward in the same direction as before. The
sand-box being held locked by the catch O¹, the compressed sand is scraped off the
top of the flask by the sand-box and falls.
Meantime an assistant is placing an empty flask on the opposite pattern-chest L'
which contains the cope pattern.
The machine having made a half revolution, the drag pattern-chest L' is at the
.South side. The attendant operating the lever h¹ unlocks the drag slides I J and
draws the pattern and then either alone or with assistance removes the completed
flask from the machine. Another attendant meanwhile uncatches the sand-box O,
swings it to the top of the cope-flask which is now on the North side under the.
.feeding hopper, and inserts by. hand or otherwise the sprue to form a passage.

page_text: Modifications may be made in the details within wide limits without departing
from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. I can use other
fluids as steam or water under sufficient pressure instead of compressed air.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim as my improvement in machines for making sand-molds for casting
metals is:
1st Two or more pattern-slides, as I and J, adapted to carry the parts of a
divided pattern, in combination with means for mechanically operating the same,
whereby they may be drawn from the sand successively, as herein specified.
2nd: In a pattern chest two or more slides I, J, carrying portions of the pattern
respectively, in combination with each other and a silhouette plate S, and with
partially revolving shafts K, carrying cams K³, K arranged to withdraw the
respective portions of the patterns at different periods, as herein specified.
3rd: The locking means z, in combination with two or more pattern-slides I, J,
and with the shafts K, carrying cams K' K*, arranged for joint operation, as herein
specified.
4th The sheet metal packing C and cover C, in combination with the sand.
box O, pattern-box L', and provisions as the piston and cylinder P, A*, for raising
the latter, and with provisions, as the air bags R, and their inflating means, for
compressing the sand in a mold, all arranged for joint operation, as herein
specified.
5th: One or more pattern-chests or molding benches, adapted to carry a flask
and contents, in combination with a platen having yeilding pressers, and with a
valve N¹ arranged to control the admission of fluid to actuate the same and means
as the valve-stem n, for opening the valve by the last portion of the closing move-
ment of the machine so as to insure that the flask shall be in place when the
pressers act, substantially as herein specified.
6th The fixed projection A* and movable cap or cylinder P in combination with
each other, and with means for admitting fluid to raise the cap, and with a
platen C, having yeilding pressers, as R, adapted to act independently on different
portions of the molding sand presented thereto, substantially as herein specified.
7th: Two or more pattern-slides I, J, in combination with the partially rotating
shafts K, cams K, K, and operating cranks K', with the links H³ and k, levers
G, H, and operating hand levers h¹ h³ arranged for joint operation, as herein
specified.
8th The combination with two pattern-chests L, L, of two or more pattern
slides I J, in each, and connecting levers G, H, arranged to also balance each other,
and rise and sink independently thereof, as herein specified.
9th A yeilding platen or presser adapted to move to varying extents in com-
pressing different parts of the sand, in combination with provisions as the revolving
pattern-boxes L', L, for mechanically introducing and removing flasks containing
patterns and sand, substantially as herein specified.
:
10th Two or more pattern-boxes having provisions for supporting flasks, and
5 for operating the patterns therein, in combination with provisions for moving them
horizontally, and with a catch B and means for conveniently operating it to hold
and release the pattern-boxes, substantially as herein specified.
11th Two or more pattern-boxes L, L, in combination with each other, and
with provisions as E¹, E' for supporting and balancing the same and allowing them
O to be elevated and depressed, as herein specified.
12th A group of bags or flexible pressers R and provisions for admitting fluid
under pressure thereto, in combination with the rigid cover C, and with two or
more pattern-boxes L1, L2, carrying flasks with sand, and provisions for raising
and lowering, and also revolving the same, all arranged for joint operation substan-
5 tially as herein specified.

page_text: 13th: The sand-hopper Q and valve 9 cover C, and adjusting means and
sleeve D, levers E, E, and pattern-boxes L, L, combined and arranged for joint
operation, as herein specified.
14th The scraper F and adjusting and holding means f, in combination with
two or more pattern chests L', L³, sand-box O, hopper Q and valve q, and with
provisions for compressing the sand under the cover C, as herein specified.
15th The combination with two pattern-chests revolving on a common centre,
of the two main levers E¹, E³, mounted one above the other, and taking hold of the
pattern-chests at correspondingly separated points, arranged for joint operation, as
herein specified.
.
16th The sand-box O, in combination with two or more pattern-boxes L', L³,
and turning on a common centre therewith, as herein specified.
17th Two or more pattern-chests, and mechanism for presenting and with-
drawing the patterns therein, in combination with each other, and with a platen
having yeilding pressers, and with a sand-box capable of being moved independently;
and with two catches and suitable operating means, arranged the one to hold the
pattern-chests and the other to hold the sand-box, as herein specified.
Doted this 96th don of Lol 1000
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
Agent for the Applicant.