Improvement in Machinery for Moulding Patterns in Sand.
Year: 1889

page_text: cate of Application, 2nd Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 30th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 1st Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Machinery for Moulding Patterns in Sand.
1, JOHN NELSON MATLOCK, of No. 1 Middagh Street, in the City of Brooklyn,
State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
The patterns correspond to the article, object, or piece to be cast, are made of usual
character, and are fastened to a pattern bed, and this pattern bed rests upon wedges
above a stationary top plate supported by frames above a base or bed plate.
There is a sand bed that is held in a fixed position above the top plate, and there are
openings through this sand bed for the patterns to pass through and project above such
sand bed, and after the sand has been moulded around the patterns, as hereinafter
named, the patterns are drawn down by the wedges to loosen the patterns from the
sand of the mould and allow the mould to be lifted off.
The sand mould is made within a flask or frame of ordinary construction, but instead
of the edges of the flask resting upon the sand bed they are upon a flask-rest in the form
of a frame around the sand bed, and this flask-rest can be raised or lowered by screws
to bring the edge of the flask at the desired position in relation to the surface of the
sand bed, so that the sand of the mould may project more or less from the plane of
the edges of the flask.
The flask is to be filled in with sand around the patterns in the usual manner and
then a follower is swung down upon the sand and a hydraulic press made to act upon
such follower through rods, some of which are hinged to the follower, and others con-
nected by loops and hooks, so that the power of the press is brought into action to
compact and harden the sand of the mould, after which the patterns are loosened from
the sand by the wedges as aforesaid and the follower is disconnected at the loops and
books and swung back, and the flask and sand mould are lifted off, another flask
substituted, and the operations repeated.
The flask is steadied in position by lugs or swinging keys and latches.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Machinery for Moulding Patterns in Sand.
I, JOHN NELSON MATLOCK, of No. 1 Middagh Street, in the City of Brooklyn,
State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say :-
Machines have hicretofore been constructed in which hydraulic pressure is employed
for compressing the sand firmly into the flask and around the pattern, but difficulty
has been experienced in detaching the pattern so as to allow the flask to be lifted off
without portions of the sand adhering to the pattern.
My invention is made with reference to withdrawing the pattern sufficiently from
the sand to detach the contiguous surfaces and to allow the sand mould to be lifted off
from the pattern, and also for so adjusting the flask in its relation to the pattern and
the bed for the same, that the sand joint between the two portions of the mould can
project more or less from the edges of the flask in order that the sand joint may be
compressed more or less in clamping the two parts of the flask together.

page_text: And in order that my invention may be readily understood I proceed to describe
the same with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is an elevation at one side of the machine shewing the upper half flask,
Fig. 2 a vertical transverse section on the line x, x,
:
Fig. 3a longitudinal section on the line y, y, fig. 2, shewing the lower half
flask, and
Fig. 4 is an elevation of one of the swinging keys.
The bed plate A at the bottom of the machine is adapted to receive the side frames B,
and at the top of the frames B is a plate C the upper surface of which is grooved for a
purpose hereinafter set forth, and at each side of this grooved top plate C, is a plate D
secured in position for stiffening the frame and supporting the parts.
The hydraulic cylinder E rests upon the bed plate A and within it is a piston F
with a piston rod G passing through the stiffening box 2 in the head E', and at the
top of the piston rod G is a cross head H from which the rods H1, H2, pass up through
stationary guides 4, and connected with the follower as hereinafter described.
Above the piston rod G and in line with the same is a stom I, and the same passes
through the guide plate 11 that is bolted between the frames B and the side plates D,
the object of this stem being to aid in maintaining a parallel movement of the piston,
cross head, and rods as they are moved up.and down by the action of water under
pressure admitted above and below the piston because the sand that is packed within
the flask and around the patern does not always present an uniform resistance to the
follower and without the stem and guide plate the packing of the piston and stuffing
box are liable to become injured by lateral pressure resulting from one rod H¹ having
greater tension than another.
The follower K is hinged at 5 to the upper ends of the rods Hat one side of the
machine, so that it may be raised np and swung back, or turned over and closed down
upon the flask L, after the sand has been inserted into the same, and there are rods 6
with adjusting nuts 7, in line with the rods H and projecting downwardly from
the edge of the follower K, and at the lower ends of the rods 6 are eyes through
which passes a rocking-shaft 8 with a lever handle 9 and loops 10 at the respective
rods 6. These loops can be swung down beneath the hooks 11 on the upper ends
of the rods H2 by moving the lever 9, and the loops and lever boing fastened to
such rock-shaft 8, the follower K can thereby be readily connected with the rods H²
for applying the hydraulic power to the follower in pressing the sand; or the loops
can be disconnected from the hooks when the pressure is relieved by turning the
lever 9 in the opposite direction, thereby allowing the follower to be swung back from
off the flask to give access to such flask.
Upon the top plate (), is a box shaped frame M, bolted to said plate C, and upon
the top edge of this rests the sand bed N and this sand bed has in it openings
corresponding to the outlines or boundaries of the pattern O.
These patterns are to be of any desired character: I have represented patterns
adapted to the casting of radiator pipes. These patterns are grouped together and
fastened to the pattern bed O', the object, being to allow the pattern bed to be raised
or lowered for carrying the patterns up into position for the moulding operation to
be performed, or lowered to detach the patterns from the sand sufficiently to allow
the flask and sand to be lifted off the patterns. With this object in view the bases
of the patterns fit the openings in the sand bed N; sufficiently closely to prevent
sand passing into the joints, but the patterns are free to be moved up or down.
Upon the grooved top plate Care the wedges P united together by a cross bar at
their wider ends to form a group and the under edges of these wedges are provided
with ribs to slide in the grooves of the top plate, and upon the under surface of
the pattern bed 01 are wedges P¹ corresponding to the wedges P, and the upper
surfaces of the wedges P are grooved to receive ribs on the under edges of the
wedges P, hence, by moving the group of wedges P endwise the wedges P¹, pattern
bed ', and patterns O will be moved bodily upwardly or downwardly, the pattern bed O
fitting within and being guided by the box shaped frame M, so that this movement
given to the pattern bed and pattern will be parallel and vertical so as not to disturb

page_text: the sand that may have been packed around the patterns. The weight of the
patterns and the bed O', and wedges P' is sufficient to cause the patterns to descend
by gravity as the wedges P are drawn back. In order to give end motion to the
group of wedges P any suitable device may he employed, but I prefer the rock shaft Q,
lever Q, crank Q, and connection 15 to the center part of the group of wedges, such
wedges being united together by a cross bar at the end where the connection 15 is
made.
In moving the wedges P in along beneath the wedges P¹ to raise the patterns it is
necessary to limit the motion in order that the patterns may project the propor
distance above the sand bed N, I make use of the screw 16 and adjusting nuts 17
that form a stop at the smaller end of the wedge P, and by adjusting this screw stop.
the patterns can be raised or lowered for adjusting with accuracy the thickness of the
casting, for when the patterns are raised the cavity in the mould will be increased and
the casting thickened, and the reverse.
The flask L is to be of any ordinary character. Usually these flasks are made of
cast iron with walls forming the exterior of the flask bevelled upwardly and inwardly
and with the cross-bars 20 and handles 21 at the ends. The jaws 22, fig. 3, are upon
one flask and the key 23, fig. 1, are on the other flask, by which the flasks are brought
properly into position when set together, and there are lugs 24 upon the edges of each
flask over which the clip keys are driven in placing the two flasks together to form
the mould.
Around the box frame M is a flask rest S, in the form of a frame fitting closely
around the box frame M and capable of vertical adjustment by the screws 25 which
preferably pass into lugs upon the top-plate C. The flask L rests at its edges upon
the top edges of this flask rest S, so that by adjusting the screws 25 the flask can be
raised more or less to vary the sand joint between the two flasks as before mentioned,
because when the flask rest is raised and with it the flask, the surface of the sand.
as the same rests upon the sand bed N will project slightly below the edge of the
flask, or the reverse when the flask rest is lowered, and in order to adapt the flask.
rest to receive either of the two flasks (that are set together in forming the mould)
I provide at the ends of the flask rest, lugs 30 between which the keys 23
on the flask can pass to hold the flask in position, but when the flask has jaws 22
upon it, the swinging keys 31 are turned up, between the lugs 30 so as to pass
into the jaws 22 upon the flask as the same is laid in place upon the flask rest.
These swinging keys 31 are pivotted at 33 upon the flask rest and are held in place
by the swinging latches 34 that can be turned into position for holding the keys or
swang back to allow the keys to be moved away from the lugs 30.
In many instances there are openings in the patterns and hence the entire sand
bed N cannot be made continuous, and I provide the stripping plates T with their
top edges or surfaces in line with the surface of the sand bed N, and these stripping
plates are supported from the top of the grooved plate by vertical plates or
columns T, hence the surface of the sand in the mould will be level regardless of
the extent of elevation or depression of the patterns.
It is now to be understood that the flask rest is to be adapted to either of the half
flasks by swinging the keys 31 up or down and then the flask is put in position upon
the flask rest and the patterns are raised to the proper point by moving the wedges P
along beneath the wedges P¹ until the motion is arrested by the screw top 16. The
sand is now introduced uniformly around the patterns and within the flask and then
the top of the sand is leveled off and the follower K is swung over upon the sand
and the loops 10 swung down to connect with the hooks 11, and the bydraulic power
is applied to draw down the follower and to compress and consolidate the sand of the
mould.
It is to be understood that the sand may be left slightly above the flask to allow
for the proper extent of compression, or there may be upon the under surface of
the follower K downwardly projecting slabs or boards to pass-into the flask and
between the cross bars thereof, to indent the top surface of the sand and properly
compress the same within the flisk and around the patterns to form the mould.
After

page_text: this has been done the hydraulic piston and follower K are lifted, the loops 10 dis-
connected from the hooks 11, the follower K swung back out of the way and the
lever Qmoved to withdraw the wedges P from beneath the wedges P¹, pattern bed,
and patterns sufficiently to allow such pattern bed and patterns to descend bodily and
separate the patterns from the sand of the mould, after which the flask and sand
mould are lifted off, another flask applied upon the flask rest, the patterns raised
by forcing in the wedges P and the operations are repeated.
In fig. I have represented the plat-form. W at a suitable distance below the
flask and flask rest so that the workmen in handling the flask or mould can lift the
same conveniently off the flask rest and patterns after the sand has been compressed
and another flask can be conveniently introduced by the workmen into position for
receiving the sand.
During this operation the follower K is swung back upon the hinges 5 and it is
counter-poised by the weight W and rope or chain passing over the pulleys 50 and
connected with an eye at the top of the rod 6, so that such follower K is entirely
out of the way and the moulders have free access for introducing the sand into the
flask and around the patterns and the sand is kept from injuring the hydraulic press
because the latter is below the platform Wand the holes through such platform for
the rods H1 H2 and I fit such rods sufficiently tight to prevent sand passing down to
any injurious extent, and such holes can be further guarded by flexible tubes of leather
or similar material W secured to the platform and around the respective rods. By this
arrangement a great convenience is afforded the workmen so that the moulding can
be performed with great rapidity and without the risk of injury to the sand mould in
lifting the same off the patterns and conveying it away.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim:
1. The combination with the follower, sand bed, patterns and flask, of the flask
rest S, and screws for adjusting the flask rest to vary the sand joint between the two
parts of the mould, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with the patterns, of a sand bed having openings corresponding
to the outline of the patterns, a pattern bed to which the patterns are connected,
wedges P beneath the pattern bed and connected with the same, a grooved top
plate the wedges P having ribs that fit the grooves in the top plate, a frame M
around the pattern bed and supporting the sand bed, mechanism substantially as
specified for giving an end motion to the wedges P and a stop for limiting the move-
ment of said wedges, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with the flask, of the flask rest and means for adjusting the
same vertically, a sand bed within the flask rest, patterns occupying openings in the
sand bed, a pattern bed with which the patterns are connected, the plate C, and
the wedges acting between the same and the pattern bed, the rock shaft lever Q',
and connection to the wedges P for raising or lowering the patterns, the stripping
plates T and connections from the same to the bed C, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with the press, the frame for the same, the sand bed and the
flask, of a follower, side rods H' to which the follower is hinged at one side, rods H
having hook shaped ends, the rods 6, rock shaft 8, passing through eyes on the rods,
the lever handle 9 and the loops 10 connected to said rock shaft, whereby the
follower is connected to or disconnected from the rods H2 by the movement of the
lever 9, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 20th dex of Dana 1400
ERNEST DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street, London, Agent for the Applicant.