Patent ID: 7036552

Claim:
A device for hardening a foundry core in a core-shaping tool, comprising: a gas-supply plate hermetically couplable to said tool; a heating and mixing stage connected to said gas-supply plate and adapted to mix gas components to form a gas mixture and heat the gas mixture prior to feeding the gas mixture to said gas-supply plate; a compressed air source provided with a proportional pressure controller connected to said heating and mixing stage to deliver compressed air thereto with a pressure increase over time; a heater connected with said gas-supply plate for delivering heated compressed air to said gas-supply plate; respective cut-off valves between said heating and mixing stage and said gas-supply plate and between said heater and said gas-supply plate; a switchover valve between said proportional controller and said heating and mixing stage and between said proportional controller and said heater for selectively supplying the compressed air to said heating and mixing stage and to said heater; and a supply vessel for an amine catalyst capable of hardening said core connected through a dosing unit with said heating and mixing stage whereby upon operation of said switchover valve a mixture of said amine and compressed air in heated form is passed through said gas-supply plate into said tool for a predetermined duration with progressive pressure increase and then, upon further operation of said switchover valve, heated compressed air is passed through said gas-supply plate to flush through said tool.