US2054338A - Flask filling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 15, 1936.

W. F. PIPER FLASK FILLING APPARATUS Filed Nov. "ll 1955 ylllllllllll//l//l/ Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE FLAsK FILLING APPARATUS Walter F. Piper, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to The Beardsley & Piper Company, Chicago, Ill., a. corporation of Illinois Application November 7, 1935, Serial No. 48,639

2 Claims. (Cl. 22-36) The present invention relates generally to improvement upon that which forms the subapparatus for lling flasks with moulding sand. 'ject matter 0f an application fOr United States More particularly the invention relates to thatl Letters Patent led by me October 18, 1934, Setype of apparatus which is designed for use in a rial No. 748,795.

5 foundry or like establishment and comprises as Other objects of the inventionV and the various the main 'or essential parts thereof (1) a subadvantages and characteristics of the present stantially cylindrical casing havinga downwardly flask lling apparatus will be apparent from a extending peripheral outlet and also having in consideration of the following'Y detailed descripone of the end walls thereof an inlet for sand; tion'. Y `v and (2)' a rotary motor driven blade which is dis- Ihe invention consists in the several'n'ove'l fea- 10` posed in the casing and operates during rotation tures which are hereinafter set' forth and are thereof to form the sand inthe casing into wads more particularly defined by claims yat'the conand to sling or project the wads downwards clusion hereof. through'the outlet into a flask beneath the casing. In the drawing which accompanies and forms In'an apparatus of this type it has been found a part of this specification or disclosure .and in 15 Y that during rotation of the wad forming blade which like numerals of reference denote correa large quantity of air is drawn or sucked into sponding lparts throughout'the several'views:

the casing through the sand inlet and that such Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus air has a tendency tomake the apparatus exembodying the invention;

tremely noisy and also to aerate the sand in the Figure 2 is a front View of the casing of the 2oy casing to .such an extent that it will not packrand apparatus showing in detail the construction and form wads of the proper or desired density. arrangement of the hopper for feeding the sand The primary object of the invention is to prointo the casing and also theconstruction and lovide a ask lling apparatus of the type under cation oi the adjustable counterbalancing means consideration which is an improvement upon for the gate valve; and 25y previously designed apparatus of the same gen- Figure 3 is averticallongitudinal sectional viewv eral character vby reason of the fact that it inon the line 3'-3 of Figure Y2.

Cindes Ineans fOr restriCting 'Or preeluding the The apparatuswhich forms the subject matter sU-Cking 0r draWing 0f air inte the Casing during of the invention is designed for use in a foundry 30,10tati0n Cf the' blade and thus Operates with a or like establishment. It'operates, as hereinafter 301 A minimum amount of noise and to form sand wads described, to ll' asks with moulding sand and 0f the desired density. consists of a casing 4,"a hopper `5 for delivering Another object of the invention is to provide Sand into the casing, and a rotary blade vl5. a ilask filling apparatus 0f the type and Cl'IaIaC- 'Ihe casing 4 is substantially cylindrical and ter last mentioned in which the casing has a hopconsists of an annular side wall 'l and a pair of 35v per associated therewith for directing sand circular or disk-like end walls sl and 9. The threilgh the inlet intO the Casing and the means annular side wall 'l is positioned normally so that fer restrieting 0r preelllding entry 0f air ntO the its axis extends horizontally. ',It is preferably in casing during rotation of the blade consists of a the form of a casting and has-a, downwardly ex- 40 gate Valve WhiCh is disposed in the hopper and tending tangentially arrangedA discharge mem- 4o iS arranged s0 that it Opens autOrnatiCallY dllrber I0. The latter constitutes an outlet for the ing feed 0f the Sand through the hopper t0 the casing and is connected by boltsV ll to theupper Casing. Y end of a vertically extending Wad directing vtube A further ObJ'eCt 0f the inVentiOn is t0 prOVde l2. The end Wall 8 is formed integrally with and an apparatus Of the type and CharaCter Under serves as a closure for one end of the annular side 45 consideration in which the gate valve for restrict- Wall 1 of the Casing The end wall 9 is formed ing OI' preeluding the iOW 0f air inte the Casing separatelyfrom the side wall 1 and is removablyV during rotation 0r -riVe 0f the blade is adjustably secured to the other end of the latter by means of counterbalanced so that it may be set Yor adjusted a, pair of diametrically opposite clamping bolts to open in response to any desired pressure of the I3 so that; upon removal from the side wa11 1' 50 sand. access may be had to the interior of the casing.

A still further object of the invention is to pro'- AS shown in Figure 3',v the end wall 9 supports Vide a flask filling apparatus Wl'iiCh is generally the hopper 5 and has in the central portion thereof new and improved construction and is not only of a sand in1et I4. The hopper 5 is formed of f extremely eicient n Yoperation but iS also an sheet metal or anyothersuitable materialV and 5gg.V

Vso

Y' and'supports the blade 6.

;housing of the motor.

consists of a pair of triangularly shaped sides I5 and a substantially semicircular inclined bottom I6. It is adapted to receive sand from an overhead sand conveyor I1 and serves to deliver or supply the sand through the inlet I4 into the casing 4. The lower end of the bottom I6 of the hopper extends into the central portion of the casing and rests upon an out-turned lip I8 on the central portion of the removable end wall 9 of the casing. The sides I5 of the hopper extend vertically and are suitably secured to the outer face of said end wall 9. The overhead Sand conveyor I1 is Yin the form of a. horizontally extending drum supported endless belt which forms thev adapted to rotate or swing around the inner periphery of the annular side wall 1 of the casing. It is connected to a head 22 and a hub 23 for rotation by an electric motor 24 and operates duringV drive or rotation to form the sand within the Y casing into wads and to sling or project these 30v wads downwards through the outlet member ID and the tube I 2 into a flask beneath the 'casing 4. Preferably the blade is rotated between 1200 and 1800 revolutions per minute. The sand which enters the casing by way of the hopper 5 and the inlet I4 falls into the lower portion of the casing. During operation of the electric motor 24'the blade 6 picks up the sand in the lower portion of the casing and swings it around an arcuate liner 25 until the outlet member I0 is reached. During travel around the liner the sand as the result of the action of centrifugal force and the shape of the blade is formed or packed into a dense wad of closely packed sand which when the blade reaches the member I0 is projected through the latter and thence down the tube to the subjacent flask. The liner 25 fits against the inner periphery of the side wall 1 of the casing and extends from the low side of the discharge member I0 around the side wall 1 to the high side of the discharge member. The

electric motor`24 for rotating or driving the plate is positioned adjacent to the end wall 8 of the casingV 4 and is secured in place by means of bolts 26 which extend through said end wall 8 and the As shown in Figure 3 one end of the armature shaft of the motor projects into the casing through a hole 21 in the central portion of the end wall 8. I'he hub 23 is mounted on the projecting end of the armature shaft and is drivably connected to the latter by means of a key 28. The head 22 surrounds the hub. It is connected to theV latter by means of bolts 29 The motor casing and hopper are supported from above by means ofa universal joint 30. This joint, as shown in the drawing, extends` between the housing of the electric motor 24 and the distal end of an arm 3| which projects horizontally from, and is secured to the upper end of the frame 20. The joint 30 permits of limited universal movement and enables the operator ofthe apparatus to swing the tube I2 into different positions for wad' discharging purposes.

In order to restrict or preclude air from entering. the casing 4 with the sand va. gate valve 32 is provided. This valve is associated with the hopper 5 and consists of a sheet metal plate 33 and a horizontally extending pivot shaft 34'. The shaft, as shown in Figure 3, extends between the upper and inner corner portions of the sides I5 of the hopper and is journalled at its ends in a pair of bearings 35. The latter abuts against the outer face of the removable end wall 9 of the casing 4 and are welded or otherwise xedly secured to the inner faces of the hopper sides |57. The plate 33 Vextends downwardly and outwardly from the shaft 34 and is xedly connected to the latter so that it is free to swing downwards from Y a normal position wherein it closes the hopper,v into an open position wherein sand is permitted to slide or pass downwards along the hopper bottom and thence into the casing 4. The side edges of the plate are parallel to one another and engage slidably the inner face of the hopper sides I5. The bottom edge of the plate is rounded and is adapted when the plate is in its closed position to engage the inner face of the bottom I6 of the hopper. shortest distance between the pivot shaft 34 and the hopper bottom I6 and as a result the plate cannot swing upwards past its closed position that is upwards beyond the position .shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. In order normally to return the plate 33 in its closed position, a counterweight is provided. This weight is slidably mounted on an arm 31 which is connected to one end of the pivot shaft 34 andY extends at right angles to the latter. Preferably the arm is arranged so that it extends horizontally when the plate 33 is in its closed position. A set screw 38 extends through the counterweight and serves releasablyto hold the counterweight in place on the arm 31. When the set screw isreleased the counterweight may be shifted longitudinally of the arm in order to vary its effective weight. When the apparatus is in operation sand is delivered by the overhead conveyor I1 into the hopper 5. It travels down the hopper, strikes against and opens the plate 33 of the gate valve and then enters the casing 4 where it is formed into wads by the blades 6 as hereinbefore'described. The counterweight is preferably arranged on the arm 31 so that the gate swings into its open position only when struck by the sand. When the gate is struck by the sand it will open only enough to permit the sand to slide downwards into the casing and thus restricts or precludes the sucking or drawing ofl air into the casing during rotation of the blade 6. By restricting or precluding the flow of air into the casing with the sand, the apparatus runs in an extremely quiet manner and the sand within the casing is not aerated to such an extent that it will not pack or form wads of the proper or desired density. The counterweight 34 is preferably positioned on the arm 31 so that its movement or effective weight is such that the suction within the casing during rotation of the blade 6 is not suilicient to open the plate 33 but the force of the sand striking against the plate is suiiicient. In the event that it is desired to increase or decrease the amount of force that is necessary to swing the plate 32 into its open position the counterweight is adjusted in one direction or th other on the arm 31. Y Y

Theherein described flask filling apparatus is extremely efficient in operation in that it includes Since the valve itself is oi" The plate is slightly longer than the' apparatus with the valve is not materially greater than it is Without the valve.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for filling flasks with molding sand, the combination of a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a hopper communicating with the casing inlet, means for delivering a stream of molding sand into the hopper for delivery to the casing via the inlet, a rotary motor driven blade disposed in the casing and operative during rotation thereof to form the sand in the casing into wads and project the wads through the casing outlet, and a pivoted gate valve disposed in and extending across the hopper and arranged and adapted to be engaged and swung by the top portion of the stream regardless of variations in the depth of the latter and serving automatically to prevent air from being sucked into the inlet by the blade during operation of the apparatus and delivery of the stream of sand.

2. In an apparatus for filling asks with molding sand, the combination of a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a hopper communicating with the casing inlet, means for delivering a stream of molding sand into the hopper for delivery to the casing Via the inlet, a rotary motor driven blade disposed in the casing and operative during rotation thereof to form the sand in the casing into wads and project the wads through the casing outlet, and an inwardly swinging self-closing gate valve disposed in and extending across the hopper and arranged and adapted to be engaged and swung inwardly by the top portion of the stream regardless of variations in the depth of the latter and serving automatically to prevent air from being sucked into the inlet by the blade during operation of the apparatus and delivery of the stream of sand.

WALTER. F. PIPER.

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