Method for making flaskless upper and lower molds, an apparatus therefor, and a method for placing a core

An apparatus for making flaskless upper and lower molds that are stacked, comprising

• two pairs of cope and drag molding flasks each of which has an sand-filling port for supplying molding sand at its side wall,
• a match-plate that is arranged so as to be able to be inserted in and withdrawn from the gap between one of the two pairs of cope and drag flasks by a conveying mechanism for insertion and withdrawal,
• a squeezing mechanism for squeezing the molding sand in which the match-plate is held between the cope and drag flasks, upper and lower squeeze-plates being arranged so as to be able to be inserted in and pulled out of the respective openings of the cope and drag flasks which openings are opposed to the match-plate, and the pair of cope and drag flasks, between which the match-plate is held, being held around the supporting shaft so as to be rotatable in forward and backward directions in a vertical plane between the positions in which the molding flasks are vertical and in which they are horizontal,
• a rotating mechanism that rotates the squeezing mechanism for squeezing molding sand in forward and backward directions,
• release agent spraying mechanisms that are provided at each of the cope and drag flasks, and
• a sand-supplying mechanism that supplies molding sand through the sand-filling port to the pair of cope and drag flasks that are moved in a vertical position by the rotating mechanism.

A method for making flaskless upper and lower molds that are stacked, comprising the steps of

• holding a match-plate between a pair of cope and drag flasks that are horizontally positioned, each of them having an sand-filling port for supplying molding sand at its side wall,
• putting the cope and drag flasks and the match-plate in a vertical position, and causing the sand-filling ports to be in an upper position, while defining upper and lower molding spaces by inserting upper and lower squeeze-plates to the respective openings of the cope and drag flasks which openings are opposed to the match-plate,
• spraying a release agent to the upper and lower molding spaces defined by inserting an upper and lower squeeze-plate to the open ends,
• supplying molding sand through the sand-filling ports to the upper and lower molding spaces, and
• squeezing the molding sand in the upper and lower molding spaces.

An apparatus for forming flaskless upper and lower molds that are stacked, comprising

• a unit of cope and drag flasks in which the upper molding flask is connected with the lower one by a connecting rod so that they can move toward and away from each other,
• a match-plate that is arranged so as to be able to be inserted in and withdrawn from between the cope and drag flasks of the unit by a conveying mechanism for insertion and withdrawal,
• release agent spraying mechanisms that are provided at each of the cope and drag flasks,
• a squeezing mechanism for squeezing molding sand in which the unit of cope and drag flasks is detachably provided by two or more clamping mechanisms, the match-plate being held between the cope and drag flasks, an upper and lower squeeze-plates being arranged so as to be able to be inserted in and pulled out from the respective openings of the cope and drag flasks which openings are opposed to the match-plate, the pair of cope and drag flasks, between which the match-plate is held, being held around the supporting shaft so as to be rotatable in forward and backward directions in a vertical plane between the positions in which the molding flasks are vertical and in which they are horizontal,
• a rotating mechanism that rotates the squeezing mechanism in forward and backward directions, and
• a sand-supplying mechanism that supplies molding sand through the sand-filling port to the cope and drag flasks that are placed in a vertical position by the rotating mechanism.