MOULDING MACHINES TYPES AND APPLICATIONS

The following are some of the types of moulding machine:

Squeezer Machine
Top Squeezer Machine
Bottom Sqeezer Machine
Jolt Machine
Sand Slinger Machine
Straight Draw Moulding Machine
Stripping Plate Machine
Turn Over Moulding Machine

Top Squeezer Machine

Working:

The pattern 2 is placed on a mould board which is clamped on the table.

The flask 3is then placed on the mould board and the sand frame 4 on the flask.
The flask and the frame are filled with moulding sand and levelled off.
Next the table is raised by the table lift mechanism against the platen 5 on the
stationary squeezer head 6.
The pattern enters the sand frame upto the dotted line and compacts the moulding
sand.
After the squeeze the table returns to its intial position.

Bottom Squeezer Machine

Working:

As before, the pattern is placed on the mould board which is clamped to the table.
The flask is placed on the frame and is filled with sand.
Next the squeeze head is brought against the top of the flask and the table with the
pattern is raised upon the dotted line.
After squeezing , the table return to its original position.

Limitation:

The main limitation of the sqeezer method is that, the sand is picked more densely
on the top of the mould from which the pressure is applied, and the density
decreases uniformly with the depth. At the parting line and around the pattern, the
density is found to be lowest. This variation of the dnsity affects the hardness of
the mould which thus varies according to the depth. The squeeze method is
restricted to mould not more than 150mm in depth

Jolt Machine
Working:

In the jolting method, the flask is first filled with the moulding sand and then th
etanle supporting flask is mechanically raised and dropped in succession.
Due to the sudden change in inertia at the end of each fall, the sand get packed
and rammed,
The action of sudden raising and sudden dropping the table is called jolting.
The table with the platen and the flask with the moulding sand is raised to about
30 to 80mm at short intervals by the plunger when the compressed air is
addmitted through the hose and the channel.
The air is next released through the openning and th eeable drops down suddenly
and strikes the cylinder at its bottom.
This sudden action cause the sand to pack evenly around the pattern

. Limitation:

The drawback in this method is that the sand is rammed hardest at the parting
plane around the pattern an remains lesss dense at the top. This necessiates hand
ramming of the mould at the back after the jolting action is completed. This kind
of machines are preffered only for horinzontal surfaces.

Sand Slinger Machine

Working:

In the slinging operation, the consolidation and the ramming is done by the impact
of the sand which falls at a very high velocity.
The over head impeller consists of the housing in which the blade rotates at a very
high speed.
The sand is delievered to the impeller through the opening by means of the
conveyor buckets.
The impeller head by the rotation of the blade throws the sand through the outlet
down into the flask over the pattern at the rate ranging from 500 to 2,000 kg/min.
The density of the sand can be controlled by the speed of the blade.

Straight Draw Moulding Machine

Working:

In the straight draw moulding machine, the pattern is fixed on the pattern plate
upon the table.
The flask or the moulding box is placed over it and filled with sand.
It is then roughly rammed round the edges of the box.
The squeeze head is next swung over in position and it squeezes the mould.
The flask is then lifted from the pattern by removing the stripping pins.

Stripping Plate Moulding Machine

Working:

The stripping plate is arranged between the flask and pattern plate.
The stripping plate has a recess whose contours equals those of the pattern.
When the mould is ready the pattern is withdrawn from the mould downwards
through the stripping plate, which supports the mould when the pattern is
removed.

Turn Over Moulding Machine

Working:

These types of moulding machines are used where the moulds are of large size,
heavy, having parts which might easily break away.
The flask rests on the pattern plate during the moulding operation.
Then the flask together with the work table is rotated 1800 and the pins lifts the
table together with the pattern out of the mould.

Applications of Moulding Machines

The following are some of the applications of the above said moulding machines,

Both top squeeze and bottom squeeze moulding machines are employed in the
manufacturing of automobile components such as the knuckle joints in steering wheel,
propellar shaft and axle shaft etc
Turn over moulding machines are used in the production of heavy industrial machine tool
components such as bed and coloumn of a heavy duty lathe.
The stripping plate and straight draw moulding machines are used a high degree of
precesions are required in castings such as the turbine blades of jet engines and its fan
blades etc