The present invention relates to a mold casting device.
In general, a mold casting device forms a casting product in a target shape by pouring a melt into a cavity formed between an upper mold and a lower mold and cooling down the melt. Among the conventional mold casting devices, in the case of replacing a mold, there are a device of one type that replaces a mold by moving the mold in a transverse direction (see Patent Literature 1) and a device of the other type that takes out a mold and a die plate by lifting upward by a forklift or the like (see Patent Literature 2).
Patent Literature 1: JP 3712194 B2 (
Patent Literature 2: JP H06-029746 U1 (
In the mold casting device described in Patent Literature 1, in the case of replacing a mold, a wagon is arranged close to the casting device, and the mold is replaced by being moved in the transverse direction to be placed on the wagon. In this case, the mold casting device has a problem that a wagon space for arranging the wagon around the device is required and a problem that the mold replacement work takes time.
On the other hand, in a mold casting device described in Patent Literature 2, after a lower mold and a fixed plate are detached from each other and a threaded rod and a movable plate are detached from each other, the movable plate and the upper and lower molds are taken out to the outside of the device by being lifted up by a forklift or the like. In this case, since the positional relationship between the upper mold and the lower mold is changed during the mold replacement, there is a problem that, next time when setting the mold in the casting device, it is required to adjust the positional relationship again.
In view of this, the present invention has been invented for solving the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a mold casting device that can replace a mold easily.
To solve the above problems, a mold casting device according to the present invention is characterized in that the mold casting device obtains a casting product by pouring a melt into a cavity formed between an upper mold and a lower mold and includes: a raising and lowering mechanism that raises and lowers the upper mold; a die plate that is fixed to the upper mold; and a base member that is provided on upper end portions of the raising and lowering mechanism and supports the die plate from below, in which the die plate is supported by the base member relatively movably with respect to the base member.
The present invention can provide a mold casting device that can replace a mold easily.
A mold casting device according to an embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
Note that, in the embodiment of the present invention, a description is given with an example of a case in which an upper mold 21 is moved in the upper and lower directions, and also, for the sake of convenience, the front and rear and the right and left directions in the drawings are described as the upper and lower and the right and left directions.
As shown in
As shown in
The upper mold 21 is formed of a movable mold that can be raised and lowered with respect to the lower mold 22 by the raising and lowering mechanism 3. In the upper mold 21, positioning pins 21a that are engaged with positioning holes 22a formed in the lower mold 22 (see
The lower mold 22 is formed of a fixed mold that is placed and fixed on a lower die plate 10. The lower mold 22 includes a not-shown lower mold cavity for forming a lower half body of the cast product. Additionally, on the lower surface of the upper mold 21 and an upper surface of the lower mold 22, a positioning key for adjusting the positions and a recess portion that can adjust the positions of the upper mold 21 and the lower mold 22 automatically by being engaged with the positioning key are arranged opposite to each other.
The upper mold attachment frame body 23 is a member in which the upper mold 21 is fixed to a lower surface and the die plate 4 is fixed to an upper surface. The upper mold attachment frame body 23 is formed by assembling frame members in the form of a turret. On an upper side surface of the upper mold attachment frame body 23, a (not shown) hose holding member for attaching multiple hoses supplying cooling water for cooling down the mold is provided to project in the horizontal direction.
Note that, the upper mold attachment frame body 23 shown in
The die plate 4 is an upper mold platen that holds the upper mold 21 in a state of being hung from the top. The die plate 4 is supported by the base member 5 so as to be relatively movable with respect to the base member 5. The die plate 4 is provided with hanging portions 41 coupled to the pull-up devices 8 for pulling up the die plate 4 (see
As shown in
The notch portions 4a are parts that allow the (not shown) multiple hoses for the cooling water to be arranged so that the hoses are inserted therein.
The engagement portions 4b are parts to be placed on step portions 5c of the base member 5, which allow the upper mold 21 coupled to the die plate 4 to be placed so as to be hung by the base member 5.
As shown in
The extrusion mechanism 42 is, for example, a device for pushing and detaching the casting product from the mold 2. The extrusion mechanism 42 includes a hydraulic cylinder device 42a including a (not shown) piston and multiple detachment pins 42b moved back and forth by the extrusion mechanism 42.
As shown in
The electric motors 31 are, for example, each formed of an AC servomotor or the like capable of a high resolution and highly responsive positioning operation with a rotation detection unit (encoder) mounted on a counter output shaft side of the electric motor 31 to detect the position and the rotation rate of a rotor.
The male thread members 32 are rotation members that are rotated and driven by the electric motors 31, respectively. The male thread members 32 each include a male thread portion (formed of a ball screw, for example) on an outer peripheral surface of a column-shaped pole member provided to extend upward.
The rising and lowering frames 33 are a right and left pair of beam-shaped members that rise and lower as the male thread member 32 pivots. The rising and lowering frames 33 are each provided with a female thread portion 33a to be screwed to the male thread portion of the male thread member 32 to allow the rising and lowering frame 33 to rise and lower, cylindrical portions 33b in which the sliding guides 34 are inserted respectively, and the guide support poles 35. The rising and lowering frame 33 functions as a coupling member that couples the female thread portion 33a, which rises and lowers as the male thread member 32 pivots, and the guide support poles 35 on which the base member 5 is placed, so that the female thread portion 33a and the guide support poles 35 rise and lower in conjunction with each other.
The female thread portion 33a is formed of a tubular member fixed in the center portion of the rising and lowering frame 33. A female thread is formed on an inner surface of the female thread portion 33a.
The cylindrical portions 33b are cylindrical members that are fitted on the sliding guides 34 slidably in the upper and lower directions, respectively. The cylindrical portions 33b are fixed in the front and rear end portions of the rising and lowering frame 33.
The sliding guides 34 are members that function as guide members for guiding the rising and the lowering of the rising and lowering frame 33 and function as poles supporting the lower die plate 10 from below. The sliding guides 34 are formed of four column-shaped support poles provided to stand in the front, rear, right, and left on the base table 11. The lower die plate 10 is provided to be placed on upper ends of the sliding guides 34.
The guide support poles 35 are pole-shaped members each includes a lower end provided to stand on the rising and lowering frame 33 and an upper end fastened to the base member 5. The guide support poles 35 are formed of four column-shaped members provided to extend in the upper and lower directions from the top of the lower die plate 10. The guide support poles 35 are configured to raise and lower the base member 5 by rising and lowering integrally with the rising and lowering frame 33 as the rising and lowering frame 33 rises and lowers.
A lower die plate 10 is a thick plate member that is a quadrate in plan view and placed horizontally on the male thread members 32 and the sliding guides 34. The lower mold 22 is placed on the lower die plate 10. In the front, rear, right, and left of the lower die plate 10, tubular portions 10a that support the guide support poles 35 with the guide support poles 35 inserted movably upward and downward are provided toward the upper and lower directions, respectively.
The base member 5 is formed of a thick plate member in a quadrangular frame shape for supporting the die plate 4 from below (see
As shown in
The support portion 5a is a part in which the die plate 4 is placed and supported on the base member 5. In this embodiment, the support portion 5a is formed of the step portions 5c formed in four sections in the front, rear, right, and left of the insertion portion 5b.
The insertion portion 5b is formed of a quadrangular opening formed in the center portion of the base member 5. The step portions 5c are step-shaped parts that support the die plate 4 movably by a predetermined range in the horizontal direction.
Clearances S1 are provided between back walls of the step portions 5c and the engagement portions 4b and between the edges of the insertion portion 5b of the base member 5 and edges in the front and rear directions of the die plate 4 such that the die plate 4 can be moved with respect to the base member 5 by a predetermined distance in the front, rear, right, and left directions.
As shown in
The push rod 61 is formed of a rod-shaped member arranged in a state of protruding from the sensor main body 62. In the push rod 61, a base end portion is biased on a tip end side by a compression spring provided in the sensor main body 62, and the tip end is arranged to put in contact with the upper surface of the die plate 4 during the gauging.
The sensor main body 62 is formed of a variable resistor that converts the back and forth movement of the push rod 61 to a resistance value, or is a chassis in which a hall IC or the like that converts the back and forth movement of the push rod 61 to a voltage value is provided.
The arm portion 63 is a member for holding the sensor main body 62 horizontally and supporting the base end side pivotably about the sensor support pole 64.
The sensor support pole 64 is formed of a rod-shaped member in the column shape that is provided to stand in each of the end portions in the right, the left, the front, and the rear of the upper surface of the base member 5.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Next, effects of the mold casting device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention are described with reference to
First, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
As described above, the upper mold 21 is not fixed to the lower mold 22, and the die plate 4 coupled to the upper mold 21 is floatingly supported by the base member 5. Thus, since the die plate 4 and the base member 5 are in a clampless state where the die plate 4 and the base member 5 are not closed by a mold clamp, a bolt, or the like, it is possible to reduce the operation step and improve the productivity. Additionally, since the melt in the cavity is not leaked from the mold 2 although the upper mold 21 and the lower mold 22 are not closed, it is possible to simplify the mold closing configuration.
Moreover, in this process, the positions of the upper mold 21 and the lower mold 22 are adjusted by the positioning pins 21a. Consequently, there is no need to release a clamp to adjust the positions.
Next, the electric motors 31 of the raising and lowering mechanism 3 shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
The present applicant conducted an experiment of using stroke sensors (the gauge heads 6) to measure a displacement of the die plate 4 with the upper mold 21 floatingly supported.
Consequently, the present applicant found out that there is a significant correlation between a displacement of the stroke sensor being floatingly supported (that is, the thermal expansion of the upper mold 21) and a temperature change in an aluminum melt. Thereby, as shown in
Next, after the mold 2 is preheated (step of preheating mold), a melt in the holding furnace 7 (see
As shown in
Additionally, when the mold 2 and the melt have a decreased temperature by being cooled down with the cooling water and are condensed, the die plate 4 is accordingly lowered with the upper mold 21. Gauging the lowering of the die plate 4 by the gauge heads 6 makes it possible to adequately grasp a timing of the condensation of the casting product and opening of the mold. Conventionally, in the case of gauging the temperature of the aluminum melt, it has been required to provide many temperature sensors in the mold 2, and thus the workability was poor. In contrast, since the gauge heads 6 formed of the stroke sensors can be provided outside the mold 2, it is easy to provide the gauge heads 6.
Next, a confirmation is made to see whether the die plate 4 is lowered to the original position on the step portions 5c and the gauge heads 6 are back to the original state as shown in
Subsequently, the core and the casting product are taken out by the robot arms 9 shown in
Additionally, replacement of the upper mold 21 is performed similarly as described above. First, as shown in
As described above, as shown in
Thus, as shown in
Additionally, since the present invention can replace the mold by raising and lowering the die plate 4 with the upper mold 21 by the raising and lowering mechanism 3, it is possible to omit attaching and detaching of a coupling member for attaching the upper mold 21 to the die plate 4. Consequently, the present invention can achieve the enhancement of the efficiency of the replacement work of the mold 2.
Therefore, the present invention can provide the mold casting device 1 that can replace a mold easily.
Moreover, the mold casting device 1 according to the present invention further includes the gauge head 6 that gauges a displacement of the die plate 4 due to the thermal expansion of the upper mold 21.
Consequently, as described above, since the die plate 4 fixed to the upper mold 21 is floatingly supported with respect to the base member 5, the displacement of the die plate 4 can be gauged by the gauge head 6. The gauge head 6 can know the state of the melt as a source of the heat generation by gauging the displacement of the die plate 4 fixed to the upper mold 21 when the upper mold 21 is heated by the melt and displaced due to the thermal expansion.
Furthermore, as shown in
This allows the pull-up device 8 to raise the die plate 4 fixed to the upper mold 21 upward and lower the die plate 4 fixed to the upper mold 21 into the mold casting device 1 by hooking the hooks 81 or the like over the hanging portions 41. Additionally, since the raising and lowering mechanism 3 (see
Moreover, the base member 5 includes the support portion 5a that supports the die plate 4 and the insertion portion 5b through which the upper mold 21 fixed on the die plate 4 is inserted upward and downward.
Consequently, the base member 5 allows the upper mold 21 to be inserted in the insertion portion 5b to move upward and downward and also allows the die plate 4 fixed to the upper mold 21 to be supported by the support portion 5a. Therefore, the mold casting device 1 can arrange the upper mold 21 in the device from above the device and can enhance the workability of the mold replacement work.
Furthermore, on the upper side inner edge of the insertion portion 5b, the step portion 5c that supports the die plate 4 movably by a predetermined range in the horizontal direction is formed.
Consequently, since the die plate 4 is supported by the step portion 5c movably by a predetermined range in the horizontal direction, it is possible to adjust the position of the die plate 4 when the upper mold 21 is placed on the lower mold 22.
Note that, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the technical idea, and it should be appreciated that the present invention also covers those modified and changed invention.
For example, the die plate 4 shown in
Additionally, the base member 5 shown in
In this case, the two pieces of the quadrangular plate-shaped members may be arranged to be fixed on upper ends of the front and rear guide support poles 35 or to be fixed on upper ends of the right and left guide support poles 35.
Moreover, a mechanism for floatingly supporting the die plate 4 is not limited to the one formed of the step portion 5c on the upper side inner edge of the insertion portion 5b and the engagement portion 4b supported by the step portion 5c so that the die plate 4 can be moved by a predetermined range in the horizontal direction.
For example, the floatingly supporting mechanism may be formed of multiple clamp protrusions provided to project from the upper side edge portions of the insertion portion 5b of the base member 5 and clamp engagement holes to which the clamp protrusions are loosely fit respectively.
In this case, the clamp protrusions are protrusions for supporting that support the die plate 4 at predetermined positions by being inserted in the clamp engagement holes. The clamp protrusions are formed of rod-shaped protrusions projecting upward from the upper surface of the base member 5.
Each clamp engagement hole may be formed to have the radius greater by the length of the clearance S1 than the radius of the clamp protrusion so as to support the die plate 4 movably in the front, rear, right, and left directions by the length of the clearance S1 when the clamp protrusion is engaged with the clamp engagement hole.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017-217398 | Nov 2017 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2018/038857 | 10/18/2018 | WO | 00 |