A mold-shift detection device for upper and lower molds molded and assembled with each other by a flaskless molding machine, comprises: a first distance sensor measuring a distance by irradiating side surfaces of the upper and lower molds with light; a cylinder causing the first distance sensor to scan the side surfaces of the upper and lower molds; and a controller detecting a mold-shift between the upper and lower molds, based on a measurement result in a scan range.

A mold assembly cell for sand mold production comprising a turntable wherein sand cores and other mold parts (which together cooperate to define the casting cavity of the sand mold) are automatically and progressively assembled following a sequential pre-programmed schedule by programmable robots located in proximal relationship with the turntable and a core shooting machine. The assembly turntable rotates clockwise or counterclockwise to permit placement of progressively more-complete mold packages in each of at least three assembly stations to allow the robots to reach the molds being assembled at different angles for simultaneously setting the sand cores and other parts of the mold according to said pre-programmed assembly schedule. Also a mold assembly line comprising a plurality of the foregoing assembly cells to form sand molds for casting complex-geometry aluminum parts, such as aluminum engine blocks and cylinder heads, with greater flexibility, efficiency and productivity.

A casting equipment monitoring system detects that the condition of casting equipment is deteriorating before the casting equipment fails, or detects that the quality of castings produced by the casting equipment is deteriorating before it becomes clear that the castings are defective products. The casting equipment monitoring system includes: an information collecting device that collects, in real time, data measured by equipment within the casting equipment; and a diagnostic device that compares, in real time, the collected data with a control value, and displays a diagnosis result if the diagnostic device determines that the collected data has deviated from the control value.

Method and apparatus for feeding said molds laterally and/or between stations of differing heights. The method and apparatus of this invention utilize walking-beam-type conveyors having spaced apart fixed outboard rails and a central reciprocating rail. Walking-beam conveyors can be disposed in perpendicular directions with a junction therebetween that allows for a perpendicular change in direction. The method and apparatus of this invention include lift, leveling, and/or lateral transfer mechanisms for lateral placement of the stations relative to the conveyance path.

The moulding machine includes a moulding chamber having at least one chamber end wall provided with a pattern plate adapted to form a pattern in a mould part and associated with a reference pattern block positioned in fixed relationship to a pattern of said pattern plate and adapted to form a reference pattern in an external face of a mould part. The reference pattern block includes a face having a tangent varying in a longitudinal direction of the moulding chamber and being adapted to form a corresponding reference pattern in the sand mould part. A non-contact detection system (87) detects the position of a number of different points (P.sub.1, P.sub.2) distributed over the pattern face of the reference pattern in the longitudinal direction of the sand mould part, and the tangent (T.sub.1, T.sub.2) in the longitudinal direction of the sand mould part is different between at least two of said points.

The moulding machine includes a moulding chamber having at least one chamber end wall provided with a pattern plate adapted to form a pattern in a mould part and associated with a reference pattern block positioned in fixed relationship to a pattern of said pattern plate and adapted to form a reference pattern in an external face of a mould part. The reference pattern block includes a face having a tangent varying in a longitudinal direction of the moulding chamber and being adapted to form a corresponding reference pattern in the sand mould part. A non-contact detection system (87) detects the position of a number of different points (P.sub.1, P.sub.2) distributed over the pattern face of the reference pattern in the longitudinal direction of the sand mould part, and the tangent (T.sub.1, T.sub.2) in the longitudinal direction of the sand mould part is different between at least two of said points.

The method for the stepwise production and advancing of sand mold parts in a mold-string foundry plant comprising a station (1) for making mold parts, a pouring station (3) and a conveyor (2) for stepwise advancing of mold parts (101-109) from said station (1) for making mold parts towards said pouring station (3), includes the step of double indexing the mold parts using a first, moveable, part (21) of the conveyor. By double indexing the mold string, the time during which pouring into the molds has to be interrupted can be reduced.

The method for the stepwise production and advancing of sand mold parts in a mold-string foundry plant comprising a station (1) for making mold parts, a pouring station (3) and a conveyor (2) for stepwise advancing of mold parts (101-109) from said station (1) for making mold parts towards said pouring station (3), includes the step of double indexing the mold parts using a first, moveable, part (21) of the conveyor. By double indexing the mold string, the time during which pouring into the molds has to be interrupted can be reduced.

The present disclosure discloses a production line for ceramic shell making and a method for ceramic shell making. The production line may include a conveyor chain system, a robotic arm, a slurry coating device, and a sanding device. The conveyor chain system may be configured to convey a batch of modules. The robotic arm may be configured to replace and remove one or more modules among the batch of modules relative to the conveyor chain system and hold the one or more modules during a plurality of subsequent operations. The robotic arm may be configured to be moveable to a plurality of positions each of which corresponds to one of a plurality of stations. The slurry coating device may be configured to coat the one or more modules in slurry. The sanding device may be configured to sand the one or more modules.

A core inspection device for inspecting a core, the device including a color sensor configured to detect a measured value of each color component of the color of the surface of the core, and a determination unit configured to compare the measured value of at least one color component detected by the color sensor with a threshold prepared corresponding to the at least one color component, thereby determine if a strength property of the core is acceptable or not.