Importance

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Abstract

Disclosed is a ceramic knock-off apparatus for automatically removing the ceramic coating from investment casting molds having a plurality of arms. Prior to operation, a ceramic covered mold is loaded into a receptacle on a turntable and rotated to a starting position thereby placing one of the arms of the ceramic covered mold directly under the head of an air hammer. The apparatus automatically removes the ceramic coating from each arm of an investment casting mold by lowering the air hammer until it engages the first arm of the mold, operating the hammer thereby vibrating that arm of the mold and causing the ceramic coating to break and fall off, raising the hammer, automatically rotating the turntable until the next arm of the mold is aligned under the air hammer, and lowering the hammer to engage the next arm. This cycle is repeated until the ceramic coating has been removed from every arm of the mold. As the ceramic coating is removed from the mold by the air hammer it falls into a scrap conveyor which carries it away for disposal. When the ceramic coating has been removed from every arm of the mold, the casting is removed from the receptacle on the turntable, and the apparatus is ready to repeat the operation on another investment casting mold. Control circuitry allows automatic programmable indexing of the turntable so that ceramic can be removed from an investment casting mold having any number of arms.

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First Claim