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Two-in-One Performance from Twin Core Shooter

July 26, 2007
The L-Twin CoreShooter is designed with two operating stations arranged side-by-side, each mounting a horizontally parted corebox. One of the exhibits drawing considerable attention and discussion at GIFA 2007 last month in Dusseldorf, ...

The L-Twin CoreShooter is designed with two operating stations arranged side-by-side, each mounting a horizontally parted corebox.

One of the exhibits drawing considerable attention and discussion at GIFA 2007 last month in Dusseldorf, Germany, was the series of demonstrations of the Laempe Series L-Twin CoreShooter, presented by Laempe & Mossner GmbH, Schopfheim, Germany.

Laempe's technicians describe the new design as a "high-performance machine for 24-hour continuous operation for cold and hot core-hardening processes," and they emphasize that it can be adapted to coreboxes in a wide range of dimensions.

The L-Twin CoreShooter is designed with two operating stations arranged side-by-side, each mounting a horizontally parted corebox.

"The design concept was driven by the need to greatly increase core production without increasing the machine footprint," explains David Reich, co-owner of Laempe-Reich Corp., Laempe's North American partner.

"With the Laempe L-Twin, it is possible to double the output from the same floor space," he states. That's because the two stations are operated alternately, which allows for removal of a finished core from one station while another core is being produced in the second station.

Another advantage of the two-station concept, he points out, is that the cost is lower than that of two machines.

The machine on display in Dusseldorf was actually the second example of this new design concept. The first is operating in a German metalcasting plant that produces engine block components.

The L-Twin can "shoot" prepared core sand volumes ranging from 50 to 450 liters. Sand level in the shoot magazine is controlled to the desired volume for the core being produced by means of a laser detection system. The magazine is designed to provide highly effective coverage of the shooting area required by the corebox. An integrated mixer can be provided as an option. The tooling remains stationary for the entire shoot-and-gas cycle. A gassing hood is provided along with an integrated cope tamping and ejection plate. Exhaust of the tooling is performed within a closed system.

A core can be ejected from the cope or from the drag. A hydraulic scissor lift in the drag carriage allows for the drag ejection to take place while the drag is indexing out of the machine, or when it reaches the full-out position. Core removal by an operator is performed at an ergonomically safe height, so there is no need to install the machine in a pit — as is required with some other coreshooting equipment.

The open design makes the entire operation easy to clean. As noted, the bottom corebox half is mounted on a carriage that slides out of the machine for full access. In addition, the cope half of the corebox can be rotated through 90° for access to core impressions, as well as to the back of the cope. The vertical position presents the cope at a comfortable height for access by the machine operator for any type of maintenance required.

Tooling can be changed from the front of the unit, or optional tooling-change capability can be provided at the rear of the machine. All machine component movements are performed by hydraulic proportional valve technology.

Laempe uses its own control software with error diagnosis capability in a state-of-the-art, industrial-PC-based control system. The control system is accessed by a swiveling operator's panel with a touch screen HMI, with no data cards nor any hard drives. A safety scanning system monitors the work areas for operator safety.