TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an pressure casting machine designed for producing vitreous products.

The present invention particularly relates to a pressure casting machine that allows the production of two-piece toilets consisting of flush ring and the body of the toilet on a single chassis.

PRIOR ART

Two-piece toilet structures are basically composed of the body of the toilet and flush ring adapted to the body of the toilet. Standard production procedure is carried out by means of performing slip casting into conventional plaster molds. Since standard production method requires operating with a vast number of molds, it increases the provision for labor and causes prolongation in production time. Concordantly, production costs are quite high. Furthermore, obtained products usually have many physical flaws due to plaster molds.

Today, machines having resin molds and that are capable of performing pressure casting processes are utilized as an alternative to standard production method. In these machines, the body of the toilet and flush ring which constitute the toilet are produced by means of being molded separately, and subsequently the flush ring is placed on the body of the toilet by being adhered thereto.

The patent application numbered CN107672013 discloses a production line used for toilet high-pressure slip casting. The subject matter production line comprises molds, a mold loading mechanism, a transportation mechanism, a mold locking mechanism, a mounting frame and a grouting pipe. Said molds comprise base body molds and base ring molds. The transportation mechanism and the mold loading mechanism are arranged on the mounting frame. The body and the flush ring which are casted and obtained by means of molds are put together by the adhesive applied to the body. After the adhesive is manually applied to the body, flush ring transportation mechanism is set on the body.

The patent application numbered CN105773828 discloses a full-automatic high-pressure forming machine with robots for bonding ring and body. In this application in which slip casting is performed by means of robots, labor force is reduced to a great degree, and therefore, the production efficiency is improved substantially. Manufacturing of the body as well as the production of the ring are both carried out in a manner to provide abovementioned advantages and all processes such as adhesive application and transporting processes for the assembling are controlled by robots. The patent application numbered EP1273406 provides a pressure casting device for making of toilet bowls. Said casting device allows for shaping the body of the toilet and its ring by means of two separate machines wherein the body of the toilet and the ring are combined by a conveyor that is located between the machines.

The patent application numbered CN102862214 discloses a high-pressure toiled molding machine that allows for producing the ring the body together. Aforementioned molding device comprises molding machine units, a body conveying line, a seat ring conveying line and a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The molding machine units are composed of a main frame, a body molding machine, a rotating-transferring machine, a seat ring lifting transferring machine and two parallel conveying lines on which these machines traverse. In all of abovementioned casting and molding machines and devices production of body and ring is carried out by means of casting molds and subsequently, the body and the ring are combined by using additional machinery or robotics systems. All of machine units utilized in performing of lifting the ring and conveying on to the body increases the size of the casting machine, induces additional investment costs and pushes up the operating costs. Consequently, abovementioned problems and disadvantages which cannot be solved in consideration of the state of the art entailed making an innovation in the related technical field. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pressure casting machine that allows for combining the toilet bowl body and the flush ring of the two-piece toilet by means of shaping them in order to eliminate abovementioned disadvantages and to provide novel advantages to the related technical field.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a pressure casting machine for producing a two-piece toilet wherein investment and operating costs are minimized.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pressure casting machine that allows for manufacturing products with less physical flaws. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pressure casting machine that is downsized, compact and that has less machine components.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a pressure casting machine that is capable of increasing production efficiency.

Thus, for accomplishing all objects that are both mentioned above and will become evident through the following detailed description, the present invention is a pressure casting machine used in shaping of a two-piece vitreous product defined by an upper piece and a lower piece comprising a bottom piece mold module consisting of an upper mold, a bottom mold, a right mold, a left mold and a rear mold and an upper piece mold module consisting of a female mold and a male mold. Accordingly, the inventive pressure casting machine is characterized by comprising; a mold carrier that is capable of moving horizontally on said bottom piece mold module and that is connected in a manner that allows the up-down movement of said upper mold in vertical direction for the casting position thereof; another mold carrier that is capable of moving horizontally on said upper piece mold module and that is connected in a manner that allows the up-down movement of said male mold for the casting position and the bonding position thereof; and a chassis comprising guide rails to which mold carriers are adapted. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said chassis comprises a platform on which the bottom piece mold module and the upper piece mold module are positioned, wherein said platform comprises struts being provided on both sides of said platform and an upper beam to which said guide rails are connected. Another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises lifting hydraulic cylinders for the purpose of ensuring that said mold carriers provide the vertical movement of said upper mold and said male mold.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a position centering mechanism for the purpose of positioning said mold carriers in a stationary manner at casting and bonding positions of said upper mold and male mold.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a pneumatic lock in order to ensure that said mold carriers can be fixed at positions where upper mold and male mold are located.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a bottom piece column that supports the vertical movement provided by lifting hydraulic cylinders and that is associated with said upper mold and an upper piece column that is associated with the male mold.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention comprises vertical compression cylinders that can simultaneously compress said upper mold and bottom mold. Yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises horizontal compression cylinders that can simultaneously compress said right mold and said left mold.

Yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises side locks that can interlock said horizontal compression cylinders.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, said right mold comprises mold opening cylinders that allow for opening and closing both left mold and rear mold.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention comprises a male mold mechanism that performs the movement of said male mold in the mold carrier and a fixed lean plate that prevents its deformation. Another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an opening-closing mechanism that is driven by hydraulic cylinder to ensure that the female mold and the male mold can be opened and closed.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the product that is constituted by the bottom piece and the upper piece is a two-piece toilet wherein said bottom piece is the body of the toilet and said upper piece is a flush ring.

Yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention is that it is preferably controlled with a programmable logic controller (PLC).

The present invention is further a pressure casting method used in the shaping of a two-piece vitreous product defined by an upper piece and a lower piece obtained by means of closing all molds and accordingly injecting clay into molds in a bottom piece mold module consisting of an upper mold, a bottom mold, a right mold, a left mold and a rear mold, and an upper piece mold module consisting of a female mold and a male mold. Accordingly, the inventive casting method is characterized by comprising the process steps of; a) Heaving the upper mold up after the casting process is complete, b) Applying bonding clay to the exposed upper surface of the bottom piece, c) Opening the female mold and the male mold consisting of the upper piece, d) Heaving the male mold up, e) Moving the male mold to the bonding position on the bottom piece together with the upper piece, f) Rotating male mold 90° so that upper piece can face the bottom piece, g) Bonding the upper piece to the bottom piece by releasing it thereupon, h) Opening molds that constitute the bottom piece

In order to understand the embodiments of the present invention along with its advantages and additional elements to full extent thereof, the present invention should be evaluated by taking appended figures of which description is provided down below into consideration. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 illustrates the front view of the inventive pressure casting machine. Figure 2 illustrates the rear view of the inventive pressure casting machine. Figure 3 illustrates the front perspective view of the inventive pressure casting machine.

Figure 4 illustrates the rear perspective view of the inventive pressure casting machine.

Figure 5 illustrates the bottom piece and upper piece molded in the inventive pressure casting machine.

Figure 6a illustrates the view in which the upper piece is positioned on the bottom piece.

Figure 6b illustrates the view in which the upper piece is rotated.

Figure 6c illustrates the view in which the bottom piece mold module is open.

REFERANCE NUMERALS

10 Casting Machine

11 Chassis

111 Platform 112 Legs

113 Strut

114 Upper Beam

115 Guide Rail

116 Bottom Piece Column 117 Upper Piece Column

12 Mold Carrier

121 Lifting Hydraulic Cylinder

122 Position Centering Mechanism

123 Electric Motor

124 Pneumatic Lock

20 Bottom Piece Mold Module

21 Upper Mold

211 Upper Mold Jacket

22 Bottom Mold

221 Bottom Mold Jacket

23 Right Mold

231 Right Mold Jacket

24 Left Mold

241 Left Mold Jacket

25 Rear Mold

251 Rear Mold Carrier

26 Vertical Compression Cylinder

261 Tilt Cylinder

27 Horizontal Compression Cylinder

28 Side Locks

281 Side Lock Cylinder

29 Mold Opening Cylinder BO Upper Piece Mold Module

31 Female Mold

32 Male Mold

321 Fixed Lean Plate

322 Male Mold Mechanism

33 Opening-Closing Mechanism

331 Opening-Closing Cylinder

332 Fixed Compression Plate

34 Casting Entry Cylinder

35 Bonding Position Cylinder

36 Rotation Cylinder

37 Upper Piece Core 371 Core Cylinder

40 Bottom Piece 50 Upper Piece

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, the inventive novelty is disclosed by means of examples towards providing a better understanding of the subject matter and that do not constitute any restrictive effects.

Exemplary casting machine (10) of which front view is illustrated in Figure 1 and rear view in Figure 2 comprises a chassis (11) wherein said chassis (11) comprises a bottom piece mold module (20) and an upper piece mold module (30) which are being provided side by side and two mold carriers (12) being associated with said bottom piece mold module (20) and upper piece mold module (30). In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is ensured that the bottom piece mold module (20) and a bottom piece (40) are subjected to a casting operation under pressure and that the upper piece mold module (30) and an upper piece (50) are subjected to a casting operation under pressure and subsequently, upper piece (50) is aligned on top of the bottom piece (40) by means of the movement of said mold carriers (12) and it is adhered to the bottom piece (40).

Structure of the chassis (11) is preferably comprised of a platform (111) to which the bottom piece mold module (20) and the upper piece mold module (30) are connected, struts (113) that are being reciprocally provided at both sides of said platform (111) and an upper beam (114) that associates said struts (113) with each other at upper ends thereof. Said platform (111) is positioned on the ground by means of legs (112) that are connected to the underside of the platform (111). Guide rails (115) are being provided on said upper beam (114) and mold carriers (12) can horizontally perform reciprocating motion on said guide rails (115). A bottom piece column (116) is positioned from the upper beam (114) towards the bottom piece mold module (20), while an upper piece column (117) is provided towards the upper piece mold module (30). Thickness of said bottom piece column (116) is preferably selected to be thicker than the thickness of the upper piece column (117). To serve as an example to the front perspective view provided in Figure 3 and the rear perspective view provided in Figure 4; mold carrier (12) preferably comprises lifting hydraulic cylinders (121), a position centering mechanism (122), an electric motor (123) and a pneumatic lock (124).

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, bottom piece mold module (20) comprises an upper mold (21), a bottom mold (22), a right mold (23), a left mold (24) and a rear mold (25) in order to constitute the bottom piece (40). Said upper mold (21) is supported in an upper mold jacket (211), said bottom mold (22) is supported in a bottom mold jacket (221), said right mold (23) is supported in a right mold jacket (231) and said left mold (24) is supported in a left support jacket (241). All of mentioned jackets function for preventing the deformation of molds during the casting operation and are preferably made of steel. Said rear mold (25) is supported and moved by means of a rear mold carrier (251) for the casting operation. Bottom piece mold module (20) further comprises a horizontal compression cylinder (27) and a vertical compression cylinder (26). Said horizontal compression cylinder (27) ensures that right mold (23) and left mold (24) are compressed for the casting operation. Said vertical compression cylinders (26) ensure that the upper mold (21) and bottom mold (22) are compressed for the casting operation. Vertical compression cylinders (26) are driven by four tilt cylinders (261). Side locks (28) ensure that horizontal compression cylinders (27) remain in the position in which said cylinders compress the right mold (23) and the left mold (24) wherein the movement of said side locks (28) is performed by means of side lock cylinders (281). Three mold opening cylinders (29) function for ensuring that the right mold (23), left mold (24) and bottom mold (22) get opened after the casting operation is complete.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, upper piece mold module (30) comprises a female mold (31) and a male mold (32) in order to constitute the upper piece (50). Said male mold (32) is associated with a fixed lean plate (321). Said fixed lean plate (321) is utilized for preventing the deformation of the male mold (32). Said male mold (32) is further associated with a male mold mechanism (322). Said male mold mechanism (322) ensures that the upper piece (50) is carried, rotated, made ready for entering into casting operation and moved into bonding position on top of the bottom piece (40) and an opening-closing mechanism (33) is included in the upper piece mold module (30) in order to ensure that the male mold (32) and the female mold (31) can be opened and closed. Said opening-closing mechanism (33) is driven by an opening-closing cylinder (331). Said opening-closing cylinder (331) is supported by means of a fixed compression plate (332). Upper piece mold module (30) further comprises; a casting entry cylinder (34) for ensuring that upper piece (50) goes into and comes out of the casting state, a bonding position cylinder (35) that moves or removes the upper piece (50) into bonding position to be adhered to the bottom piece (40), a rotation cylinder (36) that allows for rotating the upper piece (50) 90° for the bonding operation, and an upper piece core (37) driven by a core cylinder (371) that allows for creating a clean water channel to the upper piece (50).

In the bottom piece mold module (20), the upper mold (21) is the only one that is being provided on a mold carrier (12), separately from other molds. In the upper piece module (30), male mold (32) is being provided on the mold carrier (12). Mold carrier's (12) horizontal reciprocating motion on guide rails (115) is performed by means of the drive being supplied from said electric motor (123). Vertical movement of the upper mold (21) on the bottom piece column (116) as well as the vertical movement of the male mold (32) on the upper piece column (117) are provided by means of said lifting hydraulic cylinders (121). While the upper mold (21) and the male mold (32) are kept stabilized by means of said position centering mechanism (122) during the casting and bonding operations, said pneumatic lock (124) ensures that the upper mold (21) and male mold (32) are locked in the location where they reach to the upper position.

Figure 5 illustrates the views of the bottom piece (40) and the upper piece (50) obtained from the casting machine (10) and obtaining the bottom piece (40) and the upper piece (50) by means of casting and subsequently adhering the upper piece (50) onto the bottom piece (40) are performed through a sequence of process steps. Initially, all molds that are included in the machine are washed while they are in open configuration. Then the rear mold carrier (251) carries the rear mold (25) into the casting position by means of mold opening cylinders (29) and subsequently, right mold (23) and left mold (24) are closed and moved into casting position. Side locks (28) interlock horizontal compression cylinders (27) by means of side lock cylinders (281) and ensure that side molds are tightened in closed position. In the meantime, position centering mechanisms (122) align mold carriers (12) to the casting position and keep them stationary. Upper mold (21) is lowered by means of lifting hydraulic cylinders (121) and bottom piece column (116) and moved into the casting position. Tilt cylinders (261) move vertical compression cylinders (26) to vertical position, thereby tightening the bottom mold (22) and the upper mold (21). Meanwhile, in the upper piece mold module (30), bonding position cylinder (35) moves the male mold (32) out of the bonding position and subsequently, the male mold (32) is moved into the casting entry position by means of the casting entry cylinder (34).

In the meantime, position centering mechanisms (122) align mold carriers (12) to the casting position and keep them stationary. Male mold (32) is lowered down by means of lifting hydraulic cylinders (121) and the upper piece column (117) and moved into the casting position. Once the male mold (32) is moved into the casting position, casting entry cylinder (34) releases the mold. Fixed compression plate (332) pushes the opening-closing mechanism (33) and the female mold (31) forward and sets them against the male mold (32), thereby tightening them. Core cylinder (371) places the upper piece core (37) into its respective seat. Thus, by means of above-mentioned processes, all molds that constitute the upper piece (50) and the bottom piece (40) become compressed and made ready for the casting operation. This stage is followed by forming the bottom piece (40) and the upper piece (50) by means of injecting clay between the molds. After the casting operation is complete, all hydraulic cylinders included in the system cease the compression. Accordingly, vertical compression cylinders (26) are tilted by means of tilt cylinders (261). Upper mold (21) is heaved up by means of the lifting hydraulic cylinder (121) and accordingly, locked by the pneumatic lock (124). Upper surface of the bottom piece (40) becomes exposed and bonding clay is applied to this surface by an employee or an industrial robot. Meanwhile, the upper piece core (37) heaves the core cylinder (371) up and female mold (31) and male mold (32) that constitute the upper piece (50) are opened by means of pulling the opening-closing mechanism (33) backwards. Subsequently, casting entry cylinder moves the male mold (32) into exit position and the male mold (32) is pulled up by means of the male mold mechanism (322) and the lifting hydraulic cylinder (121). Male mold (32) gets locked by the pneumatic lock (124). Then, bonding position cylinder (35) moves the male mold (32) along with the upper piece (50) located thereon to the bonding position and the male mold (32) is rotated by 90° by means of the rotation cylinder (36). According to exemplary embodiments illustrated in Figures 6a, 6b and 6c, bonding operation commences once position centering mechanisms (122) holding both of mold carriers (12) release mold carriers (12) and when mold carriers (12) are horizontally moved by means of electric motors (124). Subsequently, mold carrier (12) that carries the upper mold (21) moves into the park position by moving to the far-left side of the chassis (11) with this movement. Mold carrier (12) that carries the male mold (32) aligns the male mold mechanism (322) upon the bottom piece (40). Subsequently, the pneumatic lock (124) that locks the upper piece (50) is opened and the upper piece (50) is lowered down on the bottom piece (40) by means of lifting hydraulic cylinders (121). Thus, the upper piece (50) becomes adhered on to the bottom piece (40) by means of this operation.

After the bonding operation is complete, male mold (32) is pulled up by means of hydraulic lifting cylinders (121) and side locks (28) get unlocked by side lock cylinders (281). Subsequently, mold opening cylinders (20) enable opening of the right mold (23) and the left mold (24) and, obtained two-piece product emerges. Obtained product is removed from the casting machine (10) by an employee or an industrial robot. After the product is removed from the casting machine (10), all mold included in the machine are washed and returned to the casting position once again. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the inventive casting machine (10) is preferably controlled by means of a programmable logic controller (PLC). Accordingly, process steps that enable obtaining a two-piece product may be performed in different process flows in order to achieve the optimum production efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two-piece product obtained by means of the casting machine (10) is a toilet wherein the bottom piece (40) corresponds to the body of the toilet and the upper piece (50) corresponds to the flush ring. Thus, the number of physical flaws that may potentially be present on the obtained toilet is reduced. Casting machine embodiment used for the production of toilet with flush ring is in a compact state and has less machine components. With respect thereto, production rates increase, and production efficiency improves.