Mold lock with lubricating grooves

Abstract

A mold for maintaining alignment between mold halves despite a thermal differential between the mold halves. The lock comprises (1) a T-shaped member, consisting of an enlarged, rectangular head and a tongue extending therefrom, and (2) a receptacle with an outwardly opening U-shaped pocket to receive the tongue of the T-shaped member, when the mold halves are pressed together. A vertical conduit is formed in the head and tongue of the T-shaped member, and a horizontal channel, extending through the tongue, intersects the lower end of the conduit. At lest one groove is defined in each side wall of the conduit. A grease fitting is located in a blind hole in the head of the T-shaped member, so that lubricant flows through the vertical conduit, into the horizontal channel, and into the grooves in the opposite side walls of the tongue. The grooves are usually formed in pairs, and are configured in an intersecting X configuration. The midpoint of the X configuration corresponds to one end of the horizontal channel in the receptacle. The grease fitting, vertical conduit, horizontal channel, and grooves in the opposite side walls of the tongue deliver a film of lubricant into the limited clearances between the side walls of the tongue and the interior walls of the pocket to prevent metal-to-metal, line-to-line contact therebetween. In an alternative embodiment, the grooves are located in the parallel side walls of the U-shaped pocket, and are configured in an intersecting X configuration, to deliver the film of lubricant.