PH12016501001B1

PH12016501001B1 - Casting equipment

Info

Publication number: PH12016501001B1
Application number: PH12016501001A
Authority: PH
Inventors: Akira Furukawa; Shinji Furihata
Original assignee: Kyb Corp
Priority date: 2014-05-13
Filing date: 2016-05-27
Publication date: 2016-07-18
Also published as: JP2015217390A; KR101708601B1; CN106457378B; TW201603913A; CN106457378A; KR20160064253A; PH12016501001A1; WO2015174286A1; JP6530589B2; TWI635916B

Abstract

An object is to provide casting equipment which can make and pour molten metal into the molds with economy. The casting equipment includes a mold-making line (1) where casting molds (40) are made based on a mold-making plan, a melting line (2) where molten metal is made based on a tapping plan, the melting line (2) having a pouring ladle (51) from which molten metal is poured into the casting molds (40) and a pouring line (3) where the molten metal is poured from the pouring ladle (51) into the casting molds (40). The casting equipment further includes an input device (32) installed on the mold-making line (1) to input casting mold acceptability information as to whether the casting molds (40) are defective or non-defective, a lot forming device (32) adding necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into the respective casting molds (40) which have been determined to be non-defective in an order of input of the casting mold acceptability information that plural casting molds (40) are formed into one lot when the added necessary amounts of molten metal exceeds a set amount which is set to be not more than a capacity of the pouring ladle (51), and a tapping plan generating device (8) configured to generate the tapping plan based on the lot information.

Description

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CASTING EQUIPMENT > a,

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Technical Field ~ . 5 The present invention relates to casting equipment. ~

Background Art a

Undermentioned Patent Document 1 discloses conventional casting equipment. o

The casting equipment includes a mold-making line for making a mold, a melting line for oo making molten metal to be poured into a mold, a pouring line for pouring the molten metal 0" into the mold. The melting line includes a step of adjusting molten metal component by 2 putting into a processing ladle a predetermined amount of material containing an alloying component and molten metal melted in a melting furnace and a step of transferring the molten metal from the processing ladle into a pouring ladle. The pouring line is provided with an automatic pouring machine which pours the molten metal from the pouring ladle into the mold after having checked whether or not the component of the molten metal in the pouring ladle is that of molten metal to be poured into the mold, and the like.

Accordingly, the casting equipment can respond to a mold-making speed of the mold and can pour appropriate molten metal in accordance with a mold.

Prior Art Document

Patent Documents ’

Patent Document 1. Japanese Patent Application Publication No.

JP-A-2012-166271

Summary of the Invention

Problem to Be Overcome By the Invention

However, the casting equipment of Patent Document 1 does not assume occurrence of defective molds in the mold-making line. Product defect occurs when molten metal is poured into a defective mold. Furthermore, when poured into a defective : mold, molten metal possibly leaks from the mold. It is suggested that the pouring machine

D a be automatized so as to be supplied with the result of determination as to whether a mold > is defective or non-defective and so as not to pour molten metal into the mold in case that = the mold is defective. In this case, however, when the molds differing in component of os molten metal to be poured exist in a mixed state, molten metal in a pouring ladle needs to ~ . 5 be changed to another. Thus, there is a possibility that some amount of molten metal ~ would be left in the pouring ladle without having been poured into molds. Although the wn molten metal remaining in the pouting ladle can be re-used, melting is required again with o the result that extra electric bill and man-hour are required. =

The present invention was made in view of the foregoing conventional circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide casting equipment which can produce & and pour molten metal into the molds with economy.

Means for Overcoming the Problem

Casting equipment according to the present invention includes a mold-making line where casting molds are made based on a mold-making plan, a melting line where molten metal is made based on a tapping plan, the melting line having a pouring ladle from which molten metal is poured into the casting molds and a pouring line where the molten metal is poured from the pouring ladle into the casting molds. The casting equipment is characterized by an input device installed on the mold-making line to input casting mold : acceptability information as to whether the casting molds are defective or non-defective, a lot forming device adding necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into the respective casting molds which have been determined to be non-defective in an order of input of the casting mold acceptability information to the input device, the lot forming device forming lot information that plural casting molds are formed into one lot when the added necessary amounts of molten metal of the plural casting molds exceeds a set amount which is set to be not more than a capacity of the pouring ladle, and a tapping plan generating device configured to generate the tapping plan based on the lot information.

In the casting equipment, the casting mold acceptability information as to whether

. the casting molds are defective or non-defective is input to the input device. The lot * forming device adds necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into the respective - casting molds which have been determined to be non-defective in an order of input of the ~ casting mold acceptability information to the input device. The lot forming device forms lot = . 5 information that plural casting molds are formed into one lot when the added necessary - amounts of molten metal of the plural casting molds exceeds a set amount which is set to o be not more than a capacity of the pouring ladle. The tapping plan generating device hy generates the tapping plan based on the lot information. Thus, only the plural casting - molds which are non-defective are formed into a lot based on the casting mold o acceptability information and the tapping plan is generated based on an amount of molten = metal for every lot. As a result, the molten metal in the pouring ladle can be poured into the plural casting molds of every lot without remaining in the pouring ladle. Furthermore, the casting equipment can prevent useless molten metal from being made on the melting line.

Accordingly, the casting equipment according to the invention can produce and pour molten metal into the moids with economy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of overall casting equipment according to a first embodiment;

Fig. 2 is a layout chart showing a major part of the casting equipment;

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a mold-making line, a melting line and a pouring line of the casting equipment in the first embodiment;

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing steps of the mold-making line in the first and second embodiments;

Fig. 5 shows an input screen to which the result of determination as to non-defective/defective regarding a mold is input;

Fig. 6 shows various data in the first embodiment, including (A) mold-making plan data, (B) mold-making result data and (C) pouring plan data; .

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of the mold-making line, the melting line and the pouring ” line of the casting equipment according to a second embodiment; wo

Fig. 8 shows various data in the second embodiment, including (A-1) and (A-2) : mold-making plan data, (B-1) and (B-2) mold-making result data and (C) pouring plan : 5 data in the second embodiment; and =

Fig. 9 shows a display screen of a touch panel device installed on the pouring line = in the second embodiment. oO

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention @

First and second embodiments of the casting equipment according to the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. =

First Embodiment

The casting equipment according to a first embodiment includes a mold-making line 1, a melting line 2, a pouring line 3, a mold-removing line 4, a finish/inspection line 5 and a processing line 6, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The casting equipment also includes a plurality of equipment control devices 21, 22 ‘and 23 controlling various apparatuses/devices constituting the lines 1, 2 and 3 and a plurality of touch panel devices 31, 32, 33 and 34 installed on the lines 1, 2 and 3, as shown in Fig. 3. Personal computers (PCs) or programmable logic controllers (PLCs) can be used as the equipment control devices 21, 22 and 23. Each of the touch panel devices 31, 32, 33 and 34 has a data processing function, a display function and a touch-screen operation function.

The mold-making line 1 includes a kneading step, a sand placing step 11, a hardening step 12, a pattern extracting step 13, a core setting step 14 and a mating step 15, all of which are carried out in this order, so that casting molds 40 each of which comprises a sand mold is made. The equipment control device 21 automatically controls the apparatuses/devices constituting the mold-making line 1 based on a mold-making plan which will be described later, so that the aforementioned steps are carried out.

Molding sand 41 is kneaded in the kneading step with resin and a hardener being added thereto. In the sand placing step 11, the kneaded molding sand 41 is put into a e , molding flask 43 in which casting patterns 42 are disposed. The molding sand 41 put into 7 the molding flask 43 is hardened in the hardening step 12. The casting patterns 42 are - extracted from the molding flask 43 in the pattern extracting step 13. A lower mold 40A . and an upper mold 40B are thus formed independently through these steps. The lower w : 5 mold 40A and the upper mold 40B are formed with respective cavities. The lower mold - 40A has a pouring gate and a degassing hole both of which are formed therethrough so oA as to communicate with the respective cavities. Cores 44 are disposed in the respective oO cavities of the upper mold 40B in the core placing step 14. The cores 44 are made be] through a core burning step and a core assembling step. In the mating step 15, the upper 2 10 mold 40B in which the cores 44 are disposed is combined with the lower mold 40A. Thus, - the casting molds 40 are completed in which the cores 44 are disposed in the cavities respectively.

Molten metal to be poured into the cavities of the casting molds 40 is made on the melting line 2. The melting line 2 includes a measuring step, a melting step, and a 15 processing and tapping step, all of which are carried out in this order. The equipment control device 23 automatically controls the apparatuses/devices constituting the melting line 2 based on a tapping plan which will also be described later, so that the aforementioned steps are carried out. Amounts of various casting metals to be melted at one time in an electric furnace, additives and the like are automatically measured in the 20 measuring step. In the melting step, the casting metals and the like are put into the electric furnace to be melted. In the processing and tapping step, the molten metal in the electric furnace is tapped out into a processing ladle at a plurality of times, and after components of the molten metal are adjusted by addition of alloy component material and the like based on the tapping plan which will be described later, the molten metal in the 25 processing ladle is translocated to a pouring ladle 51.

The pouring line 3 is continuous to the mold-making line 1 and includes a multistory warehouse 52 and an automatic pouring machine 50. A specific casting mold 40 made on the mold-making line 1 based on a mold-making plan which will be described

. . later is temporarily stored in the multistory warehouse 52. The automatic pouring machine > 50 automatically pours molten metal from the pouring ladle 51 only into the casting mold - 40 which has been determined to be non-defective, based on the tapping plan which will ~ be described later. More specifically, the molten metal is poured from the pouring ladle 51 ~ - 5 into a gate of the casting mold 40. The pouring line 3 includes a slow-cooling step of i slow-cooling the poured molten metal in the casting mold 40. As a result, cast products EA are formed in the casting mold 40. o

The mold-removing line 4 includes a mold-removing step, an external slow-cooling or step, an external shot blasting step and a primary inspection step, all of which are carried 0 out in this order, so that the cast products are taken out of the casting mold 40. In the . mold-removing step, the casting mold 40 is broken in order to take out the cast products.

The cast products taken out of the casting mold 40 are slow-cooled in the external : slow-cooling step. In the external shot blasting step, molding sand 41 adhered to outer surfaces of cast products is removed by shot blasting. An operator carries out a visual inspection of outer surfaces of cast products in the primary inspection step.

The finish/inspection line 5 includes a deburring step, an internal shot blasting step and a secondary inspection step, all of which are carried out in this order. Burrs formed on the cast products are removed in the deburring step. The molding sand 41 adhered to inner surfaces of the cast products is removed by shot blasting in the internal shot blasting step. In the secondary inspection step, the operator carries out a final visual inspection of the cast products as to whether the cast products are defective or non-defective. On the processing line 6, the cast products are processed by a fraise step of cutting predetermined portions of the cast products, and the like. The cast products are thus completed to be shipped.

Next, the following will describe manufacture of the cast products by the casting equipment having the above-described construction. Firstly, the mold-making plan is generated. The mold-making plan is data (hereinafter referred to as “mold-making plan data”) of product numbers of cast products to be cast on one production date, materials of molten metal to be poured, a necessary amount of molten metal to be poured into the =” casting mold 40(planned weight) and the like with a determined mold-making order (see - (A) of Fig. 6). The touch panel device 31 installed near the sand placing step 11 of the - ” mold-making line 1 obtains mold-making plan data for the appointed production date, as . - 5 shown in Fig. 3. The obtained mold-making plan data for the production date is displayed Ce on the touch panel device 31, thereby serving as production instructions to the operator. 2

The mold-making plan data for the production date is transferred to the equipment o control device 21 installed in the mold-making line 1, so that operations of the various oT apparatuses/devices of the mold-making line 1 are automatically controlled based on the - mold-making plan data. More specifically, as shown in Fig, 4, the equipment control 5 device 21 installed on the mold-making line 1 operates the apparatuses/devices upon ~ obtainment of the mold-making plan data (step S1) so that the sand placing step 11 (step

S2), the hardening step 12 (step S3), the pattern extracting step 13 (step S4) and the core placing step 14 (step S5) are sequentially executed.

In this case, in the core placing step 14 (step S5), the operator determines acceptability of the casting mold 40 (the lower mold 40A, the upper mold 40B and the cores 44) (whether the casting mold 40 is defective or non-defective), operating an operation button of “NON-DEFECTIVE” or “DEFECTIVE” displayed on the touch panel device (an input device) 32 installed near the core placing step 14 of the mold-making line 1 thereby to input the casting mold acceptability information.

In the touch panel device 32, the mold-making plan data is added with the casting mold acceptability information indicating that the casting mold 40 is defective or non-defective thereby to be generated into mold-making result data (see (B) of Fig. 6).

Based on the input casting mold acceptability information, the casting mold is determined to be whether defective or non-defective (step S6). When determined to be non-defective (non-defectiveness determination), the casting mold 40 is added to a lot formation waiting : list (not shown) which is divided for every material in an input order of the casting mold acceptability information (step S7).

. Amounts of molten metal necessary to be poured into the non-defective casting ? molds 40 are added together. When an added amount of molten metal exceeds a ow predetermined amount of molten metal determined to be not more than a capacity of the pouring ladle 51, the touch panel device 32 generates lot information in which these plural - non-defective casting molds 40 are formed into one lot. The touch panel device 32 thus ~ serves as a lot forming device. or

For example, as shown in (B) of Fig. 6, an added value of amounts of molten > metal poured into four casting molds 40 whose material of molten metal is represented as £ “XXXXXX" on lines 1, 2, 5 and 6 of the table (lines indicated by “X” in the table of (B) of

Fig. 6) exceeds a set amount of molten metal, lot information is formed by forming these . casting molds 40 into one lot. Furthermore, in the same manner, lot information is formed by forming four casting molds 40 whose material of molten metal is represented as “XXXXXX” on lines 9 to 12 of the table (lines indicated by “Y” in the table of (B) of Fig. 6) into one lot. On the other hand, in the lines 3, 4, 7 and 8 of the table on which the material of molten metal is represented as “XXXXXX_YY”, the casting mold 40 on line 8 is defective. Accordingly, no lot is formed. The set amount of molten metal is determined depending upon the relationship between the capacity of the pouring ladle 51 and necessary amounts of molten metal (planned weight) to be poured into the respective casting molds 40. For example, the set amount of molten metal can be set to 800 kg when the pouring ladle 51 has a capacity of one ton and necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into the respective casting molds 40 (planned weight) range from 200 kg to 250 kg.

The lot information is transferred to the equipment control device 22 as pouring order information. The casting molds 40 are automatically conveyed on the mold-making line 1 and the pouring line 3 according to the order. In the aforementioned example, in the case where a new casting mold 40 whose material is “XXXXXX_YY” is determined to be non-defective, the three casting molds 40 which have been determined to be non-defective and have not been formed into a lot and the new casing mold 40 are formed into a lot when an added value of amounts of molten metal poured into the four casting molds 40 exceeds a set amount of molten metal. The three casting molds 40 are o temporarily stored in the multistory warehouse 52 until the new casting mold 40 is . conveyed to the pouring line 3. Thereafter, when the new casting mold 40 is conveyed to - . 5 the pouring line 3, the three casting molds 40 are conveyed to the pouring line 3 together ~ with the new casting mold 40. | | Hn

Furthermore, when a casting mold 40 is determined to be defective (defectiveness oO determination), the information is transferred to the mold-making plan modifying device 7. pe

Upon receipt of the defectiveness determination information, the mold-making plan “ modifying device 7 modifies the mold-making plan so that the casting mold 40 determined to be defective is compensated for (step S12). The modified mold-making plan is re-sent to the equipment control device 21 installed on the mold-making line 1. Thus, upon occurrence of a defective casting mold 40, a new casting mold 40 can easily be replenished only by modifying the mold-making plan. Furthermore, upon occurrence of a defective casting mold 40, the mold-making olan is modified at once so that a casting mold 40 is re-made, with the result that the production volume of the date can be maintained. The mating step 15 is carried out for the casting mold 40 determined to be defective (step S11), and the casting mold 40 is conveyed from the mold-making line 1 to the pouring line 3. Accordingly, the casting molds 40 determined to be non-defective and the casting mold 40 determined to be defective are lined up in a mixed state on the pouring line 3.

The lot information is transferred to a tapping plan generating device 8. The tapping plan generating device 8 generates a tapping plan for one processing operation from the lot formation waiting list (step S9). Information about the casting molds 40 which have been formed into a lot is deleted from the lot formation waiting list (step S10) and the mating step 15 is carried out (step S11). Furthermore, when no lot information is generated, the mating step 15 is directly carried out (step S11).

When the lot information is transferred from the lot forming device (the equipment control device 21) to the tapping plan generating device 8, the tapping plan is generated - based on the lot information, as described above. More specifically, the tapping plan is ~ data (hereinafter referred to as “tapping plan data) obtained by adding the lot information y to the product numbers of cast products, materials of molten metal to be poured, a - . 5 necessary amount of molten metal to be poured into the casting mold 40 (planned weight), ni the casting mold acceptability information indicative of the defective/non-defective states < of the casting molds 40, and the like, as shown in (C) of Fig. 6. o

The touch panel device 33 instailed on the melting line 2 obtains tapping plan data © as shown in Fig. 3. The obtained tapping plan data is displayed by the touch panel device o 33 thereby to serve as production instructions to the operator. The tapping plan data is @ transferred to the equipment control device 23 installed on the melting line 2, so that the apparatuses/devices constituting the melting line 2 are automatically controlled based on the tapping plan data. More specifically, as shown in (C) of Fig. 6, molten metal for every lot is translocated from the processing ladle to the pouring ladle 51. Molten metal is poured from the pouring ladle 51 into the plural casting molds 40 forming each lot on the pouring line 3. Furthermore, since the tapping plan data includes information as to whether the casting molds 40 lined up on the pouring line 3 are defective or non-defective (casting mold acceptability information), the pouring ladle 51 is operated so that molten metal is not poured into the casting mold 40 which is defective.

In the casting equipment, only the casting molds 40 which are non-defective are formed into a lot on the basis of the casting mold acceptability information as to whether the casting molds 40 are defective or non-defective. Since the tapping plan is generated based on an amount of molten metal for every lot, molten metal in the pouring ladle 51 can be poured into the plural casting molds 40 of each lot with no remainder. Furthermore, the casting equipment can prevent making useless molten metal on the melting line 2.

Accordingly, the casting equipment according to the first embodiment can make molten metal and pour the molten metal into the casting molds 40 with economy.

Second Embodiment

The casting equipment according to a second embodiment includes the single ” melting line 2 and two mold-making lines, that is, a first mold-making line 1A and a second — mold-making line 1B and differs from the first embodiment in that a tapping plan is ~ generated based on two pieces of lot information obtained on the respective mold-making - lines 1A and 1B. Each of the first and second mold-making lines 1A and 1B has the same = y construction as the mold-making line 1 in the first embodiment. Although the pouring lines | 7 3 and the mold-removing lines 4 are provided to be continuous to the mold-making lines oO 1A and 1B respectively, the finish and inspection line 5 and the processing line 6 are = common. Identical or similar parts in the second embodiment are labeled by the same 0 reference symbols as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description of these dl parts will be eliminated.

In the casting equipment, mold-making plans are made for first and second mold-making lines 1A and 1B respectively. The mold-making plans are the data (hereinafter referred to as “mold-making plan data”) of the product numbers of cast products cast on a production date, materials of molten metal to be poured, a necessary amount of molten metal to be poured into the casting molds 40 (planned weight), the casting mold acceptability information indicative of the defective/non-defective state of the casting molds 40, and the like with determined mold-making orders for the first and second mold-making lines 1A and 1B respectively (see (A-1) and (A-2) of Fig. 8). The touch panel device 31 installed near the sand placing steps 11 of both mold-making lines 1A and 1B obtains the mold-making plan data on one production date. The obtained mold-making data is displayed on the touch panel device 31, thereby serving as the production instructions to the operator.

The mold-making plan data generated for the mold-making lines 1A and 1B are transferred to the equipment control devices 21 installed on both moid-making lines 1A and 1B, so that various apparatuses/devices constituting the mold-making lines 1A and 1B are automatically controlled based on the mold-making data, respectively.

At the core setting steps 14 of the mold-making lines 1A and 1B, the operator determines whether the casting molds 40 (the lower molds 40A, the upper molds 40B and - the cores 44) are defective or non-defective, operating operation buttons (see Fig. 5) of . “NON-DEFECTIVE” or “DEFECTIVE” displayed on the touch panel devices (input ~ devices) 32 installed near the core placing steps 14 of the first and second mold-making - lines 1A and 1B to input the casting mold acceptability information pieces, respectively. In ~ the touch panel devices 32 of the mold-making lines 1A and 1B, the mold-making plan @ data are added with the casting mold acceptability information pieces indicating that the casting molds 40 are defective or non-defective thereby to be generated into mold-making oT result data, respectively (see (B-1) and (B-2) of Fig. 8).

On the mold-making lines 1A and 1B, necessary amounts of molten metal to be - poured into the casting molds 40 determined to be non-defective are added. When the added amounts of molten metal exceed the set amounts of molten metal predetermined to be no more than the capacity of the pouring ladle 51, the equipment control devices 21 installed on the mold-making lines 1A and 1B form lot information piecés in which these plural casting molds 40 determined to be non-defective are formed into one lot, respectively. Thus the touch panel devices 32 serve as lot forming devices respectively.

For example, on the first mold-making line 1A, as shown in (B-1) of Fig. 8, an added value of necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into four casting molds 40 whose material of molten metal is represented as “XXXXXX” on lines 1, 2, 5 and 6 of the table exceeds a set amount of molten metal, lot information is formed by forming these casting molds 40 into one lot. Furthermore, on the second mold-making line 1B, as shown in (B-2) of Fig. 8, an added value of necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into four casting molds 40 whose material of molten metal is represented as

XXXXXX_YY" on lines 3, 4, 7 and 8 of the table exceeds a set amount of molten metal, lot information is formed by forming these casting molds 40 into one lot.

Furthermore, on the first mold-making line 1A, as shown in (B-1) of Fig. 8, since an added value of necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into two casting molds 40 on lines 3 and 4 of the table whose material of molten metal is represented as

“XXXXXX_YY” does not exceed a set amount of molten metal, no lot is formed for these - casting molds 40. Furthermore, on the second mold-making line 1B, as shown in (B-2) of -

Fig. 8, since four casting molds 40 on lines 1, 2, 5 and 6 of the table whose material of ~ molten metal is represented as “XXXXXX” include a defective casting mold 40 on line 6, - no lot is formed for these casting molds 40. i

The lot information pieces on the mold-making lines 1A and 1B are also > transferred to the respective equipment control devices 22 as molten-metal pouring order. o

The casting molds 40 are automatically conveyed on the mold-making lines 1A and 1B = and the molten-metal pouring lines 3 continuous to the respective mold-making lines 1A 5 and 1B according to the order. The casting molds 40 which are not formed into any lots on © the mold-making lines 1A and 1B are temporarily stored in the multistory warehouse 52.

In the case where a new casting mold 40 whose material is the same is determined to be non-defective, the casting molds 40 which have not been formed into a lot and the new casting mold 40 are formed into a lot and conveyed to the pouring line 3 together when an added value of amounts of molten metal to be poured into these casting molds 40 exceeds a set amount of molten metal.

Furthermore, when the casting mold 40 is determined to be defective (defectiveness determination) on the mold-making line 1A or 1B, the information is transferred to the mold-making plan modifying device 7A or 7B corresponding to the mold-making line 1A or 1B, so that the mold-making plan for the mold-making line 1A or 1B in which the defective has occurred is modified. The modified mold-making plan is re-sent to the equipment control device 21 installed on the mold-making line 1A or 1B in which the defective has occurred.

The lot information is transferred to the tapping plan generating device 8. The tapping plan generating device 8 generates tapping plans in the forming order of lot information. More specifically, the tapping plan is the data (hereinafter referred to as “tapping plan data”) obtained by adding lot information to information as to on which one of the mold-making lines 1A and 1B the casting mold has been made, the product number of cast product, materials of molten metal to be poured, a necessary amount of molten > metal to be poured into the casting mold 40 (planned weight), the casting mold | iy acceptability information indicative of the defective/non-defective states of the casting — molds 40, and the like, as shown in (C) of Fig. 8. =

The touch panel device 33 installed on the melting line 2 obtains the tapping plan ~ data, as shown in Fig. 7. The obtained tapping plan data is displayed on the touch panel oo device 33, thereby serving as the production instructions to the operator. The tapping plan Oo data is then transferred to the equipment control device 23 installed on the melting line 2, = so that the apparatuses/devices constituting the melting line 2 are automatically o controlled based on the tapping plan data. More specifically, as shown in (C) of Fig. 8, o molten metal in every lot is translocated from the processing ladle to the pouring ladie 51.

On each pouring line 3, molten metal is poured from the pouring ladle 51 into the plural casting molds 40 constituting each lot. Furthermore, since the tapping plan data includes the information (casting mold acceptability information) ‘as to whether the casting molds 40 lined up on each pouring line 3 are defective or non-defective, the pouring ladle 51 is operated so that molten metal is not poured into the defective casting mold 40. The tapping plan data is displayed on the touch panel device 34 disposed on each pouring line 3, as shown in Fig. 9. Since the tapping plan data includes information as to on which one of the mold-making lines 1A and 1B the casting mold 40 has been made, which one of the pouring lines 3 continuous to the respective mold-making lines 1A and 1B should be used to pour molten metal can be confirmed by the displayed contents of either touch panel device 34.

In the above-described casting equipment, only the non-defective casting molds 40 are formed into a lot based on the casting mold acceptability information as to whether the casting molds 40 are defective or non-defective. Since the tapping plan is made based on an amount of molten metal for every lot, the molten metal in the pouring ladle 51 can be poured without remainder for every lot including plural casting molds 40.

Furthermore, the above-described casting equipment can prevent useless molten metal from being made in the melting line 2. | 7

Accordingly, the casting equipment according to the second embodiment can - make molten metal and pour the molten metal into the casting molds 40 with economy. ~

Furthermore, even when molten metal is tapped out from one melting line 2 to = plural pouring lines 3 continuous to plural mold-making lines 1A and 1B, the casting = equipment can easily deal with the plural pouring lines 3 since the tapping plan is made in a temporal sequence based on the mold-making result data. Furthermore, the casting o equipment is less affected by operating status of the mold-making lines 1A and 1B. More i specifically, even when one mold-making line 1B is stopped, for example, the tapping plan é "10 is made based on the mold-making result of the other mold-making line 1A. Accordingly, - molten metal can be made for the casting molds 40 made on the other mold-making line 1A, so that the molten metal can continuously be supplied to the pouring line 3 continuous to the mold-making line 1A in operation.

The present invention should not be limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. For example, the technical scope of the invention encompasses the following embodiments. (1) Although the mold-making plan modifying device modifying the mold-making plan is provided in each of the first and second embodiments, the mold-making plan modifying device may not be provided. (2) Although the tapping plan includes the information about whether the casting molds lined up on the pouring line are defective or non-defective, in the first and second embodiments, the tapping ptan may not include the information. In this case, it is desirable not to convey the defective casting molds to the pouring line. (3) Three or more mold-making lines may be provided relative to the melting line. (4) Although the core is put into the casting mold in the first and second embodiments, the core may not be put into the casting mold. (5) Although the casting equipment includes the multistory warehouse in the first and second embodiments, the casting equipment may not include the multistory warehouse. = (6) A display form of the touch panel device should not be limited to the one shown - in the first and second embodiments. - (7) Although the equipment control device automatically controls the ~ devices/apparatuses of the mold-making line based on the mold-making plan, in the first ~ and second embodiments, these devices/apparatuses may manually be operated based = on the mold-making plan. o (8) Although the equipment control device automatically controls the iT devices/apparatuses of the melting line based on the tapping plan, in the first and second : embodiments, these devices/apparatuses may manually be operated based on the . . tapping plan.

Explanation of Reference Symbols 1, 1A, 1B ... mold-making line, 2 ... melting line, 3 ... pouring line, 7 ... mold-making plan modifying device, 8 ... tapping plan generating device, 32 ... touch panel device (input device, lot forming device), 40 ... casting mold and 51 ... pouring ladle.

Claims

Co ES a “a, 2S Claims “Hy, ’ % J a

1. Casting equipment including: pS SR . a mold-making line where casting molds are made based on a mold-making fags No a melting line where molten metal is made based on a tapping plan, the meting ® i. line having a pouring ladle from which molten metal is poured into the casting molds; and po a pouring line where the molten metal is poured from the pouring ladle into the % casting molds, characterized by: 0 an input device installed on the mold-making line to input casting mold = acceptability information as to whether the casting molds are defective or non-defective; © a lot forming device adding necessary amounts of molten metal to be poured into we the respective casting molds which have been determined to be non-defective in an order of input of the casting mold acceptability information to the input device, the lot forming device forming lot information that plural casting molds are formed into one lot when the added necessary amounts of molten metal of the plural casting molds exceeds a set amount which is set to be not more than a capacity of the pouring ladle; and a tapping plan generating device configured to generate the tapping plan based on the lot information.

2. The casting equipment according to claim 1, further characterized by a mold-making plan modifying device configured to modify the mold-making plan based on defectiveness determination of the casting mold acceptability information, so that the casting mold determined to be defective is compensated for.

3. The casting equipment according to claim 1, wherein: the non-defective casting molds and the defective casting molds are lined up in a : mixed state on the pouring line; and the tapping plan includes information about whether the casting molds lined up on the pouring line are defective or non-defective.

CA food!

4. The casting equipment according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the - fod mold-making lines and a single pouring line are provided and the tapping plan includes bs] foonertte information as to in which one of the mold-making lines the casting molds have been x made. ~ py, Cb ie 3M oa