Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D39/00—Equipment for supplying molten metal in rations
  • B22D39/06—Equipment for supplying molten metal in rations having means for controlling the amount of molten metal by controlling the pressure above the molten metal

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method of transferring a melt from a bath of molten metal to a receiving station sit ⁇ uated above the bath surface, wherein a given amount of melt from said bath is - in accordance with the principle of open ⁇ ly communicating vessels - diverted by self -flowing to a space, separate in relation to the bath until the levels of the melt in the bath and in the space are in agreement, whereafter communication between the molten bath and the space is in ⁇ terrupted and a predetermined quantity of gas is forced into the space above the melt until a predetermined volume of melt is pressed out from said space and taken to the receiving station, whereafter the gas forced in is lead off from the space and said communication is opened so that the difference in level between the melt in the space and in the bath is once again evened off.
• the invention also relates to an appai?- atus for carrying out the method of transferring melt from a bath of molten metal to a receiving station situated above the surface of the bath.
• a furnace for molten metal in which the siphon principle is utilized for taking the melt up out of the bath consists in that the surface level ofthe melt in a storage bath of melt must, for technical reasons, vary so considerably in height with time, that it is necessary to use complicated and expensive monitoring and control equipment, which is also difficult to handle, to portion the melt equally, as well as transporting portions of the melt to a position above the holding bath, which has a surface varying in height.
• portioning is substantially dependent on three paramete namely the difference in level between the surface of the me in the metering furnace and at the receiving station, the pressure acting on the melt and the time during which the pr ure acting on the melt and the time during which the pressur acts.
• the automatic control equipment When starting up the work cycle of the siphon furnace, the automatic control equipment must thus be able to adjust the gas pressure and/or the duration thereof, acting on the melt so that a predetermined volume of the melt is obtained withi the correct limits.
• the automatic equipment When setting the parometers of pressure and duration, the automatic equipment must be thus able to b adjusted to the appropriate height of the melt surface.
• the unavoidable level alteration of the melt must be considered, and the automatic monitoring and control equipment must consequently be able to correct pressure and/or duration so that portioning accuracy is main tained.
• the obj ect of the invention i s thus to eliminat e the above- mentioned drawbacks within the known siphon-furnace technology.
• This is achi eved in accordance with the method of the present invention in that the bath of molten metal i s kept at a sub ⁇ stantially constant level by the addition of molten metal from an external source thus to provide a consistant reference level for portioning.
• the invention comprises a holding oven, arranged to keep a buffer supply of smelt at a predetermined temperature and provided with an inlet for charging new smelt at substant ⁇ ially the same temperature , this oven communi cating via a bottom canal with a separate pressure-tight furnace chamber communicating via a closable outlet canal for smelt commun- icates with said receiving station and via a gas pipe i s alternatingly connectable to a source of gas for driving out one portion of smelt at a time via the outlet canal fro the furnace chamber to the reception station , the smelt bat freely communi cating with an outside supply of smelt at a substantially constant surface level .
• Figure 1 on the drawing is a schematic verti cal longitudinal section of a furnace constructed in accordance with the in ⁇ vention , built together with equipment for distributing molt en metal
• Figure 2 is a top plan view seen of Figure 1
• Figure 3 Is a schematic diagram of the di stribution equipmen illustrat ed In Figure 1 cosmic
• the cover 11 clos es off a holding oven or room 12, arranged to keep an accumulator store of melt 13 at a pr determined t emperature ,
• a s eparate pressure-tight furnace chamber 14 on the right hand side of the holding oven in Figure 1 has s ubst anti ally small er dimensions than the hold ⁇ ing furnace 12, and has a limited amount of melt in its lowe part .
• the melt 13 in the holding oven 12 communi cates vi a a bottom canal 16 with the melt 15 In the s eparat e , pressure- tight furnace chamber 14.
• the latter communi cat es in its tur via a melt outlet canal 17, with a receiving station gener ⁇ ally denoted by the numeral 18 for receiving portions of melt supplied from said furnace chamber, said station being situated above the level of the melt 13 in the holding oven 12.
• the furnace chamber 14 is closed pressure-tight upwardly by means of a removable furnace cover 19, which is heavily and sealingly attached to the upper part of an intermediate wall 20 of the furnace body 10 »
• the chamber 14 is further connectable by means of a gas pipe 21 to an outside gas supply (not shown), preferably air, such that the chamber 14 can alternatingly be subjected to an excess pneumatic pressure and relieved therefrom.
• an opening 22 for supplying molten metal to the holding oven from an outside store 23 comprising, for example, a plurality of elongate horizontal conveying troughs for said metal, wherein the smelt is automatically kept at a constant level.
• the method, and apparatus for carrying out the method in accordance with the Invention can be applied, inter alia, for sand-casting, gravity di-casting, dicasting, or low-pressure dicasting.
• a closure valve between the accumulator supply or 'holding oven 12 and the furnace chamber 14.
• Such a closure valve 24 is shown in Figures 1 and 2, and has the form of a slide which can 'be adapted to be raised and lowered automatically in suitable guides.
• the slide valve 24 is displaceably arranged between plate-like walls 25, 26, 27 and 28.
• the mutually opposing plates 25 and 26 have a through-flow duct 29 and 30, respectively, whereby open communication can be maintained between the accumulator supply 12 and the furnace chamber 14 when the slide 24 is in a raised position and whereby communication between these two is broken off when the slide is in its lowest position.
• the method in accordance with the invention is intended for application inter alia to the processes mentioned above, by utilizing the apparatus illustrated on the drawing in the manner as hereinafter described.
• the melt in spaces 23, 12, 14 and 17 is at the same level, since the slide valve 24 has previous ⁇ ly been lifted up into its upper position, so that levelling out has taken place 0
• the furnace chamber 14 is connected via the gas pipe 21 to the outside gas source (not shown on the drawing), the melt 15 in the furnace chamber 14 being pressed downward by a gas cushion and upwards through the outlet canal 17 to the receiving station 18 above the surface level of the melt in all the previously mentioned spaces.
• a portion of melt can be supplied from the receiving station 18 to a sand mould, gravity-dicasting mould etc., alternatively, the portion can be supplied to the filling hole in the pressure chamber of a dicasting machine,
• the quantity of melt transferred is substantially controlled by regulating the size of the gas cushion forced in via the pipe 21.
• the gas pipe 21 is connected to a gas source which in its simplest form can comprise a pressure piston-cylinder arrang ment with adjustable stroke for the piston and adapted for alternatingly supplying the furnace chamber 14 with a pre ⁇ determined gas quantity, suitably air, and after each com ⁇ pression stroke of the piston sucking out the same quantity of gas during the return stroke.
• a gas source which in its simplest form can comprise a pressure piston-cylinder arrang ment with adjustable stroke for the piston and adapted for alternatingly supplying the furnace chamber 14 with a pre ⁇ determined gas quantity, suitably air, and after each com ⁇ pression stroke of the piston sucking out the same quantity of gas during the return stroke.
• This principle of moving the same quantity of gas backwards and forwards is one of the main characteristic features of the present invention and differs significantly from the state * of the art in siphon metering furnaces, wherein one has consistantly worked with variable quantities of air supplied from a compressed-air mains network etc. at sub ⁇ stantially room temperature, the air being heated In the furnace and subsequently blown out with a high heat content directly into atmosphere. This is naturally unsatisfactory both from the point of view of the process and heating econ ⁇ omy.
• the gas source may consist of a closed pneumatic cylinder 31, to the upper end of which the gas pipe 21 is connected at the point 32.
• a piston 33 works in the cylinder 31, and is carried by a long piston rod 34, which is slideably mounted in a seal 35 in the lower end wall 36 of the cylinder,,
• a further pneumatic cylinder 37 of substantially the same length as the cylinder 31.
• the long piston rod 34 extends through the whole of the cylinder 37 and downwards out -of it.
• the piston rod 34 slides through a seal 38 in the upper wall 39 of the cylinder 37 and also carries a piston 40 rigidly attached to it, the piston 40 being inside the cylinder 37.
• the cylinder 37 carries an axially position able end wall 41 or the like so as to adjust the stroke of the pistons 33 and 40 and consequently the volume of the gas to be passed between the upper chamber of the cylinder 31 and the furnace chamber 14.
• piston-cylinder device 31 - 41 shown in Figure 3 has the form of a tandem piston cylinder, it is also poss- ible to use only one single or double-acting piston-cylinder which is either pneumatically or hydraulically driven. Even other embodiments are equally possible.
• the cylinder used as a gas source may preferabl be associated with a pneumatic and electrical control equip ⁇ ment (not shown) which may suitably vary the various opera ⁇ tional parameters of the apparatus.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Casting Support Devices, Ladles, And Melt Control Thereby (AREA)
• Furnace Charging Or Discharging (AREA)
• Casting Devices For Molds (AREA)
• Coating With Molten Metal (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20335523

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (3)

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• 1978
  • 1978-07-31 SE SE7808277A patent/SE437339B/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1979
  • 1979-07-31 JP JP54501236A patent/JPS642473B2/ja not_active Expired
  • 1979-07-31 GB GB8009653A patent/GB2046707B/en not_active Expired
  • 1979-07-31 DE DE792952986A patent/DE2952986A1/de active Pending
  • 1979-07-31 WO PCT/SE1979/000165 patent/WO1980000317A1/en not_active Ceased
• 1980
  • 1980-03-11 EP EP19790900910 patent/EP0016163A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (3)

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