Molten metal pouring device and molten metal pouring method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10751794-B2
Application number	US-201615544371-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2016
Priority date	Apr 3, 2015
Publication date	Aug 25, 2020
Grant date	Aug 25, 2020

Abstract

A pouring apparatus comprises a ladle configured to include a body and a nozzle, and a controller configured to control a tilt angle of the ladle, wherein the body includes a side face portion, an inner surface of the side face portion is formed in a cylindrical shape or in a conical shape, the nozzle includes a nozzle tip for guiding molten metal to the outside and is integrated with the body on a side of the body, in order to guide the molten metal in the body to the nozzle tip and to pour out the molten metal through the nozzle tip, and the controller controls the tilt angle on the basis of a surface area of the molten metal when the ladle is tilted.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A pouring apparatus for pouring by tilting a ladle such that a molten metal pouring position in which the molten metal is poured into a mold from a nozzle of the ladle is maintained at a predetermined position, comprising:
the ladle configured to include a body and the nozzle;
a controller configured to control a tilt angle of the ladle;
a surface area information storage unit storing a surface area of the molten metal that is calculated in accordance with the tilt angle of the ladle; and
a state storage unit storing various states,
wherein the body includes a side face portion, and an inner surface of the side face portion is formed in a cylindrical shape or in a conical shape,
wherein the nozzle includes a nozzle tip provided at one end thereof and is integrated with the body on a side of the body, in order to guide the molten metal in the body to the nozzle tip and to pour out the molten metal through the nozzle tip, and
wherein the controller is configured to:
read out a present tilt angle of the ladle stored in the state storage unit;
read out a surface area inverse ratio, from the surface area information storage unit, that corresponds to the read out present tilt angle;
calculate a tilt angular speed required for the ladle on the basis of the read out surface area inverse ratio and a predetermined preset angular speed; and
control the tilt angle of the ladle such that a tilt angular speed is the calculated tilt angular speed.

2. The pouring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the nozzle is formed such that i) a top surface shape of the molten metal stored in the nozzle is in a shape of a trapezoid or a rectangle as viewed from a vertical direction when the ladle is not tilted and ii) the top surface shape of the molten metal stored in the nozzle is in the shape of a trapezoid or a rectangle as viewed from the vertical direction when the ladle is tilted to pour out the molten metal through the nozzle tip.

3. The pouring apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the body has a top surface shape of the molten metal therein that is in a shape of an ellipse or an ellipse with a missing part when the ladle is tilted to pour out the molten metal through the nozzle tip, the missing part being due to the molten metal decreasing such that a bottom of the tilted body is no longer covered.

4. The pouring apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a molten metal pouring pattern storage unit configured to store information on a molten metal pouring pattern corresponding to the mold,
wherein the controller controls a tilt operation of the ladle such that the molten metal is poured into the mold on the molten metal pouring pattern corresponding to a kind of product on the basis of the information on the molten metal pouring pattern corresponding to the mold, stored in the molten metal pouring pattern storage unit, and information stored in the surface area information storage unit.

5. The pouring apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the body includes a second inner side face portion aligning with a bottom portion of the nozzle in a section orthogonal to a tilt center.

6. The pouring apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the nozzle tip is provided with a curved surface with a predetermined curvature radius for forming a flow of the molten metal, and
wherein the ladle is tilted such that a curvature center of the curved surface serves as the tilt center.

7. The pouring apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a horizontal movement mechanism configured to drive the ladle in a first direction that is a horizontal direction for approaching and separating from the mold;
a lifting mechanism configured to drive the ladle in a second direction that is a vertical direction; and
a rotation mechanism configured to rotate the ladle around a rotation axis that is parallel to a third direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, and that passes through a center of gravity of the ladle,
wherein the controller is configured to control the horizontal movement mechanism, the lifting mechanism, and the rotation mechanism drive the ladle to tilt the ladle such that the curvature center serves as the tilt center.

8. The pouring apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising:
a weight detector configured to detect weight of the molten metal in the ladle,
wherein the controller controls the tilt operation of the ladle by feedback control on the basis of information from the weight detector.

9. A pouring method for using a pouring apparatus for pouring by tilting a ladle such that a molten metal pouring position in which the molten metal is poured into a mold from a nozzle of the ladle is maintained at a predetermined position, the pouring apparatus comprising: i) the ladle configured to include a body and the nozzle; ii) a controller configured to control a tilt angle of the ladle; iii) a surface area information storage unit storing a surface area of the molten metal that is calculated in accordance with the tilt angle of the ladle; and iv) a state storage unit storing various states, wherein the body includes a side face portion, an inner surface of the side face portion is formed in a cylindrical shape or in a conical shape, wherein the nozzle includes a nozzle tip provided at one end thereof and is integrated with the body on a side of the body, in order to guide the molten metal in the body to the nozzle tip and to pour out the molten metal through the nozzle tip, and wherein the molten metal pouring, performs the method, via the controller, comprising:
reading out a present tilt angle of the ladle stored in the state storage unit;
reading out a surface area inverse ratio, from the surface area information storage unit, that corresponds to the read out present tilt angle;
calculating a tilt angular speed required for the ladle on the basis of the read out surface area inverse ratio and a predetermined preset angular speed; and
controlling the tilt angle of the ladle such that a tilt angular speed is the calculated tilt angular speed.

10. The pouring method according to claim 9 , wherein the ladle has an inner surface molded by using a mold for molding an inner surface of the body and the nozzle in a uniform shape.

11. A pouring apparatus for pouring by tilting a ladle such that a molten metal pouring position in which the molten metal is poured into a mold from a nozzle of the ladle is maintained at a predetermined position, comprising:
the ladle configured to include a body and the nozzle;
a controller controlling a tilt angle of the ladle;
a surface area information storage unit storing a surface area of the molten metal that is calculated in accordance with the tilt angle of the ladle; and
a state storage unit storing various states,
wherein the controller is configured to:
read out a present tilt angle of the ladle stored in the state storage unit;
read out a surface area inverse ratio, from the surface area information storage unit, that corresponds to the read out present tilt angle;
calculate a tilt angular speed required for the ladle on the basis of the read out surface area inverse ratio and a predetermined preset angular speed; and
control the tilt angle of the ladle such that a tilt angular speed is the calculated tilt angular speed.

12. The pouring apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a molten metal pouring pattern storage unit storing information on a molten metal pouring pattern corresponding to the mold,
wherein the controller is further configured to:
calculate a present virtual tilt angular speed from the molten metal pouring pattern sto

Assignees

• Sintokogio Ltd
• Fujiwa Denki Co Ltd

Inventors

• Nishida Tadashi
• Hyodo Toshiyuki
• Banno Koichi

Classifications

• B22D37/00 Primary

  Controlling or regulating the pouring of molten metal from a casting melt-holding vessel ({B22D11/18,} B22D39/00, B22D41/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• B22D41/06

  Equipment for tilting · CPC title

• B22D39/04

  having means for controlling the amount of molten metal by weight · CPC title