Monitoring casting environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12030116-B2
Application number	US-202118005937-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 23, 2021
Priority date	Jul 23, 2020
Publication date	Jul 9, 2024
Grant date	Jul 9, 2024

Abstract

A monitoring system may monitor a casting environment, for example, including a mold. The monitoring system may include a camera and a computer system. The camera may be positioned to capture or detect optical data associated with one or more components in a casting environment. The camera may send the optical data to the computer system and the computer system may generate a profile associated with the casting environment. The profile may be compared with a baseline profile to determine whether a particular event has occurred. Based on the event that may have occurred, operating instructions can be generated. The operating instructions may be used to adjust the casting process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for monitoring a casting operation, the system comprising:
a mold defining an opening to receive molten metal;
a launder configured to deliver the molten metal to the mold during the casting operation;
a camera having a field of view and configured to capture optical data associated with the casting operation; and
a controller comprising a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium in a memory, the controller causing the processor to perform processor operations including:
receiving the optical data associated with the casting operation;
generating, based on at least the optical data, a profile associated with the casting operation;
comparing the profile with a baseline profile; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether a particular event has occurred.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the profile associated with the casting operation comprises a condition of the mold or a likelihood of a condition occurring in the mold.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor operations further includes:
receiving second optical data associated with the casting operation;
updating the profile associated with the casting operation based on at least the second optical data;
comparing the updated profile with the baseline profile; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether the particular event has occurred.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor operations further includes generating operating instructions based on at least determining the particular event has occurred.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the operating instructions comprise instructions for changing a flow rate of the molten metal from the launder into the mold.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein changing the flow rate of the molten metal into the mold comprises stopping the molten metal from flowing into the mold.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the launder comprises a flow control device configured to adjust a flow rate of the molten metal from the launder to the mold during the casting operation and the field of view includes at least the molten metal or a portion of the mold and wherein the camera is further configured to capture optical data associated with the molten metal or the portion of the mold and the processor operations further includes:
receiving first optical data associated with the molten metal or the portion of the mold;
generating a profile associated with the molten metal or the portion of the mold based on at least the first optical data;
comparing the profile with a baseline profile; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether a particular event has occurred.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller causes the processor to perform additional processor operations including:
receiving second optical data associated with the molten metal or the portion of the mold;
updating the profile associated with the molten metal or the portion of the mold based on at least the second optical data;
comparing the updated profile with the baseline profile; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether the particular event has occurred.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the optical data includes at least one of an image or a thermal profile.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the particular event includes at least one of a leak in the mold, cracks in the mold, dust on the mold, rust on the mold, misalignment of the mold, or moisture in the mold.

11. A method of monitoring a mold, comprising:
initiating a casting operation using one or more pieces of equipment of a casting system including the mold and a launder, the casting operation comprising one or more actions that cause or facilitate molten metal flowing from the launder into the mold;
capturing, using a camera, first optical data associated with at least one of the one or more pieces of equipment;
generating, based on the first optical data, a profile associated with the at least one of the one or more pieces of equipment;
comparing the profile with a baseline profile; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether a particular event has occurred.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising adjusting the casting operation based on whether the particular event has occurred.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein adjusting the casting operation comprises changing a flow rate of the molten metal flowing from the launder into the mold.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising capturing, using the camera, second optical data associated with the at least one of the one or more pieces of equipment;
updating, based on the second optical data, the profile associated with the at least one of the one or more pieces of equipment;
comparing the updated profile with the baseline profile; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether the particular event has occurred.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein generating a profile comprises associating the first optical data with a portion of the mold.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein comparing the profile with the baseline profile comprises comparing optical data captured prior to the casting operation with the first optical data captured during the casting operation.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the particular event has occurred includes determining whether the profile is within a threshold of the baseline profile.

Assignees

• Novelis Inc

Inventors

• Mccallum John Robert Buster
• Kosmicki Michael R
• Thakur Adwait
• Betts William M
• Wilson Phillip
• Gupta Adarsh
• Silva Augusto-Cesar

Classifications

• B22D11/204

  by using optical means · CPC title

• B22D11/141

  for vertical casting · CPC title

• B22D11/049 Primary

  for direct chill casting, e.g. electromagnetic casting · CPC title

• B22D11/185 Primary

  by using optical means · CPC title

• B22D11/20

  for removing cast stock · CPC title