Maschinenfabrik & Eisengiesserei, Ed. Mezger Ag

Maschinenfabrik & Eisengiesserei Ed. Mezger

Maschinenfabrik & Eisengiesserei

Gerard A Lavanchy

Fritz Mezger

Marc-Henri Rossier

Marc-Henry Rossier

A foundry installation control device is disclosed for causing a rapid cut off of a molten metal flow at the time when a mold is full. Two detectors are provided, one of which collects information concerning the instantaneous rate of metal flow pouring from a ladle into a sprue cup while the other collects information on the level of the molten metal in the cup. An electronic circuit connected to the outputs of the two detectors produces a mold filling signal which undergoes a sharp fluctuation at the precise moment when filling is completed. This signal is compared with an instruction value and causes the generation of a flow cut-off signal which triggers the cessation of pouring by righting of the ladle in the case of a tilting ladle, closing of the stopper in the case of a bottom-pour ladle, or closing the discharge valve in the case of a pressure ladle.

Flow cut-off method for foundry installations

A casting plant comprises a pressure ladle and a small-capacity tilting ladle to regulate the filling of molds making up a casting line and successively moving to a position beneath the tilting ladle. The control system comprises two servo loops. One servo loop includes sensors acting upon a motor to control the angular position of the tilting ladle so that the level of metal in the pouring gate of the mold remains constant during the pouring operation. During this time, an optical sensor, an angular-position sensor, and a pressure sensor included in the other servo loop supply input data which are processed to supply a signal acting upon a valve in a gas line feeding the pressure ladle. This valve regulates the flow of molten metal from the pressure ladle to the tilting ladle so that the quantity of metal contained in the tilting ladle remains substantially constant.

Automatically controlled casting plant

Flow cut-off method and apparatus for foundry installations

Method and apparatus for automatically controlling the pouring of molten metal into a series of closed casting molds is disclosed. Molten metal flows in a stream from a lip-pour or bottom-pour casting ladle into a pouring gate at the top of a mold and partially fills the gate. Visible light or infrared radiation is emitted from the metal surface in the gate and is detected by a sensing device. The sensing device generates a signal which is a function of the radiation received, and therefore the apparent area of the surface of metal in the gate. The signal operates a ladle control mechanism to control the flow rate of the stream to keep the gate level substantially constant during pouring.

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Prilly-Lausanne, Switzerland

Gerard A Lavanchy