Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc.

Cmi International, Inc.

Cmi-Equipment & Engineering

Mark T Salgat

Kenneth D McKibben

Daniel D Minor

Robert L Macheske

David Good

William W Seaton

Thomas E Wuepper

Alan P Gould

Richard A Gillette

Brandon Schnettler

Karl D Voss

Thomas J H Rozich

Diane M Zekind

Philip L Bond

Tom Rozich

Dave Good

Michael A Coffman

Aleksander A Filipov

Thomas J Rozich

Aleksandar A Filipov

Ronald L Klinger

James E Bohs

Jackie M Speaks

David Marthaler

Brooks Lucas

Donald C Coyle

Darrell Rentfrow

Michael Thompson

Thomas O Stiens

Larry M Stevens

This invention relates to a mold rollover apparatus including a wheel member defining an axis and selectively rotatable about the axis and at least one carrier member carried by the wheel member and adapted to carry at least one mold member having a cast part disposed therein. The at least one carrier member is selectively rotatable at least from a first position, wherein the cast part is generally retained in the at least one mold member, to a second position, wherein the cast part is generally free to fall or drop from the at least one mold member. According to the present invention, the at least one carrier member is selectively rotatable about the axis at least from the first position to the second position independent of the rotation of the wheel member about the axis.

Mold rollover apparatus

A safety block device for supporting a generally vertically movable component about a guide post of a press device. According to one embodiment of the invention, the safety block device includes a generally upright column () adapted to be disposed adjacent the guide post () and moveable between a retracted non-working position, wherein the column does not support the moveable component, and an extended working position, wherein the column is effective to support the moveable component and prevent movement thereof. The column includes an upper end portion and a lower end portion. According to one feature of the invention, the lower end portion of the column includes a generally rounded first portion () and a generally second flat portion () which is slightly offset with respect to the first portion. As a result of this, when the safety block device is in the extended working position, the generally flat second portion of the lower end portion of the column rests firmly on an underlying surface of either the safety block device or the press device.

Safety block device for use in a press device

A casting apparatus for pouring molten metal into molds comprises a vessel having a molten metal-receiving chamber generally extending between a filling end and a pouring end. The vessel includes a nozzle disposed in a bottom surface of the chamber proximate to the pouring end. A stopper cooperates with the nozzle to control a downward gravity flow of molten metal through the nozzle. A first support pivotably supports the vessel to provide a horizontal tilt axis substantially coincident with the nozzle. A second support is connected to the vessel at a point away from the tilt axis and has a drive for controlling a pivot position of the vessel. A tilt angle controller detects a level of molten metal within the chamber and engages the drive to maintain the level at a predetermined level.

Stopper-poured molten metal casting vessel with constant head height

A casting apparatus for pouring molten metal into molds comprises a vessel having a molten metal-receiving chamber generally extending between a filling end and a pouring end. The vessel includes a nozzle disposed in a bottom surface of the chamber proximate to the pouring end. A stopper cooperates with the nozzle to control a downward gravity flow of molten metal through the nozzle. A first support pivotably supports the vessel to provide a horizontal tilt axis substantially coincident with the nozzle. A second support is connected to the vessel at a point away from the tilt axis and has a drive for controlling a pivot position of the vessel. A tilt angle controller detects a level of molten metal within the chamber and engages the drive to maintain the level at a predetermined level. A horizontal support rail slidably supports the vessel to provide a horizontal movement perpendicular to the tilt axis. A horizontal drive controls the horizontal movement in response to the pivot position so that a trajectory of the flow of molten metal is directed toward a substantially fixed point within the sprue cup.

Trajectory compensation for tiltable stopper-poured molten metal casting vessel

A mold of a casting machine is filled to make a cast article. The method includes providing a molten metal to a casting chamber in fluid communication with the mold, the casting chamber having a supply conduit for introducing a gas into the casting chamber, and the casting chamber having an evacuation conduit for delivering the molten metal from the casting chamber to the mold. The method also includes controlling the filling of the mold during a first time interval by delivering the molten metal from the casting chamber to the mold at a first rate. The method further includes controlling the filling of the mold during a second time interval by delivering the molten metal from the casting chamber to the mold at a second rate. The filling of the mold decelerates from the first rate to the second rate and the second rate does not exceed the first rate.

Method for filling a mold

A method for producing a cast article comprising the steps of: (a)providing a casting apparatus having a mold, a casting chamber containing a molten metal under pressure and a fluid under pressure, the casting apparatus having a first supply port for supplying the molten metal to the casting chamber and a second supply port for supplying the fluid to the casting chamber; (b) supplying the molten metal to the first supply port; (c) supplying the fluid to the second supply port; (d) determining the amount of the molten metal in the casting chamber as a variable V ; (e) determining the amount of the fluid in the casting chamber as a variable V ; (f) determining the amount of humidity in the casting chamber as a variable V ; (g) determining the amount of the fluid entering the casting chamber as a variable V ; (h) determining the pressure of the fluid in the casting chamber as a variable V ; (i) determining the amount of the molten metal needed to produce a cast article in the mold as a variable V ; (j) determining the change in the pressure of the molten metal in the mold as a variable V ; (k) sensing the position of the molten metal with respect to the mold as a variable V ; (l) providing a control panel, wherein the control panel receives a signal representative of the variables V V ; and (m) adjusting the supply of one or both of the molten metal or the fluid in response to at least one of the signal representative of the variables V V

Method for controlling the filling of a mold cavity of a casting machine

A method for producing a sand core includes the following steps: (a) providing a casting mold having a mold cavity, the casting mold including at least one first conduit and at least one second conduit; (b) providing a sand core disposed in the mold cavity; (c) providing a supply of conditioning gas to the casting mold, the conditioning gas being supplied to the casting mold through at least one of the first and second conduits; (d) providing a controller connected to the first conduit and the second conduit to selectively control the supply of conditioning gas; (e) providing a gas exhaust unit operatively connected to the casting mold; (f) operating the gas exhaust unit to cause the conditioning gas to be moved through the sand core; and (g) removing the sand core from the casting mold.

Method for producing a sand core

An apparatus for producing a plurality of cast products includes a plurality of molds, and a casting apparatus which casts products in the molds. A multi-level pallet carries the molds containing the cast products on at least two vertical levels. A loading apparatus loads the molds onto the multi-level pallet. A conveyor moves the multi-level pallet through a cooling area which is sufficient to cool the cast products for removal from the molds. An unloading apparatus unloads the molds from the multi-level pallet. In a method of producing a plurality of cast products, the products are cast in a plurality of molds. The molds are loaded onto a multi-level pallet which carries the molds on at least two vertical levels. The multi-level pallet is conveyed through a cooling area which is sufficient to cool the cast products for removal from the molds. After cooling, the molds are unloaded from the multi-level pallet.

Apparatus and method for producing cast products

The invention relates to a system and method for the automated spin-casting production of molded articles. The system includes a casting turntable and a processing turntable which are rotatively mounted, immediately adjacent to one another. The casting turntable has several spin modules mounted thereon for rotatively supporting mold assemblies. Casting preparation and pouring mechanisms are mounted around the periphery of the casting turntable. The turntable indexes the mold assemblies and positions the assemblies for preparation, pouring and solidification of the cast products. The processing turntable receives the mold assemblies and solidified castings from the casting turntable. Multiple processing stations are mounted around the periphery of the processing table for the removal of the castings from the mold assemblies and preparation of the mold assemblies for additional casting operations. The mold assemblies are returned to the casting table from the processing table for additional casting processes.

Automated spin-casting system

A bottom pour casting apparatus (100) includes a vessel (114) having a bottom nozzle (118). A stopper rod (112) is coupled to a programmable controller (250) by linkage mechanism (250) for controlling the movement of the stopper rod (112) according to a pouring schedule. An LDT position sensor (216) is coupled to the stopper rod (112) by a cable (238) and also electronically to the controller (250) for sensing the actual position of the stopper rod during a pouring cycle and conveying this information directly to the controller (250) thereby bypassing any backlash present in the linkage mechanism (116) to enable precise control of the stopper rod movement. A method includes rezeroing the position sensor (116) at the beginning of each pouring cycle to account for slag build-up on the nozzle (118).

Apparatus and method for controlling a stopper rod of a bottom pouring

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Pinconning, MI, United States of America

Mark T Salgat