Claims
- 1. A casting apparatus, comprising:
a holding vessel for containing a supply of molten metal; a casting mold located above the holding vessel and having a casting cavity; a molten metal injector extending into the holding vessel and at least partially immersed in molten metal when the holding vessel contains the supply of molten metal, with the molten metal injector in fluid communication with the casting cavity of the casting mold, and with the molten metal injector having an injector body defining an inlet opening for receiving molten metal into the injector body from the supply of molten metal; a gas pressurization source in fluid communication with the injector body for cyclically pressurizing the injector body and inducing molten metal to flow from the molten metal injector to the casting cavity of the casting mold and for exhausting to atmospheric pressure to permit filling of the injector body with molten metal; and an inlet valve located in the inlet opening in the injector body for filling molten metal into the injector body, with the inlet valve configured to prevent outflow of molten metal from the injector body during pressurization of the injector body and permit inflow of molten metal into the injector body after pressurization, and with the inlet valve having an inlet valve actuator located above the surface of the supply of molten metal and operatively connected to the inlet valve for operating the inlet valve between an open position allowing for the filling of the injector body with molten metal and a closed position allowing for the pressurization of the injector body.
- 2. The casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the injector body includes a top wall, sidewalls, and a bottom wall, and wherein the gas pressurization source is in fluid communication with the injector body through the top wall of the injector body.
- 3. The casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the injector body includes a top wall, sidewalls, and a bottom wall, wherein the inlet opening is an inlet conduit extending from one of the sidewalls of the injector body, and wherein the inlet valve is located in the inlet conduit.
- 4. The casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the injector body includes a fill tube extending into the injector body, and wherein the fill tube is in fluid communication with the casting cavity.
- 5. The casting apparatus of claim 4, wherein the fill tube is integrally formed with the injector body.
- 6. The casting apparatus of claim 1, further including a molten metal filter covering the inlet opening for filtering molten metal entering the injector body through the inlet opening.
- 7. The casting apparatus of claim 6, wherein the injector body includes a fill tube extending into the injector body, wherein the fill tube is in fluid communication with the casting cavity and defines an opening within the injector body, and wherein a second molten metal filter covers the opening to the fill tube.
- 8. The casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the injector body and inlet valve are made of a material selected from the group consisting of graphite, ceramic material, and a mixture of graphite and ceramic material.
- 9. A gas driven molten metal injector for use with a holding vessel containing a supply of molten metal, comprising:
an injector body defining an inlet opening for receiving molten metal into the injector body from the supply of molten metal when the injector body is at least partially immersed in the supply of molten metal; a fill tube extending into the injector body for dosing molten metal from the injector body to a downstream process; a gas pressurization source in fluid communication with the injector body for cyclically pressurizing the injector body and inducing molten metal to flow into the fill tube and for exhausting to atmospheric pressure to permit filling of the injector body with molten metal; an inlet valve located in the inlet opening in the injector body for filling molten metal into the injector body, with the inlet valve configured to prevent outflow of molten metal from the injector body during pressurization of the injector body and permit inflow of molten metal into the injector body after pressurization; and an inlet valve actuator operatively connected to the inlet valve for operating the inlet valve between an open position allowing for the filling of the injector body with molten metal and a closed position allowing for the pressurization of the injector body.
- 10. The casting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the injector body includes a top wall, sidewalls, and a bottom wall, and wherein the gas pressurization source is in fluid communication with the injector body through the top wall of the injector body.
- 11. The casting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the injector body includes a top wall, sidewalls, and a bottom wall, wherein the inlet opening is an inlet conduit extending from one of the sidewalls of the injector body, and wherein the inlet valve is located in the inlet conduit.
- 12. The casting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the fill tube is integrally formed with the injector body.
- 13. The casting apparatus of claim 9, further including a molten metal filter covering the inlet opening for filtering molten metal entering the injector body through the inlet opening.
- 14. The casting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the fill tube defines an opening within the injector body, and wherein a second molten metal filter covers the opening to the fill tube.
- 15. The casting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the injector body and inlet valve are made of a material selected from the group consisting of graphite, ceramic material, and a mixture of graphite and ceramic material.
- 16. A method of casting a metal component, comprising the steps of:
providing a holding vessel containing a supply of molten metal; locating a casting mold above the holding vessel, with the casting mold having a casting cavity; positioning a molten metal injector in the holding vessel such that the molten metal injector is at least partially immersed in the supply of molten metal, with the molten metal injector in fluid communication with the casting cavity of the casting mold, with the molten metal injector having an injector body defining an inlet opening for receiving molten metal into the injector body from the supply of molten metal, and with the molten metal injector having an inlet valve located in the inlet opening in the injector body and having an inlet valve actuator connected to the inlet valve for operating the inlet valve between an open position and a closed position; placing a gas pressurization source in fluid communication with the injector body for cyclically pressurizing the injector body and inducing molten metal to flow from the molten metal injector to the casting cavity of the casting mold and for exhausting to atmospheric pressure to permit filling of the injector body with molten metal; operating the inlet valve to the open position to allow filling of molten metal into the injector body through the inlet opening; operating the inlet valve to the closed position after the injector body is at least partially filled with molten metal; and pressurizing the injector body with the gas pressurization source to induce molten metal to flow from the injector body to the casting cavity of the casting mold.
- 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of filtering the molten metal entering the injector body through the inlet opening.
- 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of filtering the molten metal within the injector body before passing the molten metal to the casting cavity of the casting mold.
- 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the inlet valve actuator is located above the surface of the supply of molten metal contained in the holding vessel, and the method further comprises the step of operating the inlet valve between the open and closed positions from above the surface of the molten metal with the inlet valve actuator.
- 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of providing the injector body with an integrally formed and vertically extending fill tube in fluid communication with the casting cavity of the casting mold.
- 21. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of depressurizing the injector body after a set duration of time to allow the molten metal received in the casting cavity of the casting mold to substantially solidify.
- 22. The method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of positioning a plurality of the molten metal injectors in the holding vessel such that each of the molten metal injectors is at least partially immersed in the supply of molten metal and independently operating the inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors.
- 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of independently operating the inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors is performed by one of a programmable logic controller and a programmable computer.
- 24. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of independently operating the inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors is performed such that each of the plurality of molten metal injectors doses molten metal to the casting cavity of the casting mold at different times and at different rates.
- 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of substantially simultaneously depressurizing the injector body of each of the molten metal injectors after a set duration of time to allow the molten metal received in the casting cavity of the casting mold to substantially solidify.
- 26. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of independently operating the inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors is performed such that at least two of the plurality of molten metal injectors doses molten metal to the casting cavity of the casting mold at substantially the same time and at substantially the same rate.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
[0001] The subject matter of this application was made with United States government support under Contract No. 86X-SU545C awarded by the Department of Energy. The United States government has certain rights to this invention.