Patent Application
20090146341
1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to casting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manufacture of components, such as gas turbine engine components, can be accomplished using various techniques. Oftentimes, casting processes are used that involve formation of a component shape using a sacrificial material. This sacrificial material can be covered by another material in order to form a pattern mold of desired component shape. This involves removing the sacrificial material from the pattern mold so that material used to form the actual component can be placed in the location vacated by the sacrificial material for molding.
System and methods involving pattern molds are provided. In this regard, an exemplary embodiment of a system comprises: a mold assembly unit having a movable fixture holder operative to engage a portion of a pattern mold and position the pattern mold for assembly.
An exemplary embodiment of a method comprises: interpreting a computer aided design (CAD) model of a mold assembly; providing a pattern mold having a component mold and a fixture; and positioning the fixture based, at least in part, upon information corresponding to the CAD model such that positioning of the fixture accommodates positioning of the pattern mold.
Another exemplary embodiment of a method comprises: providing a pattern mold having a component mold and a fixture; providing a movable fixture holder operative to engage the fixture of the pattern mold and position the pattern mold for assembly; and automatically positioning the fixture using the fixture holder based, at least in part, upon information corresponding to a computer aided design (CAD) model of a mold assembly.
Other systems, methods, features and/or advantages of this disclosure will be or may become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and/or advantages be included within this description and be within the scope of the present disclosure.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
System and methods involving pattern molds are provided, several exemplary embodiments of which will be described in detail. In this regard, some embodiments involve the use of wax pattern molds to form gas turbine engine components. In some embodiments, a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model of a mold assembly is interpreted and information corresponding to the model is provided to a mold assembly unit that constructs a mold assembly. Notably, the mold assembly unit correlates position information from the model with patterns used to form the mold assembly, thereby reducing the potential for technician-injected placement errors that tend to occur during manual construction of such an assembly. Therefore, by using a mold assembly unit, calibrated repeatable assembly steps can be accommodated.
Referring now in more detail to the drawings,
As shown in
Functionality of an embodiment of a mold assembly unit (e.g., mold assembly unit 106 of
An embodiment of a mold assembly unit is depicted in the partially exploded schematic diagram of
In operation, relative positioning of the end-of-arm fixture holder 206 and the turntable 204 can be adjusted by rotating the turntable 204, vertically positioning the horizontal arm 214 with respect to the vertical rail 212 and/or horizontally positioning the vertical rail 212 with respect to the horizontal rail 210. Notably, in this embodiment, the aforementioned positioning is accomplished by one or more stepper motors.
As shown in greater detail in
A vertical adjustment (fine-tuning) mechanism 250 is mounted between the end-of-arm fixture holder 206 and the horizontal arm 214. In this embodiment, vertical adjustment mechanism 250 incorporates a base 252, which attaches to the horizontal arm 214, and an adjustable faceplate 254, which attaches to a back of the fixture holder 206. A thumbscrew 256, which is mounted to the base 252, accommodates vertical positioning of the fixture holder 206.
Another embodiment of a mold assembly unit is depicted schematically in
In contrast to the embodiment of
An embodiment of a mold pattern that can be positioned by a mold assembly unit is depicted schematically in
As shown in
Various functionality, such as that described above in the flowcharts, can be implemented in hardware and/or software. In this regard, a computing device can be used to implement various functionality, such as that depicted in
In terms of hardware architecture, such a computing device can include a processor, memory, and one or more input and/or output (I/O) device interface(s) that are communicatively coupled via a local interface. The local interface can include, for example but not limited to, one or more buses and/or other wired or wireless connections. The local interface may have additional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such as controllers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers to enable communications. Further, the local interface may include address, control, and/or data connections to enable appropriate communications among the aforementioned components.
The processor may be a hardware device for executing software, particularly software stored in memory. The processor can be a custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among several processors associated with the computing device, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chip set) or generally any device for executing software instructions.
The memory can include any one or combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, VRAM, etc.)) and/or nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CD-ROM, etc.). Moreover, the memory may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory can also have a distributed architecture, where various components are situated remotely from one another, but can be accessed by the processor.
The software in the memory may include one or more separate programs, each of which includes an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions. A system component embodied as software may also be construed as a source program, executable program (object code), script, or any other entity comprising a set of instructions to be performed. When constructed as a source program, the program is translated via a compiler, assembler, interpreter, or the like, which may or may not be included within the memory.
The Input/Output devices that may be coupled to system I/O Interface(s) may include input devices, for example but not limited to, a keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, camera, proximity device, etc. Further, the Input/Output devices may also include output devices, for example but not limited to, a printer, display, etc. Finally, the Input/Output devices may further include devices that communicate both as inputs and outputs, for instance but not limited to, a modulator/demodulator (modem; for accessing another device, system, or network), a radio frequency (RF) or other transceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, etc.
When the computing device is in operation, the processor can be configured to execute software stored within the memory, to communicate data to and from the memory, and to generally control operations of the computing device pursuant to the software. Software in memory, in whole or in part, is read by the processor, perhaps buffered within the processor, and then executed.
One should note that the flowcharts included herein show the architecture, functionality, and operation of a possible implementation of software. In this regard, each block can be interpreted to represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order and/or not at all. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.
One should note that any of the functionality described herein can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” contains, stores, communicates, propagates and/or transports the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of a computer-readable medium include a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) (electronic), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical).
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of this disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims.
