US 11,795,950 B2
Mold pump engagement apparatus
Andrew Horsfall, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (US); and Jon Tipton, Aurora, OH (US)
Assigned to Pyrotek, Inc., Spokane, WA (US)
Appl. No. 16/632,019
Filed by PYROTEK, INC., Spokane, WA (US)
PCT Filed Jul. 20, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/043036
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 17, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/018733, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 24, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/534,959, filed on Jul. 20, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0141411 A1, May 7, 2020
Int. Cl. F04D 7/06 (2006.01); B22D 39/02 (2006.01); F04D 29/60 (2006.01); F27D 27/00 (2010.01)
CPC F04D 7/065 (2013.01) [B22D 39/02 (2013.01); F04D 29/605 (2013.01); F27D 27/005 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A molten metal pump assembly to fill an associated mold with molten metal, the assembly comprising:
a pump having an elongated shaft connecting a motor to an impeller, the impeller being housed within a chamber of a base member such that rotation of the impeller draws molten metal into the chamber via an inlet and forces molten metal through an outlet of the chamber and into a riser assembly,
a frame configured to receive the pump, the frame being mounted to an associated furnace, the frame engaging only the pump and the associated furnace, said furnace including a furnace lifting apparatus,
said frame suspending the pump such that the base member can be disposed in molten metal residing in said furnace apparatus, and
wherein said frame includes a mechanism for selectively raising and lowering said pump, including the base member, into engagement and disengagement with said mold and wherein said mechanism orients said pump in a raised position such that when the pump engages the mold the mechanism provides force moderation that lowers the pump in response to an excessive hydraulic, pneumatic, or mechanical force supplied by the furnace lifting apparatus yet maintains a seal between the riser assembly and the associated mold.