US 10,926,333 B2Granted

Caster assembly

AssigneeUrban Mining Technology Company

InventorsMiha Zakotnik, Davide Prosperi, Gojmir Furlan, Catalina O. Tudor, Alex Ivor Bevan

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Abstract

A caster assembly configured to process and store a material includes a reaction chamber, a storage assembly configured to store material processed in the reaction chamber, and a blower configured to process and store the material. The reaction chamber includes a vessel configured to hold the material in a melted state prior to processing and a powder generating assembly configured to receive the material from the melting vessel. The powder generating assembly includes a feeding chamber and a feeding device disposed at least partially within the feeding chamber. The feeding device includes at least one nozzle configured to inject inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two into the feeding chamber and a material inlet through which the material is configured to flow into the feeding chamber to be exposed to the inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A caster assembly configured to process and store a material, the caster assembly comprising:

(a) a reaction chamber in which the material is processed, the chamber comprising:
(i) a melting vessel configured to hold the material in a melted state prior to processing;
(ii) a powder generating assembly configured to receive the material from the melting vessel, the powder generating assembly comprising:
(aa) a feeding chamber;
and
(bb) a feeding device disposed at least partially within the feeding chamber, the feeding device comprising at least one nozzle configured to inject fluid, where the inert fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two, into the feeding chamber, the feeding device further comprising a material inlet through which the material is configured to flow into the feeding chamber to be exposed to the inert fluid;
(iii) a flake generating assembly comprising a wheel configured to selectively receive material from the melting vessel;
and
(iv) a book molding assembly comprising a book mold,
and
(b) a storage assembly configured to store the material, the storage assembly comprising:
(i) a storage container;
(ii) a manifold that connects the feeding device to the storage container;
and
(iii) a valve that controls flow of the material from the feeding device to the storage container through the manifold;
and
(c) a blower assembly, the blower assembly configured to provide the inert fluid through the at least one nozzle to form the material and transport the material to the storage container,
wherein at least the reaction chamber and the storage assembly form a gas-tight seal from ambient gas surrounding the caster assembly.

15 more elements

A caster assembly configured to process and store material, the caster assembly comprising:

a reaction chamber in which the material is processed, the chamber comprising:
(a) a vessel configured to hold the material in a melted state prior to processing;
(b) a powder generating assembly configured to receive material from the melting vessel, the powder generating assembly comprising:
(i) a feeding chamber that defines an outlet (33′) that has a centerpoint C′ and lies in a plane P, the feeding chamber (33) extending vertically about a center axis C that is perpendicular to plane P and includes centerpoint and
(ii) a feeding device disposed at least partially within the feeding chamber, the feeding device comprising at least a first nozzle and a second nozzle, the first nozzle configured to inject a first inert fluid into the feeding chamber in a first direction, where the first inert fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two, and the second nozzle configured to inject a second inert fluid into the feeding chamber in a second direction, where the second inert fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two and the second inert fluid is the same as or different from the first inert fluid, the first direction being different from the second direction, the feeding device further comprising a material inlet through which the material is configured to flow into the feeding chamber in a third direction to be exposed to at least the first and second inert fluids
(c) a flake generating assembly comprising a wheel configured to selectively receive material from the vessel;
and
(d) a book molding assembly comprising a book mold.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/325,881Filed 16 Aug 2017 · us provisional application
Priority: 17 Aug 2016
Published: US 2019/0217394 A118 Jul 2019
Granted: 23 Feb 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification29 codes

B22F 9/082
By casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying: atomising using a fluid
B22D 11/0611
Into moulds with travelling walls, e.g. with rolls, plates, belts, caterpillars: formed by a single casting wheel, e.g. for casting amorphous…
B22D 11/22
Controlling or regulating processes or operations: for cooling cast stock or mould
B22F 1/054
Metallic powder characterised by the size or surface area of the particles: nanosized particles