Casting apparatus and method for producing castings using it

A method for producing a casting comprises the steps of:

• pouring a metal melt by gravity into a gas-permeable casting mold comprising a cavity including a sprue composed of a tubular portion and a cup portion having a larger diameter than that of the tubular portion to receive the metal melt, a runner constituting a flow path of the metal melt supplied through the sprue, and a product-forming cavity to be filled with the metal melt sent through the runner;
• and then blowing a gas into the cavity of the gas-permeable casting mold from a gas-ejecting member of a gas-blowing unit, to fill the product-forming cavity with the metal melt;
• wherein the gas-ejecting member is placed at a position just above the tubular portion and not interfering with gravity pouring of the metal melt, and moved downward to the sprue for connection to the tubular portion after gravity-pouring ends;
• the method further comprising the steps of placing a stream of the metal melt poured from a pouring means just above or near the tubular portion at an early stage of a pouring step, and moving the stream away therefrom within a region of the cup portion at a late stage of the pouring step.