Casting mold making apparatus and mold making method

A method for making a casting mold by filling a foam mixture into a cavity of a mold, the method comprising:

• a first process of:
• feeding component materials for making a foam mixture into a tank, the tank being formed with a pour hole that passes through a bottom wall of the tank and an opening section that opens toward an opposite side from a bottom wall side, and
• stirring the component materials inside the tank with a stirring impeller so as to make a foam mixture in a state in which an opening section side of the tank is closed by a lid member and the pour hole is closed by a plug;
• and
• a second process, performed after the first process, of:
• actuating the plug to open the pour hole,
• pressing the tank against the mold such that the pour hole is disposed adjacent to a fill hole that is formed so as to pass into the mold, and
• supplying compressed air into the tank while stirring the foam mixture inside the tank with the stirring impeller so as to fill the foam mixture inside the tank into a cavity of the mold from the pour hole via the fill hole,
• wherein:
• the lid member is positioned at a first position with respect to the tank in the first process,
• the lid member is positioned at a second position with respect to the tank in the second process,
• the lid member is positioned closer to the bottom wall side in the second position than in the first position,
• in each of the first and second positions of the lid member with respect to the tank, the tank and an actuator that raises and lowers the lid member between the first and second positions are aligned with one another in a vertical direction until filling of the foam mixture into the cavity of the mold is completed,
• wherein a seal member is provided around an outer peripheral portion of the lid member, and when the lid member is in the second position, the lid member is positioned inside the tank.