Smart molten metal pump
AssigneeMolten Metal Equipment Innovations, LLC
InventorsVince Fontana, James Robert Daniels
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A smart molten metal pump system and method automatically controls the operating speed of the pump rather than requiring an operator to control the speed. The system includes a pump, a controller for controlling the speed of the pump and one or more vibration sensors (such as an accelerometer) to measure vibration. The controller receives input about the vibration of the pump or one or more pump components, and possibly other data, such as the temperature of the molten metal, and/or the depth of the molten metal, ad/or parameters related to the operation of the pump. The controller analyzes the one or more inputs to vary the speed of the pump, turn the pump off, and/or send a communication to an operator.
Claims23
A molten metal pump system comprising:
- (a) a molten metal pump having a plurality of pump structures that include:
- a rotor shaft, a motor shaft, a motor, a superstructure, a rotor, one or more support posts, and a pump base;
- (b) a controller for controlling the speed of the pump or turning off the pump or sending a message to an operator or monitor;
- (c) a vibration sensor on or in one or more of the plurality of pump structures, wherein the vibration sensor is configured to detect vibration and communicate the vibration to the controller;
- and
- (d) a second vibration sensor on or in one of the plurality of pump structures different from the pump structure that includes the vibration sensor, wherein the second vibration sensor is configured to detect vibration and communicate the vibration to the controller;
- wherein the controller varies the speed of the pump, turns off the pump, and/or sends a message to a monitor or operator, based on the vibration detected by the vibration sensor and/or the vibration detected by the second vibration sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.