Metal material supply device
AssigneeAisin Takaoka Co., Ltd.
InventorSeiji Inoue
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A metal material supply device which is annexed to a metal melting furnace has a vibration trough for transporting metal material to be supplied to a crucible; the transported metal material is discharged from a material discharge port that is provided at the front end of the vibration trough; the metal material supply device is movable between a material supply position where the material discharge port is disposed above the crucible and a retracted position from the material supply position, and supplies the metal material to the crucible at the material supply position; the upper end of the metal material supplied to the crucible and piled up is detected by a microwave level meter, and the material supply operation by driving the vibration trough is controlled on the basis of the detected value.
Claims8
A metal material supply device to supply a metal material to a metal melting furnace that includes a crucible, the metal material supply device comprising:
- a material supply unit that includes:
- a trough that includes an inner bottom surface on which the metal material is placed and transported to the crucible;
- a material discharge port at a fore edge of the trough through which the metal material is discharged to the crucible;
- and
- a material detection unit disposed over the trough and opposite the inner bottom surface of the trough to detect a height of the metal material in the crucible;
- a base unit on which the material supply unit is disposed, wherein the base unit includes a driving device to move the material supply unit, including the trough, the material discharge port, and the material detection unit, between a material supply position at which the material discharge port is over the crucible and a retracted position at which the material discharge port is away from the crucible;
- and
- a controller that is connected to the driving device and the material detection unit, wherein the controller is configured to:
- receive an input from the material detection unit;
- and
- control the driving device in response to the input from the material detection unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.