Method and Apparatus for Manipulating Investment Casting Mold Handlers

An investment casting system, comprising:

• a computer controlled mold transfer device operating to move a mold, the mold transfer device movable between at least three stations including:
• a mold receiving station;
• a mold transfer station having a mold suspended from a first horizontally extending arm of the mold transfer device engaging an intermediate transfer device to transfer the mold to the intermediate transfer device;
• a storage station having a storage rack receiving the mold following a material coating phase;
• and
• a robot in communication with the intermediate transfer device, the robot programmed to position the mold in any of multiple material coating stations during the material coating phase;
• and
• a computer control system operating to automatically identify a location of the mold and to control movement of the mold transfer device, the mold being accessible for removal from the system at any time during creation of the mold by operation of the computer control system.

An investment casting system for creating a plurality of investment casting molds, comprising:

• a computer controlled mold transfer device including a first horizontally extending arm operating to releasably couple any one of the molds for transfer;
• an intermediate transfer device having a second horizontally extending arm, the second horizontally extending arm operating to horizontally transfer any one of the molds to and from a material application section;
• a storage section having a plurality of space envelopes individually sized to temporarily store at least one of the molds following any one of a plurality of material coating phases in the material application section, any one of the molds temporarily stored in the storage section being selectively retrievable;
• and
• a computer control system to automatically identify a location of any one of the molds in the system and to control movement of the mold transfer device and the intermediate transfer device, any one of the molds being accessible for removal from the system at any stage of completion by direction of the computer control system.