Machine and method for continuously casting battery grids
AssigneeWirtz Manufacturing Company, Inc.
InventorsJohn W. Wirtz, Raymond L. Schenk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A machine for casting battery grids has a rotary drum, the pattern of the battery grid cavity being recessed into the outer periphery thereof. An arcuate shoe is fixedly positioned against the rotating drum in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface thereof. The shoe has an internal passageway connected to an orifice slot which extends to the periphery of the drum. The orifice slot is connected at one end to a source of molten lead under pressure and at its other end to a return line. The molten lead in the orifice slot is under superatmospheric pressure. The rate of flow of the molten lead through the orifice slot is in excess of that required to fill the grid cavity.
Claims34
A machine for continuously casting battery grids comprising a rotary drum having a cylindrical outer surface, said outer surface having a cavity therein conforming to the desired battery grid pattern, a fixedly supported shoe having an arcuate surface thereon extending around an arcuate segment of the outer cylindrical surface of the drum in close fitting, sliding relation, said shoe overlying said cavity and having an inlet and an outlet therein for molten lead, a passageway in said shoe extending between said inlet and said outlet, a portion of said passageway comprising an orifice slot extending to said arcuate surface and communicating with a circumferential segment of the outer peripheral surface of the drum in which said cavity is formed, a pot for molten lead, means for directing molten lead under superatmospheric pressure from said lead pot to said inlet in an amount substantially in excess of that required to progressively fill said cavity as the drum rotates past said orifice slot, means for directing the excess molten lead from said outlet back to said lead pot so that a substantial quantity of molten lead is continuously recirculated between said lead pot and the orifice slot to maintain the lead throughout the orifice slot at a relatively high casting temperature and flow restricting means for preventing free flow of molten lead from said orifice slot back to said lead pot to thereby maintain the molten lead in said orifice slot at said superatmospheric pressure.
The method of continuously casting battery grids around a rotating cylindrical drum having a battery grid cavity formed in the outer peripheral surface thereof by directing molten lead from a lead pot to successive segments of the peripheral surface of the rotating drum through an orifice slot in a fixed shoe having a curved surface conforming to and positioned against the periphery of the drum in close sliding engagement which includes the steps of continuously directing molten lead to said orifice slot in an amount substantially in excess of that required to fill the portion of the cavity rotating past the orifice slot, causing the excess molten lead to flow back to the lead pot and maintaining the molten lead in the orifice slot and said cavity at a pressure substantially above atmospheric.
A machine for continuously casting battery grids comprising a rotary drum having a cylindrical outer surface, means for rotating the drum in one direction at a predetermined speed, said outer surface having a cavity recessed therein which conforms to the desired battery grid pattern, a fixedly supported shoe having an arcuate surface thereon extending around a relatively short, arcuate segment of the outer cylindrical surface of the drum in close fitting sliding relation, said shoe having a passageway therein for molten lead, a portion of said passageway comprising an orifice slot extending directly to and transversely of said arcuate surface and communicating with a circumferential segment of the peripheral surface of the drum across substantially the full width of the grid cavity, a pot of molten lead, means for directing molten lead from said pot to said passageway in an amount substantially in excess of that required to progressively fill the grid cavity as the drum rotates past the orifice slot, means for directing the excess lead from the passageway back to the lead pot, means for maintaining the molten lead in the orifice slot at superatmospheric pressure to insure complete filling of the grid cavity, means for maintaining the outer peripheral surface of the drum at an elevated temperature sufficiently below the melting temperature of the lead so that a portion of the lead tends to solidify against the periphery of the rotating drum within the circumferential extent of the orifice slot, the downstream side of the orifice slot being defined by a transversely extending edge adapted to scrap the solidified lead from the outermost surface of the drum and means for causing the molten lead to flow through the orifice slot at a sufficiently high velocity to at least partially remelt and wash away the lead accumulating at said downstream edge of the slot for return to the lead pot.
The method of continuously casting battery grids around a rotating cylindrical drum having a grid cavity recessed into the outer peripheral surface thereof by directing molten lead from a lead pot to successive segments of the peripheral surface of the rotating drum through an orifice slot in a fixed shoe having a relatively short, circumferentially extending curved surface conforming to and positioned against the periphery of the drum in close sliding engagement, said slot extending transversely across substantially the entire width of the grid cavity directly adjacent the periphery of the drum, which includes the steps of continuously directing molten lead through said shoe to said orifice slot and into the portion of the grid cavity rotating past the slot in an amount substantially in excess of that required to fill said portion of the cavity;
- maintaining the lead in said slot at superatmospheric pressure to insure complete filling of the grid cavity;
- controlling the temperature of the drum so that a portion of the lead tends to solidify against the periphery of the rotating drum within the circumferential extent of the orifice slot;
- causing the downstream edge of the slot to scrap the solidified lead from the outermost surface of the drum;
- directing the molten lead through the slot at a sufficiently high velocity to at least partially remelt and wash away the lead accumulating at the downstream edge of the slot;
- and causing the excess molten lead to flow back to the lead pot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.