Die cast machine with a turret

A die casting apparatus for forming rotors for electric motors, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame including at least two opposed stationary pressure plates;
• a rotating turret operatively mounted between said stationary plates in continuous fixed axial relationship therewith throughout cycling of the apparatus;
• a plurality of die cavities in said turret at respective locations circumferentially spaced at regular intervals, said cavities adapted to cooperate with tooling means for forming a rotor;
• casting and compensating tooling means operatively associated with said turret for die casting a rotor comprising a pair of end tooling members respectively supported by said pressure plates, said turret being rotatable relative to said end tooling members;
• means for axially reciprocating said end tooling members relative to said turret;
• pin pressing and trimming tooling means operatively associated with said turret for pressing a pin from a die cast rotor and for trimming sprue material from the die cast rotor;
• and
• unloading and loading tooling means operatively associated with said turret for loading a rotor lamination stack into said turret;
• said casting and compensating tooling, said pin pressing and trimming tooling, and said unloading and loading tooling respectively arranged to substantially simultaneously perform respective operations at said respective locations of said turret in substantially equal amounts of time.

A method for die casting rotors for electric motors in a die casting apparatus, said die casting apparatus comprising a frame with at least two opposed pressure plates, a rotatable turret including die cavities, end ring tooling carried by each of said die plates and first, second and third stations having a plurality of tooling operatively associated therewith, the turret being operatively mounted between the plates, said method comprising:

• compensating for variable rotor stack thickness and casting a first rotor at said first station in a predetermined amount of time;
• simultaneously with the compensating and casting operations at said first station, pressing an alignment pin out of a second rotor, and trimming runner material from said second rotor at said second station in substantially said predetermined amount of time;
• simultaneously with the compensating and casting operation at said first station, unloading a third rotor from said turret at said third station, and thereafter, loading a stack of laminations into said turret at said third station in substantially said predetermined amount of time;
• intermittently rotating the turret relative to the end ring tooling to advance the die cavities from station to station;
• and
• maintaining the turret in continuous fixed axial relationship with the pressure plates while maintaining the end ring tooling in fixed circumferential relationship with the pressure plates throughout cycling of the apparatus.

A die casting apparatus for performing a complete die casting operation, said operation including a plurality of functions, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame including at least two stationary opposed pressure plates;
• and
• a rotating turret member disposed between said two stationary plates in fixed axial relationship therewith, there being operatively associated with said turret member a plurality of stations having tooling means located thereat, for simultaneously performing at least one function of die casting cycle at each said station, said operations to be performed at each said station being selected so that the time required for completion of said operations at each of said plurality of stations is approximately equal;
• said plurality of stations comprises three stations and wherein at least one function comprises a pin pressing and trimming means operatively associated with one of said stations, said pin pressing and trimming means including means for clamping a sprue portion of said part to be cast and restraining the sprue portion from movement in the axial direction and means for moving said part after casting a predetermined distance relative to said sprue portion and relative to said stationary turret, whereby said sprue portion may be severed from the cast part, and means for releasing clamping force on said sprue to permit said sprue to drop away.

A die casting apparatus for forming rotors for electric motors, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame including at least two opposed stationary pressure plates;
• a rotating turret operatively mounted between said stationary plates;
• a plurality of die cavities in said turret at respective locations circumferentially spaced at regular intervals, said cavities adapted to cooperate with tooling means for forming a rotor;
• casting and compensating tooling means operatively associated with said turret for die casting a rotor;
• pin pressing and trimming tooling means operatively associated with said turret for pressing a pin from a die cast rotor and for trimming sprue material from a die cast rotor;
• and
• unloading and loading tooling means operatively associated with said turret and for loading a rotor lamination stack into said turret;
• said casting and compensating tooling, said pin pressing and trimming tooling, and said unloading and loading tooling respectively arranged to substantially simultaneously perform respective operations at said respective locations of said turret in substantially equal amounts of time;
• said pin pressing and trimming means including movable means including a clamping means for clamping a sprue to be formed and restraining the sprue from movement in the axial direction, and a rotor moving means for moving said rotor relative to said clamped sprue to sever the sprue from the rotor, said clamping means and rotor moving means being relatively movable.