Apparatus and method for feeding inoculants into a flow of molten metal and automatic molten metal pouring machine

An inoculation apparatus for feeding inoculants to molten metal that has been poured from an automatic molten metal pouring machine having a ladle into a mold in a predetermined proportion that corresponds to the quantity of the molten metal that has been poured and is progressively varied, the inoculation apparatus comprising:

• a traveling means for traveling along a pouring line in which a plurality of flasks, each of which contains a mold, are arranged in a line;
• a holding means for holding inoculants, wherein the holding means is mounted on the traveling means;
• a feeding means for receiving the inoculants to be added to the molten metal in the mold from the holding means and feeding the received inoculants, wherein the feeding means is located beneath the holding means;
• a driving means, which is drivingly connected to the feeding means, for driving the feeding means;
• a controlling means for controlling the driving means;
• and
• a load cell for detecting a weight of the molten metal in the ladle of the automatic molten metal pouring machine and for generating a signal that indicates the detected weight;
• wherein the controlling means determines an amount of the driving of the driving means by a calculation based on the signal from the load cell to control the driving means, while the controlling means drives the feeding means through the driving means based on the quantity of the molten metal that has been poured into the mold such that the inoculants are added from the feeding means into the molten metal poured into the mold from the automatic molten metal pouring machine in a proportion that corresponds to the quantity of the molten metal that has been poured from the ladle into the mold.