Production of a ceramic die cast component

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a die-casting machine (20) for producing a ceramic die-cast component. Furthermore, the invention relates to a mold (1) and a mold carrier (6, 7, 8). To simplify the production of a ceramic die-cast component, it is proposed to provide a first mold carrier (6) for a mold part (3) for forming a mold assembly (10) of a mold (1) for producing a ceramic die-cast component, in particular using a slip casting process in which the mold parts (3, 4, 5) are reused and are made of a porous plastic material, with a guide (11) for a second mold carrier (7).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method and a die-casting system for producing a ceramic die-cast component. Furthermore, the invention relates to a mold and a mold carrier.

[0002] One method for manufacturing a ceramic die-cast component is slip casting. In slip casting, the body is formed by removing water from an aqueous suspension through a porous, water-absorbing mold. A particularly efficient slip casting process is slip die casting with porous, reusable plastic molds. In this process, the slip is injected into the mold at high pressure and immediately dewatered. Before the slip is injected, the mold must be assembled and pressed together using clamping units under pressure.

[0003] A mold typically consists of two or more complementary mold components that form a mold assembly. These components are usually mounted on mold carriers, also known as mold clamping plates, clamping plates, or press plates. To close the mold, the movable mold components are moved into a closed position by means of the clamping units. The individual mold components must be positioned very precisely relative to each other; otherwise, they will shift. The mold would then not be tightly sealed, and a proper casting process could not take place.

[0004] This very precise positioning of the molded parts relative to each other requires a comparatively high level of engineering effort.

[0005] One object of the present invention is to simplify the production of a ceramic die-cast component.

[0006] This problem is solved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims.

[0007] The advantages and features explained below in connection with the method also apply analogously to the die-casting system, the mold according to the invention, and the mold carrier according to the invention, and vice versa.

[0008] According to its core idea, the invention provides that at least one molded part of a mold assembly of a casting mold is guided on another molded part of this mold assembly, with this guidance being effected by the mold carriers associated with these molded parts. In other words, at least two mold carriers are connected to each other in such a way that one of the mold carriers is guided on or in the other mold carrier.

[0009] The integrated guide ensures that a guided, movable mold carrier is permanently positioned precisely relative to the mold carrier itself. This eliminates the need to reposition the guided mold carrier when closing the mold, thus preventing any free positioning of the molded part associated with that carrier. In other words, each molded part supported by a guided mold carrier is automatically positioned correctly relative to the other molded parts in the assembly. Depending on the design, only a stop element may be required to define the end position of the guided mold carrier. This significantly simplifies the technical effort required to close the mold. In particular, less effort is needed to move the movable mold carriers.In this process, the only remaining requirement is that a sufficiently large force is exerted on the mold carrier to be moved. The direction of this force no longer needs to be precisely aimed at the clean closure of the mold. Since the mold carrier is guided, its direction of movement is predetermined, so it is sufficient if the force acting upon it has a sufficiently large component in its desired direction of movement. Naturally, in practice, the aim will be to achieve the closest possible alignment between the direction of force and the direction of movement; however, precise directional application of force to the guided mold carrier is not necessary, let alone free positioning of the mold carrier in space. In this way, the design effort required for positioning the mold components relative to each other can be significantly reduced. The production of a ceramic die-cast component is thus greatly simplified.

[0010] One aspect of the invention relates to a mold carrier. A mold carrier designed to support a mold part, which serves to form a mold assembly of a casting mold for the production of a ceramic die-cast component, in particular for the production of a ceramic die-cast component using a slip casting process in which the mold parts are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, is characterized according to the invention in that it has at least one guide for a further mold carrier.

[0011] One aspect of the invention relates to a mold. A mold for producing a ceramic die-cast component, in particular using a slip die-casting process in which the mold parts are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, comprises several mold parts forming a mold part assembly and several mold part carriers assigned to individual mold parts, wherein at least two of these mold parts are attached to mold part carriers different from one another, i.e., that a first mold part is attached to a first mold part carrier and that a second mold part is attached to a second mold part carrier different from the first mold part carrier.According to the invention, this mold is characterized in that at least one of the at least two mold carriers provides at least one guide for another of these mold carriers, wherein one of these mold carriers is guided in the guide and movable along a guide track formed by this guide, whereby, when the guided mold carrier moves in the closing direction, the mold part of the mold assembly associated with this guided mold carrier can be brought into its closed position. In other words, the mold part carried by the guided mold carrier is positioned relative to the mold part carried by the mold carrier having the guide during the opening and closing of the mold, i.e., during the opening and closing movement.

[0012] One aspect of the invention relates to a die-casting machine. A die-casting machine for producing a ceramic die-cast component, in particular using a slip die-casting process in which the molded parts are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, comprises a mold with several molded parts forming a molded part assembly and several molded part carriers assigned to individual molded parts, wherein at least two of these molded parts are attached to different molded part carriers, and is characterized according to the invention in that at least one guide for another of these molded part carriers is provided in one of these molded part carriers.

[0013] One aspect of the invention relates to a method. A method for producing a ceramic die-cast component, wherein the method is in particular a slip die-casting process in which the molded parts are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, wherein the die-cast component is produced by means of a mold comprising several molded parts and several mold carriers, wherein at least two of these molded parts are attached to different mold carriers, is characterized according to the invention in that at least one guide for another of these mold carriers is provided in one of these mold carriers, wherein one of these other mold carriers is guided in this guide and moved along a guide track formed by this guide, whereby the molded part of the molded part assembly associated with this guided mold carrier is moved from an open position to a closed position.

[0014] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims or can be seen from the following description and / or the accompanying figures.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the invention, the molded parts are complementary die-casting molded parts.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the invention, the mold carriers are mold mounting plates, wherein, as a rule, at least one mold carrier is fixed in the machine as a stationary mounting plate.

[0017] The type and design of the guide used, which is provided by a mold carrier, can vary. Preferably, it is a linear guide formed by a sliding bearing. According to one embodiment of the invention, the guide of the mold carrier has several spaced-apart guide elements, for example, guide bushings.

[0018] To achieve the guided movement of the mold carrier, a clamping unit of the die-casting system is used, wherein the clamping unit applies pressure to the mold carrier in a suitable manner to bring it, and thus also the associated molded part, into its closed position. According to one embodiment of the invention, the die-casting system comprises a clamping unit configured to apply pressure loosely to a mold carrier guided in a guide of a mold carrier of the mold.

[0019] According to one embodiment of the invention, the closing unit has a contact surface, for example, the contact surface of a traversing cylinder of a traversing unit, which, during the closing movement, loosely acts upon the guided mold carrier, thus establishing a releasable operative connection with it and moving it into the closed position. The movement of the guided mold carrier is carried out according to the design of the guide or according to the guide track formed by the guide, preferably by means of a linear movement.

[0020] According to one embodiment of the invention, the guided mold carrier is moved back along its guide track after the mold has been filled, thereby bringing the mold part of the mold assembly associated with the mold carrier from a closed position to an open position.

[0021] If the movable mold carriers can only be loosely actuated by the closing means, then suitable opening means are provided for opening the mold, i.e., for pressing the tool, after completion of the casting process. These means cause the movable mold carrier to return to its open position. For example, spring elements can be used as opening means, which are actuated when the mold closes, so that when the closing force is released, the movable mold carrier is moved back to its initial position by the restoring force of the spring element. According to one embodiment of the invention, the mold includes a spring element that is deformable by a guided mold carrier when the latter is moved in the closing direction, and which, in its deformed state, acts on this mold carrier in the opening direction.

[0022] The inventive concept can be implemented in different molds in various ways. According to one embodiment of the invention, the mold comprises two mold carriers, i.e., a guide for a second mold carrier is provided on a first mold carrier. According to another embodiment of the invention, the mold comprises three mold carriers. In a first variant of such a three-part embodiment, two guides are provided on the first mold carrier, namely one for the second mold carrier and one for the third mold carrier. According to a second variant of this embodiment, a guide for the second mold carrier is provided on the first mold carrier, and a guide for the third mold carrier is provided on the second mold carrier. Which mold carrier is the second and which is the third in this embodiment is determined by the sequence in which the mold parts are moved when the mold is closed.

[0023] According to one embodiment of the invention, at least one of the mold carriers is stationary, i.e., its position is fixed, and at least one other mold carrier is movable. According to one embodiment of the invention, the mold carrier containing the guide is stationary. According to one embodiment of the invention, only the mold carrier containing the guide is stationary, i.e., all other mold carriers are movable. According to another embodiment of the invention, the mold can also be formed exclusively from movable mold carriers.

[0024] It follows naturally that all mold carriers guided in a guide are movable. However, a fixed mold carrier is not necessarily required. The mold carrier with the guide can be either fixed or movable. The mold carrier with the guide is particularly movable if it is itself a mold carrier that is movably guided on another mold carrier.

[0025] If the mold carrier containing the guide is fixed, the guided mold carrier and the mold carrier providing the guide do not form a single moving unit during the closing process of the mold. If a mold carrier that moves during the closing process has a guide for another movable mold carrier, the movable mold carriers connected to each other via the guide form a single moving unit during the closing process, whereby the directions of movement of the individual mold carriers differ from each other during their respective partial movements of the closing process.

[0026] It is worth emphasizing that the movement of the movable mold carriers is preferably achieved solely by loosely applying suitable closing means. For example, the second movable mold carrier, guided in a first mold carrier, is actuated by a locking cylinder. Since this actuation only needs to cause the second mold carrier to move along the closing direction defined by the guide, no further positioning by the locking unit is required. Because closing the mold no longer includes a positioning process, the locking device (mold closing unit) can be significantly simpler than in previous solutions, where positioning of the mold carrier relative to several other mold carriers was also necessary during the closing movement.

[0027] The invention described above is particularly suitable for the production of ceramic die-cast components. It is especially suitable for slip die-casting processes in which liquid porcelain slip is poured into the mold formed by the mold parts. The invention is particularly suitable for slip die-casting processes in which the mold parts are reused multiple times and are made of a porous plastic material, since with this type of mold part it is not possible to guide one mold part within another. The invention is particularly suitable for the production of multi-part porcelain objects, such as two-part handles.

[0028] An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. These show: Fig. 1 a casting mold according to the prior art, opened (cross-section), Fig. 2 mold parts of the casting mold in a perspective view, Fig. 3 a casting mold according to the invention, opened (cross-section), Fig. 4 a casting mold according to the invention, opened (longitudinal section), Fig. 5 a casting mold according to the invention, closed (cross-section).

[0029] All figures do not show the invention to scale, only schematically and with its essential components. Identical reference numerals correspond to elements with the same or comparable function.

[0030] A die-casting machine 20 for a slip die-casting process is described. A three-part Henkel mold 1 with four cavities 2 is used. The number of cavities is merely an example; the number of cavities can vary. For example, the Henkel mold 1 can also have three or five cavities.

[0031] The mold 1 comprises three interacting mold parts forming a mold assembly 10, namely a top part 3, a side part 4 and a bottom part 5. The mold parts 3, 4, 5 are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material.

[0032] Each molded part 3, 4, 5 is assigned a molded part support 6, 7, 8. Clamping plates serve as molded part supports 6, 7, 8. The upper part 3 is attached to a fixed first clamping plate 6. The side part 4 is attached to a horizontally movable second clamping plate 7. The lower part 5 is attached to a vertically movable third clamping plate 8.

[0033] Inside the first clamping plate 6, two horizontally extending linear guides 11 are provided, see Fig. 3 and 4 Each linear guide has two guide bushings 12, as shown in Fig. 3 As shown. These guides 11 serve to receive and guide one guide rod 9 each, which is firmly connected to the second clamping plate 7. As shown in Fig. 4 In a sectional top view of the mold 1, the second clamping plate 6 is guided in the first clamping plate 6 by means of two guide rods 9 spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction 21 of the mold. The two guide rods 9, which can also be made in one piece or integrally with the second clamping plate 7, are considered integral components of the second clamping plate 7.

[0034] The second clamping plate 7 is moved from an open position along a linear guide track 24 formed by these guides 11, as shown in Fig. 3 and 4 shown, movable into a closed position, as shown in Fig. 5 The second clamping plate 7 is actuated centrally, i.e., between the two guide rods 11, by a locking cylinder 13 of a form clamping unit 14. A contact surface 15 of the locking cylinder 13 rests against the rear 16 of the second clamping plate 7.

[0035] The movement of the clamping plate 7 moves the side part 4 until it abuts the upper part 3. During this movement of the second clamping plate 7 in the closing direction 22, two spring elements 17 are compressed. The spring elements 17 are helical compression springs guided on the guide rods 9, with one end of the springs acting on the first clamping plate 6 and the other end of the springs acting on the second clamping plate 7.

[0036] Once the second clamping plate 7, which is guided in the guide 11 provided by the first clamping plate 6, has reached its closed position, the side part 4 is positioned against the upper part 3. The lower part 5 then only needs to be positioned relative to the upper part 3 and the side part 4. When the lower part 5 has reached its closed position, the side part 4 also rests against the lower part 5, and the mold 1 is closed.

[0037] In the example illustrated here, the lower part 5 is moved into its closed position by means of a conventional second locking cylinder engaging the third clamping plate 8. This second locking cylinder and the means required for the vertical movement of the third clamping plate 8 are not shown in the figures. For the sake of clarity, other structural elements of the die-casting machine 20, such as support frames, guide rails, and the like, are also not shown in the figures.

[0038] Once all three clamping plates 6, 7, 8 and thus also the attached mold parts 3, 4, 5 are in their closed positions, the interacting mold parts 3, 4, 5 form the closed casting chamber 18 of the casting mold 1 and the slurry can be pumped under pressure into the casting chamber 18, see Fig. 5 The components of the die-casting system 20 required for this purpose, such as slurry tanks, pumps, slurry and venting lines, and the like, are also not shown in the figures.

[0039] During the filling of the casting chamber 18, water escapes from the mold 1 through the porous mold parts 4, 5, 6. Water is thus extracted from the slurry, so that a body forms in the casting chamber 18. The mold 1 is pressed together with a specific force during this process. This force is exerted by the locking cylinder 13 acting on the second clamping plate 7 and the second locking cylinder (not shown in the figures) acting on the third clamping plate 8. In this way, sufficient counter-pressure to the casting pressure within the casting chamber 18 is ensured.

[0040] After the casting chamber 18 is filled, no further counter-pressure is required. As soon as the pressing force is released, the mold 1 is opened. For this purpose, the locking cylinder 13, which is only loosely resting against the second clamping plate 7, is retracted horizontally. Due to the force exerted by the two spring elements 17, acting in the opposite direction to the closing direction 22 and in the opening direction 23, the second clamping plate 7, together with the side part 4, moves automatically back into the open position in the opening direction 23. Subsequently, the lower part 5 is removed from its closed position by sliding the third clamping plate 8 downwards, and the four handles can be removed from the upper part 3.

[0041] In the state-of-the-art setup, as in Fig. 1As illustrated, the second clamping plate 27 is not connected to the first clamping plate 26. The side panel 4 is positioned freely in space by a locking cylinder 25. For this purpose, the second clamping plate 6 is firmly connected to the locking cylinder 25 with its back side 24.

[0042] All features described in the text, the following claims, and the drawing can be essential to the invention, either individually or in any combination. These features or combinations of features can each constitute an independent invention, the right to claim which is expressly reserved.

[0043] When specifying a combination of features defining an invention, individual features from the description of an embodiment do not necessarily have to be combined with one or more or all other features specified in the description of that embodiment; in this respect, any sub-combination of features of one or more embodiments is expressly disclosed.

[0044] Furthermore, tangible features of the device can be reformulated and used as process features, and vice versa. Features reformulated in this way are implicitly disclosed. Reference symbol list

[0045] 1 Mold 2 Cavity 3 Mold part, upper part 4 Mold part, side part 5 Mold part, lower part 6 Mold part carrier, first clamping plate 7 Mold part carrier, second clamping plate 8 Mold part carrier, third clamping plate 9 Guide rod 10 Mold part assembly 11 Guide 12 Guide bushing 13 Locking cylinder 14 Mold clamping unit 15 Contact surface of the locking cylinder 16 Back of the second clamping plate 17 Spring element 18 Casting chamber 19 (free) 20 Die casting machine 21 Mold longitudinal direction 22 Closing direction 23 Opening direction 24 Guide track 25 Locking cylinder (state of the art) 26 First clamping plate (state of the art) 27 Second clamping plate (state of the art) 28 Back of the second clamping plate (state of the art)

Claims

1. Mold carrier (6) for a molded part (3) for forming a molded part assembly (10) of a casting mold (1) for the production of a ceramic die-cast component, in particular using a slip casting process in which the molded parts (3, 4, 5) are used multiple times and are made of a porous plastic material, characterized by the fact that the mold carrier (6) has at least one guide (11) for another mold carrier (7).

2. Mold (1) for producing a ceramic die-cast component, in particular by means of a slip die-casting process, in which the mold parts (3, 4, 5) are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, comprising several mold parts (3, 4, 5) forming a mold part assembly (10) and several mold part carriers (6, 7, 8) assigned to individual mold parts (3, 4, 5), wherein at least two of these mold parts (3, 4, 5) are attached to different mold part carriers (6, 7, 8), characterized by the fact thatin one of these mold carriers (6) at least one guide (11) for another of these mold carriers (7) is provided, wherein one of these mold carriers (7) is guided in the guide (11) and is movable along a guide track (24) formed by this guide (11), whereby the mold part (4) of the mold assembly (10) associated with this guided mold carrier (7) can be brought into its closed position.

3. Casting mold (1) according to claim 2, characterized by a spring element (17) which is deformable by a guided form carrier (7) when the latter is moved in the closing direction (22) and which, in the deformed state, acts on this form carrier (7) in the opening direction (23).

4. Die-casting system (20) for producing a ceramic die-cast component, in particular using a slip die-casting process, in which the mold parts (3, 4, 5) are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, with a mold (1) having several mold parts (3, 4, 5) forming a mold assembly (10) and several mold part carriers (6, 7, 8) assigned to individual mold parts (3, 4, 5), wherein at least two of these mold parts (3, 4, 5) are attached to different mold part carriers (6, 7, 8), characterized by the fact that in one of these molded part carriers (6) at least one guide (11) for another of these molded part carriers (7) is provided.

5. Die casting system (20) according to claim 4, with a clamping unit (14) which is designed to loosely actuate a mold carrier (7) guided in a guide (11) of a mold carrier (6) of the mold (1).

6. Method for producing a ceramic die-cast component, wherein the method is in particular a slip die-casting process in which the mold parts (3, 4, 5) are used multiple times and consist of a porous plastic material, wherein the die-cast component is produced by means of a mold (1) comprising several mold parts (3, 4, 5) and several mold part carriers (6, 7, 8), wherein at least two of these mold parts (3, 4, 5) are attached to different mold part carriers (6, 7, 8), characterized by the fact that in one of these mold carriers (6) at least one guide (11) for another of these mold carriers (7) is provided, wherein one of these other mold carriers (7) is guided in this guide (11) and moved along a guide track (24) formed by this guide (11), whereby the mold part (4) of the mold assembly (10) associated with this guided mold carrier (7) is brought from an open position to a closed position.

7. Method according to claim 6, wherein the guided mold carrier (7) is moved back along this guide track (24), thereby bringing the mold part (4) of the mold assembly (10) associated with the mold carrier (7) from a closed position to an open position.

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