Material feeding device, material feeding system

Abstract

To provide a material input apparatus utilizable when a rod-shaped material is inputted into a holding furnace in which a die casting metal is held.SOLUTION: A material input apparatus 10 comprises a stage part 11, a ratchet gear 21, and driving means 41. One input hole 13 having opening dimensions which allow a rod-shaped material 100 in an erected state to pass through is formed at a region 12 where the rod-shaped material 100 moves on a mounting face of the stage part 11, and when the rod-shaped material 100 moved by a prescribed amount on the mounting face of the stage part 11 by the driving means 41 is moved to a position of the input hole 13, the rod-shaped material 100 is inputted into a holding furnace in which a die casting material is held by dropping the rod-shaped material 100 from the input hole 13 toward a downward direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a material feeding device and a material feeding system. [Background technology]

[0002] A known die-casting method involves injecting molten metal into a cavity formed in a pair of openable and closable molds, then cooling and hardening the molten metal to form a die-cast product. In this type of die-casting method, solid die-casting metal is introduced into a holding furnace, where it is melted into a molten metal and held there. The molten metal is then supplied from the holding furnace to the cavity. However, various materials are added to the molten metal in the holding furnace to improve the quality of the molten metal.

[0003] For example, when the molten metal is an aluminum alloy, strontium is added. By adding strontium to the molten aluminum alloy, the aluminum structure becomes finer when the molten metal is cooled and hardened, resulting in a hard and ductile aluminum alloy. However, since strontium oxidizes and is depleted in the aluminum while held in a holding furnace, it must be added continuously to the molten aluminum alloy.

[0004] Therefore, in the field of die casting, there is a need for a device that can continuously and sequentially add various materials to a molten metal in a holding furnace. A conventionally known material addition device is, for example, that described in Patent Document 1 below. The material addition device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below discloses a mechanism for adding material to a holding furnace by horizontally extruding a block-shaped material with an extrusion cylinder. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-224812 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, strontium material comes in various shapes in addition to the block-shaped material disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1. For example, rod-shaped strontium is available as a material that is continuously added to molten aluminum alloy. However, for rod-shaped strontium, conventional material charging devices such as those disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot be used as they are, and a new material charging device suitable for rod-shaped strontium must be developed.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems existing in the prior art described above, and its object is to provide a material charging device that can be used when charging rod-shaped materials into a holding furnace that holds die-casting metal. Another object of the present invention is to provide a material charging system that can optimally operate a material charging device that can be used with rod-shaped materials. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention will be described below. In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, reference numbers in the accompanying drawings are added in parentheses, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated forms.

[0009] The material feeding device (10) according to the present invention comprises a stage section (11) having a placement surface on which a rod-shaped material (100) is placed and on which the rod-shaped material (100) moves, a ratchet gear (21) having a plurality of holding holes (23) for holding the rod-shaped material (100) in a vertically upright state on the placement surface of the stage section (11) and having a plurality of ratchet teeth (22) formed on its outer periphery and rotatably installed on the stage section (11), and ratchet pawls (42, 52) that mesh with the ratchet teeth (22) formed on the ratchet gear (21), and by driving the ratchet pawl (42) to rotate the ratchet gear (21) by a predetermined rotation angle in only one rotation direction, the stage section (11) is and a driving means (41) for moving the rod-shaped material (100) erected on the mounting surface of the stage section (11) by a predetermined distance on the mounting surface, wherein an area (12) in which the rod-shaped material (100) moves on the mounting surface of the stage section (11) is formed with one input hole (13) having an opening dimension that allows the rod-shaped material (100) in an erected state to pass through, and when the rod-shaped material (100) has been moved by the driving means (41) by a predetermined distance on the mounting surface of the stage section (11) to the position of the input hole (13), the rod-shaped material (100) falls downward from the input hole (13), thereby feeding the rod-shaped material (100) into a holding furnace in which metal for die casting is held.

[0010] In the material feeding device (10) according to the present invention, the ratchet pawls (42, 52) of the driving means (41) can include a driving ratchet pawl (42) for driving the ratchet gear (21) to rotate, and a holding ratchet pawl (52) for determining the rotation direction of the ratchet gear (21) and preventing the ratchet gear (21) from rotating.

[0011] Furthermore, in the material feeding device (10) according to the present invention, a material holding section (31) can be arranged above or below the ratchet gear (21), which has the same number of holding holes (33) as the holding holes (23) of the ratchet gear (21) and rotates together with the ratchet gear (21) when the ratchet gear (21) rotates relative to the stage section (11).

[0012] Furthermore, the material feeding device (10) according to the present invention may be provided with remaining number detection sensors (61, 62, 63) that detect the remaining number of rod-shaped materials (100) when the number of rod-shaped materials (100) held by the plurality of holding holes (23) of the ratchet gear (21) falls below a predetermined number.

[0013] The material feeding system (200) according to the present invention includes any one of the material feeding devices (10) described above, a control unit (202) consisting of a computer (201) that controls the drive of the material feeding device (10), feeding amount setting buttons (204a, 204b) that set the feeding amount of the rod-shaped material (100) corresponding to the feeding amount of the die-casting metal to be fed into the holding furnace, and a display unit (203) that displays a feeding operation schedule based on the feeding amount of the rod-shaped material (100) set by the feeding amount setting buttons (204a, 204b), and is characterized in that the control unit (202) consisting of the computer (201) executes drive control of the material feeding device (10) corresponding to the feeding operation schedule. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a material charging device that can be used when charging rod-shaped materials into a holding furnace that holds die-casting metal, and it is also possible to realize a material charging system that can optimally operate a material charging device that can be used with rod-shaped materials. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of the exterior of a material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the left side. [Figure 2] 1 is a top view showing the appearance of a material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above. [Figure 3] This is a diagram showing the stage portion that constitutes the material feeding device of this embodiment, where the partial view (a) in the diagram shows a top view, the partial view (b) shows a right side view, and the partial view (c) shows a rear view. [Figure 4] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a ratchet gear constituting the material feeding device according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1B is a right side view. [Figure 5] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a material holding section that constitutes a material feeding device according to the present embodiment, with FIG. 1A showing a top view and FIG. 1B showing a right side view. [Figure 6] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a material input system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7] 1 is a diagram showing an operation panel having a feeding amount setting button provided in the material feeding system according to the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 8] 10 is a diagram illustrating table information showing instruction contents stored in a control unit of the material input system according to the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 9] 10 is a diagram showing an input work schedule displayed on a display unit provided in the material input system according to the present embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the inventions according to the claims, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0017] First, a material feeding device 10 according to this embodiment will be described using FIGS. 1 to 5. Here, FIG. 1 is an external side view of the material feeding device according to this embodiment as seen from the left side, and FIG. 2 is an external top view of the material feeding device according to this embodiment as seen from the top side. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a stage part constituting the material feeding device according to this embodiment, with (a) the top view, (b) the right side view, and (c) the rear view. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a ratchet gear constituting the material feeding device according to this embodiment, with (a) the top view and (b) the right side view. Furthermore, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a material holding part constituting the material feeding device according to this embodiment, with (a) the top view and (b) the right side view.

[0018] In this specification, for the sake of convenience, the directions of the material feeding device 10 are defined as shown in Figures 1 and 2. However, these directions do not limit the directions when the material feeding device 10 according to this embodiment is in use. In other words, the directions of "front, back, up, down, left, right" shown in Figures 1 and 2 are determined solely for the sake of convenience.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, a rod-shaped material that is charged into a holding furnace (not shown) using a material charging device 10 according to this embodiment is a round rod-shaped strontium billet 100 having a circular vertical cross section.

[0020] The material feeding device 10 according to this embodiment has a stage portion 11, a ratchet gear 21, a material holding portion 31, and a driving means 41 as main components.

[0021] The stage 11 is a plate-like member that has a mounting surface on which the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 is placed and on which the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 moves. As shown in Fig. 3, on the upper surface of the stage 11, a donut-shaped region 12 indicated by hatching is the region 12 through which the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 moves in an upright position on the mounting surface of the stage 11. This region 12 is formed with one input hole 13 having an opening dimension that allows the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 in an upright position to pass through.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 4 , the ratchet gear 21 is a gear member having a plurality of ratchet teeth 22 formed on its outer periphery. The ratchet gear 21 also has a plurality of holding holes 23 formed therein for holding rod-shaped strontium billets 100. By inserting the rod-shaped strontium billets 100 into the holding holes 23, the rod-shaped strontium billets 100 can be placed upright in the donut-shaped region 12 on the mounting surface of the stage 11. The ratchet gear 21 has the same number of holding holes 23 and ratchet teeth 22. In the ratchet gear 21 of this embodiment, the number of holding holes 23 and the number of ratchet teeth 22 are each 18. This configuration indicates that a maximum of 17 rod-shaped strontium billets 100 can be set, excluding the portion overlapping with the input hole 13.

[0023] The ratchet gear 21 having the above-described configuration is rotatably installed on the upper surface of the stage portion 11, as shown in FIG. 2, and by inserting the rod-shaped strontium billet 100 into the multiple holding holes 23, it is possible to hold the rod-shaped strontium billet 100 in an upright position in the vertical direction on the mounting surface of the stage portion 11, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0024] 1, a material holding portion 31 is disposed above the ratchet gear 21, which rotates together with the ratchet gear 21 when the ratchet gear 21 rotates relative to the stage portion 11. As shown in FIG. 5, this material holding portion 31 is configured as a circular plate-shaped member having 18 holding holes 33, which is the same number as the holding holes 23 of the ratchet gear 21. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, two material holding portions 31 are disposed above the ratchet gear 21, and the holding holes 23 of the ratchet gear 21 and the holding holes 33 of the material holding portions 31 cooperate to stably set up a round bar-shaped strontium billet 100 upright in the region 12 on the mounting surface of the stage portion 11, and the strontium billet 100 can be moved.

[0025] The driving means 41 has two ratchet pawls: a driving ratchet pawl 42 and a holding ratchet pawl 52. As shown in FIG. 2, the driving ratchet pawl 42 is connected to an air cylinder 43, and is capable of reciprocating movement in the direction indicated by the symbol α by the reciprocating driving force exerted by the air cylinder 43. The driving ratchet pawl 42 is also rotatable within an angular range of angle θ1 around a fulcrum 42a. A coil spring (not shown) is disposed at the position of the fulcrum 42a, and the elastic force exerted by this coil spring (not shown) keeps the driving ratchet pawl 42 pressed toward the ratchet gear 21. In this state, the driving ratchet pawl 42 and the ratchet teeth 22 of the ratchet gear 21 are engaged with each other, as indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 2.

[0026] When the air cylinder 43 is driven to move the driving ratchet pawl 42 forward diagonally to the left from a state in which the driving ratchet pawl 42 is engaged with the ratchet teeth 22 of the ratchet gear 21, the driving ratchet pawl 42 will move away from the engaged ratchet tooth 22 and attempt to engage with the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22. At this time, the driving ratchet pawl 42 will slide against the wall surface of the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22 while attempting to overcome said wall surface, causing the ratchet tooth 22 to rotate in a direction away from the ratchet gear 21 against the elastic force of a coil spring (not shown) located at the fulcrum 42a. This rotational state is indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 2.

[0027] When the driving ratchet pawl 42 climbs over the wall surface of the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22 and meshes with the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22, the air cylinder 43 is driven again to move the driving ratchet pawl 42 backward diagonally to the right, thereby rotating the ratchet gear 21 by the driving ratchet pawl 42. In this embodiment, since the number of ratchet teeth 22 formed on the ratchet gear 21 is 18, the amount of rotation angle of the ratchet gear 21 rotated by one rotation drive by the driving ratchet pawl 42 is 360° / 18=20°, and the rotation direction is clockwise when viewed from above.

[0028] Furthermore, when the drive ratchet pawl 42 is advanced diagonally forward to the left as described above, the drive ratchet pawl 42 attempts to overcome the wall surface of the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22 and slides against it, causing the ratchet gear 21 to receive a force that rotates it counterclockwise in a top view. However, unless the ratchet gear 21 is designed to rotate only clockwise in a top view, the drive ratchet pawl 42 cannot engage with the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22. Therefore, in this embodiment, a retaining ratchet pawl 52 is provided, which is configured so that the ratchet gear 21 rotates only clockwise in a top view and does not rotate counterclockwise in a top view. In other words, the retaining ratchet pawl 52 in this embodiment is a member that determines the rotational direction of the ratchet gear 21 and prevents the ratchet gear 21 from rotating.

[0029] As a specific configuration of the holding ratchet pawl 52, as shown in Fig. 2, the holding ratchet pawl 52 is immovably fixed to the upper surface of the stage portion 11. The holding ratchet pawl 52 is rotatable within an angular range of angle θ2 around a fulcrum 52a. A coil spring (not shown) is disposed at the position of the fulcrum 52a, and the elastic force exerted by the coil spring (not shown) keeps the holding ratchet pawl 52 pressed toward the ratchet gear 21. In this state, the holding ratchet pawl 52 and the ratchet teeth 22 of the ratchet gear 21 are engaged with each other as shown by the solid lines in Fig. 2.

[0030] When the ratchet gear 21 is rotated clockwise in a top view by the drive ratchet pawl 42, the retaining ratchet pawl 52 separates from the ratchet tooth 22 with which it was meshing and comes into sliding contact with the wall surface of the adjacent (rear) ratchet tooth 22. At this time, the retaining ratchet pawl 52 is pushed in a direction away from the ratchet gear 21 by the wall surface of the adjacent (rear) ratchet tooth 22 while in sliding contact with it, causing it to rotate. The state in which the retaining ratchet pawl 52 is pushed in a direction away from the ratchet gear 21 and rotates is shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2. As the rotation of the ratchet gear 21 continues due to the drive ratchet pawl 42, the retaining ratchet pawl 52 climbs over the wall surface of the adjacent (rear) ratchet tooth 22 and meshes with the adjacent (rear) ratchet tooth 22. At almost the same time, the drive ratchet pawl 42 and the adjacent (front) ratchet tooth 22 are brought into mesh with each other, and then the ratchet gear 21 is rotated by a rotation angle of 20°.

[0031] As described above, the driving means 41 having two ratchet pawls, the driving ratchet pawl 42 and the holding ratchet pawl 52, can drive the two ratchet pawls to rotate the ratchet gear 21 in only one rotational direction (clockwise when viewed from above) by a predetermined rotational angle (20°), thereby moving the round rod-shaped strontium billet 100 standing on the support surface of the stage section 11 by a predetermined amount on the support surface.

[0032] When the rod-shaped strontium billet 100 standing on the mounting surface of the stage part 11 is moved a predetermined distance on the mounting surface by the driving means 41, one strontium billet 100 moves to the position of the input hole 13 formed in the stage part 11 and falls downward from the input hole 13. This state is shown by the dashed line in Figure 1.

[0033] 1, in the material charging device 10 of this embodiment, the mounting surface of the stage unit 11 is disposed at an angle relative to the ground surface G. That is, the mounting surface of the stage unit 11 according to this embodiment is disposed at an angle relative to the surface of the molten metal held in the holding furnace. Therefore, when the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 falls downward from the charging hole 13, the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 is charged at an angle relative to the surface of the molten metal in the holding furnace, and therefore is less likely to impact the surface of the molten metal, making it possible to smoothly charge the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 into the molten metal.

[0034] Furthermore, if the mounting surface of the stage 11 is arranged horizontally with respect to the ground surface G, the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 will be located directly above the molten metal held in the holding furnace, and the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 will be subjected to the thermal effect of the molten metal. However, if the mounting surface of the stage 11 is arranged diagonally at an angle with respect to the ground surface G, as in this embodiment, the thermal effect of the molten metal on the bar-shaped strontium billet 100 can be reduced or avoided, which is preferable.

[0035] Furthermore, the material feeding device 10 of this embodiment can be provided with a remaining number detection sensor 61 that detects the remaining number of round bar-shaped strontium billets 100, as shown in Fig. 2. The remaining number detection sensor 61 shown in Fig. 1 can detect that the remaining number of strontium billets 100 is two or less when the number of round bar-shaped strontium billets 100 held by the multiple holding holes 23 of the ratchet gear 21 falls below three. Furthermore, by combining the remaining number detection sensor 61 with an alarm device, it is also possible to notify the operator of the material feeding device 10 that the remaining number of strontium billets 100 is low.

[0036] While remaining number detection sensor 61 shown by a solid line in Fig. 2 is positioned at a location where it can detect that the number of remaining strontium billets 100 held by the plurality of holding holes 23 of ratchet gear 21 falls below three, the remaining number detection sensor of the present invention can be installed in various locations. For example, remaining number detection sensor 62 shown by a dashed line in Fig. 2 may be positioned at a location where it can detect that the number of remaining strontium billets 100 is 0 (zero) when the number of remaining strontium billets 100 held by the plurality of holding holes 23 of ratchet gear 21 falls below one. Furthermore, remaining number detection sensor 63 shown by a dashed line in Fig. 2 can be positioned at a location where it can detect strontium billets 100 located at the position of insertion hole 13, and can be used as a sensor for detecting the occurrence of an abnormality or the number of inserted strontium billets 100.

[0037] The material feeding device 10 of this embodiment has been described above with reference to Figures 1 to 5. Next, with reference to Figures 6 to 9, an example of the configuration of a material feeding system 200 that can be configured using the material feeding device 10 of this embodiment will be described.

[0038] Here, Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the material input system according to this embodiment. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an operation panel having a input amount setting button provided in the material input system according to this embodiment. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of table information showing instruction contents stored in the control unit provided in the material input system according to this embodiment. Furthermore, Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an input work schedule displayed on the display unit provided in the material input system according to this embodiment.

[0039] The material input system 200 according to this embodiment is configured to include the material input device 10 according to the embodiment described above, and a computer 201 and an operation panel 204 that are wirelessly connected to this material input device 10 via a line connection device 205. In this embodiment, the line connection device 205 that wirelessly connects the material input device 10 with the computer 201 and the operation panel 204 uses, for example, a network repeater, but the connection means for the various devices that make up the material input system 200 may be wired or wireless. As for the wireless connection means, any connection means may be used, such as a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) connection or a Bluetooth (registered trademark) connection.

[0040] The computer 201 is configured to have a control unit 202 that controls the drive of the material feeding device 10, and a display unit 203 that displays the processing contents and instructions of the control unit 202. The control unit 202 is equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs calculations within the computer 201, and also stores table information showing instructions to the material feeding device 10 as shown in Fig. 8. The display unit 203 displays a feeding operation schedule for round bar-shaped strontium billets 100 as shown in Fig. 9.

[0041] Meanwhile, the operation panel 204 is provided with a plurality of input amount setting buttons 204a, 204b for setting the input amount of the round bar-shaped strontium billet 100 corresponding to the input amount of the solid die-casting metal to be input into a holding furnace (not shown). In this embodiment, of the multiple input amount setting buttons 204a, 204b arranged on the operation panel 204, the input amount setting buttons 204a arranged in a vertical line of three on the right side are input amount setting buttons for "return material", and the input amount setting buttons 204b arranged in a vertical line of three on the left side are input amount setting buttons for "ingot".

[0042] The amount of strontium billet 100 charged using the material charging system 200 according to this embodiment varies depending on the type of solid die-casting metal being charged into the holding furnace. For example, as illustrated in the table information shown in FIG. 8 , the amount of strontium billet 100 charged varies depending on whether the solid die-casting metal being charged into the holding furnace is a new "ingot" or a recycled "return material." In other words, with regard to "natural loss," the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace naturally decreases over time due to oxidation. Therefore, by charging one strontium billet 100 every 180 minutes, for example, the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace can be maintained within a predetermined reference value. Regarding "ingots," if 100 kg of new aluminum ingots are replenished into the holding furnace, the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace can be maintained within a predetermined standard value by adding one strontium billet 100 after 40 minutes, for example. The 40 minutes in this case correspond to the time it takes for the ingots to melt. Regarding "returned material," if scrap metal, which is inevitably generated during the die casting process, is reused, the recycled returned material already contains strontium. In this case, if 150 kg of returned material is replenished, for example, by adding one strontium billet 100 after 30 minutes, the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace can be maintained within a predetermined standard value.

[0043] To explain the operation method of the material feeding system 200 according to the present embodiment, when the solid die-casting metal fed into the holding furnace is a virgin aluminum ingot that does not contain strontium, the operator of the material feeding device 10 sets the amount of the "ingot" by pressing the feeding amount setting button 204b located on the left side of the operation panel 204 according to the weight of the aluminum ingot. For example, if the amount of the "ingot" is 300 kg, the operator can set 50 kg + 100 kg + 150 kg = 300 kg by pressing the three feeding amount setting buttons 204b arranged in a vertical row on the left side of FIG. 7. Information indicating that the amount of "ingot" set in this way is 300 kg is transmitted to the control unit 202 via the line connection device 205. Based on pre-stored table information (see FIG. 8), the control unit 202 calculates that 300 / 100=3 strontium billets 100 will be charged in 40 minutes, and displays the details of this charging work schedule on the display unit 203 (see FIG. 9), while issuing an operation command to the material charging device 10. Based on the operation command signal from the control unit 202, the material charging device 10 operates in accordance with the charging work schedule displayed on the display unit 203, thereby making it possible to maintain the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace within a predetermined reference value.

[0044] Furthermore, when the solid die-casting metal fed into the holding furnace is recycled material, i.e., "returned material," the operator of the material feeding device 10 sets the amount of "returned material" by pressing the feeding amount setting buttons 204a arranged in a vertical column on the right side of the operation panel 204 according to the feeding weight of the "returned material." For example, if the amount of "returned material" is 300 kg, the operator can set the "returned material" to 50 kg + 100 kg + 150 kg = 300 kg by pressing the three feeding amount setting buttons 204a arranged in a vertical column on the right side in FIG. 7. Information indicating that the amount of "returned material" set in this way is 300 kg is transmitted to the control unit 202 via the line connection device 205. Based on pre-stored and set table information (see FIG. 8), the control unit 202 calculates that 300 / 150 = two strontium billets 100 will be fed in 30 minutes, and displays the contents of this feeding operation schedule on the display unit 203 (see FIG. 9) while issuing an operation command to the material feeding device 10. The material feeding device 10 operates according to the feeding work schedule displayed on the display unit 203 based on the operation command signal from the control unit 202, thereby maintaining the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace within a predetermined standard value.

[0045] Furthermore, even if the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace is once set within a predetermined reference value, the amount of strontium in the molten metal will naturally decrease. Regarding this natural decrease, the control unit 202 calculates, based on pre-stored table information (see FIG. 8), that one strontium billet 100 be charged every 180 minutes, displays the details of this charging schedule on the display unit 203 (see FIG. 9), and issues an operation command to the material charging device 10. Based on the operation command signal from the control unit 202, the material charging device 10 operates in accordance with the charging schedule displayed on the display unit 203, thereby constantly maintaining the amount of strontium in the molten metal held in the holding furnace within the predetermined reference value.

[0046] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments.

[0047] For example, in the above-described embodiments of the material charging system shown in Figures 6 to 9, the rod-shaped material according to the present invention has been described as a round rod-shaped strontium billet 100, but the shape of the strontium billet 100 may be a shape other than a round rod. For example, it may be a square rod-shaped strontium billet with a square cross section, or a rod-shaped strontium billet with a polygonal cross section other than a square.

[0048] Furthermore, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the mounting surface of the stage unit 11 is disposed at an angle to the ground surface G, but the mounting surface of the stage unit 11 may be horizontal to the ground surface G.

[0049] Furthermore, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the material holding portion 31 has the same number of holding holes 33 as the number of holding holes 23 of the ratchet gear 21, and rotates together with the ratchet gear 21 when the ratchet gear 21 rotates relative to the stage portion 11, and is disposed above the ratchet gear 21. However, the material holding portion of the present invention may be disposed below the ratchet gear 21.

[0050] It is clear from the claims that such modifications and improvements may also be included within the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 10 material feeding device, 11 stage section, 12 area, 13 feeding hole, 21 ratchet gear, 22 ratchet teeth, 23 holding hole, 31 material holding section, 33 holding hole, 41 driving means, 42 driving ratchet claw, 42a fulcrum, 43 air cylinder, 52 holding ratchet claw, 52a fulcrum, 61, 62, 63 remaining number detection sensor, 100 (round bar-shaped) strontium billet (rod-shaped material), 200 material feeding system, 201 computer, 202 control section, 203 display section, 204 operation panel, 204a (for returned material) feeding amount setting button, 204b (for ingot) feeding amount setting button, 205 line connection device, G ground surface.

Claims

1. a stage unit having a placement surface on which a rod-shaped material is placed and on which the rod-shaped material moves; a ratchet gear having a plurality of holding holes for holding the rod-shaped material in an upright position on the mounting surface of the stage, and having a plurality of ratchet teeth formed on its outer periphery, the ratchet gear being rotatably installed relative to the stage; a driving means having a ratchet pawl that engages with the ratchet teeth formed on the ratchet gear, and driving the ratchet pawl to rotate the ratchet gear by a predetermined rotation angle in only one rotation direction, thereby moving the rod-shaped material erected on the mounting surface of the stage section by a predetermined amount on the mounting surface; A material input device comprising: a feed hole having an opening dimension that allows the rod-shaped material in an upright state to pass through is formed in an area where the rod-shaped material moves on the mounting surface of the stage section; A material feeding device characterized in that when the rod-shaped material is moved a predetermined amount on the loading surface of the stage section by the driving means and reaches the position of the feeding hole, the rod-shaped material falls downward from the feeding hole, thereby feeding the rod-shaped material into a holding furnace in which metal for die casting is held.

2. The material feeding device according to claim 1, The ratchet pawl of the driving means is a driving ratchet pawl for rotating the ratchet gear; a retaining ratchet pawl that determines the rotation direction of the ratchet gear and prevents the ratchet gear from rotating; A material feeding device comprising:

3. The material feeding device according to claim 1, A material feeding device characterized in that a material holding section is arranged above or below the ratchet gear, the material holding section having the same number of holding holes as the ratchet gear and rotating together with the ratchet gear when the ratchet gear rotates relative to the stage section.

4. The material feeding device according to claim 1, A material feeding device characterized by having a remaining number detection sensor that detects the remaining number of rod-shaped materials when the number of rod-shaped materials held by the multiple holding holes of the ratchet gear falls below a predetermined number.

5. The material feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a control unit including a computer that controls the drive of the material feeding device; a charging amount setting button for setting the charging amount of the rod-shaped material according to the charging amount of the die-casting metal to be charged into the holding furnace; a display unit that displays a feeding operation schedule based on the feeding amount of the rod-shaped material set by the feeding amount setting button; and A material input system, characterized in that the control unit, which is made up of a computer, executes drive control of the material input device in accordance with the input work schedule.

Images