Removable Melt Flow Passage in Metal Melt Pumps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional metal melt pumps suffer from high maintenance costs and downtime due to damage and leakage in the pump chamber, which requires complete replacement, and instability when installed near the furnace bottom.
Innovation Solution
A metal melt pump design with a removably attached melt flow passage body and a magnetic field device that allows for easy replacement and maintenance of the flow passage, enabling efficient circulation and ejection of metal melt without the need for a leg body, using a magnetic force to drive the melt through a separate flow passage body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the pump chamber is formed by the outer cylinder, inner cylinder, and spacer as a main body portion, then the structural integrity is improved, but the maintainability deteriorates because the pump chamber cannot be renewed separately
Solution Approach 1:
The pump chamber is segmented into two replaceable parts: the liner (inner cylinder) and the spacer. The liner can be removed and replaced independently from the outer cylinder, allowing maintenance without replacing the entire pump chamber structure. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling separate renewal of wear-prone components while preserving the overall structural integrity of the pump chamber.
2Productivity
If the suction port is provided on the bottom surface of the outer cylinder, then the melt suction is improved, but the stability deteriorates because the pump requires a leg body that increases footprint and reduces stability
Solution Approach 1:
The suction port is relocated from the bottom surface to the side surface of the outer cylinder. This dimensional change in port positioning allows the pump to be installed directly on the furnace bottom without requiring elevated leg bodies, thereby improving stability while maintaining effective melt suction through the side inlet.
3Ease of manufacture
If the pump chamber components are fixed as a main body portion, then the manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the maintenance cost increases due to complete replacement requirement
Solution Approach 1:
The liner is extracted as a separate, removable component from the pump chamber assembly. This allows the liner to be taken out and replaced independently when worn or damaged, eliminating the need for complete pump chamber replacement and reducing both downtime and maintenance costs while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
4Productivity
If the leg body height is increased to reduce suction resistance, then the melt suction performance is improved, but the stability deteriorates because the pump becomes difficult to secure inside the furnace
Solution Approach 1:
The suction port is repositioned from the bottom to the side of the outer cylinder, changing the spatial dimension of melt intake. This allows the pump to achieve effective suction performance without requiring elevated installation on long leg bodies, thereby maintaining low suction resistance while improving installation stability within the furnace.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design reduces maintenance costs and downtime by allowing quick replacement of the flow passage body, maintains high performance, and ensures stable operation without increasing the pump's footprint, thus enhancing maintainability and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a metal melt pump that drives non-ferrous metal melt (hereinafter simply referred to as 'metal melt' or 'melt'), such as conductors, e.g., Al, Cu, and Zn or an alloy of at least two of them, or an Mg alloy, using an electromagnetic force
Implementation Method 2
the magnetic field device includes a plurality of permanent magnets, the plurality of permanent magnets each have an upper face magnetic pole and a lower face magnetic pole that are magnetized such that an upper face portion and a lower face portion become magnetic poles
Data Source
AI summary
A metal melt pump includes a bottomed cylinder body including a side wall and a bottom wall, a melt flow passage body including a melt flow passage that connects a suction port and an ejection port and being a body separate from the bottomed cylinder body, and a melt driving part including a magnetic field device and adapted to drive metal melt in the melt flow passage. The magnetic field device includes a plurality of permanent magnets arranged such that different magnetic poles are alternately arrayed along a circumference of a shaft, and the melt flow passage body is removably provided on the bottomed cylinder body at a position below the bottomed cylinder body and where a magnetic force line from one of the permanent magnets penetrates through the bottom wall downward to reach the melt flow passage.