U.S. patent application number 14/365826 was filed with the patent office on 2014-12-04 for die casting device and method for amorphous alloy.
The applicant listed for this patent is BYD Company Limited, Shenzhen BYD Auto R&D Company Limited. Invention is credited to Faliang Zhang.
Application Number | 20140352907 14/365826 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46336700 |
Filed Date | 2014-12-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140352907 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zhang; Faliang |
December 4, 2014 |
DIE CASTING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR AMORPHOUS ALLOY
Abstract
A die casting apparatus (100) for amorphous alloy comprises a
stationary die (1) and a movable die (2); a sealed cabin (4)
difining a sealing chamber (40); a protecting gas supplying device
connected with the sealed cabin (4) for supplying the protecting
gas into the sealing chamber (40); a melting device (5) for
receiving and melting amorphous alloy; a feed sleeve (6) having a
molten material inlet (60), with a plunger (7) positioned therein
for injecting the molted amorphous alloy from the melting device
(5) into a die chamber via the molten material inlet (60); a
driving device (8) connected with the plunger (7) for driving the
plunger (7) in the feed sleeve (6); and a gas purifying device (10)
communicated with the sealed cabin (4) for purifying the gas from
the sealed cabin (4). A method of die casting an amorphous alloy
comprises the steps of purifying a sealing chamber (40) defined in
a sealed cabin (4); supplying protecting gas into the sealing
chamber (40) to maintain the protecting gas in the sealing chamber
(40) to a positive pressure; feeding amorphous alloy into a melting
device (5) to obtain the molten amorphous alloy; feeding the molten
amorphous alloy into a die chamber (3); and opening the mated
stationary and movable dies to extract at least a component. The
apparatus and method use positive pressure protecting gas without
the need to form high degree vacuum, thus reducing manufacturing
and maintenance costs.
Inventors: |
Zhang; Faliang; (Guangdong,
CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Shenzhen BYD Auto R&D Company Limited
BYD Company Limited |
Shenzhen, Guangdong
Pingshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong |
|
CN
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
46336700 |
Appl. No.: |
14/365826 |
Filed: |
December 13, 2012 |
PCT Filed: |
December 13, 2012 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CN2012/086494 |
371 Date: |
June 16, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
164/61 ; 164/113;
164/250.1; 164/253; 164/259; 164/312; 164/513; 164/514;
164/66.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B22D 17/12 20130101;
B22D 35/04 20130101; B22D 27/20 20130101; B22D 17/14 20130101; B22D
17/2227 20130101; B22D 17/10 20130101; C22C 16/00 20130101; C22C
1/002 20130101; B22D 29/00 20130101; C22C 45/00 20130101; B22D
18/02 20130101; B22D 41/00 20130101; B22D 17/04 20130101; C22C
30/00 20130101; C22C 45/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
164/61 ; 164/259;
164/312; 164/513; 164/514; 164/250.1; 164/253; 164/113;
164/66.1 |
International
Class: |
B22D 17/04 20060101
B22D017/04; B22D 17/14 20060101 B22D017/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 15, 2011 |
CN |
201110421420.3 |
Claims
1. A die casting apparatus for an amorphous alloy, comprising: a
stationary die and a movable die defining a die chamber when mated
with each other; a sealed cabin defining a sealing chamber, the
sealing chamber having a feeding port; a protecting gas supplying
device connected with the sealed cabin for supplying a protecting
gas into the sealing chamber so that the protecting gas inside the
sealing chamber has a positive pressure; a melting device disposed
within the sealed cabin for receiving and melting amorphous alloy
fed from the feeding port; a feed sleeve communicated with the die
chamber having a molten material inlet; a plunger positioned in the
feed sleeve for injecting the molten amorphous alloy from the
melting device into the die chamber via the molten material inlet;
a driving device connected with the plunger for driving the plunger
in the feed sleeve; and a gas treatment device communicated with
the sealed cabin for the treatment of the gas in the sealed
cabin.
2. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gas treatment
device comprises a device selected from the group consisting of a
vacuum suction device, a gas purifier and the combinations
thereof.
3. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gas in the
sealed cabin contains at least one selected from the group
consisting of N.sub.2, O.sub.2, H.sub.2O and CO.sub.2.
4. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the die casting
apparatus is configured into a horizontal type with the stationary
and the movable dies being disposed outside the sealed cabin.
5. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the die casting
apparatus is configured into a vertical type with the stationary
and movable dies being disposed inside the sealed cabin.
6. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a
sealing member disposed between the stationary and movable
dies.
7. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the feed sleeve is
communicated with the die chamber via a communicating passage in
the stationary die.
8. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the protecting gas
is at least one of inert gases.
9. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the protecting gas
inside the sealing chamber has a pressure between 1 atm and 1.1
atm.
10. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the protecting
gas has a density no less than air density.
11. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the melting
device comprises: a crucible; and a heating device for heating the
crucible.
12. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating
device is selected from the group consisting of an induction
heating device, an electric arc heating device, and a resistor
heating device.
13. The die casting apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a die
chamber vacuum suction device communicated with the die chamber for
performing vacuum suction thereto.
14. A method of die casting an amorphous alloy, comprising the
steps of: treating gas in a sealing chamber defined in a sealed
cabin; supplying a protecting gas into the sealing chamber to
maintain the protecting gas in the sealing chamber to a positive
pressure; feeding amorphous alloy into a melting device disposed
inside the sealing chamber to obtain the molten amorphous alloy
while the protecting gas filled within the sealing chamber
overflowing outside; feeding the molten amorphous alloy into a die
chamber defined by a mated stationary die and a movable die via a
feed sleeve with a plunger positioned therein; and opening the
mated stationary and movable dies to extract at least a component
formed at least partially of the amorphous alloy from inside the
die chamber while the protecting gas filled within the sealing
chamber overflowing outside.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the treating of the gas is
performed by vacuum suction of the sealing chamber via a vacuum
suction device or purifying gas inside the sealing chamber by a gas
purifier.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the protecting gas inside the
sealing chamber has a pressure between 1 atm and 1.1 atm.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein the protecting gas is at least
one of inert gases.
18. (canceled)
19. The method of claim 14, wherein the amorphous alloy is
Zr.sub.aAl.sub.bCu.sub.cM.sub.d, where M is at least one selected
from the group consisting of Nb, Sc, Ta, Ni, Co, Y, Ag, Fe, Sn, Hf,
Ti, Be and rare earth elements, and a, b, and c are atomic
percentages, where 30.ltoreq.a.ltoreq.70, 5.ltoreq.b.ltoreq.35,
5.ltoreq.c.ltoreq.40, and 5.ltoreq.d.ltoreq.30.
20-21. (canceled)
22. The method of claim 14, wherein the gas in the sealing chamber
contains at least one of N.sub.2, O.sub.2, H.sub.2O and CO.sub.2
which has a concentration less than 10000 ppm.
23. (canceled)
24. The method of claim 14, wherein the metallic alloy is fed into
the melting device via a feeding port on the sealed cabin while the
protecting gas filled within the sealing chamber overflowing
outside via the feeding port; and the component is extracted from
the die chamber via an output port on the sealed cabin while the
protecting gas filled within the sealing chamber overflowing
outside via the output port.
25. (canceled)
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to and benefits of Chinese
Patent Application Serial No. 201110421420.3, filed with the State
Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of P. R. China on Dec. 15,
2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by
reference.
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of amorphous
alloy, more particularly to a die casting device and a die casting
process for amorphous alloy.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The statements in this section merely provide background
information related to the present disclosure and may not
constitute prior art.
[0004] Amorphous alloy materials are also termed as metallic glass.
Due to special structure of atoms constituting the alloy, the
amorphous alloy may possess excellent physical and chemical
properties, such as high yield strength, high hardness,
super-elasticity, high erosion resistance and high anti-corrosive
performance etc., different from conventional crystalline metal
material.
[0005] Meanwhile, the amorphous alloy also possess excellent die
casting performance due to the special structure and chemical
property. Because amorphous structure has to be formed during
molding, heterogeneous nucleation has to be prevented from
happening for the amorphous alloy. Because the amorphous alloy
normally contains active elements such as zirconium, aluminum,
magnesium, titanium, rare earths etc., the active elements may be
reactive with nonmetallic gas elements to form the nucleus of
heterogeneous nucleation, which may hinder the forming of the
amorphous structure or decrease the critical size of the amorphous
alloy tremendously.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,840 presents a vacuum die casting
technology, which may prevent molten amorphous alloy and alloy
elements during molding from oxidization by forming vacuum.
However, with the use of vacuum technology, especially with the
formation of high leveled vacuum as proposed, for example, in U.S.
Pat. No. 6,021,840, up to 1000 um Hg, costs relating thereto is
increased and the die casting period for the amorphous alloy is
extended, which may decrease manufacturing efficiency. Meanwhile,
the vacuum system has to be maintained with a sealing system which
may tremendously impact the continuity and convenience of operators
and increase complexity of manufacture.
SUMMARY
[0007] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify
key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter,
nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of
the claimed subject matter.
[0008] The present disclosure is aimed to solve at least one of the
problems existing in the art. In viewing thereof, a die casting
apparatus for an amorphous alloy may need to be provided, which may
have a simplified structure using positive pressure protecting gas
without the need to form high degree vacuum, thus reducing
manufacturing and maintenance costs.
[0009] In addition, a die casting method for an amorphous alloy may
need to be provided, which may have a simplified operating process
with lowered cost in addition to increased efficiency and shortened
manufacturing period.
[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a die
casting apparatus for an amorphous alloy may comprise: a stationary
die and a movable die defining a die chamber when mated with each
other; a sealed cabin defining a sealing chamber, the sealing
chamber having a feeding port; a protecting gas supplying device
connected with the sealed cabin for supplying the protecting gas
into the sealing chamber so that the protecting gas inside the
sealing chamber has a positive pressure; a melting device disposed
within the sealed cabin for receiving and melting amorphous alloy
fed from the feeding port; a feed sleeve communicated with the die
chamber having a molten material inlet, with a plunger positioned
therein for injecting the molten amorphous alloy from the melting
device into the die chamber via the molten material inlet; a
driving device connected with the plunger for driving the plunger
in the feed sleeve; and a gas purifying device communicated with
the sealed cabin for purifying the gas from the sealed cabin.
[0011] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a
method of die casting an amorphous alloy may comprise the steps of:
purifying a sealing chamber defined in a sealed cabin; supplying
protecting gas into the sealing chamber to maintain the protecting
gas in the sealing chamber to a positive pressure; feeding
amorphous alloy into a melting device disposed inside the sealing
chamber to obtain the molten amorphous alloy while the protecting
gas filled within the sealing chamber overflowing outside; feeding
the molten amorphous alloy into a die chamber defined by a mated
stationary die and a movable die via a feed sleeve with a plunger
positioned therein; and opening the mated stationary and movable
dies to extract at least a component formed at least partially of
the amorphous alloy from inside the die chamber while the
protecting gas filled within the sealing chamber overflowing
outside.
[0012] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the
sealing chamber may be purified first and then filled with
protecting gas having positive pressure, so that no external gas
may be entered therein during material feeding or component
exporting, which may effectively isolate the molten amorphous alloy
from contacting with the air. Thus, heterogeneous nucleation may be
prevented and the critical size of the amorphous alloy may be
increased tremendously. In addition, vacuum suction may not be
needed, which may reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs
accordingly.
[0013] Additional aspects and advantages of the embodiments of the
present disclosure will be given in part in the following
descriptions, become apparent in part from the following
descriptions, or be learned from the practice of the embodiments of
the present disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] These and other aspects and advantages of the disclosure
will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the
following descriptions taken in conjunction with the drawings in
which:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vertical type die casting
apparatus for an amorphous alloy according to an embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a horizontal type die casting
apparatus for an amorphous alloy according to an embodiment of the
present disclosure; and
[0017] FIG. 3 is schematic diagram of a method of die casting an
amorphous alloy according to a third embodiment of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in
detail in the following descriptions, examples of which are shown
in the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar elements
and elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like
reference numerals throughout the descriptions. The embodiments
described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings are
explanatory and illustrative, which are used to generally
understand the present disclosure. The embodiments shall not be
construed to limit the present disclosure.
[0019] Various embodiments and examples are provided in the
following description to implement different structures of the
present disclosure. In order to simplify the present disclosure,
certain elements and settings will be described. However, these
elements and settings are only examples and are not intend to limit
the present disclosure. In addition, reference numerals may be
repeated in different examples in the disclosure. This repeating is
for the purpose of simplification and clarity and does not refer to
relations between different embodiments and/or settings.
Furthermore, examples of different processes and materials are
provided in the present disclosure. However, it is appreciated for
those skilled in the art to understand that other processes and/or
materials may be also applied.
[0020] Moreover, a structure in which a first feature is "on" a
second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature
directly contacts the second feature and may include an embodiment
in which an additional feature is prepared between the first
feature and the second feature so that the first feature does not
directly contact the second feature.
[0021] In the following, a die casting apparatus 100 for an
amorphous alloy may be explained in detail with reference to
accompanying figures, where FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a
vertical type, and FIG. 2 shows a horizontal type. It should be
noted that the die casting apparatus 100 may be used for die
casting other active metals with similar properties to the
amorphous alloy, such as titanium alloy, or magnesium alloy
etc.
[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, the die casting apparatus 100 may
comprise a stationary die 1, a movable die 2, a sealed cabin 4, a
protecting gas supplying device (not shown), a melting device 5, a
feed sleeve 6, a driving device 8 and a purifying device 10.
[0023] To be specific, the stationary die 1 and the movable die 2
may be closed or opened, and define a die chamber when the
stationary die 1 and the movable die 2 may be mated with each
other. A sealing chamber 40 may be defined in the sealed cabin 4
and the sealed cabin 4 may have a feeding port 41 to feed the
amorphous alloy inside the sealing chamber 40. The protecting gas
supplying device may be connected with the sealed cabin 4 to supply
the protecting gas to the sealing chamber 40, and the protecting
gas inside the sealing chamber 40 may have a positive pressure,
which may effectively prevent external harmful gases from entering
into the sealing chamber 40. Alternatively, the protecting gas may
be at least one of inert gases, such as helium, neon, argon,
krypton, xenon, radon or the combination thereof.
[0024] In one embodiment, the melting device 5 may be disposed in
the sealed cabin 4 for receiving and melting the amorphous alloy
fed from the feeding port 41. The feed sleeve 6 may be communicated
with the die chamber 3, and the feed sleeve 6 may be formed with a
molten material inlet 60, and a plunger 7 for injecting the molten
amorphous alloy into the die chamber 3. The driving device 8 may be
connected with the plunger 7 for moving thereof inside the feed
sleeve 6, so that the molten amorphous alloy may be injected from
the feed sleeve 6 to the die chamber 3 for die casting. The
purifying device 10 may be connected with the sealed cabin 4 for
purifying the harmful gases inside the sealing chamber 40. And the
gas inside the sealing chamber 40 may contain harmful gases such as
N.sub.2, O.sub.2, H.sub.2O, CO.sub.2 or the combination thereof. In
one embodiment, the die casting apparatus 100 may be formed with an
output port 13 for outputting or exporting the amorphous alloy
after die casting. It should be noted that the output port 13 may
be formed on the sealed cabin 4 when the die casting apparatus 100
is a vertical type as shown in FIG. 1, and the output port 13 may
be formed on the stationary die 1 and/or the movable die when the
die casting apparatus 100 is a horizontal one, as shown in FIG. 2.
The details thereof will be described in detail hereinafter.
[0025] During die casting, firstly, the stationary die 1 and the
movable die 2 are mated with each other to form the die chamber 3,
and the purifying device 10 may purify the harmful gases in the
sealing chamber 40 so that the harmful gases in the sealing chamber
40 may have a concentration lower than a predetermined value. Then,
the protecting gas supplying device may supply the protecting gas
to the sealing chamber 40 until the protecting gas inside the
sealing chamber 40 may have a positive pressure, which may mean
that the pressure inside the sealing chamber 40 is higher than
environmental pressure. And the amorphous alloy may be sent to the
melting device 5 from the feeding port 41. Then, the feeding port
41 is closed, and the amorphous alloy is melted in the melting
device 5 to be sent to the feed sleeve 6 via the molten material
inlet 60, and the driving device 8 may drive the plunger 7 to
inject the molten amorphous alloy into the die chamber 3, and the
molten amorphous alloy may be shaped inside the die chamber 3. And
finally the stationary die 1 and the movable die 2 may be opened,
and the amorphous alloy after die casting may be extracted from the
output port 13.
[0026] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, by
providing the protecting gas supplying device and the purifying
device 10 and when the harmful gases inside the sealing chamber 40
are purified by the purifying device 10, the protecting gas
supplying device may supply the protecting gas to the sealing
chamber 40 and the protecting gas may maintain the positive
pressure so that the amorphous alloy may be effectively prevented
from contacting with the environmental air when the amorphous alloy
is fed to the melting device 5 via the feeding port 41 or when the
amorphous alloy after die casting is extracted via the output port
13, thus nucleus of heterogeneous nucleation formed by the reaction
between the molten amorphous alloy and the harmful gases may be
prevented, and the critical size of the amorphous alloy may be
greatly increased. In addition, the sealing chamber 40 may not need
to be performed with vacuum suction repeatedly, thus shortening
manufacturing period, achieving continuous production and enhancing
manufacturing efficiency. In addition, the die casting apparatus
100 has a simplified structure. By using the protecting gas with
positive pressure, high-level vacuum suction may not be needed,
thus further reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs
accordingly.
[0027] As shown in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the
purifying device 10 may be a vacuum suction device 101, a gas
purifier 102 or the combination thereof. In the embodiment shown in
FIG. 1, the purifying device 10 may be the combination of the
vacuum suction device 101 and the gas purifier 102. At this time,
when the harmful gases in the sealing chamber 40 may be purified,
the sealing chamber 40 may be vacuum suctioned and the protecting
gas may be filled in the sealing chamber 40 by the protecting gas
supplying device, and the residual harmful gases in the sealing
chamber 40 are repeatedly processed by the gas purifier 102 to
control the harmful gases to a concentration satisfying process
requirement, thus greatly decreasing the demands of the protecting
gas, reducing costs while increasing lifespan of the purifying
device 10.
[0028] However, the present disclosure is not limited hereto. The
purifying device 10 may be the vacuum suction device 101. At this
time, the sealed chamber 40 may be performed with vacuum suction
and then filled with protecting gas, so that the concentration of
the harmful gases in the sealing chamber 40 may be maintained to
minimum. And in one embodiment, the purifying device 10 may be the
gas purifier 102 only, and the protecting gas may be filled in the
sealing chamber 40 after the harmful gases in the sealing chamber
40 are purified by the gas purifier 102 to reduce the concentration
of the harmful gases in the sealing chamber 40.
[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, in one embodiment, the die casting
apparatus 100 may be configured as a horizontal one where the
stationary die 1 and the movable die 2 are disposed outside the
sealing cabin 4.
[0030] As shown in FIG. 2, the stationary die 1 and the movable die
2 may be disposed at the left side of the sealed cabin 4 and
deployed in a direction for the left to right. And the feed sleeve
6 may be disposed at the right side of the stationary die 1. And
the right end of the feed sleeve 6 may be disposed inside the
sealing chamber 40, and the left end thereof may be projected out
of the sealing chamber 40 to be communicated with the die chamber
3. And the plunger 7 may be reciprocally moved in the feed sleeve 6
to inject the molten amorphous alloy into the die chamber 3. And
the output port 13 may be disposed on the movable die 2 facing the
left end of the feed sleeve 6. When the component(s) at least
partially made of the amorphous alloy is extracted from the die
chamber 3, the protecting gas may be partially overflown from the
output port 13 by gravity, and the environmental air may not be
entered inside the sealing chamber 40.
[0031] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the die casting
apparatus 100 may be configured into a vertical one with the
stationary die 1 and the movable die 2 being disposed inside the
sealed cabin 4.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 1, the stationary die 1 and the movable die
2 may be vertically provided in the sealing chamber 4 in a
direction from bottom to upward. And the feed sleeve 6 may be
provided at the lower side of the stationary die 1 and communicated
with the die chamber 3. The feed sleeve 7 may be moved in the
vertical direction in the feed sleeve 6 to inject the molten
amorphous alloy into the die chamber 3. The output port 13 may be
disposed at the upper right portion of the sealing chamber 40.
However, the present disclosure is not limited hereto. The output
port 13 may be disposed at a top left portion or top portion of the
sealing chamber 40. At this time, the gravity of the protecting gas
may effectively prevent the environmental air from entering into
the sealing chamber 40.
[0033] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a vacuum sealing
member 11 may be disposed between the stationary die 1 and the
movable die 2 to further increase the sealing performance of the
die chamber 3.
[0034] In one embodiment, the feed sleeve 6 may be communicated
with the die chamber 3 via a communicating passage (not shown)
formed in the stationary die 1. Therefore, the simplified structure
may avoid the molten amorphous alloy from being exposed when
transporting from the feed sleeve 6 to the die chamber 3.
[0035] In one embodiment, the protecting gas in the sealing chamber
40 may have a pressure between 1 atmospheric pressure (atm) and 1.1
atmospheric pressure, so that the amorphous alloy may be
effectively prevented from contacting with the air when the
amorphous alloy is fed to the melting device 5 via the feeding port
41 or when the amorphous alloy after die casting is extracted from
the output port 13. In one embodiment, the protecting gas may have
a density not less than that of the environmental air, so that the
environmental gas may not be introduced into the sealing chamber 40
due to gravity when the amorphous alloy is fed to the melting
device 5 via the feeding port 41 or when the amorphous alloy after
die casting is extracted from the output port 13, and the
protecting gas may not overflow outside easily, thus effectively
preventing the protecting gas from being polluted by the
environmental air.
[0036] In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the melting
device 5 may comprise a crucible 50 and a heating device 51 for
heating the crucible 50. To be specific, the heating device 51 may
be an induction heating device, an electric arc heating device or a
resistor heating device.
[0037] In one embodiment, the die casting apparatus 100 may further
comprise a die chamber vacuum suction device 12 communicated with
the die chamber 3 for performing vacuum suction to the die chamber
3, which may further decrease the concentration of the harmful
gases and enhance discharging efficiency during die casting. And
the contact of the molten amorphous alloy with the air may be
isolated, avoiding the nucleus of heterogeneous nucleation formed
by the reaction of the molten amorphous alloy with the harmful
gases which may hardly form the amorphous alloy or greatly reduce
the critical size of the amorphous alloy. In addition, the porosity
of the die casted component of amorphous alloy may be decreased,
which may enhance the die casting quality.
[0038] In the following, a method of die casting an amorphous alloy
may be described with reference to FIGS. 1-3. It should be noted
that the method may be implemented by the die casting apparatus
shown in FIG. 1 as well as the die casting apparatus shown in FIG.
2.
[0039] In one embodiment, the method may comprise the following
steps. Firstly, the sealing chamber 40 in the sealed cabin 4 of the
die casting apparatus 100 may be purified, so that the harmful
gases in the sealing chamber 40 may have a concentration less than
a predetermined value (step S100). Then, the protecting gas may be
supplied into the sealing chamber 40 to maintain the protecting gas
in the sealing chamber 40 to a positive pressure (step S200). Next,
the amorphous alloy may be fed into the melting device 5 disposed
inside the sealing chamber 40 via the feeding port 41 formed on the
sealing chamber 40 to obtain the molten amorphous alloy while the
protecting gas filled within the sealing chamber 40 at least
partially overflowing outside, so that the environmental air may
not enter into the sealing chamber 40 (step S300). Then, the molten
amorphous alloy may be fed into the die chamber 3 defined by the
mated stationary die 1 and the movable die 2 via the feed sleeve 6
with the plunger 7 positioned therein (step S400). The plunger 7
may inject the molten amorphous alloy into the die chamber 3.
Finally, the mated stationary and movable dies 1 and 2 may be
opened to extract at least a component (not shown) formed at least
partially of the amorphous alloy from inside the die chamber 3
while the protecting gas filled within the sealing chamber 40
overflowing outside via the output port 13 (step S500).
[0040] It should be noted that the die casting process may be
continuous, for example, the amorphous alloy may be fed into the
melting device 5 while the molten amorphous alloy may be injected
into the die chamber 3.
[0041] According to the method of die casting amorphous alloy of an
embodiment of the present disclosure, after the sealing chamber 40
may be purified and the protecting gas may be supplied into the
sealing chamber 40 to maintain the protecting gas within the
sealing chamber to the positive pressure, the harmful gases may
have a concentration less than a predetermined value, and a part of
the protecting gas may overflow outside when the amorphous alloy is
fed to the melting device 5 via the feeding port 41 or when the
amorphous alloy after die casting is extracted via the output port
13, so that the environmental air may not enter into the sealing
chamber 40, thus nucleus of heterogeneous nucleation formed by the
reaction between the molten amorphous alloy and the harmful gases
may be prevented, and the critical size of the amorphous alloy may
be greatly increased. In addition, the sealing chamber 40 may not
need to be performed with vacuum suction repeatedly, since the
protecting gas in the sealing chamber 40 may maintain the positive
pressure, thus shortening manufacturing period, achieving
continuous production and enhancing die casting efficiency.
Further, the feeding port may be opened or closed at any time, thus
further enhancing manufacturing efficiency and lowering costs
accordingly.
[0042] In one embodiment, the purifying device 10 may be a vacuum
suction device 101, a gas purifier 102 or the combination thereof.
As shown in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the
harmful gases in the sealing chamber 40 may be purified, the
sealing chamber 40 may be vacuum suctioned so that the harmful
gases in the sealing chamber 40 may have a concentration lower than
a predetermined value, then the protecting gas is filled in the
sealing chamber 40, and the residual harmful gases in the sealing
chamber 40 are repeatedly processed by the gas purifier 102, to
control the harmful gases to a concentration satisfying process
requirement, thus greatly decreasing the demands of the protecting
gas.
[0043] In one embodiment, the protecting gas in the sealing chamber
40 may have a positive pressure between 1 atmospheric pressure
(atm) and 1.1 atmospheric pressure, so that the amorphous alloy may
be effectively prevented from contacting with the environmental air
when the amorphous alloy is fed to the melting device 5 via the
feeding port 41 or when the amorphous alloy after die casting is
extracted from the output port 13. In addition, because the
protecting gas in the sealing chamber 40 may have the positive
pressure, the sealing chamber 40 may not need to be repeatedly
vacuum suctioned, thus saving time. Further, the melting step may
be synchronized with other steps, thus saving the waiting time for
the melting of the amorphous alloy. In the embodiments shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2, the manufacturing period has been shortened to about
20 seconds. Comparing with the conventional vacuum negative
pressure die casting, the manufacturing period is about 120 seconds
since the sealing chamber has to be performed with vacuum suction
and the melting steps cannot be synchronized with other steps.
Thus, the method according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure may have shortened the die casting period, thus
enhancing production efficiency and decreasing manufacturing
costs.
[0044] In one embodiment, the protecting gas may be at least one of
the inert gases, thus avoiding the reaction of the molten amorphous
alloy with the harmful gases. In one embodiment, the protecting gas
may have a density not less than that of the air, so that
environmental gas may not be introduced into the sealing chamber 40
due to gravity when the amorphous alloy is fed to the melting
device 5 via the feeding port 41 or when the amorphous alloy after
die casting is extracted from the output port 13, and the
protecting gas may not overflow outside easily, thus effectively
preventing the protecting gas from being polluted by the
environmental air.
[0045] In one embodiment, the amorphous alloy may be
Zr.sub.aAl.sub.bCu.sub.cM.sub.d, where M is at least one selected
from a group consisting of Nb, Sc, Ta, Ni, Co, Y, Ag, Fe, Sn, Hf,
Ti, Be and rare earths, and a, b, and c are atomic percentage, and
30.ltoreq.a.ltoreq.70, 5.ltoreq.b.ltoreq.35, 5.ltoreq.c.ltoreq.40,
and 5.ltoreq.d.ltoreq.30. Further, there are impurity elements
contained in the amorphous alloy which are less than 5% in atomic
percentage. And the impurities may be Si, P, Be, Mg, B, O etc. And
the amorphous alloy may possess properties which are resistant to
the harmful gases so that cast may be obtained with high
quality.
[0046] In one embodiment, the gas in the sealing chamber 40 may
contain the harmful gases, for example, at least one of N.sub.2,
O.sub.2, H.sub.2O and CO.sub.2, that may have a concentration less
than 10000 ppm. In one embodiment, the harmful gases may have a
concentration less than 1000 ppm.
[0047] Alternatively, the method may further comprise a step of
performing vacuum suction to the die chamber 3 before the molten
amorphous alloy may be injected into the die chamber 3, which may
further decrease the concentrations of the harmful gases in the die
chamber 3 and enhance discharging efficiency during die casting.
And the contact of the molten amorphous alloy with the air may be
isolated, avoiding the nucleus of heterogeneous nucleation formed
by the reaction of the molten amorphous alloy with the harmful
gases which may hardly form the amorphous alloy or greatly reduce
the critical size of the amorphous alloy. In addition, the porosity
of the die casted component of amorphous alloy may be decreased,
which may enhance the die casting quality.
[0048] In one embodiment, the output port 13 and the feeding port
41 may be alternately opened, so that the environmental air may not
enter into the sealing chamber 40 caused by convection of the
protecting gas in the sealing chamber 40 with the environmental
air.
[0049] In the following, the operating process of the die casting
apparatus 100 and the method of die casting the amorphous alloy may
be described with reference to FIGS. 1-3, and the horizontal type
die casting apparatus 100 will be illustrated herein for
explanation purpose only.
[0050] Firstly, the stationery die 1 and the movable die 2 may be
mated with each other to form the die chamber 3. And the sealing
chamber 40 of the sealed cabin 4 may be performed with vacuum
suction so that the harmful gases in the sealing chamber 40 may
have a concentration less than a predetermined value. Then, the
protecting gas supplying device supplies the protecting gas into
the sealing chamber 40 so that the protecting gas may have a
positive pressure between 1 atm and 1.1 atm, and the gas purifier
102 may repeatedly process the residual harmful gases in the
sealing chamber 40.
[0051] Then, the feeding port 41 is opened to send the amorphous
alloy into the melting device 5. And this time, because the
protecting gas has a pressure larger than the atmospheric pressure,
a part of the protecting gas overflows outside the sealing chamber
40 through the feeding port 41, to avoid the environmental air from
entering into the sealing chamber 40. The amorphous alloy is heated
in the crucible 50 to melt the amorphous alloy by the heating
device 51. And the molten amorphous alloy is sent to the feed
sleeve 6 from the molten material inlet 60. At this time, in one
embodiment, the die chamber 3 may be performed with vacuum suction
by the die chamber vacuum suction device 12. And the plunger 7
injects the molten amorphous alloy in the feed sleeve 6 under the
driving of the driving device 8, so that the amorphous alloy may be
die casted in the die chamber 3 after vacuum suction.
[0052] After the die casting, the plunger 7 remains in the feed
sleeve 6. And the stationary die 1 and the movable die 2 are
opened. And the die casted amorphous alloy is extracted from the
die chamber 3. At this time, a part of the protecting gas overflows
through the output port 13. Then, the stationary die 1 and the
movable die 2 are closed, and the plunger 7 returns to an initial
position under the action of the driving device 8 to complete a
whole manufacturing cycle. Then, the next cycle similar to this
described hereinabove is started. Because the protecting gas in the
sealing chamber 40 has a positive pressure without need to repeated
vacuum suction, the costs and complexity relating thereto are
reduced accordingly. And the feeding port 41 may be opened for
feeding the amorphous alloy at any steps, then the amorphous alloy
is melted in the crucible 50 by the heating device 51, so that the
molten amorphous alloy may be injected into the feed sleeve 6 via
the molten material inlet 60 at any time.
[0053] The feeding port 41 and the output port 13 may be
alternately opened, which may effectively prevent environmental air
from entering into the sealing chamber 40 by the convection of the
protecting gas in the sealing chamber 40 with the environmental
air. In one embodiment, under given outputting and feeding
conditions, the smaller the passages communicating the feeding port
41 and the output port 13, the better for the maintaining of the
pressure of the protecting gas in the sealing chamber 40.
[0054] Although explanatory embodiments have been shown and
described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
changes, alternatives, and modifications all falling into the scope
of the claims and their equivalents may be made in the embodiments
without departing from spirit and principles of the disclosure.
* * * * *