CONFIGURABLE END-EFFECTOR USED WITH A CASTING PROCESS

Abstract: a configurable end-effector is provided for a robotic system used in a casting process. the end-effector can have one or more ablate and/or cooling modules that can apply an ablating material and/or cooling fluid to a mold for the solidification or the solid to solid transformation of the metal component of the part to be cast or formed in the mold or tooling. the end-effector may incorporate one or more air push or vacuum modules that can be used to remove or move the ablate material phase state change and/or the cooling fluid after the ablate material and/or cooling fluid absorbs heat from the part. the end-effector can include one or more energy modules that can be used to introduce heat to the mold and/or tooling and the formed component part so that additional processes can be performed on the component part. the end-effector may have one or more sensing modules that can determine the temperature and location of the part and then provide that information to a controller to control the operation of the various energy modulus that control energy extraction or cooling and input energy to offset any energy loss to the system prior, during, or thereafter a state change occurs of the component material within the ablate mold and tooling both in liquid and solid conditions or with various solid fraction of the cast material.

Inventor(s): John Grassi, Brian Wright, Matthew Burdick, Eric Ehrhardt, Gary Kuehnel

CPC Classification: B22D27/04 (CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES (shaping of plastics or substances in a plastic state ; metallurgical processing, selection of substances to be added to metal , ))

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