An ejector for an additive manufacturing printing system is disclosed, including an ejector body having a nozzle, a heating element to heat a solid printing material in the ejector, causing the solid printing material to change to a liquid printing material, and a piston disposed within the ejector body capable of translational motion. The ejector may include a segmented solenoid coil wrapped at least partially around the ejector body, which may be powered to cause the piston to translate along a longitudinal axis of the ejector thereby causing one or more drops of the liquid printing material to be jetted out of the nozzle. A method of ejecting liquid from an ejector is also disclosed, including melting a printing material within an ejector to form a liquid printing material, and moving a piston towards an ejector nozzle, and ejecting a drop of liquid printing material from the ejector nozzle.

A three-dimensional (3D) metal object manufacturing apparatus is equipped with a vessel having a receptacle that holds melted metal. The vessel has a divider that prevents metal dross formed at a solid metal inlet of the receptacle to migrate to a portion of the receptacle where a melted metal level sensor directs light.

A three-dimensional (3D) metal object manufacturing apparatus is equipped with a vessel having a receptacle that holds melted metal. The vessel has a divider that prevents metal dross formed at a solid metal inlet of the receptacle to migrate to a portion of the receptacle where a melted metal level sensor directs light.

A three-dimensional (3D) printer includes an ejector and a heating element configured to heat a solid printing material in the ejector, thereby causing the solid printing material to change to a liquid printing material within the ejector. The 3D printer also includes a coil wrapped at least partially around the ejector. The 3D printer also includes a power source configured to supply one or more pulses of power to the coil, which cause one or more drops of the liquid printing material to flow out of the ejector through a nozzle of the ejector. The 3D printer also includes a gas-controlling device configured to control a gas in the 3D printer.

A method for delivering a flowable material into a mold or to infiltrate a preformed component, a fiber preform, or a green body includes: providing a crucible having a body configured as a reservoir to hold the flowable material; adding a metal, a metal alloy, or combination thereof into the body of the crucible, the metal or metal alloy having a predetermined melting point; heating the crucible with the metal or metal alloy contained therein to a temperature that is at or above the melting point of the metal or metal alloy; allowing the metal or metal alloy to melt to form the flowable material; and creating a siphon such that the molten metal or metal alloy flows from the body of the crucible to infiltrate the preformed component or to fill the mold.

The invention relates to an apparatus for the casting of cast parts according to the permanent mold casting method comprising: a pivotable retaining element (9) for holding a permanent mold (13, 16) a furnace (11) which may be connected to a low-pressure permanent mold (13) in such a way that melt may be fed to the low-pressure permanent mold (13) in accordance with the low-pressure process, and a melt feed device (17) by which melt may be fed to a gravity permanent mold (16), wherein the gravity permanent mold (16) may be mounted on the retaining element (9).

Methods for manufacturing rotary target materials that allows a material to be cast in a melting zone of a casting vessel while the vessel is rotated such that a melting zone is below a casting zone. The vessel is sealed and the pressure inside the vessel is reduced and the exterior of the vessel is heated. The melting zone of the vessel is heated to a temperature that melts the material and releases any trapped gasses which can be pumped out using the vacuum pump. Once the melting zone and molten material have reached a specified temperature, outgassed, and the casting zone has reached a temperature to maximize adhesion and reduce voids and defects, the vessel is rotated until the melting zone is directly above the casting zone to transfer the material from the melting zone to the casting zone.

A method of controlling drop mass in a liquid ejector is disclosed which includes advancing a printing material feed source to introduce a quantity of a printing material into a liquid ejector, counting a quantity of ticks produced by an encoder coupled to the printing material source during a time period to calculate a mass of the printing material, counting a quantity of pulses produced by the liquid ejector during the time period, and entering into a control system the quantity of ticks produced by the encoder and the quantity of pulses produced by the liquid ejector. The method may include comparing the quantity of printing material calculated by using the quantity of ticks produced by the encoder to the quantity of printing material measured by using a level sensing system. The method of controlling drop mass in a liquid ejector may include steps performed by a microprocessor.

The present disclosure relates to a tilt casting mold, a tilt casting apparatus, and a tilt casting method that can manufacture a molded product with a small quality difference without compensation for contraction of molten metal by forming a riser on a tilt casing mold and pressing the riser. According to an embodiment, there is provided a tilt casting mold that includes a cope and a drag, in which when the cope and the drag are combined, a predetermined cavity is formed therein and a riser is formed on a side of the cavity; a pouring cup is coupled to a surface having the riser of the drag; molten material is poured in the pouring cup and then the molten metal in the pouring cup is injected into the cavity by tilting the mold assembly composed of the cope, the drag, and the pouring cup.

A method for metal jetting is disclosed. The method for metal jetting includes introducing a first gas into an outer nozzle of an ejector nozzle from a first gas source introducing an additive to the first gas from a second source, combining the additive with the first gas. The method for metal jetting also includes ejecting a droplet of molten metal printing material from the ejector nozzle. The method for metal jetting includes allowing the additive to react with the droplet of molten metal printing material to form a modified molten metal printing material.