US-20260124672-A1 - METHODS FOR CREATING PARTIALLY REUSABLE CASTING MOLDS AND/OR MULTIPLE COPIES OF A PART USING THE SAME, RELATED SYSTEMS, MOLDS, AND PARTS

US20260124672A1US 20260124672 A1US20260124672 A1US 20260124672A1US-20260124672-A1

Abstract

Methods for creating partially reusable casting molds and/or multiple copies of a part using the same, along with related systems, molds, and parts, are disclosed. Reusable outer shells and sacrificial inserts for placement inside the reusable outer shells are generated by way of additive manufacturing. The sacrificial inserts and reusable outer shells are assembled into a mold such that the sacrificial inserts are placed within the reusable outer shells and define an internal cavity for the past to be casted. Casting material is poured into the internal cavity to cast the part such that a portion of the sacrificial inserts are sacrificed. The part is excavated, including removing the reusable outer shells for reuse and remaining portions of the sacrificial inserts for disposal.

Inventors

Mark Lamoncha

Assignees

Mark Lamoncha

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251105

Claims (20)

1 . A method for casting multiple copies of a part using a partially reusable casting mold, said method comprising: generating, by way of additive manufacturing, reusable outer shells; generating, by way of additive manufacturing, sacrificial inserts for placement inside the reusable outer shells, the sacrificial inserts, when assembled, defining an internal cavity for the part to be casted; assembling the sacrificial inserts and reusable outer shells into a mold such that the sacrificial inserts are placed within the reusable outer shells and define the internal cavity; pouring casting material into the internal cavity to cast the part such that a portion of the sacrificial inserts are sacrificed; and excavating the part, including removing the reusable outer shells for reuse and remaining portions of the sacrificial inserts for disposal.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein: the sacrificial inserts are generated using binder jetting; and the reusable outer shells are generated using binder jetting and infiltrating the build material with a relatively high strength material.
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein: the relatively high strength material comprises a polymer.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein: the polymer comprises polyurethane.
5 . The method of claim 2 wherein: the sacrificial inserts are generated using non-infiltrated build sand.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein: the sacrificial inserts and the reusable outer shells, when assembled into the mold, include a hole extending from an outer surface of the mold to the inner cavity for receiving the casting material.
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein: the sacrificial inserts and the reusable outer shells, when assembled into the mold, include one or more apertures for fasteners for securing the sacrificial inserts and the reusable outer shells together; and the sacrificial inserts and the reusable outer shells include cooperative structural elements for frictional engagement when assembled into the mold.
8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving data, at a computer system in electronic connection with a 3D printer, for the part; and generating, in an at least partially automated fashion using the computer system, commands for the 3D printer to generate the sacrificial inserts and the outer molds based, at least in part, on the received data.
9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising: scanning, using a 3D scanning tool, a copy of the part, wherein the data received at the computer system includes spatial data describing the part.
10 . The method of claim 8 further comprising: uploading, to the computer system, one or more drawing files for the part, wherein the data received at the computer system includes one or more drawing files for the part.
11 . The method of claim 1 wherein: the sacrificial inserts and the reusable outer shells, when assembled into the mold, include one or more casting features, selected from the group consisting of: mold handles, sprues, runners, and ejector pin locations.
12 . A casted part created using the method of claim 1 .
13 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: generating, by way of additive manufacturing, additional copies of the sacrificial inserts (“new inserts”) for making a second copy of the part (“second part”); assembling the new sacrificial inserts into the reusable outer shells to generate a new mold having a new internal cavity such that the reusable outer shells are reused with the new sacrificial inserts; pouring additional casting material into the new internal cavity of the new mold to cast the second part such that a portion of the new sacrificial inserts are sacrificed; and excavating the second part, including by removing the reusable outer shells and remaining portions of the new sacrificial inserts.
14 . Multiple copies of a part casted using the method of claim 13 .
15 . A method for generating a partially reusable casting mold for castings multiple copies of a part, said method comprising: generating, by way of binder jetting and infiltration of build sand with a relatively high strength material, reusable outer shells; and generating, by way of binder jetting of build sand without infiltration, a plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts, wherein each set of the sacrificial inserts is configured for assembly, one set at a time, within the outer shells to define an internal cavity within the respective set of sacrificial inserts for the part to be casted.
16 . A partially reusable casting mold generated by the method of claim 15 .
17 . A method for casting multiple copies of a part using a partially reusable casting mold, said method comprising: performing the method of claim 15 ; and for each of the plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts: assembling a respective one of the plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts into the reusable outer shells to generate a respective mold; pouring casting material into the internal cavity of the respective mold to cast a respective one of the multiple copies of the part such that a portion of the respective one of the plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts sacrificial inserts are sacrificed; and excavating the respective one of the multiple copies of the part, including removing the reusable outer shells for reuse and remaining portions of the sacrificial inserts for disposal.
18 . A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving data for a part to be made by casting, said data received from a three dimensional scanning tool or at least one drawing file; causing a binder jetting machine to generate reusable outer shells by printing and infiltrating the reusable outer shells with build material infiltrated with a relatively high strength material; causing the binder jetting machine to generate a plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts with the build material, each configured for assembly, one set at a time, inside the reusable outer shells to define a respective internal cavity for a respective copy of the part to be casted and define a respective mold for casting said respective copy of the part.
19 . A system for generating a partially reusable casting mold for creating multiple copies of a part by casting, said system comprising: one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices comprising software instructions, which when executed, configure one or more processors to: perform the method of claim 18 .
20 . A system for creating multiple copies of a part by casting with a partially reusable mold, said system comprising: a set of reusable outer shells comprising infiltrated build sand manufactured by binder jetting and infiltration with a high strength material; and a plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts, each set being configured for assembly inside the set of reusable outer shells, one set at a time, to define a respective internal cavity for a respective copy of a part to be casted, wherein each of the plurality of sets of sacrificial inserts comprise non-infiltrated build sand manufactured by binder jetting, castings multiple copies of a part.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/716,999 filed Nov. 6, 2024, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully restated herein. TECHNICAL FIELD Exemplary embodiments relate generally to methods for creating partially reusable casting molds, such as comprising sacrificial, 3D-printed inserts and reusable, 3D-printed, high strength outer shells, and/or multiple copies of a part using the same, as well as related systems, molds, and parts. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various forms of casting are known. Investment casting or lost-wax casting is one such known form of casting whereby a wax pattern is coated with a ceramic material, thereby melting the wax. Another type of casting involves 3D printing casting molds, such as by way of binder jetting, where material to be casted is poured into the mold to create the casting. The mold is then sacrificed, typically by breaking it apart and excavating the casted part. The use of additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing, to generate molds has advantages, including the ability to relatively quickly and efficiently create molds for relatively complex parts with relatively close tolerances. Additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing, may be utilized for generating molds to create casted parts that are not otherwise available or practically available for manufacture by way of casting. However, it is undesirable to sacrifice the molds each time, which requires creating molds on a one-to-one basis with the number of parts desired to be casted. Methods are disclosed for creating casting molds and/or parts using one or more sacrificial, 3D-printed insert(s) and one or more reusable, 3D-printed, high strength outer shell(s) as well as related systems and components. Data for a part to be manufactured by way of casting is collected. In exemplary embodiments, without limitation, the data is gathered through 3D scanning of a sample of the part. Alternatively, or additionally, the data may be provided through one or more drawing files (e.g., 3D part and/or assembly files). An outer shell may be generated, such as using 3D printing, such as binder jetting, and infiltrated with one or more relatively high strength materials, such as various high strength polymers, such as but not limited to, polyurethane though other materials may be utilized. The outer shell may be printed as one or more parts, such as two parts (e.g., substantial halves) which come together to form the outer shell (sometimes referred to herein as the “shells”or “shell(s)”). An inner, sacrificial insert may be printed, such as using 3D printing, such as binder jetting. The inner insert may be printed using binder jetting materials, such as non-infiltrated build sand, by way of non-limiting example. The inserts may be provided in multiple parts, such as two parts (e.g., substantial halves). In exemplary embodiments, without limitation, the insert parts (sometimes referred to herein as the “inserts” or “insert(s)”) are provided on a one to one basis with the shell(s). The insert(s) may be configured to fit within the shell(s), such as by friction fit, fasteners, cooperative structural elements (e.g., mating slots and recesses, mating recess and protrusions, interference fit points, combinations thereof, or the like), adhesive, combinations thereof, or the like. Alternatively, or additionally, the insert(s) and/or the shell(s) may be generated with apertures or other spaces for fasteners (e.g., nuts and bolts, clamps) to be received to secure the items to one another. The inserts and/or shells may include such elements for cooperation or securement to one another (e.g., insert to insert, insert to shell). In exemplary embodiments, without limitation, the data for the shell(s) and/or insert(s) may be automatically generated from the data. For example, without limitation, the insert(s) may be automatically generated based on the 3D scanned data or uploaded drawing data. A predetermined thickness may be added based on a selected or default casting material and known needs for additional, sacrificial material. The outer shell may be automatically defined, at least in part, accordingly so that the insert(s) fit therein. Apertures for casting material may be automatically added along with other known casting features, including but not limited to, mold handles, sprues, runners, ejector pin locations, combinations thereof, or the like. The mold may be assembled. The casting material may be poured into the mold, such as to reach within the cavity defined by the insert(s). The insert(s) may be at least partially consumed by the casting material when poured. The casting material may be cured, such as by allowing time to pass (e.g., passively) and/or taking active steps such as heating, airflow, combinations thereof, or the like. The outer shell may be removed and any remaining insert material may