Abstract: A pipe conveying molten material upwards from a pressurized receptacle into the mold of a low pressure diecasting machine, positioned on and supported by the receptacle, is secured in a fluid-tight fit by an adjustable coupling device. One end of the pipe extends through the topmost wall of the receptacle to pick up the molten material and the other terminates in a head located externally of the receptacle and tightened together with a seal against the mold. The outer surface of the pipe head has at least one substantially frusto conical portion matched to the surfaces of a plurality of wedges disposed circumferentially around the pipe and mounted on slide ways which can be directed by suitable actuators from an at-rest position to an operating position in which the pipe is subjected to an axial force with the pipe head clamped together with the seal against the machine.

Abstract: Paint applied to a wheel electrostatically in the dry state is removed subsequently from the hub by a method of which the first step is to block the hub from one side with a plate, offered to a first face of the wheel and of shape such that it combines with the substantially cylindrical bore of the hub to create a chamber which remains accessible from the opposite face of the wheel. A jet of air is then generated close to the hub and introduced into the chamber, investing the cylindrical surface directly or indirectly or obliquely and creating a turbulence sufficient to remove the unwanted layer of paint; at the same time, suction is generated at least in the part of the chamber flooded with air, in such a way as to aspirate and recover the particles of paint removed from the hub and held in suspension by the resulting swirl.

Abstract: The starting material in a thixotropic forming process for the manufacture of road wheels, fitted ultimately with pneumatic tyres, is an ingot of rheocast metal alloy preheated to the semisolid state: the ingot is injected into a closed die affording a cavity in the shape of the wheel and equipped with independent thermoregulating circuits routed and controlled in such a way as to maintain the wider passages of the cavity at a temperature lower than that of the narrower passages; to ensure the die fills properly, the ingot is injected at a variable and controlled velocity, correlated both to the rate at which the alloy spreads through the cavity and to the geometry of the cavity itself, whereupon a pressure much higher than the injection force is applied to the solid-semisolid interface within the alloy, and sustained until full solidification is achieved.

Abstract: A method by which ingots of thixotropic metal alloy are brought to the semisolid or semiliquid state comprises the steps of introducing the single solid ingots at ambient temperature into a heat chamber, generating air currents within the chamber so that the ingots are heated principally by convection, controlling the temperature of the ingots, and removing them from the chamber once a predetermined temperature has registered and been held steady in the metal alloy for a duration sufficient to induce the semisolid or semiliquid state; the ingots are supported and conveyed through a circular path internally of the heat chamber by a set of radial platforms revolving between an infeed zone and an outfeed zone.

Abstract: Paint applied to a wheel electrostatically in the dry state is removed subsequently from the hub by a method of which the first step is to block the hub from one side with a plate, offered to a first face of the wheel and of shape such that it combines with the substantially cylindrical bore of the hub to create a chamber which remains accessible from the opposite face of the wheel. A jet of air is then generated close to the hub and introduced into the chamber, investing the cylindrical surface directly or indirectly or obliquely and creating a turbulence sufficient to remove the unwanted layer of paint; at the same time, suction is generated at least in the part of the chamber flooded with air, in such a way as to aspirate and recover the particles of paint removed from the hub and held in suspension by the resulting swirl.

Abstract: Equipment for bringing ingots of thixotropic metal alloy to the semisolid or semiliquid state including a heat chamber for holding the solid ingots introduced at ambient temperature, and a source generating air currents within the chamber to heat the ingots principally by convection, and a unit for controlling the temperature of the ingots. The ingots are supported and conveyed through a circular path internally of the heat chamber by a set of radial platforms revolving between an infeed zone and an outfeed zone.