1. A chill assembly for chilling a molten material during formation of a part, said assembly comprising:
a mold platform for receiving a mold to be filled with a molten material to form a part;
a first platen moveable in a vertical direction relative to said molding platform;
a plurality of chills moveably supported by said first platen for quenching the molten material with each of said chills being moveable between a pre-chill position prior to quenching and a post-chill position after quenching; and
an alignment sub-assembly disposed between said first platen and said chill, wherein said alignment sub-assembly engages with said chills for aligning said chills in said pre-chill position after said chills have quenched the molten material and after said chills have moved to said post-chill position.
2. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said alignment sub-assembly further comprises a locator bar supported by said first platen defining a plurality of detents corresponding to said pre-chill position.
3. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said alignment sub-assembly further comprises a plurality of locators supported by said chills such that said locators engage said detents to re-align said chills in said pre-chill position.
4. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said alignment sub-assembly further comprises a second platen supporting said chills and moveable in said vertical direction independent of said first platen.
5. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said alignment sub-assembly further comprises a spring assembly between said locator bar and said first platen to allow said locator bar to flex and to reduce wear.
6. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 5 further comprising a pair of end caps disposed between said locator bar and said first platen for supporting said locator bar.
7. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said spring assembly is mounted to at least one of said end caps.
8. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 4 further comprising brackets interconnecting said second platen and said chills to move said chills vertical relative to said locator bar.
9. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 8 further comprising a chill rod slideably supporting said chills and said brackets.
10. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said chills are liquid cooled.
11. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 10 wherein each of said plurality of chills have an inlet and an outlet for receiving a cooling liquid to quench the molten material.
12. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said chills are moveable along a X-direction between said pre-chill and said post-chill positions.
13. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a lift in engagement with said first platen for driving said first platen upward and downward in said vertical direction.
14. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a package locator mounted to said mold platform for locating the mold relative to said first platen.
15. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising an upper platform supporting said first and said second platens relative to said mold platform.
16. A method of forming a part from molten material, said method comprising the steps of:
disposing a mold for a part on a mold platform adjacent a first platen;
positioning a plurality of chills supported by a second platen in a pre-chill position relative to the mold;
moving the first platen into contact with the mold such that the chills quench the molten material as the molten material begins to cool to form the part;
injecting a molten material into the mold;
moving the plurality of chills along a X-direction simultaneously with a shrinkage occurring in the part as the molten material cools such that the chills end in a post-chill position;
moving the first platen out of contact with the mold to remove the chills from the molten material; and
re-aligning the plurality of chills from the post-chill position to the pre-chill position.
17. A method as set forth in claim 16 wherein the step of re-aligning the plurality of chills is further defined as automatically re-aligning the chills upon removing the chills from the mold.
18. A method as set forth in claim 16 wherein the step of re-aligning the plurality of chills further comprises the step of moving the second platen independent of the first platen to re-align the chills in the pre-chill position.
19. A method as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of re-aligning the plurality of chills further comprises the step of engaging a locator bar supported by the first platen with locators mounted to the chills to re-align the chills in the pre-chill position.
20. A method as set forth in claim 18 further comprising the step of biasing the locator bar in a downward direction to allow the locator bar to flex when engaging the locators.
21. A chill assembly for chilling a molten material during formation of a part, said assembly comprising:
a mold platform for receiving a mold to be filled with a molten material to form a part;
a first platen moveable in a vertical direction relative to said molding platform; and
a plurality of chills moveably supported by said first platen for quenching the molten material with each of said chills being moveable with the shrinkage of a molten metal between a pre-chill position prior to quenching and a post-chill position after quenching, wherein said chills are liquid cooled.
22. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 21 wherein each of said plurality of chills have an inlet and an outlet for receiving a cooling liquid to cool said chills to quench the molten material.
23. A chill assembly as set forth in claim 21 wherein said chills are moveable along a X-direction between said pre-chill and said post-chill positions.
24. A method of forming a part from molten material, said method comprising the steps of:
disposing a mold for a part on a mold platform adjacent a first platen;
positioning a plurality of chills supported by a second platen in a pre-chill position relative to the mold;
moving the first platen into contact with the mold such that the chills quench the molten material as the molten material begins to cool to form the part;
injecting a molten material into the mold;
moving the plurality of chills along a X-direction simultaneously with a shrinkage occurring in the part as the molten material cools such that the chills end in a post-chill position;
moving the first platen out of contact with the mold to remove the chills from the molten material after the part attains a semi-solid state; and
spraying the part while in the semi-solid state with a fluid to promote additional cooling of the molten material with the chill being removed therefrom.
25. A method as set forth in claim 24 wherein the step of spraying the part is further defined as spraying the part with water.
26. A method as set forth in claim 24 wherein the step of spraying the part is further defined as spraying the part with water.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of initiating an insurance claim in response to a user operating a mobile device, comprising:
receiving, at a computer-based insurer claim system, a request from the mobile device requesting initiation of the insurance claim;
automatically transmitting an inquiry to the mobile device from the computer-based insurer claim system, the inquiry including a request for an identity of an adverse party to the insurance claim;
receiving, at the computer-based insurer claim system, a response from the mobile device responsive to the inquiry;
automatically analyzing the response to determine claim data, wherein analyzing the response includes authenticating the identity of the adverse party;
transmitting an indication to the user of whether the identity of the adverse party is authentic; and
initiating the insurance claim responsive to the claim data.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inquiry comprises a request to collect image data at a claim site.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the inquiry further comprises a request to collect license plate image data from a vehicle license plate at a claim site, further comprising:
automatically analyzing the license plate image data to determine a license plate number;
automatically verifying the license plate number; and
automatically transmitting results of the verification to the mobile device.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically transmitting a claim identifier to the mobile device.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically initiating services to assist the user.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein automatically initiating services comprises arranging a car rental.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein automatically initiating services comprises contacting an emergency services provider.
8. A system for initiating an insurance claim in response to a user operating a mobile device, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory, the memory including instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to implement at least one subsystem that:
receives a request from the mobile device requesting initiation of the insurance claim;
automatically transmits an inquiry to the mobile device, the inquiry including a request for an identity of an adverse party to the insurance claim;
receives a response from the mobile device responsive to the inquiry;
automatically analyzes the response to determine claim data, wherein analyzing the response includes authenticating the identity of the adverse party;
transmits an indication to the user of whether the identity of the adverse party is authentic; and
initiates the insurance claim responsive to the claim data.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the inquiry comprises a request to collect image data at a claim site.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the inquiry further comprises a request to collect license plate image data from a vehicle license plate at a claim site, further comprising at least one subsystem that:
automatically analyzes the license plate image data to determine a license plate number;
automatically verifies the license plate number; and
automatically transmits results of the verification to the mobile device.
11. The system of claim 8, further comprising at least one subsystem that automatically transmits a claim identifier to the mobile device.
12. The system of claim 8, further comprising at least one subsystem that automatically initiates services to assist the user.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one subsystem that automatically initiates services comprises at least one subsystem that arranges a car rental.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one subsystem that automatically initiates services comprises at least one subsystem that contacts an emergency services provider.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions for initiating an insurance claim in response to a user operating a mobile device, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions for:
receiving a request from the mobile device requesting initiation of the insurance claim;
automatically transmitting an inquiry to the mobile device, the inquiry including a request for an identity of an adverse party to the insurance claim;
receiving a response from the mobile device responsive to the inquiry;
automatically analyzing the response to determine claim data, wherein analyzing the response includes authenticating the identity of the adverse party;
transmitting an indication to the user of whether the identity of the adverse party is authentic; and
initiating the insurance claim responsive to the claim data.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the inquiry comprises a request to collect image data at a claim site.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the inquiry further comprises a request to collect license plate image data from a vehicle license plate at a claim site, further comprising instructions for:
automatically analyzing the license plate image data to determine a license plate number;
automatically verifying the license plate number; and
automatically transmitting results of the verification to the mobile device.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions for automatically transmitting a claim identifier to the mobile device.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions for automatically initiating services to assist the user.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions for automatically initiating services comprise instructions for arranging a car rental.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions for automatically initiating services comprise instructions for contacting an emergency services provider.