Patent ID: 8061407

Claim:
An injection sleeve or shot sleeve for a die-casting machine, the sleeve defining an elongated plunger passage and a container supporting portion, the container supporting portion shaped and dimensioned to support an elongated container too large to fit into the plunger passage, the container containing a charge of semi-solid metal alloy with the charge axially aligned with the plunger passage, the plunger passage and the container thus sharing a central longitudinal axis when the container is supported on the container supporting portion with an interior surface of the container being axially aligned with an interior surface of the plunger passage so that a transverse cross-section of an internal volume of the container equals a transverse cross-section of an internal volume of the plunger passage, and the internal volume of the container and the internal volume of the plunger passage together define a linear passage of constant transverse cross-section for a plunger, with a portion of the linear passage being defined by the container and another portion of the linear passage being by the sleeve.