Patent ID: 8181691

Claim:
A mold assembly having an upper surface and including a mold cavity for casting elements onto storage battery plates comprising: a manifold segment having an upwardly facing surface; a flow channel having an inlet and an outlet spaced apart along the length of said flow channel, the flow channel being defined by a perimeter wall contiguous to essentially all portions of said flow channel for guiding the flow of molten metal along essentially the entire length of said flow channel between said inlet and outlet, the perimeter wall extending upwardly to a first height sufficient to contain within the flow channel a molten metal under normal operating conditions of the mold assembly, and at least one flow chute having a bottom surface and being in fluid communication with the flow channel at a first end defined by an opening of the flow channel perimeter wall, each flow chute being in fluid communication at a second end with a mold cavity, the flow chute second end including a constriction defining a second height less than said first height, whereby the manifold segment is adapted to overflow molten metal above the constriction when the level of molten metal in said flow channel and in said flow chutes is raised above said second height and below said first height under normal operating conditions of said mold assembly, the manifold segment further defining an associated manifold segment mold cavity portion at a first mold cavity side wall extending essentially vertically from an upwardly facing surface at said first height to a mold cavity bottom surface, the first mold cavity side wall having a vertical height dimension between the upwardly facing surface and the mold cavity bottom surface that is greater than said second height, the wall including the constriction at said second height; and further including temperature controls to maintain the temperature of the manifold segment at a predetermined temperature, a mold segment, adjacent said manifold segment, including a first mold segment cavity portion that is contiguous with said manifold segment mold cavity portion, the first mold segment cavity portion being further defined by first and second opposed end walls extending from the mold cavity bottom surface to an upper mold segment surface, the mold segment further having temperature controls to maintain the temperature of the mold segment at a predetermined temperature lower than that of the manifold segment temperature; and a third central segment adjacent a second mold cavity segment portion and on an opposite side from said manifold segment, defining a second side wall extending from a central upper surface to said mold cavity bottom surface, the third central segment further having temperature controls to maintain the temperature of the third central segment at a predetermined temperature different from that of the mold segment temperature.