Patent ID: 7588622

Claim:
A process for fabricating metal spheres, comprising: providing a molten metal mass within a receptacle; causing a reciprocating motion of a piston to force a droplet of the molten metal mass through an aperture in the receptacle; buffering the droplet by diminishing internal kinetic energy of the droplet without solidifying the droplet; and cooling the buffered droplet to the extent that the droplet solidifies into a metal sphere; wherein causing a reciprocating motion of the piston to force a droplet of the molten metal mass through the aperture in the receptacle includes imparting an impulse force by the piston on the molten metal mass within the receptacle to cause a portion of the molten metal mass to eject through the aperture as the droplet; further comprising collecting the metal sphere, wherein collecting the metal sphere includes receiving the metal sphere in a reservoir that holds a liquid; passing the metal sphere and a volume of the liquid to a pipe connected to a bottom end of the reservoir; and delivering the metal sphere from the pipe to a collection basket.