Patent ID: 7210516

Claim:
A casting apparatus comprising: a die that has an opening section above the die so as to pour a molten metal therefrom; a plate-shaped heater disposed above the die horizontally; a gas supplying section configured to supply an inert gas to a surface of the molten metal; a lid disposed horizontally between the surface of the molten metal and the heater; and a lid moving structure configured to rotatably move the lid relative to the die and configured to control an opening amount of the opening section above the die, wherein: the lid moving structure configured to control a flow rate of an inert gas exhausted from a surface of the molten metal so that the flow rate is determined in accordance with a flow amount of the inert gas supplied from the gas supplying section and the opening amount of the opening section above the die; and the flow rate of the inert gas is in a predetermined range.