Patent ID: 8901930

Claim:
A method for detecting metal in an inner region of a casting mould during a casting process, the casting mould comprising several mould elements defining several inner regions to be filled with liquid metal during the casting process, the method comprising providing a plurality of eddy current probe assemblies positioned outside the inner region of the casting mould wherein each of the plurality of eddy current probe assemblies is arranged at a predefined position with respect to the respective non-conductive mould material of the casting mould so as to detect metal in a predefined region of the casting mould; exciting at least one eddy current probe assembly of the plurality of eddy current probe assemblies such that the at least one eddy current probe assembly generates a primary magnetic field passing through non-conductive mould material of the casting mould to the inner region of the casting mould; providing at each of the at least one eddy current probe assembly a signal indicative of a secondary magnetic field detected by the respective eddy current probe assembly, the secondary magnetic field caused by eddy currents induced in the metal in the inner region; detecting metal in the casting mould based on said at least one signal, wherein the metal represents liquid metal, and adjusting the filling rate of the liquid metal based on the detected metal in the casting mould, wherein the step of adjusting the filling rate comprises adjusting the filling rate in accordance with a filling rate value associated with a predefined eddy current probe assembly when metal is newly detected based on the signal of this predefined eddy current probe assembly, wherein each of the predefined regions of one of the plurality of eddy current probe assemblies is associated with a respective filling rate value of liquid metal, and wherein a mould element of the several mould elements is formed of non-conductive mould material and comprises recesses, each of the recesses being configured to receive a respective eddy current probe assembly of the plurality of eddy current probe assemblies.