The gate is the portion of the runner system that feeds the liquid copper from the runner into the cavity. There are two techniques used for the gating copper rotors:
- Edge gating
- Pin gating
7.6.1 Edge Gating
Most of the copper rotors prototyped by the ICA/CDA group utilized edge gating. As shown in the schematic drawing of Figure 7.6.1.1, the edge gating system connects the runner to the outside edge of the end ring with a series of individual gates. Trials performed by the ICA/CDA team showed that this was a very successful technique for gating copper rotors.
Figure 7.6.1.1: Schematic drawing showing a runner system for a copper rotor incorporating edge gating7.6.2 Pin Gating
An alternate technique of gating rotors is to use a series of pin gates, which feed the liquid copper directly into the end ring. Although the ICA/CDA team has less experience with gating copper rotors in this manner, the pin gating technique is widely used for the die-casting of aluminum rotors.