A sprue former of the type used to produce a casting mold includes a generally hollow body or a body having hollow sections. The body includes an inlet forming member and at least one first interface member. The inlet forming member is configured to provide an inlet cavity in the casting mold to enable casting material to enter the casting mold. The first interface members are configured to couple to casting patterns. The casting patterns represent items to be cast. The body can also includes a reservoir forming member and at least one connecting member coupling the reservoir forming member to the inlet forming member.
1. A sprue former of the type used to create a pathway in a casting mold from an exterior of the casting mold to at least one pattern cavity, each pattern cavity being defined by a casting pattern representing an item to be cast, the sprue former comprising:
a monolithic hollow wax body, the hollow wax body including an inlet forming member and a plurality of first interface members, the inlet forming member being configured to define an inlet cavity in the casting mold to enable casting material to enter the casting mold, and each of the first interface members including a conduit-shaped portion that is configured to define a passage in the casting mold enabling casting material to enter a respective pattern cavity from the inlet cavity, each first interface member being configured to enable rotational adjustment of an axial tilt of a second interface member of the respective casting pattern about the respective first interface member, the hollow wax body having been printed based on electronic models of the inlet forming member and the first interface members.
2. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the first interface members define generally spherical balls; and the second interface member of each casting pattern defines a socket that is coupled to one of the generally spherical balls of the first interface members in a ball-and-socket joint.
3. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the hollow wax body further comprises:
a reservoir forming member configured to provide a reservoir cavity in the casting mold in which a reserve of casting material accumulates; and
at least one connecting member coupling the reservoir forming member to the inlet forming member, wherein each first interface member extends from the connecting member.
4. The sprue former of claim 3 , wherein the reservoir forming member is bar-shaped.
5. The sprue former of claim 3 , wherein the reservoir forming member is a ring-shaped.
6. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the hollow body has a material thickness generally ranging from about 0.1 millimeters to about 0.5 millimeters.
7. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein each second interface member is configured to couple to the respective first interface member with adhesive or wax.
8. The sprue former of claim 7 , wherein the second interface member is hollow.
9. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the item to be cast is a dental prosthesis.
10. The sprue former of claim 2 , wherein the balls of the first interface members are sized to fit partially within the sockets of the second interface members.
11. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the hollow wax body is configured to be vaporized when heated.
12. The sprue former of claim 11 , wherein the hollow wax body is configured to enable wax forming the body to deform into hollow portions of the wax body to inhibit outward deformation when the wax body is heated.
13. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the inlet forming member has an outer diameter ranging from about six millimeters to about twenty millimeters.
14. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein each of the first interface members has a diameter ranging from about two to about five millimeters.
15. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein material forming the inlet forming member has a thickness ranging from about 0.1 millimeters to about 0.5 millimeters.
16. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein material forming the conduit-shaped portion of each first interface member has a thickness ranging from about 0.1 millimeters to about 0.5 millimeters.
17. The sprue former of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least a first of the casting patterns representing a first item to be cast, the first casting pattern being mounted to one of the first interface members with the second interface member of the first casting pattern oriented along a first tilt direction; and
a second of the casting patterns representing a second item to be cast, the second casting pattern being mounted to another of the first interface members with the second interface member of the second casting pattern oriented along a second tilt direction.
18. The sprue former of claim 17 , wherein the first and second casting patterns are not monolithically formed with the hollow wax body.
19. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the first interface member extends directly from the inlet forming member.
20. The sprue former of claim 3 , wherein the first interface members are connected directly to the reservoir forming member.
21. The sprue former of claim 2 , wherein the balls of the first interface members are sized to fit fully within the sockets of the second interface members.
22. The sprue former of claim 1 , wherein the hollow wax body is configured to define a non-linear path between the inlet cavity and the passages.