US3763924A

US3763924A - Apparatus for continuous vertical casting

Info

Publication number: US3763924A
Application number: US00110175A
Authority: US
Inventors: S Peyraud; J Freiche
Original assignee: Cegedur GP
Current assignee: Cegedur GP
Priority date: 1968-06-21
Filing date: 1971-01-27
Publication date: 1973-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 1990-10-09

Abstract

An apparatus for continuous vertical casting which includes extenders for adapting a casting frame for use with molds of different format including a member extending crosswise between the frame and mold to support the mold on the frame and to guide coolant liquid from the frame onto the outer walls of the mold.

Description

United States Patent [191 Peyraud et al.

[ APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS VERTICAL CASTING [75] Inventors: Serge Peyraud; Jean Freiche, both of lssoire, France [73] Assignee: Cegedur GP, Paris, France [22] Filed: Jan. 27, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 110,175

Related 1.1.8. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 739,032, June 21, 1968, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl. 164/283 [51] Int. Cl 822d 11/12 [58] Field of Search 164/283, 273

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,767,448 10/1956 Harter et al. 164/283 2,862,265 12/1958 Vaughn et a1. 164/283 3,059,295 10/1962 Vosskuehler 164/283 Oct. 9, 1973 2,708,297 5/1955 Zeigler 164/283 2,424,640 7/1947 Spooner 164/283 2,613,411 10/1952 Rossi 164/283 3,412,784 11/1968 Wieland 164/283 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 835,790 4/1952 Germany 164/283 903,950 2/1945 France 426,439 6/1967 Switzerland.....

Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Assistant Examiner-V. K. Rising Attorney-McDougall, Hersh, Scott & Ladd [57] ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUET 91m SHEFI REF 4 FIG. '4

PATENTEU 9W5 3,753,924

SHEH MP 4 FIG.7

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS VERTICAL CASTING This application is a division of our copending application Ser. No. 739,032, filed June 21, I968, and entitled Apparatus for Continuous Vertical Coating" now U. S. Pat. No. 3,596,707 granted Aug. 3, 197'].

This invention relates to apparatus having universal use in continuous vertical casting. It is known that slabs or billets can be made by vertically casting a molten material, such as a metal or alloy, into a mold with vertical generatrices having an internal cavity defining the product to be cast. The mold is cooled to enable the material to harden. As a general rule, cooling is obtained by allowing a liquid, such as water, to trickle down over the outer wall of the mold. For this purpose, the mold is surrounded at its upper end by a chamber, known as a casting frame, provided with openings through which the cooling liquid flows. The mold is usually supported by the upper part of the casting frame, as by means of a flange machined in a manner to insure that the mold remains centered within the frame. The distance between the inner wall of the casting frame and the outer wall of the mold is governed by the pressure of the cooling liquid so as to obtain effective cooling.

Adisadvantage of this arrangement is that the dimensions of the mold can be varied only within narrow limits if it is desired to maintain a proper sprinkling action. Accordingly, a separate casting frame has to be used for each mold having different format of product to be cast.

It is an object of this invention to provide a universal apparatus for continuous vertical casting by means of which products varying in format can be obtained with a single casting frame.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a sectional elevational view through a portion of a universal apparatus for continuous casting embodying the features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modification in the apparatus for installing a short mold in an elongate casting frame;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a further modification adapting the apparatus for use with a narrow mold in a wide casting frame;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a still further modification for adapting a short, narrow mold in a wide and long casting frame; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line b-b of FIG. 6.

The apparatus embodying the features of this invention comprises a casting frame and a mold of conventional construction between which is arranged at least one water sheet extender in which each extender is formed with an upper portion in the form of a mold support having at least one of its side edges resting on the casting frame and a fourth side edge providing a support for the mold and in which the extender includes a lower portion in the form of a deflector for lateral transport of the cooling water from the casting frame to the mold walls.

In a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of this invention, the deflector has at least one of the following features, namely:

adjacent the casting frame, it has a channelled band which stabilizes the flow of water in the transverse direction and prevents the sheet of water from drifting to one side;

adjacent the mold, it has a smooth band enabling the sheet of water to be spread out;

adjacent the mold it terminates in a draft edge which operates to prevent the accumulation of water on the deflector and which enables a sheet of water to be formed for cooling the mold.

Referring now to the drawings, the universal apparatus of this invention comprises a casting frame I, a mold 2, a water sheet extender dimensioned to extend across the space between th outer periphery of the mold and the casting frame and having an upper portion 3 in the form of a mold support and a lower portion 4 in the form of a deflector with a spaced between the upper and lower portions to provide a channel through which the cooling liquid, suchas water, is transported from the casting frame to the mold.

The casting frame is of conventional design. It is provided with openings 11 on a horizontal axis.

The mold 2 has an inner wall of any desirable section, the generatrices of which are substantially parallel to a vertical axis 21. The mold 2 is also formed with an outwardly extending horizontally disposed flange 23 which, in a conventional arrangement, is adapted to rest upon the upper surface of the frame 1.

At the outer end of the mold support 3, adjacent the casting frame 1, the mold support is provided with a horizontally disposed flange 32 adapted to rest on the upper surface of the frame and, at the other end, adjacent the mold, the mold support is provided with a horizontally disposed groove 31 adapted to receive the flange 23 of the mold.

The deflector portion 4 is fixed in spaced relation beneath the support 3 by bolts 45 and studs 44 in between. A channel section is thus provided between the deflector portion 4 and the mold support 3 into which cooling liquid flows from the openings 11 in frame 1. The cooling liquid flows horizontally across the channel in the direction of the arrow 10 for release adjacent the outer wall of the mold to enable the cooling liquid to trickle down the outer wall 22 of the mold.

It is advantageous to provide the portion of the deflector adjacent the casting frame with channelling members 41 on the upper surface to stabilize the flow of water in he transverse direction and to prevent the sheet of water from drifting to one side. Adjacent the mold 2, the deflector is formed with a smooth horizontally disposed ledge 43 in its upper surface to enable the sheet of liquid to spread out and the ledge terminates preferably in a draft edge 42 to prevent accumulation of liquid on the'deflector and to enable a sheet of liquid to be formed for transfer to the outer wall 22 of the mold to cool the mold.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the manner in which a short mold 2 can be installed in a casting frame I originally designed for a longer mold. For this purpose, an

extender

3, 4 of rectangular shape is arranged on either side of the small side of the mold with three horizontallydisposed edge flanges 32 resting on the upper face of the casting frame 1 while its groove31 receives the flange 23 of the mold. v v

Similarly, a narrow mold 5 may be adapted to be installed in a casting frame 1 designed for a wider mold, as shown in FIG. 5. For this purpose, an extender is provided on either side of the ledge'face of the mold in which the mold support 30 comprises three horizontally disposed edge flanges 302 resting on the upper face of the casting frame 1 and a groove 301 which receives the flange 23 of the mold.

It is also possible, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, to install a mold in a casting frame 1 which is designed to receive a mold of longer and widerdimensions.

To start with, a first empty space corresponding to the width of the mold is created by providing along the long faces of the casting frame 1 long extenders 30-40 having horizontally disposed edge flanges 302 resting on the upper face of the casting frame. The length of this first space is then reduced to a length corresponding to that of the mold by arranging along the narrow side of the empty, space short extenders 3-4 having flanges 32 resting on the upper face of the casting frame 1 for one side of the extendar and in grooves 301 in the extenders 3040 for the two other sides of the extender. The flange 23 of the mold rests on that portion of the grooves 301 which remain unoccupied by the extenders 3-4 and in the grooves 31 of the extenders 3.

In the extenders 30-40, the cooling liquid, generally water, flows in the direction of the arrow 100 and, in the extender 3-4, it flows perpendicularly of the figure. It is almost possible to extend extenders 3-4 as wide as the casting frame 1 and extenders 30-40 as long as the mold this would merely result in a change in the dimensions of the rectangularly shaped extenders.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that we have provided a simple and effective means for adapting molds of different dimensions and format for use with a single casting frame thereby to provide a universal arrangement for continuous vertical casting in a single frame.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction, arrangement and operation without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for continuous casting which enables products of different format and dimension to be cast without change in the casting frame comprising a mold having outer and inner walls defining a vertically disposed cavity therein and the vertical cross section of the outer wall defining at its upper portion a downwardly extending arcuate surface, a casting frame surrounding the mold with a spaced relationship between the frame and mold and having means to supply cooling liquid to the arcuate surface, at leastone water sheet extender across the space between the mold and casting frame in horizontal relationship with the means to supply cooling liquid and the arcuate surface including an upper portion having at least one side resting on the casting frame and another side adapted operatively to be engaged by the mold to support the mold from the casting frame and a lower portion in the form of a deflector which operates to carry the cooling liquid horizontally in the form of a sheet from the casting frame and to deflect the sheet of liquid onto the outer walls of the mold.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the deflector portion of the extender, adjacent the casting frame, is formed on its upper surface with a channeled band to stabilize the flow of cooling liquid transversely thereover.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the deflector portion, adjacent the mold, is formed with a smooth horizontally disposed ledge to effect spread of the cooling liquid during flow thereover.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the deflector, in the end portion adjacent the he mold, terminates in a draft edge to prevent accumulation of cooling liquid in the deflector and which forms the cooling liquid into a sheet for deposition onto the outer wall of the mold.

Claims

1. An apparatus for continuous casting which enables products of different format and dimension to be cast without change in the casting frame comprising a mold having outer and inner walls defining a vertically disposed cavity therein and the vertical cross section of the outer wall defining at its upper portion a downwardly extending arcuate surface, a casting frame surrounding the mold with a spaced relationship between the frame and mold and having means to supply cooling liquid to the arcuate surface, at least one water sheet extender across the space between the mold and casting frame in horizontal relationship with the means to supply cooling liquid and the arcuate surface including an upper portion having at least one side resting on the casting frame and another side adapted operatively to be engaged by the mold to support the mold from the casting frame and a lower portion in the form of a deflector which operates to carry the cooling liquid horizontally in the form of a sheet from the casting frame and to deflect the sheet of liquid onto the outer walls of the mold.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the deflector, in the end portion adjacent the mold, terminates in a draft edge to prevent accumulation of cooling liquid in the deflector and which forms the cooling liquid into a sheet for deposition onto the outer wall of the mold.