CA1068469A - Method and device for retaining hot top lining slabs - Google Patents

Method and device for retaining hot top lining slabs

Info

Publication number
CA1068469A
CA1068469A CA257,705A CA257705A CA1068469A CA 1068469 A CA1068469 A CA 1068469A CA 257705 A CA257705 A CA 257705A CA 1068469 A CA1068469 A CA 1068469A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
hot top
plate
end cap
slab
mould
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA257,705A
Inventor
John W. Bowers
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Foseco International Ltd
Original Assignee
Foseco International Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Foseco International Ltd filed Critical Foseco International Ltd
Priority to US05/799,057 priority Critical patent/US4131262A/en
Priority to DE2723855A priority patent/DE2723855C2/en
Priority to IT68201/77A priority patent/IT1083279B/en
Priority to JP6269977A priority patent/JPS52151619A/en
Priority to FR7716264A priority patent/FR2352610A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1068469A publication Critical patent/CA1068469A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B22CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
    • B22DCASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
    • B22D7/00Casting ingots, e.g. from ferrous metals
    • B22D7/06Ingot moulds or their manufacture
    • B22D7/10Hot tops therefor
    • B22D7/108Devices for making or fixing hot tops

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Road Paving Structures (AREA)

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
This invention relates to an end cap for use with a hot top slab for a casting mould of generally rectangular shape. Such cap comprises a plate adapted to bear against an inwardly facing surface of a hot top slab.
One edge of this plate is bent to define a passageway to receive an edge portion of a wedging plate, the passage being downwardly and inwardly inclined in the direction of a corner of the casting. Means are provided to secure the plate to the hot top slab. This structure is an advance over what was previously used, such as grooves formed in the hot top slab to receive wedges. Weakening of the slabs is avoided thus enabling materials to be used in making the slab which would not be strong enough to provide a satisfactory grooved slab. It is unnecessary to provide thick slabs with the accompanying disadvantage of a shoulder on the casting.
The wedging action is improved. There is also improved ease and reliability with respect to the holding of the lining of the mould in position.

Description

The invention relates to a cap for a method of retaining a hot-top lining within the head portion of a casting mould. The invention is especially suitable for making ingots.
Molten metal cast in the mould tends to contract on cooling and, unless a hot-top lining is located in the head portion of the mould, the metal located there will tend to cool more quickly than the metal located in the mould body and this can result in castings of poor quality or considerable wastage.
Where the head portion is of rectangular cross-sectional shape the lining is usually formed o~ four individual lining slabs.
The slabs are held against the inner surface of the head portion by wedges driven into the corners. The lining must be held tight since as the level of molten metal rises in the mould on pouring, there is a tendency for the metal to lift the lining away from the head portion. In one known version, the wedges are suitably shaped metal plates. To accept such wedges, it has been proposed in Canadian Patent 852,654 issued September 24, 1970 to Koch ~ Rocher to cut inclined grooves in the face of the slabs. This system has disadvantages in that any cutting weakens the strength of the slab and so it is necessary to reinforce it in some way, e.g., by locating a chicken wire reinforcement within the slab body, and there is a tendency for the wedging plate to cause portions of the slab to break away from the wire reinforcement. This tendency is especially irritating in that workmen may be required to replace individual slabs thus holding up the relining operation in a plant. If the structural weakness resulting from such grooves is compensated for by the use of slabs of increased thickness then an undesirable shoulder may be created in the ingot.
Another disadvantage is that the choice of structural materials for the slabs is limited in the case of a grooved structure to those of high compressive strength. It may be desirable to use a material which is lower in compressive strength but which is flexible to conform with the surfaces of the mould.
This invention is based upon the realization that a cap may be attached to the outside of a preformed slab in such a way as to reinforce its strength and yet be designed to accept the wedge plate to ensure a satisfactory securement of the lining within the ingot mould head portion.
According to this invention there is provided a cap for use with a hot-top slab, an edge portion of the cap being bent upon itself to form a passageway to receive an edge portion of à wedging plate, the cap including means by which it may be held to a wall of the slab.
Most preferably the cap has a generally flat plate of trapezoidal shape, to be abutted against a wall of the slab, the longest side of the trapezoidal plate being shaped to provide the wedge-receiving passàgeway.
The plate may be secured to the slab by any con-venient-means, for example by being anchored to the slab by bolts, pins and the like. It is however preferred according to the invention to cause the cap resiliently to grip opposite sides of the slab without penetrating the body of the slab.
To achieve this, the cap may be generally U-shaped in plan, one arm of the U being the plate referred to above, and the other being an extension of such plate shaped for engagement with the opposite face of the slab. As an alternative the plate may be L-shaped so as to include an extension engaging the end edge of the slab.
The cap may be made of metal in sheet or strip form, such as mild steel or spring steel.
The cap may have suspending means for suspending the slab to which it is attached within the mould head portion from the top. The suspending means may be permanently attached I I

10684b9 to the cap, for example by welding, or in an adjustable or releaseable manner. The suspending means may alternatively be directly connected to the slabs.
The invention includes an assembly comprising a mould, the mould having a head portion of generally rectangular cross-sectional shape, a hot-top lining being present in the head portion, the lining being formed of slabs, each slab having at each end a cap as defined above with the passageway facing inwardly of the mould head portion so that a pair of caps is present in each corner of the mould head portion, the passageways of the caps in each corner facing each other, a wedge plate being present in each corner, opposite sides of the wedge plate being in engagement with the opposite passage-ways, the wedge plate tending to urge the slabs towards the respective mould head portion walls.
Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of this invention:
Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the head portion of a mould having hot top slabs wedged in position by caps in accordance with this invention;
Figure 2 is a detailed plan view illustrating a corner of the mould shown in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of a cap in position on a hot top slab;
Figure 4 is an elevation view of a wedge plate;
Figure 5 is an elevation view of another cap of this invention;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of another cap of this invention.
Referring now to Figure 1, the head portion of an ingot mould is shown including side walls 10 and 11 and end walls 12 and 13. Hot top slabs 15 are held against end walls 13 10684~9 and hot top slabs 16 are held against sides 10.
The manner in which such top slabs are held in position is apparent from Figures 1 to 4, which illustrate a cap 18 in engagement with each side edge 17 of a slab 15 or 16.
The cap 18 is generally U-shaped in plan and has one branch 19 in contact with the inwardly facing surface 20 of slab 15 and another branch 21 in contact with the ou~er sur~ace 22 of slab 15. The bight 18a of the U-shaped cap is dimensioned such that the contact of the cap with the slab is a frictional engagement with the outer surfaces of the slab which is thus free o holes or apertures which will tend to weaken the hot top slab. However, in some cases the cap may be held to the slab by pins, dowels or gripping serrations.
Even where pins or dowels axe used the structure of the slab will not be weakened to the same extent as will result from grooves. Bight 18a also provides an abutment against edge 17.
A hanger wire 23 has a portion 24 welded or otherwise secured to bight 18a of the cap 18 and a top portion 25 which extends horizontally for engaging the upper edges of the walls 10, 11, 12 or 13 of the mould.
As shown best in Figure 3, the branch 19 is generally trapezoidal in shape and the edge of the longest wall (the right hand edge as shown in Figure 3) is bent back up on itself in any convenient way to form a passageway 26 having an outer wall 27. It will be noted that the passageway 26 is generally V shape in cross-section. The passageway 26 is inclined with respect to the vertical to receive an edge 31 of a metal wedge plate 30 when assembled as shown in Figure 1.
In use, the caps are force fitted on to the end of the slabs in the position shown in Figure 3. The slabs are then suspended in the mould head portion such that in each corner there are two capped slab ends. A wedge plate is then 10684~j9 urged into the corner to be received in and between the passageways 26 of the two caps. As the wedge is driven downwardly it tends to urge the caps apart thus improving the wedging action, the V-shaped passageways acting as guides for the wedge. In all instances the wedge contacts the metal of the passageways, not the slabs themselves.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure S, a cap 32 has a sleeve 33 and securing nut 34 to engage a hanger 36 at any position thereon. This may be used to vary the height at which the hot top lining slabs are suspended, within the ingot-mould, which may be desirable when casting small ingots in larger capacity moulds.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 6, trapezoidal plate 37 has at one end a lip 38 bent to define sloping passageway 39. The other end of plate 37 is bent to an L-shape to provide an extension 40 to engage end 41 of slab 42. Extension 40 is desirable even if a U-shape as illustrated in Figure 3 is not to be used to provide an abutment, in view of the pressure resulting from the wedging action.
With this embodiment it will generally be desirable to include auxiliary fastening means such as pins 43. Figure 6 also illustrates the fact that suspending means need not necessarily be secured to the cap. The slab may be provided with other suspending means connected directly to it (not shown).
It has been found in practice that a hot top lining having slabs with caps of the invention can easily and quickly be assembled within a mould head portion. Molten steel at 1650C. was teemed into the mould until the mould was completely filled; there was no incidence of any movement of the lining slabs and no tendency for the slabs to float on the surface of the molten metal.

~ 1068469 In the embodiment discussed, the cap was of U-shape having one branch for engaging the wedge plate and the other to assist in holding the cap to the slab. It will be appreciated however that other means may be used to secure the plate passageway to the slabs in a position for receiving the wedge plate without departing from the scope of the invention.
Advantages flowing from the use of this invention include:
the avoidance of weakening the slabs or providing a reinforcement therefor when engaging the wedge plate;
the improvement of t~e wedging action flowing rom the contact of the metal wedge plate with the metal cap;
improved ease and reliability of holding of the lining of the mould in the plant;
the avoidance of a shoulder on the casting where the weakness of the slab is compensated for by increased thickness of the slab;
materials may be used in forming the slab which would not be strong enough to provide a satisfactory grooved slab. Thus, the material used in forming the slab may have some flexibility to conform with the mould, the provision of such flexibility may involve, however, some loss of the strength in compression necessary for a grooved slab.

Claims (9)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. An end cap for use with a hot top slab for a casting mould of generally rectangular shape comprising a plate adapted to bear against an inwardly facing surface of a hot top slab, one edge of said plate being bent to define a passageway to receive an edge portion of a wedging plate, said passageway being downwardly and inwardly inclined in the direction of a corner of said casting mould and means to secure the plate to the hot top slab.
2. An end cap as in claim 1 in which the plate is trapezoidal in shape, the longest side of the trapezoidal plate being shaped to provide the wedge receiving passageway.
3. An end cap as in claim 1 in which the end cap and passageway extend substantially the full vertical depth of the hot top slab.
4. An end cap as in claims 1, 2 or 3 in which the cap is generally U-shaped, one arm providing said plate and the other arm being shaped to provide frictional engagement with the outwardly facing surface of the hot top slab and the bight of said U-shaped cap being adapted to provide an abutment against the edge of the hot top slab.
5. An end cap as in claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the cap is generally L-shaped, with an extension of the other side of the plate providing an abutment against a vertical edge of the slab.
6. An end cap as in claims 1, 2 or 3 comprising suspension means secured to said plate and adapted to engage the mould to suspend the end cap and the hot top slab engaged by the end cap.
7. An end cap as in claims 1, 2 or 3 comprising suspension means secured to said plate and adapted to engage the mould to suspend the end cap and the hot top slab engaged by the end cap and means for adjusting the vertical position of said suspension means.
8. A hot top assembly comprising hot top slabs in contact with the side walls, and end walls of the head portion of a casting mould, an end cap as defined by claims 1, 2 or 3 engaging each side edge off each of said hot top slabs, the passageways of adjacent end caps being inclined so that they converge toward the bottom of the hot top slab, wedge plates each opposite pair of opposed passageways at each corner of the mould to urge the slabs towards the respective mould head portion walls.
9. A method of retaining hot top lining slabs within the head of casting moulds comprising positioning an end cap as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 in engagement with the surfaces of said slabs adjacent to each side edge and with opposed passageways downwardly and inwardly inclined towards each corner of the mould and driving wedge plates into engagement with each pair of adjacent and opposed channels, to force the slabs against the mould.
CA257,705A 1976-05-27 1976-07-23 Method and device for retaining hot top lining slabs Expired CA1068469A (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/799,057 US4131262A (en) 1976-05-27 1977-05-20 Device for retaining hot top lining slabs
DE2723855A DE2723855C2 (en) 1976-05-27 1977-05-26 End cover for pouring attachments
IT68201/77A IT1083279B (en) 1976-05-27 1977-05-26 DEVICE FOR RETENTION OF COATING PLATES IN A LINGOTTIERA AND SIMILAR
JP6269977A JPS52151619A (en) 1976-05-27 1977-05-27 Terminal cap and feeder head lining aggregate
FR7716264A FR2352610A1 (en) 1976-05-27 1977-05-27 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR HOLDING MASSELOTTAGE COATING PLATES

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB2212276A GB1544670A (en) 1976-05-27 1976-05-27 Retaining hot top lining slabs

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1068469A true CA1068469A (en) 1979-12-25

Family

ID=10174257

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA257,705A Expired CA1068469A (en) 1976-05-27 1976-07-23 Method and device for retaining hot top lining slabs

Country Status (2)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1068469A (en)
GB (1) GB1544670A (en)

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB1544670A (en) 1979-04-25

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