EP2350325A1

EP2350325A1 - Device for distributing a material in a molten state

Info

Publication number: EP2350325A1
Application number: EP09751877A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giovanni Cimenti; Claude Bodeving; Claude Meisch
Original assignee: TMT Tapping Measuring Technology SARL
Current assignee: TMT Tapping Measuring Technology SARL
Priority date: 2008-11-10
Filing date: 2009-11-03
Publication date: 2011-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 2029-11-03
Also published as: PL2350325T3; US20110220688A1; UA98426C2; RU2011123091A; BRPI0916066B1; RU2490330C2; US8795582B2; CN102209795B; CA2741971A1; BRPI0916066A2; CA2741971C; CN102209795A; ES2396297T3; WO2010052211A1; EP2350325B1; LU91495B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for distributing a material in a molten state, said device comprising a swinging chute (16) supported so as to be capable of swinging about a substantially horizontal swinging axis (25), and a driving group (40). The latter comprises gear motor group (42), a drum winch (44) driven by the gear motor group (42), and at least one cable segment (50, 50’) that can be both wound on or unwound from said drum. One end of the cable segment (46, 50, 50') is attached to the swinging chute (16) at a distance L from the swinging axis (25) thereof so as to apply a swinging momentum to said swinging chute (16).

Description

DEVICE FOR DISTRIBUTING FUSION MATERIAL.

Technical area

The present invention relates to a device for distributing a molten material with a rocking channel supported so as to tilt around a substantially horizontal tilting axis. Such a device is used in particular to distribute a liquid iron, which flows through a pouring channel of a casting floor of a casting of a blast furnace, on two torpedo wagons or two pockets which are waiting below the pouring floor.

State of the art

US Patent 3,792,850 describes such a device. The tilting gully comprises a support cradle, which is supported by two support journals so that it can tilt about a horizontal tilt axis, and a gutter element with two opposing weir spouts, which is placed from interchangeably in the support cradle. A training group of the support cradle comprises a geared motor unit with a crank. This crank is connected by means of a connecting rod to a lever arm of the support cradle.

Document KR20040046395 discloses a tilting gully in which the gearmotor is coupled, without connecting crank intermediate, to one of the two journals of the support cradle.

A common fault of these two tilting mechanisms with geared motor unit is that, given the significant weight of the tilting channel, the torque at the output of the gearbox must be quite large, which requires a large geared motor gearbox so expensive . An advantage of a drive unit with geared motor unit lies in the fact that a second input shaft connected to a hand wheel can be provided on the gearbox, which makes it possible to manually tilt the tilting channel in the event of a problem. with the motor of the geared motor unit or with its power supply. However, this second input shaft requires an additional gear train with a transmission ratio very high to manually tilt the tilting channel, which further increases the price of the geared motor group.

[0005] There are also tilting gullies whose drive unit of the support cradle comprises a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder connected to a lever arm of the support cradle. However, a large diameter hydraulic cylinder, which requires high flows of hydraulic oil under high pressure to operate, is frowned upon in the immediate vicinity of large quantities of liquid iron (danger of fire). A pneumatic cylinder has the disadvantage of not allowing a reliable adjustment of the angle of inclination of the tilting gully. In addition, the solutions with hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder have the disadvantage of not offering a possibility to manually switch the tilting sluice in case of problem with the supply of hydraulic or pneumatic fluid.

Object of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a device for distributing a molten material with a tilting channel equipped with a simple and cheap drive unit, ensuring nevertheless a safe and reliable tilting of the channel tilting.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a device according to claim 1.

General description of the invention

In order to solve the problem mentioned above, the present invention proposes a distribution device for a molten material comprising in a manner known per se: a rocking channel supported so as to be able to tilt around a tilting axis substantially horizontal; a drive unit with a geared motor unit and a force transmission means connecting the geared motor unit to the tilting runner, so as to transmit to the latter a tilting moment about its tilting axis. According to a new aspect, the force transmission means comprises a drum winch driven by the geared motor unit and at least one cable section winding on the drum, respectively taking place from latest; an end of said cable section being fixed to the tilting channel at a distance L from its tilting axis, so as to be able to apply to the tilting channel the tilting moment. It will be appreciated that the effort transmission means essentially comprises simple elements, which are most often available commercially. In addition, the torque required for the output of the geared motor unit to operate the drum winch is relatively low, so that a geared motor of reduced size, so cheap. In most cases the gear unit must only have a gear train consisting of a worm gear and a worm gear and can be self-locking when stopped. It will also be appreciated that the cable transmission provides a great freedom as regards the location of the drive unit, which can for example be placed on the casting floor, in a cabinet adjacent to the tilting runner, or even in below the tilting gully. In addition, apart from the cables, there are no mechanical connections between the drive unit and the tilting runner, which facilitates the assembly and disassembly of the drive unit and / or the tilting runner.

In a first embodiment, the force transmission means comprises a single cable section which is adapted to transmit to the tilting channel a tilting moment in a first direction to bring it from a first position in a second position, when this section of cable is wound on the drum; and the tilting ditch is balanced to return from the second position to the first position, when unrolling the drum cable. In other words, the drive unit only serves to produce the torque to swing the tilting ditch in one direction. Tilting of the tilting ditch in the opposite direction is achieved by the gravitational force acting directly on the tilting ditch.

In a preferred embodiment, the force transmission means comprises a first cable section and a second section, one end of the first cable section being fixed to the rocking channel so as to be able to apply to the latter. a tilting moment in a first direction, when this first section of cable is wound on the drum; and one end of the second cable section being attached to the tilting gully so as to be able to apply a tilting moment to the latter second sense, when this second section of cable is wound on the drum. In this alternative embodiment, the drive unit is used to produce the torque to swing the tilting ditch in two directions. It will be appreciated that this alternative embodiment makes it possible to balance the tilting ditch so that it is in equilibrium between a first position in which it discharges the molten material on the left side and a second position in which it discharges the melt material on the right side. In this equilibrium position, the training group is, therefore, free of any effort.

The device advantageously comprises a first limit stop defining a first extreme position of inclination for the tilting channel, and a second limit stop defining a second extreme tilting position for the tilting gully. These end stops constitute a safety stop for the tilting runner.

To prevent a cable from breaking when the tilting channel is stopped in its tilting movement by a limit stop, respectively by another rigid obstacle, is provided on the tilting channel an attachment point for the cable which is advantageously formed by an attachment system with pretensioned springs. As long as the tension in the cable remains lower than the prestress force of the springs, the latter do not compress, and the fastening system forms a fixed attachment point for the rope. However, if the tilting channel is stopped in its tilting movement by an end stop or other rigid obstacle, the force in the cable section exceeds the prestressing force of the springs. The latter then compress, and the attachment point yields proportionally to the modulus of the tensile force, which limits the tension in the cable and prevents premature breakage.

The tilting channel advantageously comprises two lever arms, the end of the first cable section being fixed to the first lever arm and the end of the second cable section being fixed to the second lever arm. These two lever arms are preferably symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane passing through the tilting axis, and each lever arm advantageously supports a cable guide in the form of an arc of circle whose center of curvature is situated on the tilting axis. With these two cable guides, the increase in length of a cable section is substantially equal to the reduction of the other cable section, which allows winding and unwinding without problems of the two cable sections on the same drum.

A tensioning weight is advantageously associated with each cable section so as to maintain the latter stretched around the drum, when the cable section does not transmit tensile force.

In a first variant embodiment, the tilting channel comprises a channel member with two opposing spouts which is supported with two support pins so as to tilt around the horizontal tilt axis.

In a preferred embodiment, the rocking channel comprises a support cradle supported with two support pins, so as to tilt around the horizontal tilting axis, and a channel element with two opposing spouts, which is interchangeably placed in the support cradle. This variant with support cradle allows easy and fast exchange of the channel element.

The geared motor unit and the drum winch are preferably arranged next to the tilting channel and advantageously separated from the latter by a protective wall.

A preferred embodiment further comprises a limit cam fixed on the tilting channel, a device for detecting certain predefined positions of the end-of-travel cam and a circuit for stopping the gearmotor unit when such a predefined position. is detected.

Brief description of the drawings

Other features and characteristics of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of some advantageous embodiments presented below, by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings. These show:

Fig. 1: a vertical section along the line of section 1 -1 marked in FIG. 2, a distribution device for a molten material according to the invention;

Fig. 2: a horizontal section along the section line 2-2 marked in FIG. 1; Fig. 3: a vertical section along the section line 3-3 marked in FIG. 2;

Fig. 4: a partial section showing the detail indicated by a circle 4 in FIG. 1; and

Fig. 5: a section showing the detail indicated by a circle 5 in FIG. 1.

Description of a preferred execution

The figures in the appendix show a device according to the present invention, which is used, for example, to distribute a molten iron 8, which flows through a pouring channel 10 of a pouring floor 12 of a casting of a blast furnace, on two torpedo wagons 14, 14 ', which are waiting below the casting floor 12. This device comprises a tilting gully, generally identified by the reference 16, which advantageously consists of a support cradle 18 and an interchangeable channel element 20.

The support cradle 18 is equipped with two journals 22, 22 ', which are housed in bearings 24, 24' laterally, so that the support cradle 18 can tilt about a tilting axis 25 The interchangeable channel element 20 forms a spout 28, 28 'for the cast iron at each of its two ends. It is placed from above in the support cradle 18 and is provided with feet 26, 26 ', which wedge it on the support cradle 18 and immobilize it during the tilting of the latter.

In FIG. 1, the rocking channel is shown in the rest position (or waiting), wherein the channel member 20 is substantially horizontal. It will be noted that the assembly of the rocking channel 16 is advantageously balanced so as to be in equilibrium in this rest position, that is to say that no moment must be exerted to maintain the channel element 20 substantially horizontal. By applying a tilting moment on the tilting channel 16, the support cradle 18 can however be tilted in the direction of the arrow 30, in order to bring the channel element 20 into an inclined discharge position in the roadster wagon 14 ( as suggested by broken lines in Fig. 1), and in the direction of the arrow 30 ', to bring the trench element 20 into an inclined discharge position in the roadster car 14'. The reference sign 32 identifies a first stop carried by a substructure 34 so as to cooperate with a first abutment 32 'on the support cradle 18 to define an extreme position of inclination of the channel element 20 when the support cradle 18 is tilted in the direction of the arrow 30. The reference sign 36 identifies a second stop carried by the substructure 34 so as to cooperate with a second abutment 36 'on the support cradle 18, to define an extreme inclination position of the trench element 20, when the support cradle 18 tilts in the direction of the arrow 30 '.

In Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown a particularly advantageous drive unit 40 associated with the tilting channel 16. This drive unit 40 comprises a geared motor unit 42, which drives a drum winch 44. On the latter rolls up and takes place a cable, which is generally identified with the reference sign 46 and which makes it possible to apply to the tilting runner 16 a tilting moment about its tilting axis 25. The drum winch 44 can most often be a standard equipment available in the trade. The geared motor unit 42 may comprise an electric motor, hydraulic or pneumatic coupled to the reducer. The reducer of the geared motor unit 42 may be quite small. Most often it is sufficient that it comprises a single gear train consisting essentially of a worm and a screw-worm conjugate. This worm gear train is advantageously sized so as to be self-locking when stopped. It should be noted that the geared motor unit 42 and the drum winch 44 are, in the embodiment shown in the figures, arranged below the casting floor 12, next to the rocking channel 16, and separated from the latter by a protective wall 48.

In the preferred embodiment presented with the aid of the figures, the cable 46 comprises a first cable section 50, provided with an end 52 fixed to the tilting channel 16, at a distance L from its tilting axis 25. , so as to be able to apply to the latter a tilting moment in the direction of the arrow 30 ', and a second cable section 50', provided with an end 52 'fixed to the tilting channel 16, at a distance L of its tilting axis 25, so as to be able to apply to the latter a tilting moment in the opposite direction indicated by the arrow 30. Between the first section of cable 50 and the second cable section 50 ', the cable 46 forms several windings around the drum winch 44. To prevent slippage between the drum winch 44 and the cable 46, the latter can be attached to the drum winch 44, so that that the cable section 50 can be wound on one side of this attachment and the cable section 50 'can be wound on the other side of this attachment point. Alternatively, each cable section 50, 50 'can of course be individually fixed to the drum winch 44.

In FIG. 1, we see that the support cradle 18 comprises two lever arms 54, 54 'symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane passing through the tilting axis 25. The first lever arm 54 serves as a point of attachment to said first end 52 of the first cable section 50, and the second lever arm 54 'serves as a point of attachment to said second end 52' of the second cable section 50 '.

In FIG. 1 also shows that each lever arm 54, 54 'supports a cable guide 56, 56' in the form of a circular arc whose center of curvature is located on the tilting axis 25. The references 58, 58 ' identify return pulleys arranged above the cable guides 56, 56 ', symmetrically with respect to a vertical plane passing through the tilting axis 25. These return pulleys 58, 58' serve to guide the cable section 50 50 'respectively, below the casting floor 12 to the top of the drum winch 44. The references 59, 59' identify return pulleys arranged above the drum winch 44, to guide the cable section 50 and 50 'respectively on the drum winch 44.

When the first cable section 50 wraps around the drum winch 44, the second cable section 50 'is unwound from the drum winch 44 and vice versa. Thanks to the two arcuate cable guides 56, 56 'whose center of curvature is situated on the tilting axis 25, the length increase of a cable section 50 is substantially equal to the reduction of the other cable section 50 ', which allows winding and unwinding of the two sections of cable without a problem on the same drum.

[0029] FIG. 5 shows a preferential attachment of the first end 52 of the cable section 50 to the lever arm 54 (the fixing of the second end 52 ' from the cable section 50 'to the lever arm 54' is preferably identical). The reference 60 generally identifies a fastening system with springs 62 prestressed, which will now be described in more detail. This fastening system comprises a tube 64 provided on one side of a collar 66 and on the other side of a thread 68. The tube 64 is housed in a hole 70 of a base 72 of the lever arm 54 with its collar 66 resting on the outer surface 74 of the base 72. The springs 62, which are advantageously spring washers (Belleville type springs), are threaded onto the tube 64, on the opposite side of the hole 70. A plate 76 is screwed onto the thread 68, so as to compress the springs 62 between its inner face 78 and the inner face 80 of the base 72. In this way, the springs 62 exert a predefined prestressing force, which substantially corresponds to the maximum tensile force in the cable section 50 to be discounted during the tilting rock dump 16.

The cable section 50 is fixed to a fixing rod 86 which has a threaded end 88 which passes through the tube 64. A tension adjusting nut 90 screwed onto this threaded end 88 forms an adjustable support, with which the fixing rod 86 bears on the lower end of the tube 64. With the aid of this tension adjusting nut 90, it is therefore known to tension the cable section 50. Once the tension in the section of cable 50 is adjusted, the nut 90 is locked by means of a locknut 92.

As long as the voltage in the cable section 50 remains lower than the prestressing force of the springs 62, the springs 62 do not compress, and the tube 64 forms a fixed support for the fixing rod 86. If the tilting channel 16 is however stopped in its tilting movement by the abutment 32 'or another rigid obstacle, the force in the cable section 50 exceeds the prestressing force of the springs 62, the springs 62 are compressed, and the tube 64 is pulled by the fixing rod 86 in the direction of the arrow 94, proportionally to the modulus of the tensile force, which limits the tension in the cable section 50 and prevents premature breakage.

[0032] FIG. 4 shows a tensioning weight 96 advantageously associated with the cable section 50 so as to keep it stretched around the drum winch 44. This is for example a lead cylinder provided with a passage channel 98 for the cable section 50 and which is supported on a stop 100, of so as to exert traction on the cable section 50 toward its first end 52. It should be noted that a similar voltage-setting weight 96 'is advantageously also associated with the cable section 50'.

In Figs. 2 and 3, the reference 102 globally identifies a limit detection system. This system 102 comprises an end-of-travel cam 104 integral with the journal 22 and a detection device 106, making it possible to detect certain predefined positions of this end-of-travel cam, for example by means of mechanical or magnetic contacts or sensors. inductive, capacitive or optical. An electrical system (not shown) can then be used to stop the gearmotor unit when such a predefined position is detected.

In FIG. 3, the reference 110 identifies a hand wheel for manually tilting the tilting channel 16 in the event of a problem with the motor of the geared motor unit 42 or with its power supply. It will be appreciated that following the important lever arms involved in the transmission of the tilting moment to the tilting channel 16, it is possible to have a reduction gear that is small enough for transmitting the manual force to the drum winch 44.

NNNN ₎₎₎₎

L ₁₃ NOC O _> eg: 56, cable guide 56 '

10 casting channel diverting pulleys

12 casting floor

14, torpedo wagons pulleys 14 '

16 tilting gully 60 fastening system

18 support cradle 62 springs of 60

20 channel element 64 interchangeable tube 66 collar on 64 trunnions of 18 68 thread on 64

70 hole

24, bearings

72 base 24 '

74 O CDD ^CC OO outer surface of 72

25 tilting axis

76 plate

26, feet of 20 26 '78 inner face of 76 spout spillway of 20 8 molten cast iron

80 inner side of 72

30, arrow indicating the direction of 86 fixing rod 30 'tilting

88 threaded end

32 first stop

90 tension adjusting nut

32 'first abutment

92 lock nut

34 substructure

94 arrow

36 second stop

96 a weight of tensioning

36 'second abutment

98 passageway in 96

40 training group

100 stop

42 geared motor group

102 end-of-detection system

44 drum winch race

46 cable 104 end cam

48 protection 106 detection device

50 first section of cable 110 hand wheel

50 'second section of cable

52 first end of 50

52 'second end of 50

54, lever arm 54 '

Claims

claims

A dispensing device for a molten material comprising: a tilting gully (16) supported for tilting about a substantially horizontal tilt axis (25); a drive unit (40) comprising a geared motor unit (42); and force transmission means connecting said geared motor unit (42) to the tilting channel (16) so as to transmit thereto a tilting moment about its tilt axis (25); characterized in that said force transmission means comprises a drum winch (44) driven by said geared motor unit (42) and at least one cable section

(50, 50 ') winding on said drum, respectively unwinding from the latter; one end (52, 52 ') of the cable section (50, 50') being attached to said tilting gully (16) at a distance L from its tilt axis (25), so as to be able to apply to said tilting gully ( 16) said tilting moment.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that: said force transmission means comprises a single cable section which is adapted to transmit to the tilting channel (16) a tilting moment in a first direction to bring it a first position in a second position, when said section of cable is wound on the drum; and said tilting gully (16) is balanced to return from said second position to said first position when said cable section (50, 50 ') of the drum is unwound.

3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said force transmission means comprises a first cable section (50) and a second cable section (50 ') winding on said drum, respectively unwinding of the latter ; one end (52) of said first cable section (50) being attached to said tilting ditch (16) so as to be able to apply thereto a tilting moment in a first direction, and an end (52 ') of said second section of cable (50 ') being attached to said tilting ditch (16) so as to be able to apply thereto a tilting moment in a second direction about its tilt axis (25).

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized by a first stop (32) defining a first extreme position of inclination for said tilting gully (16), and a second stop (36) defining a second extreme tilt position for said gutter tilting (16).

5. Device according to one of claims 4, characterized by: a fastening system (60) with prestressed springs (62) forming on said tilting gully (16) a point of attachment for the end (52, 52 ' ) of said first or second cable section (50, 50 ').

6. Device according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that said rocking channel (16) comprises two lever arms (54, 54 '), the end (52) of said first cable section (50) being attached to said first lever arm (54) and the end (52 ') of said second cable section (50') being attached to said second lever arm (54 ').

7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said tilting gully (16) comprises: a channel element with two opposing spouts which is supported with two support pins so as to tilt around the horizontal tilting axis.

8. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said tilting channel (16) comprises: a support cradle (18) supported with two support pins (22, 22 ') so as to be able to tilt around horizontal tilting axis (25); and a trench element (20) with two opposing weir spouts, which is interchangeably placed in said support cradle (18).

9. Device according to claim 6, 7 or 8, characterized in that: the two lever arms (54, 54 ') are symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane passing through the tilting axis (25); and each lever arm (54,54 ') supports a circular arc-shaped cable guide (56,56') whose center of curvature is located on said tilting axis (25).

10. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized by a tensioning weight (96) associated with said cable (50, 50 ') so as to maintain the latter tensioned around the drum winch (44).

11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said gear motor unit (42) and said drum winch (44) are arranged next to said tilting channel (16) and separated from the latter by a wall protection (48).

12. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized by: a limit cam (104) fixed on said tilting gully (16); a detection device (106) of certain predefined positions of said end-of-travel cam; and a circuit for stopping said geared motor unit (42) when such a predefined position is detected.