GB1487142A - Casting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

1487142 Continuous casting sheet metal COMINCO Ltd 27 Oct 1975 [28 Oct 1974] 44120/75 Heading B3F A machine for continuously casting metal sheet comprises a trough 25 for molten metal, a stationary outer frame 61 which surrounds the trough along its sides and one end, an inner frame 62, pivotally mounted in the stationary frame and a rotatable casting drum 60 supported in the inner frame, course and fine adjustment means 71, 74 respectively for pivoting the inner frame so as to vary the height of the drum within the trough to control the thickness of the metal deposited on the drum and hence the thickness of the cast sheet produced means for raising and lowering one side of the inner frame to permit levelling of the drum with respect to the level of metal in the trough and means for pivoting the inner frame with respect to the outer frame to completely remove the drum from the casting trough. The trough 25 is mounted above a furnace 3 and the molten metal therein is fed by a pump 10 via conduits 15, 18 and 26 into a holding region 31 of the trough 25 which incorporates weirs and baffles 30, 29, 35, 32, 34 to prevent the inclusion of dross and to control the level in both the holding region 31 and the casting region 37 in which the surface of the drum 60 is immersed as the drum rotates. Inert gas is supplied to the holding region 31 by way of inlet 42 in the cover 41. Excess molten metal fed to the trough passes into an overflow compartment 28 between weirs 29 and 30 and returns to the furnace 3 through a pipe 20. The cast metal sheet is withdrawn from the drum surface as it rotates and is conveyed on table portions 111 and 112 to an edge trimming device 130 which includes a pair of rollers 131, 132 with slitting knives at each end. The waste edges are subsequently conveyed by feed rollers to a rotary cutter 200 which cuts the edge portions up into suitable size pieces 103. The trimmed sheet subsequently passes to a thickness gauging device and then via withdrawal rollers 121, 122 to reeling unit 125. The thickness gauging device includes a roller 151 and biased roller units 152 between which the sheet passes, the units incorporating transducers which transmit pulses which are indicative of the thickness of the sheet as it passes through the device. The roller sensing units 152 are pivotable out of engagement with the sheet. Appropriate tensions are applied to the sheet metal during the whole process to ensure satisfactory. The information received by the thickness gauging device may be utilized to control the position and speed of rotation of the drum and hence control the thickness of the metal cast. The rotation of the drum may be by independent drive means, or belt drive means 210 may be used to drive the drum 60, trimming device 130, cutting device 180 and the withdrawal rollers 121, 122 simultaneously