GB734153A - Improvements in or relating to ladle stopper control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

734,153. Metal pouring ladles. REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION. Aug. 14, 1953, No. 22426/53. Class 82 (1). [Also in Group XXIX] Mechanical means for operating the nozzle-stopper of a metal-pouring ladle are controlled by a hydraulic power system which is connectible to the mechanical operating means and which is controlled by manually operated means which are freely portable whilst still connected to the hydraulic power system. As shown, the nozzle 12 of a ladle 10 with a refractory lining 11 is closed by a stopper formed by a steel rod 15 with a tip 16 and sleeves 17 both made of refractory material, the rod 15 being connected by a cross-head 20 to a guide rod 23 which is slidable in a barrel 26 and prevented from rotating by a key 29. The barrel is pivoted to the ladle at 27, its position is adjusted by a rotatable arm 32, and the guide rod 23 may be operated manually by means of a linkage 35, 38 and lever 41, upward movement of the guide rod being limited by an adjusting nut 150. A double-acting hydraulic cylinder 51 is removably connected to a bracket 47 on the barrel 26 and its piston-rod 52 is removably connected to a bracket 48 on the lower part 33 of the slide-rod. The ends of the cylinder 51 are connected by flexible hoses 57, 58 to one side of a four-way three-position reversing valve 60 to the other side of which oil or other liquid is supplied from a reservoir 62 by a pump 61 through a pressure-relief valve 103, these latter parts all being carried by an overhead crane cab 116 or other support movable with the ladle. The hoses 57, 58 may be provided with breakaway couplings of known kind supported from the cylinder 51, and details of the mounting of these couplings, and of the removable connection of the cylinder 51 and piston-rod 52 to the brackets 47, 48 respectively, are described and illustrated in the Specification. The plug 67, Fig. 5, of valve 60 is held in a central neutral position by springs 70, and is moved in either direction by a solenoid 72 or 73. The cylinder 51 may be exhausted of liquid by means of a dump valve 85 which is normally rendered inoperative by a solenoid 82 acting against a spring 90. A.C. or D.C. supplied from mains 75, 76 is controlled by a preferably two-position " on-off " switch 77. Closure of a preferably spring-return " down" switch 92 energizes solenoid 72 to move valve plug 67 to the right, whereby pressure and exhaust lines 65, 66 are connected by valve bores 101, 102 to the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the cylinder 51 to close the nozzle 12. Similarly, operation of a preferably spring-return " up " switch 105 opens the nozzle by means of solenoid 73 and valve bores 112, 113. Opening of the switches 92, 105 will arrest the stopper in any desired intermediate position. The switches 77, 92 and 105 may be mounted in a switch-box 117 manipulated by an operator moving freely on a platform 42. The electrical control of the hydraulic system may be replaced by an airmotor control.