JPH0342983B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous casting apparatus that can perform high-speed and efficient casting.

In recent years, there has been a demand for high-speed casting of thin-walled slabs in relation to the rolling process. Conventionally, as a method to meet this demand, a rotary continuous casting method that combines a rotating casting wheel and a belt has been known.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the conventional method.
In this figure, 1 is a rotatable casting wheel,
A groove 1a is formed on its outer peripheral surface as shown in Figure b. Further, an endless belt 2 made of mild steel is disposed along a part of the outer periphery of the cast wheel 1. This belt 2 is pressed against the outer periphery of the casting wheel 1 by a belt guide 3, and a mold space 4 is formed between the belt 2 and the groove 1a on the outer periphery of the casting wheel 1. In addition, belt guide 3
serves to press the belt 2 and also to cool the belt 2 at the same time. Further, as described above, the belt 2 is endlessly tied by the belt roller 5 and rotates in the opposite direction to the casting wheel 1.

Then, the casting wheel 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow A, while the belt 2 is moved in the direction of the arrow B with the circumferential speed of the casting wheel 1 equal to the circumferential speed of the casting wheel 1. Molten metal 6 is poured from a tundish 5 placed above the point where the mold space 4 begins to be formed. The poured molten metal 6 moves into a mold space 4 that moves with the rotation of the casting wheel 1 and belt 2 (in this case, the location where the mold space 4 is formed does not change, but the mold space 4 itself is ), and is cooled while moving, solidifying the outer surface, forming a continuous cast piece 7, and forming a mold space 4.
will be carried to the area where it will be opened. This cast piece 7 is then pulled out from the groove 1a of the casting wheel 1 by a pinch roller 8. At this time, the groove 1a of the casting wheel 1
In order to make it easier to separate the cast piece 7 from the groove 1a, tapers are provided on both sides of the groove 1a, and the groove 1a has a trapezoidal shape. Furthermore, the cast piece 7
A knife 9 is provided at the outlet of the cast piece 7 in order to peel it off. 10 is a cutting machine for cutting the cast piece 7.

By the way, although this method enables continuous casting at high speed and efficiency, it has the following problems.

First, the belt 2 is cooled from the outside, but since the belt 2 comes into direct contact with the molten metal 6, the cooling and temperature raising cycle of the belt 2 is rapid, causing the belt 2 to stretch, bend, and become deformed. Therefore, the life of the belt 2 itself is short,
Maintenance is difficult. Also, due to the deformation of the belt 2, a gap is created between the belt 2 and the casting wheel 1.
Molten metal may leak, and countermeasures are difficult. Therefore, a belt material that compensates for these drawbacks is desired, but the reality is that there is currently no suitable material other than mild steel.

Further, when attempting to manufacture a wide range of slabs using the above method, large deformation occurs in the belt 2, making it extremely difficult to design and manufacture the belt 2.

Furthermore, in the above method, the groove 1a of the casting wheel 1 is tapered in order to compensate for the difficulty of the casting piece 7 coming off. Therefore, when the cast piece 7 is pulled out, slippage occurs in the tapered portion, resulting in increased wear in that portion. Therefore, when reprocessing and reusing, a large amount of rework is required due to the taper, which ultimately reduces the frequency of reuse and causes an increase in costs.

Furthermore, by providing a taper in the groove 1a, the cast piece 7 becomes trapezoidal, but since the shape is trapezoidal, it solidifies unevenly due to uneven cooling, resulting in poor quality with internal cracks. This is the cause of producing bad products and increasing the occurrence of breakouts. Further, a rolling process is also required to make the trapezoidal cast piece 7 into a rectangular shape, which increases the equipment cost and becomes uneconomical.

Furthermore, a pick-up knife 9 is provided to compensate for the difficulty of removing the cast piece 7, but it is difficult to install the strong knife 9 in a narrow space near the cast piece take-out port, and For example, in the event of a breakout, recovery work will take a lot of time.

As mentioned above, the above-mentioned problems were unavoidable in the conventional belt system.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a new continuous casting apparatus that can eliminate all the problems in conventional rotary continuous casting methods.

The present invention is an apparatus for casting without using a belt method, in which a plurality of movable molds each of which can be opened and closed are arranged along the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of a rotating casting wheel, and the movable molds are When multiple adjacent molds are closed, a continuous mold space is formed along the circumferential direction, and a cam mechanism that uses the rotational force of the casting wheel is used as the machine to open and close these movable molds. According to the rotation of the casting wheel, the movable mold is automatically opened and closed at a predetermined rotational position.

By this device, the movable molds are closed at predetermined intervals during one rotation of the casting wheel, and opened before and after the closed intervals, so that the molten metal is formed by the movable molds at the starting point of the closed interval. The molten metal is poured into a mold space that moves with the rotation of the casting wheel, and at least the outer surface of the molten metal is solidified to form a cast piece, and the cast piece is taken out in a section where the movable mold is opened. Through this series of operations, casting is performed continuously.

Hereinafter, the contents of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

2 to 4 show an embodiment of the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall side view of the device, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are a sectional view taken along the line - and - taken in FIG. 2, respectively. FIG. In these figures,
11 is a casting wheel that is rotatably installed in the vertical direction. A plurality of movable molds 12 are arranged along the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of this casting wheel 11. These movable molds 12 are regularly arranged as if divided into strips in the circumferential direction with a slight gap between adjacent ones.

These movable molds 12, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, have two symmetrical mold pieces 12a,
12a, which opens and closes on both sides of the casting wheel 11 within a plane along the radial direction of the casting wheel 11. That is, the left and right mold pieces 12
a and 12a are integrally provided in a substantially L-shape at the tips of arms 13 and 13, respectively, and the base ends of these arms 13 and 13 are provided on brackets 14 and 14 on both sides of the casting wheel 11, respectively. Turning center 1
5 and 15 so as to be rotatable.

Reference numeral 16 denotes an equalizing link mechanism, which is used to synchronize the operations of the left and right mold pieces 12a, 12a.Brackets 17, 17 are provided at the base end of each arm 13, 13, and the respective brackets 17, 17 are connected to each other. One end of each link 18, 18 is rotatably attached to 17, and the other ends of both links 18, 18 are overlapped and rotatably supported by one shaft 19, and the shaft 1
A guide roller 20 is rotatably attached to the casting wheel 9, and the roller 20 is rotatably fitted into a guide groove 21 extending in the radial direction provided in the arm portion 11b of the casting wheel 11. Figure 3b shows a cross section of this part.

Further, a movable mold driving arm 22 is further attached to the base end of one arm 13 by a pin 23, and by operating this arm 22, the movable mold 12 is moved around the pivot centers 15, 15 as fulcrums. It is turned in the directions of arrows C and D, and opens on both sides of the casting wheel 11 within a plane along the radial direction of the casting wheel 11, and closes from the left and right so as to surround the outer circumference of the casting wheel 11.

This moving mold driving arm 22 is constructed as follows. First, 24 is a slide guide cylinder, which has a plate-shaped portion 24a at one end and a cylindrical portion 24b at the other end. One end of the plate-shaped portion 24a is connected to the arm 13 by the pin 23.
is rotatably supported at the proximal end of the Note that the end of the cylindrical portion 24b on the plate-like portion 24a side is bottomed,
A small hole 24c is bored in the bottom of the hole 24c.
A hole 24d is bored in the plate-shaped portion 24a adjacent to the bottom where the hole 4c is bored. Further, a slide guide shaft 26 is inserted into the guide tube 24 from an opening on the other end side of the tube portion 24b via a slide metal 25 so as to be freely slidable in the axial direction. The slide guide shaft 26 has a threaded portion 26a with a small diameter at its tip, and is installed in a small hole 24c formed at the bottom of the cylindrical portion 24b of the guide tube 24 through the threaded portion 26a. A clearance adjusting nut 27 is screwed onto the tip of the threaded portion 26a. This nut 27 is located within a hole 24d formed in the plate-shaped portion 24a so that it can be turned. A compression spring 28 is arranged at the bottom of the cylindrical portion 24b of the guide tube 24 to push the guide shaft 26 to the outside. This spring 28 acts as a reaction force on the cast pieces 12a, 12 of the movable mold 12.
This is to urge the opening a to close, and to prevent gaps from forming between the contact surfaces s, t, and u when the opening is closed. 29 is the guide shaft 26
This is a stopper that limits the travel length of the

Further, an L-shaped roller mounting block 30 is welded and fixed to the end of the guide shaft 26 on the side opposite to the side inserted into the guide cylinder 24. A movable mold opening/closing driving roller (engaging portion) 32 is rotatably attached to this L-shaped roller mounting block 30 via a shaft 31. This roller 32
is for tracing a groove 33a of a grooved fixed guide 33, which will be described later. Similarly, two guide rollers 35, 35 are rotatably attached to the block 30 via shafts 34, 34.
These guide rollers 35, 35 are for guiding the movable mold opening/closing drive roller 32 so that it does not come off the groove (guide groove) 33a of the fixed guide 33, and are provided on the protrusion 33b on the side end surface of the fixed guide 33. It is designed to roll by sandwiching it.

Then, the moving mold driving arm 22 configured as described above is provided.
is used as a cam follower, and the fixed guide 33 is used as a cam plate, thereby constructing a cam mechanism.
That is, the fixed guide 33 is fixed on the ground, and on the other hand, the arm 22 as a cam follower slides on the fixed guide 33 while rotating together with the casting wheel 11 and traces the groove 33a of the fixed guide 33. It's getting old. The cam follower (arm 22) is moved along the path of this groove 33a, thereby opening and closing the movable mold 12. FIG. 5 is a diagram of the fixed guide 33 viewed from the direction of the - line arrow in FIG. 3.

It is a disk-shaped fixed guide 33, and is vertically erected in parallel with the casting wheel 11, which is installed to rotate in the vertical direction. The groove 33a described above is formed along the entire circumference near the edge of the side surface. This groove 33a is a path formed by appropriately changing the distance from the center (located on the same horizontal line as the rotation center of the casting wheel 11), and the tip of the arm 22 moves according to the path to open and close the mold. As the driving roller 32 rolls,
This is for moving the arm 22. That is,
In the section with the larger diameter r ₁ in the figure, the arm 22 is moved downward and the movable mold 12 is moved downward, as shown in FIG.
is closed, and in the section y of the smaller radius _r2 , the arm 22 is moved upwards to open the movable mold 12, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the section and
The sections that exist between the y sections are one that transitions from open to closed, and the other that transitions from closed to open, and the zone that includes both sections is the moving mold 1.
2 indicates an open section that is more or less open.

In addition to the grooves 33a, the fixed guide 33 has a protrusion 33b formed on its side end surface over the entire circumference. This protrusion 33b is used to prevent the aforementioned guide roller 35 from rolling, thereby suppressing the lateral vibration of the arm 22, and preventing the movable mold opening/closing driving roller 32 from coming off from the groove 33a.

In this way, the movable mold 12 is opened and closed by the cam mechanism as the casting wheel 11 rotates.

By the way, each mold piece 12a, 1 of the moving mold 12
As shown in FIG. 3, an L-shaped notch is formed in the inner peripheral corner of 2a, into which an L-shaped copper block 36 is fitted. Left and right mold pieces 12a,
Copper blocks 36, 36 are fitted symmetrically to both mold pieces 12a, and when the movable mold 12 is closed, that is, when the mold pieces 12a, 12a are both turned in the direction of the arrow N, the tips of the mold pieces 12a, 12a touch each other. When the inner peripheral surfaces of the mold pieces 12a, 12a are brought into contact with the outer periphery and side surfaces of the casting ring 11, the outer peripheral surface 11a of the casting ring 11 and the mold pieces 12a, 12a are brought into contact with each other.
A space 37a having a rectangular cross section is formed by the copper blocks 36, 36 fitted in the space 37a.
Now, in the closed state shown in FIG. 3, the space 37a is filled with molten metal 38 (or a cast piece 39 in which the molten metal 38 has solidified). In addition, the mold piece 12
a, 12a, copper blocks 36, 36, and casting ring 11, each contact surface s, t, u maintains the sealing performance of the space 37a due to its precision.
Each one is finished with high precision.

As described above, these movable molds 12 are arranged along the circumferential direction of the casting wheel 11, and when a plurality of adjacent molds are closed, the spaces 37a communicate with each other. This continuous, communicating space is formed along the circumferential direction of the casting wheel 11 and is defined as a mold space 37 .

The casting wheel 11 and the movable mold 12 are cooled by, for example, providing a jacket inside to allow cooling water to pass therethrough, or by spraying cooling water from the outside to cool the mold space 37. The molten metal 38 cast therein is allowed to solidify.

The casting wheel 11 having the movable mold 12 constructed in this manner is rotated in the direction of the arrow H in FIG. 2 by a rotating device (not shown). Then, the movable mold 12 is closed in a predetermined section while the casting wheel 11 goes around, that is, from a position slightly before the horizontal to a position slightly before the lowest point, and is opened before and after the closed section. The movement of each moving mold 12 is controlled in this way.

This control is performed by the path of the groove 33a of the fixed guide 33 in the cam mechanism, as described above. That is, the groove 33 of the fixed guide 33
As shown in FIG. 5, a has a radius r ₁ or r ₂ in a predetermined section, and a transition portion of the diameter is provided in the section between them. In FIG. 5, the breakpoints of each section are marked with the symbols .about., which correspond in position to the symbols .about. in FIG. 2.

Further, a nozzle 40 (injection port) is provided at the starting point of the closed section where the continuous mold space 37 is formed, and the molten metal 38 is introduced into the mold space 37 from the upper tundish 41 through this nozzle 40. It's starting to pour in.

Further, in the open section where the mold space 37 is opened, an outlet 42 for the cast piece 39 is provided near the lowest point of the rotational position. The cast piece 39 is horizontally pulled out from the outlet 42 by a pinch roller 43.

Next, a case will be described in which the continuous casting apparatus configured as described above is actually operated.

As the casting wheel 11 rotates in the direction of arrow H, each movable mold 12 is opened and closed as follows. (Figure 2,
(See Figure 5) First, when the movable mold 12, which is rotated in the open state from the highest point position, comes to the position, the roller 3
2 is located at the groove 33a of the fixed guide 33. As the roller 32 rotates further, the arm 22 is moved.
As a result, the mold pieces 12a, 12a of the movable mold 12 are pivoted about the pivot centers 15, 15 as fulcrums in the direction of arrow D in FIGS. 3 and 4, and begin to close. At this time, one mold piece 12a is operated via the equalizing link mechanism 16. When the movable mold 12 further reaches the point, the roller 32 moves to the groove 33a of the radius _r1 portion of the fixed guide 33, and the movable mold 12 is completely closed as shown in FIG. At this time, each contact surface s, t, and u of the movable mold 12 is reliably brought into close contact with the target contact surface by the action of the spring 28 to form a space 37a. While moving in the section (the roller 32 rolls in a section with a diameter r ₁ ), the movable mold 12 is closed, and the plurality of movable molds 12 and the casting wheel 1 existing in this section are
A continuous mold space 37 is formed between the mold and the outer peripheral surface of the mold. Molten metal 38 is poured into the upper end of this mold space 37 from a tundish 41 through a nozzle 40, and this molten metal 38 is cooled from the surrounding moving mold 12 and casting wheel 11, and is cooled by the menicus portion 44.
Start solidifying from.

The molten metal 38 moves within the mold space 37 that rotates and moves together with the movable mold 12, being cooled from the surroundings and solidifying from the outer surface, becoming a cast piece 39. When the movable mold 12 comes to the position, the roller 32 also comes to the position, and as the roller 32 rolls further, the movable mold 12 begins to rotate in the direction of the arrow C in FIGS. When the roller 32 reaches the point, the groove 33 of the diameter r ₂ portion
Moving to step a, the movable mold 12 becomes open, and the mold space 37 is completely opened.

Then, in this open section, the cast piece 3
9 is pulled out by the pinch roller 43. Note that the rotation of the casting wheel 11 is controlled to have the same circumferential speed as that of the casting piece 39. The movable mold 12 which has been opened in this way continues to rotate until it comes to a new position and starts the closing operation again.

Thereafter, the above-described series of operations are continuously performed as the casting wheel 11 rotates to continuously produce cast pieces 39.

As described above, according to the above method, continuous casting can be carried out efficiently at high speed without using the conventional belt method.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the movable mold driving arm 22 and the fixed guide 33 are provided only on one side, but it is of course possible to provide two sets on both sides of the casting wheel.

Further, FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the movable mold and its opening/closing structure. Note that this figure corresponds to FIG. 3, and the same elements are given the same reference numerals to simplify the explanation.

In this embodiment, the movable mold 12 is composed of one member and is formed in an L-shape. It is arranged to face the outer circumferential surface of the cast ring 11, which has an L-shaped cross section and has a step formed on its outer circumferential surface. Further, an L is provided at the inner peripheral corner of the movable mold 12.
A letter-shaped notch 45 is formed, and the movable mold 1
2 is closed, a rectangular space 37a is formed by the stepped outer periphery of the casting ring 11 and the notch 44 of the movable mold 12.

A movable mold driving arm 22 is attached to the base end of the movable mold 12, and a cam mechanism is constructed in the same manner as in the previous embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the outlet 42 of the cast piece 39 is located at an angle of approximately 90° from the inlet 40 of the molten metal 38.
We have described the case where it is installed in a rotated position, that is, the section that forms the mold space is set at 90°.
It is also possible to widen the range to about 270° as shown in FIG. Incidentally, is the section where the movable mold 12 is open. In such a case, the casting path becomes longer and it becomes possible to take a longer cooling time. In this way, the length of the cooling time can be easily adjusted by appropriately selecting the sections in which the movable mold 12 is opened and closed.

As explained in detail above, according to the present invention,
Continuous casting can be performed efficiently and at high speed without using a belt method. Therefore, all the problems that occurred with the conventional belt system can be solved. That is, the movable mold forming the casting space can be made of a strong and rigid body instead of a thin and flexible material like a belt. Therefore, thermal deformation does not occur, the lifespan can be extended, and accidents such as leakage of molten metal can be prevented, allowing stable operation. Furthermore, since it has strength and can prevent thermal deformation, it is possible to manufacture not only billets and blooms but also wide and thin slabs. It is also possible to form a jacket inside the movable mold for cooling, thereby greatly increasing the cooling efficiency. Furthermore, it is also possible to make the part that comes into contact with the molten metal with copper, which has good thermal conductivity, and to reinforce that copper part with steel, which will further increase the cooling efficiency and extend the service life. I can do it.

You can also freely set the angle range in which the movable mold is pressed against the casting wheel, that is, the section in which the movable mold is closed, and you can extend this section to lengthen the mold space and lengthen the casting path. For example, the cooling length can be increased and casting can be performed at higher speeds.

In addition, the movable mold itself opens to release the mold space, rather than the mold space being formed by the groove of the casting wheel, making it easier to pull out the cast pieces. Solving all the problems that the belt and groove method had,
We can manufacture high quality products.

Furthermore, the device of the present invention employs a cam mechanism as a mechanism for opening and closing the movable mold, and the movable mold is automatically opened and closed by the rotational force of the casting wheel, so a special drive source such as a drive cylinder is used. The structure is extremely simple and economical, and has various excellent effects.

Furthermore, the movable mold forms a continuous casting space along the circumferential direction between the movable mold and the outer peripheral surface of the casting wheel, and the casting space is divided into at least two (usually three) of the fixed mold (casting wheel) and the movable mold. The structure is made up of two molds, so even when casting a slab with a flat cross section or a slab with a complicated shape, it is possible to cast without interference between the movable mold and the slab. The design scope is wide. Furthermore, since the sliding contact between the movable mold and the slab can be set to a minimum when the mold is opened, it is possible to maintain the surface quality of the slab and improve durability by preventing wear of the mold.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is for explaining a conventional example, in which a is an overall side view, b is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line bb--b of Fig. a, and Fig. 2 is an overall diagram showing an embodiment of the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention. The side view, FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view taken along the - line in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a view showing a part of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an overall side view showing another embodiment of the present invention. . 11... Casting ring, 11a... Outer peripheral surface, 12...
Moving mold, 22...Moving mold driving arm, 32
...Moving mold opening/closing drive roller, 33...Grooved fixed guide, 37...Mold space, 37a...Space,
38... Molten metal, 39... Cast piece, 40... Tandate nozzle (inlet), 42... Output port.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rotatably provided casting wheel, and a plurality of adjacent casting wheels arranged along the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the casting wheel, which can be opened and closed along a plane perpendicular to the rotating surface of the casting wheel. a movable mold that constitutes a continuous casting space along the circumferential direction between the plurality of movable molds when closed, and an arm that is attached to the movable mold and opens and closes the movable mold; a fixed guide provided along a rotation locus of the movable mold and configured to engage an engaging portion formed on the arm to move the arm as the casting wheel rotates; When the mold reaches a predetermined position away from the casting position, the arm is moved in a direction in which the arm opens the movable mold, and at a predetermined position where the movable mold approaches the casting position, the arm is moved. A continuous casting apparatus characterized in that the continuous casting apparatus is configured to move in a direction in which the movable mold is closed.