US3558096A

US3558096A - Groove forming additions for the inner walls of hot tops

Info

Publication number: US3558096A
Application number: US733716A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael D Labate
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-05-31
Filing date: 1968-05-31
Publication date: 1971-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 1988-01-26

Abstract

Elements having groove forming configurations therein for application to the inner metal receiving surfaces of hot tops as applied to ingot molds and the like in the casting of ingots to provide configurations on the neck of the cast ingot facilitating its engagement with the mold stripping apparatus.

Description

United States Patent 2,341,589 2/1944 Anthony 249/202 2,485,065 10/ 1 949 Papazian 249/201 X 3,165,797 l/1965 LaBate 249/198X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,360,173 3/1964 France 249/197 1,030,935 5/1966 Great Britain 249/197 Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Attorney-Webster B. Harpman ABSTRACT: Elements having groove forming configurations therein for application to the inner metal receiving surfaces of hot tops as applied to ingot molds and the like in the casting of ingots to provide configurations on the neck of the cast ingot facilitating its engagement with the mold stripping apparatus.

[72] Inventor Michael D. LaBate 115 Hazen Ave., Ellwood City, Pa. 16117 [21] Appl. No. 733,716 [22] Filed May 31, 1968 [45] Patented Jan. 26, 1971 [54] GROOVE FORMING ADDITIONS FOR THE INNER WALLS OF HOT TOPS 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. CI 249/197 [51] Int. Cl B22d 7/10 [50] Field of Search 249/197- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,825 4/1884 DuPuy 25/119 PATENTEU m2 6 m1 v. D E ma m W w L A D M GROOVE FORMING ADDITIONS FOR THE INNER WALLS F HOT TOPS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to ingot molds as used in casting ingots of metal and more particularly to hot tops as used on such ingot molds to prevent piping and other flaws in the ingot being cast an providing devices for altering the shape of said hot tops so as to form desirable configurations in the necks of said ingots.

2. Description of the Prior Art I-Iot tops heretofore known in the art have been either of the refractory consumable or lined types and have generally provided relatively smooth inner walls against which the neck of the ingot is formed when the hot metal is poured therethrough and allowed to fill up above the ingot as is customary. A proposal has been made to form slots in the walls of a hot top so that the metal in the neck of the ingot will flow outwardly in said slots and form means pinning the hot top to the neck of the ingot to facilitate its removal from the ingot mold along with the ingot.

The present invention is usable with all types of hot tops as the groove forming elements are simply applied to the inner walls of the hot tops before the metal is poured therein and with the result that when the metal solidifies projecting ears or lugs are formed which greatly expedite and facilitate the removal of the ingot from the mold.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The groove forming additions for hot tops as used on ingot molds disclosed herein comprise a simple inexpensive and easily installed means for forming desirable configurations on the neck end of a poured metal ingot when it has solidified.

In pouring ingots, hot tops are used to control piping and cavities and pockets in the ingot which result from the shrinkage of the metal as the same solidifies. I-Iot tops provide a pool of molten metal on the upper end of the ingot which fills in the piping and cavities which would otherwise render the ingot unfit for reduction and use as by a rolling mill operation.

The freeing of big end up ingots from the ingot molds in which they are cast is greatly facilitated by forming means on the neck of the ingot so that the stripper apparatus can readily grasp the ingot. The conventional hot top provides a smooth surface on the neck of the ingot which does not lend itself to such contact with the stripping apparatus. By adding the groove forming additions to the inner walls of the hot top, a desirable configuration results which facilitates the rapid and efi'icient stripping of the ingot molds. The groove forming additions may be and preferably are formed of consumable material and oppose pairs may be applied to any hot top by affixing the same thereto with a suitable adhesive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the upper portion of a big end up ingot mold with an ingot poured therein and the neck of the ingot extending thereabove and showing desirable configurations formed thereon.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through the upper portion of an ingot mold and a hot top having an opposed pair of groove forming additions therein.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper portion of an ingot showing desirable configurations formed in the neck thereof by the invention disclosed herein.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one of the groove forming elements and FIG. 5 is an end view thereof.

FIG. 6 is a vertical section through a hot top having liners incorporating the groove forming elements integrally therewith.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In its simplest form the groove forming elements for application to the inner walls of hot tops on ingot molds comprise generally rectangular members such as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings and wherein a rectangular base 10 has a curved upper surface 11 and an oppositely disposed curved lower surface 12 with horizontally disposed relatively wide groove 13 spacing the same.

The generally rectangular shape is a matter of convenience and may obviously be of any suitable configuration as long as the deep wide groove I3 is present in the transverse center section of the element. A pair of these elements which are preferably formed of a consumable hot top mixture as hereinafter described are applied as by a suitable adhesive to the opposed inner walls of a hot top such as seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings in vertical section. The hot top consisting of a walled structure formed of wall sections 14 having liners 15 to which the groove forming elements 10 are directly applied.

In FIG. 2 of the drawings, the hot top is shown positioned in the upper end 16 of a big end up ingot mold 17.

Those skilled in the art will observe that when molten metal is poured into the ingot mold 17 by way of the vertical passageway defined by the hot top walled structure including the

members

13, 14 and 15, the metal will fill up the ingot mold l7 and then rise upwardly into the hot top structure to form what is eventually known as the neck of the ingot. When the metal reaches a point above the groove forming elements 10, pouring of the ingot ceases and as the molten metal in the ingot mold l7 chills, the piping cracks and other irregularities that form as a result of the shrinkage of the metal are filled by the pool of molten metal in the hot top to produce a more perfect ingot.

The exterior surfaces of the metal in the hot top have engaged and filled the grooves 13 in the groove forming elements 10 and when the metal in the ingot is completely solidified the ingot is stripped from the mold through the use of suitable equipment, it being understood that when a combustible hot top is used the same has disintegrated by this time or when a nonconsumable hot top is used the same is broken away. In either event, the use of the groove forming elements 10 have provided oppositely disposed outwardly projecting lugs or ears on the neck of the ingot as may be seen by referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings.

By referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that the ingot 18 has been poured in the ingot mold l7 and that the neck portion 19 of the ingot is exposed as the hot top which was originally present has either been removed or been consumed, as hereinbefore explained. The opposite sides of the neck 19 are thus provided with projecting lugs 20, one of which is seen in FIG. 1 of the drawings in the perspective view and two of which are seen in the plan view of FIG. 3 of the drawings.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that because of the design and configuration of the groove forming elements 10 the lugs 20 are centered in shallow cavities 21 formed in the opposite sides of the neck 19 of the ingot l8 and that this particularly facilitates the engagement and temporary attachment of the mold stripping apparatus which must of necessity hold the mold l7 and the ingot l8 and exert opposite motion to free the ingot from the mold.

Those skilled in the art will thus observe that by applying the relatively small inexpensive and simply installed groove forming elements 10 to the inner walls of the hot top, the result in ingot and neck portion particularly are provided with suitable configurations greatly facilitating the stripping of the ingot from the mold.

Those skilled in the art will observe that the invention may be modified by forming the groove forming elements as integral portion of hot top liners or hot top sections which are combustible.

By referring to FIG. 6 of the drawings, a vertical section through a hot top having wall sections 22 and liner sections 23 may be seen and it will be observed that the liner sections have the groove forming elements formed integrally therewith so that vertically spaced upper and

lower curving sections

24 and 25 define horizontally disposed relatively wide and deep grooves 26 therebetween.

The modification of FIG. 6 is installed in an ingot mold in the same manner heretofore described and illustrated in connection with FIG. 2 of the drawings and those skilled in the art will observe that when metal solidifies in the hot top, the same will flow into the grooves 26 and when the ingot and its neck portion are solidified the desirable oppositely disposed lugs on the neck portion of the ingot mold will be realized.

The groove forming elements are preferably formed of material which includes ingredients that will burn and ingredients that will disintegrate to a fine powder said ingredients being held in a normal mix by a suitable binder. An example of a desirable material will comprise a batch including 40 pounds of sawdust, 140 pounds of raw dolomite and 80 pounds of sodium silicate as a binder. This basic mixture may be altered by substituting an equal quantity by weight of small sized wood chips, rice hulls or wheat kernels for the sawdust. A still further variation forming a suitable mix comprises substituting cintered granulated blast furnace slag or finely ground fired clay (grog) for the raw dolomite in equivalent weights. It has also been determined that the resin ureaformaldehyde in the amount of 50 pounds by weight can be used as a binder rather than the 80 pounds of sodium silicate.

The groove forming elements 10 or the inserts 23 hereinbefore described are molded of the mixture which tends to dry and set and forms a reasonably durable structure capable of its intended use. Several different adhesives may be used for applying the groove forming elements 10 to the inner walls of the hot top and these include sodium silicate and the ureaformal dehyde resin in suitable solutions. Alternately they may be mechanically attached as by metal fasteners.

While only two embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and having thus described my invention. what I claim is:

I claim:

1. A hot top shaped to provide an upwardly extending sinkhead, the hot top comprising four upstanding cojoined walls, a liner on an inner surface of each of the walls, consumable groove forming elements on oppositely disposed inner surfaces of two of the liners, the groove forming elements comprising a shaped body having two horizontally extending substantially quadrant shaped in cross section and spaced apart portions extending outwardly of the body and an inwardly extending channel between the quadrant shaped portions of a depth substantially similar to the height of the quadrant shaped portions, the shaped body extending inwardly from the inner surfaces of the liner, the shaped body forming an in wardly extending cavity within an outer surface of a molded article and the inwardly extending channel forming a horizontally extending web across the cavity, the web having an outer portion coplanar with the surface of the molded article.

2. The hot top as set forth in claim 1 wherein the groove forming elements are attached to the inner surface of the liner.

3. The hot top as set forth in claim 1 wherein the liner and groove forming elements are formed integrally and are of consumable material.

Claims

1. A hot top shaped to provide an upwardly extending sinkhead, the hot top comprising four upstanding cojoined walls, a liner on an inner surface of each of the walls, consumable groove forming elements on oppositely disposed inner surfaces of two of the liners, the groove forming elements comprising a shaped body having two horizontally extending substantially quadrant shaped in cross section and spaced apart portions extending outwardly of the body and an inwardly extending channel between the quadrant shaped portions of a depth substantially similar to the height of the quadrant shaped portions, the shaped body extending inwardly from the inner surfaces of the liner, the shaped body forming an inwardly extending cavity within an outer surface of a molded article and the inwardly extending channel forming a horizontally extending web across the cavity, the web having an outer portion coplanar with the surface of the molded article.