CONTINUOUS CASTING APPARATUS WITH FLEXIBLE STARTING MEMBER

摘要

CONTINUOUS CASTING APPARATUS WITH FLEXIBLE STARTING MEMBER A flexible elongated strand-starting member curved lengthwise in a vertical plane has one end formed for temporarily plugging the bottom of a flow-through continuous casting mold. Extending from the opposite end of the starting member along one of its curved sides is a row of rack teeth. Spaced laterally from the mold and at about the same level is a storage housing that has a substantially vertical passage through it for the starting member, while a pair of reversible pinch rolls located about halfway between the mold and storage housing but at a lower level are in a position to grip the lower end portion of the starting member while its upper end is plugging the mold. The rolls withdraw the starting member and a metal strand attached to it form the mold and feed the starting member up into the storage housing passage where a vertical gear engages the rack teeth. An overrunning clutch operatively connected with the gear permits the gear to free wheel while the starting member is being pushed up through the housing by the pinch rolls until the lower end of the strand is past those rolls. The lower end of the strand then is bent down to separate it from the starting member and to straighten it while the starting member is supported by the gear, which is prevented by the clutch from turning in the reverse direction. After the strand has left the pinch rolls, the clutch is driven at a controlled speed in the direction that will allow the lower end of the stored starting member to return by gravity to those rolls so that it can be fed by them back to the mold.