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AssigneeVereinigte Edelstahlwerke Aktiengesellschaft (VEW)
InventorGabriel Lamarque
Estimating the term…
Consumable electrodes are transferred to and from an operative position in an underlying melting bath by means of a pair of lifts that are vertically movable on masts located on opposite sides of the mold axis. One of the lifts has a fixed portion extending transversely through the axis and toward the other lift, and has a recess aligned with the mold axis and with the path of oscillation of an electrode-transferring arm carried by the other lift. When an electrode is transferred into the recess, a collar on the electrode is clamped to the upper surface of the fixed portion, whereupon the first lift is moved downwardly to position the inserted electrode into the mold. Consumed electrodes are removed by raising the first lift, and engaging a lifting collar on the upper end of the residual portion of the electrode by an arm that is carried for vertical movement and oscillation by the first lift. After such additional arm is oscillated away from the recess with the consumed electrode, the arm on the second lift can be actuated to transfer a new electrode into the recess.
In an arrangement for transferring a consumable electrode to and from an underlying mold section positionable along a first vertical axis, first and second vertical masts disposed in spaced relation on generally opposite sides of the first axis and individually extending along second and third axes, first and second lift means respectively mounted for reciprocation on the first and second masts, the first lift means having a fixed portion extending generally transversely across the first axis toward the second mast, the fixed portion having a recess therein aligned with the first axis for receiving an electrode to be lowered into the mold and thereafter raised after consumption via a reciprocation of the first lift means, and a first electrode-transferring arm supported for oscillation on the second lift means toward and away from the first axis and cooperable with the recess in the fixed portion of the first lift means for selectively positioning an electrode in the recess.
In a method of vertically transferring an elongated consumable electrode having an integral collar thereon to an underlying mold section disposed on a a first vertical axis, the steps of releasably supporting an electrode to be transferred on a first arm which is movable along a second axis spaced from the first axis and oscillatable between the second axis and the first axis;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.