Apparatus for varying the mold length of endless belt molds using interchangeable belts

Improved machine for the continuous casting of a metallic ribbon comprising a grooved wheel, a base, bearings on said base supporting said grooved wheel, means for rotating said grooved wheel, a motor wheel, a first endless metallic ribbon on said motor wheel and partially surrounding said grooved wheel to form a mold, said motor wheel being substantially tangent to said grooved wheel, bearings mounted on said base for mounting said motor wheel relative to said grooved wheel, means operatively assoicated with said motor wheel for rotating said motor wheel at the same peripheral speed as said grooved wheel, a first guide wheel operatively assoicated with said endless metallic ribbon for tensioning said ribbon, movable bearings for moving said first guide wheel mounted on said base, means operatively associated with said movable bearings for moving said movable bearings in a direction tending to apply said ribbon against the periphery of said grooved wheel at a specific tension, a second guide wheel operatively associated with said ribbon, bearings mounting said second guide wheel, arm means supporting said bearings mounting said second guide wheel and pivoting around the axis of rotation of said grooved wheel, the distance between the centers of said two guide wheels being practically equal to the sum of their radii such that said second guide wheel remains substantially tangent to said grooved wheel, means for pivoting said arms articulated around the axis of said grooved wheel and for fixing them in a given position between two extreme positions, said extreme positions forming between them an angle of at least 90.degree., a plurality of endless metallic ribbons of different lengths from said first endless metallic ribbon and interchangable therewith each corresponding to a different predetermined angular position of said pivoting arms to form molds of different lengths, means operatively associated with the grooved wheel and endless metallic ribbon for pouring liquid metal at the entry of the part of the groove closed by said ribbon in the zone where said motor wheel of the ribbon is substantially in contact with said grooved wheel, means operatively associated with said grooved wheel for cooling the periphery of said grooved wheel, and means operatively associated with said grooved wheel and second guide wheel for guiding the solidified metal blank from the zone where it leaves the groove and where said second guide wheel is substantially in contact with said grooved wheel.