Continuous casting mold side wall adjustment system

Abstract

An apparatus and method for accurately and quickly adjusting the distance and tilt angle or taper between movable side wall mold plates in adjustable width continuous casting mold sections. A pair of spaced primary mold members with movable side wall mold plates therebetween, form an open ended mold cavity. Each side wall mold plate is connected to upper and lower fixed mold supports by separate upper and lower adjustable length connectors which have their inner ends hinged to the side wall mold plates. Each connector has an axial bore receiving a transducer core for reciprocating movement along a linear path. A cylindrical transducer coil housing in the bore, fixed relative to the mold cavity center, surrounds the movable core. The transducer core has one end anchored to a side wall mold plate. Adjustment of the side wall mold plate causes corresponding axial movement of the core relative to the coil enabling calibration of an electrical signal for computing the distance of the side wall mold plate from the mold cavity center. By using a separate linear transducer on each of the upper and lower connectors, any tilt or taper of the side wall may also be determined. Alternatively, one linear transducer may be replaced by an angular transducer, e.g., an inclinometer, to measure the effective tilt or taper of the side wall mold plates.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.