Single shop continuous casting facility

A single shop continuous casting facility comprising

• furnace means for producing hot metal, said furnace means including seating means for positioning ladles for receiving hot metal from said furnace means,
• continuous casting means for forming solidified metal, said casting means including seating means for positioning ladles containing hot metal to permit the transfer of hot metal from said ladle to said casting means, and
• a rotating bridge crane for transporting ladles of hot metal from said seating means of said furnace means to said seating means of said casting means, said seating means of said furnace means and said seating means of said casting means being disposed within the arcuate area serviced by said crane, said crane comprising:
• vertical support means;
• an arcuate track mounted overhead on a building structure or vertically elongated support members;
• a bridge extending horizontally between an upper end portion of said vertical support means and said track;
• pivot means connected between said vertical support means and an inner end portion of said bridge for rotatably supporting said bridge on said vertical support means;
• drive means connected with an outer end portion of said bridge for engaging said track and causing said bridge to rotate in a horizontal plane about said vertical support means as said outer end portion of said bridge moves on said track;
• hoisting means mounted on said bridge, said hoisting means including first and second lifting barrels, first drive means for rotating said first lifting barrel, second drive means for rotating said second lifting barrel, a first gear connected to said first barrel, said first gear being driven by said first drive means in a first direction, a second gear connected to said second barrel, said second gear being driven by said second drive means in a second direction, said first and second gears being disposed with the teeth of one fitting between the teeth of the other and being free of load transmitting contact with each other during normal operation of said first and second drive mean, one of said gears driving the other of said gears upon failure of one of said first or said second drive means;
• and a pair of ladle hooks suspended from said hoisting means, said ladle hooks being adapted for attachment to the trunnions of a hot metal transfer ladle.