Method and apparatus for continuous casting of metal

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, a jacket having an interior similar in shape to the exterior of the mold sleeve surrounding the mold sleeve and having a space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the lower end of the mold sleeve, said means for cooling the sleeve including water flowing between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket substantially along the entire length of the mold sleeve, means for intermittently compressing the sleeve to place the interior of the sleeve into frictional engagement with the metal within the sleeve, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out from between the exterior of the sleeve and the interior of the jacket, said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water to compress intermittently the sleeve, and means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal within the sleeve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the solidified metal.

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, a jacket having an interior surface similar in shape to the exterior surface of the mold sleeve, said jacket surrounding the mold sleeve and having a space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the lower end of the mold sleeve, means for intermittently compressing the sleeve to place the interior of the sleeve into frictional engagement with the metal within the sleeve, means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal in the sleeve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the solidified metal, said means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal including a spring connected to the mold sleeve, said means for cooling the sleeve including water under pressure flowing in the space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket substantially along the entire length of the mold sleeve, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out of the space between the exterior of the sleeve and the interior of the jacket, and said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water out of the space to increase the pressure of the water in the space to compress intermittently the mold sleeve.

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, a header assembly connected to the mold sleeve, said header assembly having a support surface, a support ring having an inner support surface engageable with the support surface of the header assembly for supoprting the header assembly and allowing the header assembly to tilt to allow the header assembly to adapt its positional attitude for a variety of loads on the mold sleeve, a jacket having an interior similar in shape to the exterior of the mold sleeve surrounding the mold sleeve and having a space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket, said jacket being supported on the header assembly for tilting with the header assembly and the mold sleeve, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the lower end of the mold sleeve, means for intermittently compressing the interior of the sleeve into frictional engagement with the metal within the sleeve, said means for cooling the sleeve including water under pressure flowing in the space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket substantially along the entire length of the mold sleeve, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out from the space between the exterior of the sleeve and the interior of the jacket, said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water from the space to cause the pressure to increase to compress intermittently the sleeve, and means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal within the sleeve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the solidified metal.

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the mold sleeve, a header assembly connected to the mold sleeve, said means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal includes a spring connected to the mold sleeve and to the header assembly for moving the mold sleeve relative to the header assembly, said header assembly having a support surface, a support ring having an inner support surface engageable with the support surface of the header assembly for supporting the header assembly and allowing the header assembly to tilt to allow the header assembly to adapt its positional attitude for a variety of loads on the mold sleeve, a jacket having an interior similar in shape to the exterior of the mold sleeve surrounding the mold sleeve and having a space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket, said means for cooling the sleeve including water flowing under pressure in the space between the exterior of the mold sleeve and the interior of the jacket substantially along the entire length of the mold sleeve, means for intermittently compressing the sleeve to place the interior of the sleeve into frictional engagement with the metal within the sleeve, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out from the space between the exterior of the sleeve and the interior of the jacket, said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water out of the space to increase the pressure of the water to compress intermittently the sleeve, and means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal within the sleeve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the solidified metal.

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve being a thin wall cylinder and having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the lower end of the mold sleeve, means for intermittently compressing the sleeve to place the interior of the sleeve into frictional engagement with the metal into the sleeve, means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal within the sleeve in a direction opposite to the movement of solidified metal, a header assembly connected to the thin wall cylinder, said means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal includes a spring connected to the thin wall cylinder and the header assembly for moving the thin wall cylinder relative to the header assembly, said header assembly having a support surface, a support ring having an interior support surface engageable with the support of the header assembly for supporting the header assembly and allowing the header assembly to tilt and to allow the header assembly to adapt its positional attitude for a variety of loads on the thin wall cylinder, a jacket having an interior similar in shape to the exterior of the thin wall cylinder surrounding the thin wall cylinder and having a space between the exterior of the thin wall cylinder and the interior of the jacket, said means for cooling the sleeve including water under pressure flowing in the space between the exterior of the thin wall cylinder and the interior of the jacket, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out from the space between the exterior of the thin wall cylinder and the interior of the jacket, and said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water out of said space to increase the pressure of the water in the space to compress intermittently the sleeve.

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the lower end of the mold sleeve, means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal within the sleeve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the solidified metal, the mold sleeve is an elongated open ended cylinder having an elongated longitudinal axis, said cylinder having a continuous interior side wall for engaging metal cast in the cylinder while said metal moves substantially parallel to the elongated longitudinal axis during casting, a plurality of elongated rounded wall ridges formed in the interior side wall for forming rounded bar indentations in the metal cast in the cylinder, a plurality of elongated rounded wall indentations formed in the interior side wall for forming rounded bar ridges in metal cast in the cylinder, each of said rounded wall indentations in the interior side wall being positioned between a pair of rounded wall ridges in the interior side wall, a header assembly connected to the upper end of the cylinder, said means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal including a spring connected to the upper end of the cylinder and to the header assembly for moving the cylinder along its longitudinal axis, said header assembly having a support surface, a support ring having an inner support surface engageable with the support surface of the header assembly for supporting the header assembly and allowing the header assembly to tilt to allow the header assembly to adapt its positional attitude for a variety of loads on the open ended cylinder, a jacket having an interior similar in shape to the exterior of the open ended cylinder surrounding the open ended cylinder and having a space between the exterior of the open ended cylinder and the interior of the jacket, said means for cooling the sleeve including water flowing between the exterior of the open ended cylinder and the interior of the jacket sustantially along the entire length of the open ended cylinder, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out from the space between the exterior of the open cylinder and the interior of the jacket, and said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water out of the space to increase the pressure of the water in the space to compress intermittently the sleeve.

An apparatus for continuous casting of metal into an elongated bar comprising;

• an elongated vertical mold sleeve having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end being adapted for receiving molten metal, means for cooling the sleeve for chilling metal within the sleeve to solidify the metal, means for moving solidified metal out of the lower end of the mold sleeve, means for intermittently compressing the sleeve to place the interior of the sleeve into frictional engagement with the metal within the sleeve, means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal within the sleeve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the solidified metal, said elongated vertical mold sleeve is an elongated open ended cylinder having an elongated longitudinal axis, said cylinder being a thin wall copper cylinder having a uniform wall thickness, said cylinder having a continuous interior side wall for engaging metal cast in the cylinder while said metal moves substantially parallel to the elongated longitudinal axis during casting, a plurality of elongated rounded wall ridges formed in the interior side wall for forming rounded bar indentations in metal cast in the cylinder, a plurality of elongated rounded wall indentations formed in the interior side wall for forming rounded bar ridges in metal cast in the cylinder, each of said rounded wall indentations in the interior side wall being positioned between a pair of rounded wall ridges in the interior side wall, said rounded wall ridges in the interior side wall being equiangularly spaced, a slot extending through each rounded indentation, each slot being formed in the outer surface of the cylinder, all of said slots being in the same plane, a disk releasably positioned in the slots for releasably locking the cylinder to the disk, said means for moving the mold sleeve relative to the metal includes a spring connected to the disk, a header assembly connected to the spring, said header assembly having a support surface, a support ring having an inner support surface engageable with the support surface of the header assembly for supporting the header assembly and allowing the header assembly to tilt to allow the header assembly to adapt its positional attitude for a variety of loads on the open ended cylinder, a jacket mounted on the header assembly and having an interior similar in shape to the exterior of the open ended cylinder and having a space between the exterior of the open ended cylinder and the interior of the jacket, said means for cooling the sleeve including water under pressure flowing in the space between the exterior of the open ended cylinder and the interior of the jacket substantially along the entire length of the open ended cylinder, said means for intermittently compressing the sleeve including a rotating valve controlling the flow of water out from the space between the exterior of the open ended cylinder and the interior of the jacket, said rotating valve having a plurality of apertures to cause the valve to rotate and thereby intermittently interrupt the flow of water from the space between the cylinder and the jacket to allow the pressure of the water to buildup and thereby compress intermittently the cylinder.