Apparatus for making strips, bars and wire rods

An apparatus for manufacturing strips, bars and wire rods, said apparatus comprising:

• an annular mold having an endless open-top casting groove;
• a vertically extending shaft on which said annular mold is supported;
• means for rotating the annular mold;
• means for continuously supplying molten metal into the casting groove;
• means for forcibly cooling the annular mold so that the molten metal in the casting groove is cooled from outside of the molten metal;
• a cast section drive roll disposed at a point where a solidified shell is formed at least throughout the entire circumference of the molten metal in the casting groove;
• means for rotating the cast section drive roll to push the cast section downstream in the direction of travel of the mold;
• press-down means for pressing the drive roll toward the bottom of the casting groove to press the cast section against a surface of the mold defining the bottom of the casting groove;
• and
• a wedge disposed adjacent and downstream of the cast section drive roll in the direction of travel of the annular mold, said wedge having at least one surface inclined at an angle of 5 to 60 degrees relative to said surface defining the bottom of the casting groove of the mold, the at least one surface of said wedge rising from said surface defining the bottom of the casting groove such that the cast section slides diagonally upward thereover so as to become separated from the mold and continuously taken out of the casting groove.