Continuous casting mold having radiation source for level measurement

A continuous casting mold comprising

• a generally vertically disposed mold tube into which molten metal is discharged,
• means defining a water jacket surrounding said mold tube and including a flow defining tube closely spaced from said mold tube and defining, in combination therewith a restricted cooling water flow path through which water passes at a rapid rate to prevent the molten metal from impairing the integrity of the mold tube, and
• means for gauging the level of molten metal in the mold tube, said gauging means comprising
• a radioactive source disposed on one side of the mold tube and
• a detector disposed on the opposite side of the mold tube, wherein
• at least one of the radioactive source and the detector is vertically linear, and
• wherein
• the detector comprises
• a scintillation crystal on which the source radiation impinges, said crystal having the property of converting energy emissions from the source, that impinge thereon, into light energy flashes of short duration, and
• a photomultiplier tube for converting the light energy of the flashes into electrical pulses,
• characterized in that
• the crystal is coupled to the photomultiplier by a "gel" that functions as a light pipe for the efficient transmission of light energy to the photomultiplier and also functions as a shock absorber to protect the photomultiplier from damage.

A casting mold comprising

• a generally vertically disposed mold tube into which molten metal is discharged,
• means defining a water jacket surrounding said mold tube and including a flow defining tube closely spaced from said mold tube and defining, in combination therewith a restricted cooling water flow path through which water passes at a rapid rate to prevent the molten metal for impairing the integrity of the mold tube, and
• means for gauging the level of molten metal in the mold tube, said gauging means comprising
• a radioactive source disposed on one side of the mold tube and
• a detector disposed on the opposite side of the mold tube, wherein at least one of the radioactive source and the detector is vertically linear, and
• characterized in that
• the detector is disposed in the water jacket,
• thereby minimizing the distance between the source and the detector and also minmizing the quantity of radioactive material required for the gauging function,
• wherein the water jacket comprises
• an outer tube,
• top plate means, and
• bottom plate means,
• with the mold tube extending between the top and bottom plate means,
• further characterized in that
• the detector is mounted on the top plate means and projects downwardly therefrom between the outer water jacket tube and the mold tube.

A casting mold comprising

• a generally vertically disposed mold tube into which molten metal is discharged,
• means defining a water jacket surrounding said mold tube and including a flow defining tube closely spaced from said mold tube and defining, in combination therewith a restricted cooling water flow path through which water passes at a rapid rate to prevent the molten metal for impairing the integrity of the mold tube, and
• means for gauging the level of molten metal in the mold tube, said gauging means comprising
• a radioactive source disposed on one side of the mold tube and
• a detector disposed on the opposite side of the mold tube, wherein at least one of the radioactive source and the detector is vertically linear, and
• characterized in that
• the detector is disposed in the water jacket,
• thereby minimizing the distance between the source and the detector and also minimizing the quantity of radioactive material required for the gauging function,
• further characterized in that
• the radioactive source is disposed in recess means in the wall of the mold tube,
• whereby radioactive emissions transmitted to the detector must pass through only one wall of the flow defining tube in passing to there detector, whereby the fixed radiation absorption of the mold is minimized to thereby reduce the strength required for the source in gauging the level of molten metal.