Casting metal strip
AssigneeCastrip, LLC
InventorsNikolco S. Nikolovski, Peter A Woodberry, Brett Gray
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Twin roll casting of metal strip (20) by rotation of parallel casting rolls (16) supplied with molten metal through distributor (19a) and delivery nozzle (19b). X-ray scanner (44) continuously scans the thickness of strip (20) to produce a signal which is a continuous measure of thickness variation along the strip due to eccentricities of the casting rolls (16). This signal controls operation of roll drive motors (53) to impose a pattern of speed variation on the rolls so as to reduce the amplitude of the thickness variations.
Claims20
An apparatus for casting metal strip comprising
- a pair of parallel casting rolls forming a nip between them;
- a metal delivery system for delivering molten metal into the nip to form a casting pool of molten metal supported above the nip;
- a pair of pool confining end closures disposed one at each end of the pair of casting rolls;
- roll drive means to rotate the rolls in opposite directions to deliver a cast strip downwardly from the nip;
- strip transport means to transport the strip away from the nip;
- strip inspection means to inspect the strip as it is transported away from the nip to determine a pattern of thickness variations along the strip due to eccentricities of the casting roll surfaces;
- and
- control means to impose a pattern of speed variations on the rotation of the casting rolls determined by said pattern of thickness variations so as to reduce the amplitude of the thickness variations.
An apparatus for casting metal strip comprising a pair of parallel casting rolls forming a nip between them;
- a metal delivery system for delivering molten metal into the nip to form a casting pool of molten metal supported above the nip;
- a pair of pool confining end closures disposed one at each end of the pair of casting rolls;
- a roll drive device to rotate the rolls in opposite directions to deliver a cast strip downwardly from the nip;
- a strip inspection device to inspect the strip as it is transported away from the nip to determine a pattern of thickness variations along the strip due to eccentricities of the casting roll surfaces;
- and
- a control device to impose a pattern of speed variations on the rotation of the casting rolls determined by said pattern of thickness variations so as to reduce the amplitude of the thickness variations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.