Method and apparatus for steering a casting belt in a continuous metal-casting machine

• Main Authors: HAZELETT, WILLIAM R, WOOD, BARRY J.F, DYKES, CHARLES D, SIMON, CHARLES R
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 19.12.2007
• Subjects: CASTING; CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; POWDER METALLURGY; TRANSPORTING

Steering, tensioning and driving a revolving metallic casting belt in continuous casting machines wherein the belt travels along a generally straight casting plane P . Two two-axis robotic mechanisms are positioned at opposite ends of an exit-pulley drum, each including a "floating" housing carrying a bearing rotatably supporting a journal at the respective drum end. A drive connected to one of the journals rotates the drum for revolving the belt. The robotic mechanisms adjustably position opposite ends of a rotating drum in X--X plane parallel with plane P for tensioning the belt and in Y--Y plane perpendicular to plane P for steering the revolving belt. These robotic mechanisms are controlled to operate in any of several modes: (1) "Walking-tilt" steering keeps the belt much closer to an exiting product than prior art, the belt being flatter and in better contact with the product for improving casting speed and quality. Mode (2) provides a "virtual squaring shaft" causing a drum to simulate being constrained by a rigid mechanical squaring shaft for synchronizing downstream movements of both drum ends for regularizing tension fully across a "cylindrical" casting belt. In modes (3), (4) and (5) the rigidity of the virtual squaring shaft may be "softened," or re-zeroed or eliminated, to accommodate small "frustro-conical" errors in belt manufacture. Moreover, even a small error in built-in length dimensions of a belt carriage may effectively be canceled by mode adjustments which effectively "twist" the virtual squaring shaft.