Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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~le presen-t invention rela-tes to a method and
apparatus for the manipulation of a starting chain and seg-
ments thereof during forrnat changes in continuous strand
casting installations. The invention is more particularly
directed toward the rapid insertion and removal of a
starting chain upon a change in the format or cross section
of a continuously cast strand in a continuous casting
installationO
In the continuous casting of metals, such as steel,
the melt is fed substantially continuously into a continuous
casting mold and travels as a continuously cast strand along
a guide over which the strand is cooled~ The continuously
cas trand may then be subdivided into sections of prede-
termined length and subjected to rolling or drawing with
or without intervening cooling, soa~ing or other reheating
processes.
At the start of each casting operation, it is
known to use so-called starting chains which require mani-
pulation as these must be placed into position and -there-
~0 after withdrawn from their respective position during each
ormat change or change in the cross section of the strand
to be produced.
The manipulation of starting chains during
format changes in continuous casting installations is a
time-conswling and complex problem requiring, heretofore,
space-consuming apparatus which must be coordinated with
a high degree of manual labor and hence requires a signi-
ficant amount of time.
During thi.s period, the continuous casting
installation is at s-tand-still so that the productivi-ty of
the installation is directly affected in an adverse manner
~a
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by the time required for the handling of the startiny chains
during fo.nmat changes.
Conventional systems also have been found to create
problems in start:ing chain manipulation which have increased
the down-time and interrupted the continuity of operations
of the continuous casting plant as well.
It is obviously desirable to provide a multipli-
city of starting chains which can be provided with heads
whose con~igurations vary in accordance with the different
formats to be generated. These chains can be stoxed in maga-
zines so as to be held ready for use and such magazines or
transfer carriages can be arranged so as to enable the
individual chain (3e~nents with their respective heads to be
manipulated at the inception of each casting operation.
Since the chains frequently have considerable
length, magazines for startingchains generally have signifi-
cant volume and the removal of a chain fr~m the magazine
and its introduction into the magazine after use can require
not only considerable work but complex ancillary equipment
which also occupies considerable space.
It is an object of the present invention to
provide a method and an apparatus for the manipulation of
starting chains which enable the insertion and removal of
the starting chaihs to be carried out rapidly, thereby
minimizing interruptions in the casting sequence.
It is another object of the invention to provide
a method and an apparatus for the manipulation of starting
chains which enable the chains to be handled in a relatively
sr.lall space, wi~h a minimum of manual labor and over a much
shorter period of time than has heretofore been the case,
thereby allowing the intervallesbetween casting operations to
be Minimized.
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In accordance with the present invention, there is
thus provided a method for the manipula-tion of starting chain
se~ments for cont:Lnuous strand casting whereby the segments
are coupled to and decoupled from a remainder of a star-ting
chain, which method comprises the s-teps of:
a) displacing the chain remainder into a first
arcuate upright guide and retaining the chain remainder at
rest in the first guide,
b3 disposing a chain segment into a second arcuate
upright guide having the lower end thereof aligned with the
lower end of the fi.rst guide, and coupling the chain remainder
to the cha.in segment between the lower ends of the guides, or
c) disposing a segment of the chain remainder into
the second guide, decoupling the segment from the chain
remainder between the lower ends of the guides and retracting
the chain segment from the second guide.
The invention also provides an apparatus for
carrying out a method as defined above~ which apparatus com-
prises:
a first arcuate upright guide adapted to receive
the chain remainder,
means for displacing the chain remainder into the
first guide and for retaining the chain remainder at rest
in the first guide,
a second arcuate upright guide having the lower
end thereof aligned with the lower end of the first guide,
the second guide being adapted to receive a chain segment
to be coupled to or decoupled from the chain remainder,
gripper means positionable above the upper end
of the second guide for engaging said chain segment and
movable for lowering same into and retracting same from
the second guide, and
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means between -the lower ends of the guides for
coupling and decoupling links o~ the chain remainder and
of the chain segment disposed in -the second guide.
According to a preferred embodiment, -the apparatus
includes means for shifting the gripper mecms from a position
wherein the gripper means is aligned with the upper end
of the second guide into a posîtion wherein starting chain
segments can be transferred ~ the gripper means to or from
a magazine~
~s will be apparent from the foregoing, only
indi~idual starting chain sections need be stored while,
practically continuously, the remainder of the chain remains
available to receive or provide a starting chain segment.
The invention is illustrated by way of example
in the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view, par-tly
in section, illustrating an apparatus according to the in-
vention, and
Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a magazine and a
chain-changing carrlage for use in combination with the
apparatus of Fig. 1A
Referring to Fig. 1, the apparatus illustrated is
seen to include a support 10 comprising uprights 12 and hori-
zontal beams 14, 16 and 18 mounted on the uprights above a
table 20 forming a transport path for a length 22' of starting
chain 22 which will hereinafter be referred to as the remainder
of this chain because chain segments 2~ can be removed or
added thereto in the manner to be described below.
I~le support 10 carries a motor and speed-reducing
gearing represented at 26 on a plat-form 28 for operating the
dru~s 30 and 32 of a windlass 34, the cables 36 of which pass
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over an idler wheel 38 journaled on a bracke-t 40 depending
from a horizontal guide member 42 moun-ted on horizontal
bearns 44 extending across the beams 18. The beams 18 also
serve to suppoxt rails 46 on which roll the wheels of a
transport carliage 48, the function of which will be ~escribed
below.
The cables 36 also pass over a pulley 50 journaled
on the guide member 42 to run along the top of the latter.
The guide member 4~ is provided with rollers 52
along which the remainder 22' of the chain can be supported.
The apparatus of Fig. 1 is used to connect or
couple an individual starting chain segment 24 -to the remaindex
22' of the chain or to disconnect or decouple a starting
chain se~ment of any desired length from this chain remainder
22' to this end, the chain remainder 22' is introduced into
an arcuate guide 54 and brought to rest therein. The
arcuate guide 5~ is formed with a stationary wall 56 against
which the chain remainder 22' may be held by an array o~
rollers 58, the guide 54 having a vertical section 60 and
~0 an upper elbow 62 which opens onto the guide member 42. A
lower elbow 64 communicates with a swingable ramp 66 which is
provided with guide rollers 6~ and is affixed to brackets 70,
only one of which has been shown. The brackets 70 carry
guide rollers 72 and are pivoted to the support 10 at 74
so that ramp 66 can swing between the dotted and solid line
positions shown, i.e. between a position in which the lower
end 76 o~ the ramp 66 meets the surface of the table 20 and
a position in which the ramp 66 is horizontal.
The support 10 also carries a fixed coupling
mechanism 78 for the automatic separation or joining of lin~s
of the chain.
In the horizontal position, the ramp 66 is alignecl
with another arcuate guide 80 having guide rollers 82 and an
upwardly oriented end where a gripper-lifter--transport
mechanism 84 is operative to engage a length of chain which
has been separated from the starting chain 22 to form the
segment 24 and the chain remainder 22'.
To separate the starting chain 22 into the chain
segment 24 and the remainder 22', the chains is introduced
into the guides 54 and 80 so that the links to be separated
are disposed directly ahead o~ the fixed coupling mechanism
78~ Conversely, to couple a chain segment 24 onto the chain
remainder 22', the segment 24 is introducecl into the guide
80 while the chain remainder 22' is introduced into guide 54
so that the links to be connected lie directly ahead of the
fixed coupling mechanism 78. The link pins can be removed
or inserted manually or automatically.
For introducing the starting chain 22 into the
guide 54 to its rest position, the ramp 66 is lowered into
its dotted line position and the cable 36 is connected to
the end of the chain 22 (or a remainder 22') on the table
20 as shown in the lower portion of Fig~ l. The windlass
3~ is then operated to draw this end of the chain 22 (or
remainder 22') onlo the guide member 42 as shown in the
upper portion of Fig. l~ The ramp 66 is swung upwardly into
its solid line position and the end of the chain is then
permitted to feed through the guide 80 or is positioned to
meet a chain segment 24 which has been lowered into the
guide 80 by the mechanism 84.
A drive mechanism 86 is provided for the chain
segment 24 to be coupled to the chain remainder 22' or to be
decoupled from the chain 22.
The gripper-lifter--transport mechanism 8A
includes a gripper 88 having a pair of gripping tongs 88'
adapted to engage -the head 90 of a starting chain segment 24.
The gripper 88 is raised or lowered by a windlass 92 via the
cable 94, the windlass 92 being mounted on the transport
carriage 48 which is movable along the support rails ~6. As
best shown in Fig~ 2, the mechani.sm 84 i5 transferred bD a ~ain-
changing carriage 96 which is displaceable via the wheels 98
into and out of the magazine 100. The transport carriage
48 and the change carriage 96 can be provided with automatic-
ally operable tra~sfer means to enable the chain segments 24
to be deposited in or extracted from the magazine.
Thus, the guide 54 can contain at any time a
section of chain, referred to earlier as the chain remainder,
which can be connected rapidly to a section drawn from the
magazine to prepare a starting chain for use or to recover
a length of chain from a previously used starting chain. The
arcuate guide arrangement ensures that the entire installation
will occupy a ~inimum of space.
The delivery of a chain segment 24 into the guide
80 is effected in part by the drive rollers 102~ 104 of the
drive mechanism 86 and in part by the weight of the length
of chain in the guide 54 when the ramp 66 is swung upwardly.
The tongs 8~3' can be actuated hydraulically to withdraw a
chain section from the guide 80 after having gripped this
section in the position A. The windlass 92 then lifts the
separated segment to position B for the transverse displace-
ment thereof by the transport carriage 48 which delivers the
chain segment to the change carriage 94n ~1he change carriage
can displaced from position A' to position B' to deposit the
chain in the magazine 100, as shown in Fig. 2.
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When the change carriage 96 is returned to i-ts
position A', the transport carriage 48 can be shifted into
alignment with another magazine row for withdrawal of a
different start.ing chain segment. ~he introduc-tion of the
starting chain segment 24 and its attachment -to the chain
remainder 22' is effected in the reverse mannerO
