Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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P ~ P 9302265 WE/wa 52395WO
22.09.1994
ROTARY C~OSURE F~R METALLURGICAL VESSELS
The invention relates to a rotary closure for opening and closing
the discharge opening in a sleeve inserted in the discharge block
in the bottom of a metallurgical vessel, comprising a drain
disposed to rotate around a vertical axis in relation to the
fixed discharge block and having an inserted sleeve which
contains a pouring channel extending at an inclination therein
and which completely or partially opens or closes the discharge
opening in the discharge block in dependence on the rotated
position of the drain.
Stopper rods, slide gates and rotary closures are used for the
discharge openings of metallurgical vessels.~ The two last-
mentioned kinds of closure have become widely adopted in recent
times, while the use of stopper rod closures have been reduced.
EP-A-0 346 258 discloses a slide closure by means of which the
discharge opening in the bottom of the metallurgical vessel is
closed and opened by the sliding of a slide plate in relation to
fixed bottom plates of the metallurgical vessel. Different
constructions of rotary closures exist, for example, as disclosed
in DE-A-l 910 247 and DE-C-3 843 865. DE-A-1 910 247 discloses a
rotary closure for the discharge opening in the bottom of a
metallurgical vessel which has the aforementioned features, a
sleeve having a vertical pouring channel being inserted in the
discharge block a cylindrical sleeve which is provided in the
drain and in which a pouring channel extending at an inclination
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and having vertically extending end portions is provided at the
lower horizontal end face of the sleeve in the discharge block.
In predetermined rotated positions, the opposite openings of the
respected pouring channel are completely or partially in
alignment, while in other rotated positions they are separated
from one another.
US-A-3 712 518 discloses a slide-type closure having plates of
identical or similar shape and dimensions, to simplify the
production and storage of the wearing parts.
Basically, rotary closures differ from slide closures by the fact
the discharge opening of the metallurgical vessel is opened and
closed not by the linear sliding of the slide plates, but by the
rotation of a drain block. In one position of the drain block
the pouring channels are in alignment, so that the discharge
opening is open. In other rotated positions of the drain block
the pouring channels in the discharge sleeve in the bottom of the
metallurgical vessel on the one hand and in the drain block on
the other hand are separated from one another, so that the
discharge opening of the metallurgical vessel is closed.
It is true that i~ rotation takes place around an axis at an
inclination to the vertical, something which makes the rotating
mechanism constructionally expensive, the discharge opening can
be kept fixed, but the direction of the axis of the pouring
channel changes when the rotary closure is actuated.
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One disadvantage of the prior art rotary closure is that the
blocks which are rotatable in relation to one another are
relatively complicated and differently shaped.
It is an o~ject of the invention to provide a cheaper
construction for a rotary closure.
To solve the problem stated, according to the invention inserted
in the discharge block and the drain are identically constructed
sleeves which have pouring channels extending at an inclination
and which in the incorporated state bear identically laterally
inverted against one another via their complementary horizontal
end faces.
Preferably the sleeves are frustoconical in shape and have a
widened edge at their end faces. According to the invention the
sleeves are made o~ a highly refractory material which can also
contain carbon.
According to another preferred embodiment of the rotary closure
according to the invention, opposite end portions of the pouring
channels extend vertically in the sleeves. This feature favours
the deflection of the poured jet and avoids sharp transitions
from one pouring channel to the other.
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One important advantage of the rotary closure constructionaccording to the invention is that the sleeves on the bottom of
the metallurgical vessel on the one hand and in the drain on the
other hand are identically shaped. This cheapens manufacture and
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facilitates stock holding, since only one single kind of ~lock
must be produced and stocked, whereas the prior art rotary
closure constructions always required differently shaped blocks
which were in sliding engagement with one another. Another
advantage of the construction according to the invention is that
no axial offsetting takes place - i.e., the discharge channel in
the drain - e.g., an immersion drain - is coaxial with the
discharge channel in the discharge block in the bottom of the
metallurgical vessel. Since moreover the dividing plane between
the interengaging sleeve extends horizontally, the rotary drive
for rotating the drain out of the closure position into the
opening position and vice versa can be constructed relatively
simply.
An embodiment of the rotary closure according to the invention is
illustrated in the drawings, which show:
Fig. 1 the rotary closure in longitudinal section, and
Fig. 2 a plan view of the drain.
Inserted in the bottom of a metallurgical vessel (not shown) is a
discharge block 1 having a vertically extending pouring channel
2. Inserted in the end portion of the discharge block 1 is a
frustoconical discharge sleeve 3 containing a pouring channel 5
which extends at an inclination to the vertical axis 4 and
discharges into a parallel portion 6 parallel with the vertical
axis 4 of the pouring channel 2 and extending as far as end face
7 of the discharge sleeve 3. At its lower end the discharge
sleeve 3 has a widened edge 8 which is partially let into the
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discharge block 1. The lower end of the discharge block 1 is
reinforced by a metal ring 9.
An identically constructed sleeve 3a bears via its end face 7a
against the lower face 7 of the discharge sleeve 3, so that the
sleeves 3, 3a are identically laterally inverted in the
incorporated state. The frustoconical sleeve 3a also has an
inclined pouring channel 5a discharging at the end face 7a into a
portion 6a axis-parallel with the vertical 4. The sleeve 3a is
let into a drain 10, possibly an immersion drain. The drain 10
is reinforced at the outer periphery by a metal jacket 11 and has
a pouring channel 12 coaxial with the pouring channel 2 in the
discharge block 1. The inclined pouring channel 5, 5a in the
sleeves 3, 3a discharge at one end into the pouring channel 2i 12
of the discharge block 1 and the drain 10 respectively. The
opposite end portions 6, 6a of the pouring channels 5, 5a axis-
parallel with the vertical 4 terminate at the end faces 7, 7a of
the sleeves 3, 3a. In the position of the sleeves 3, 3a shown in
Fig. 1 the pouring channel is separated at the contact faces 7,
7a, so that melt cannot flow out of the pouring channel 2 into
the pouring channel 12. This is the position shown in continuous
lines in Fig. 2. The openings of the end portions 6, 6a of the
inclined pouring channels 5, 5a in the sleeves 3; 3a are
laterally offset in relation to one another to such an extent
that they cannot register with one another. End portions 6, 6a
of the pouring channels 5, 5a in the sleeves 3, 3a can be moved
into alignment by rotating the drain 10 around the vertical axis
4, whereby a melt is enabled to flow out through the pouring
channel 2 and 5 in the discharge of the metallurgical vessel to
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e pouring channel 5a and 12 in the drain. Other closure
positions are shown in chain-dot lines in Fig. 2.
The drain 10 clamped via means which are not shown to the
discharge block 1 or pressed thereagainst and is mounted to
rotate around the vertical axis 4 in relation to the fixed
discharge block 1.
