Casting gap control system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. In an improved apparatus for flow casting metal strip of the type that includes, in combination:
- a crucible for holding molten metal;
a movable chill body, providing a chill surface for deposition thereon of the molten metal for solidification; and
a generally rectangular orifice, through which the molten metal may pass across a gap defined by the distance from the crucible to the chill surface, long sides of the orifice oriented generally perpendicular to the direction of motion of the chill surface, the improvement comprising;
(a) means for setting a desired value for the gap;
(b) gap measurement means, including a light source for providing a focused light beam at each of two short sides of the orifice, beam-shifting means for continually scanning the beam across the gap at the short sides of the orifice, and detection means associated with the beam shifting means for sensing time-varying intensities of the light beams after they have passed through the gap;
(c) means associated with said detection means for comparing measured values of the time varying intensities of the light beams with desired values and for generating deviation signals in response to a comparison of the measured values with desired values that indicate any differences; and
(d) means associated with said comparison means for translating the crucible perpendicular to the direction of travel of the chill surface in response to one deviation signal and for rotating the crucible, about an axis parallel to the direction of travel of the chill surface, in response to an other deviation signal, so as to minimize the differences.
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Abstract
A non-contact, optical method is provided for controlling a gap between a crucible orifice and a rapidly moving chill surface during casting of metal strip. The method comprises setting a desired value for the gap; measuring the gap by continually scanning it with a light beam; generating a deviation signal that indicates whether there is a difference between the measured and desired values; and using the deviation signal to adjust the crucible position so as to minimize the difference. In a preferred embodiment, the light beam is provided by a laser.
23 Citations
10 Claims
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1. In an improved apparatus for flow casting metal strip of the type that includes, in combination:
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a crucible for holding molten metal; a movable chill body, providing a chill surface for deposition thereon of the molten metal for solidification; and a generally rectangular orifice, through which the molten metal may pass across a gap defined by the distance from the crucible to the chill surface, long sides of the orifice oriented generally perpendicular to the direction of motion of the chill surface, the improvement comprising; (a) means for setting a desired value for the gap; (b) gap measurement means, including a light source for providing a focused light beam at each of two short sides of the orifice, beam-shifting means for continually scanning the beam across the gap at the short sides of the orifice, and detection means associated with the beam shifting means for sensing time-varying intensities of the light beams after they have passed through the gap; (c) means associated with said detection means for comparing measured values of the time varying intensities of the light beams with desired values and for generating deviation signals in response to a comparison of the measured values with desired values that indicate any differences; and (d) means associated with said comparison means for translating the crucible perpendicular to the direction of travel of the chill surface in response to one deviation signal and for rotating the crucible, about an axis parallel to the direction of travel of the chill surface, in response to an other deviation signal, so as to minimize the differences. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In an improved method for flow casting metal strip onto the rapidly moving surface of a chill body of the type in which molten metal is passed from a crucible, through a generally rectangular orifice oriented with long sides generally perpendicular to the direction of motion of the chill surface, across a gap defined by the distance between the crucible and the chill surface, and onto the chill surface the improvement comprising:
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(a) setting a desired value for the gap; (b) provide a gap measurement means, including a light source for providing a focused light beam at each of the two short sides of the orifice, beam-shifting means for continually scanning the beam across the gap at the short sides of the orifice, and detection means associated with the beam shifting means for sensing time-varying intensities of the light beam after they have passed through the gap; (c) measuring the gap by providing the two focused light beams, continually scanning the gap with a light beam at each of the two shorter sides of the rectangular orifice, and measuring the time-varying intensity of the light beams after they have passed through the gap; (d) comparing measured values of the time-varying intensities of the light beams with the desired values and generating deviation signals in response to a comparison of the measured and the desired values that indicate any differences; and (e) translating the crucible perpendicular to the direction of the travel of the chill surface in response to one deviation signal and for rotating the crucible, about an axis parallel to the direction of travel of the chill surface, in response to an other deviation signal, so as to minimize the differences.
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Specification