Title of Invention

A CASTING MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS CASTING OF METAL FOIL

Abstract

A casting machine for continuous casting of metal foil comprising a presspour furnace for melting the metal to be cast having a lid, wherein it comprises a charging spout, a discharge spout and an inlet for introducing inert gas, the said discharge spout being connected to a casting furnace attached with a gate valve and a ceramic casting nozzle having a casting slit facing to the surface of a water cooled rotating drum having a spider wheel assembly and a tyre with a polished tyre surface to receive and cool the melt received through said casting nozzle, an air knife located near the tyre surface at a position downstream of the position where the melt is received, to remove the cast metal film from the tyre surface and a cleaning and a polishing means located downstream of the position of said air knife to clean the tyre surface after the cast metal film is removed from the tyre surface.

Full Text

The invention relates to a casting machine for continuous casting of metal foil. For producing high quality metal foil of magnetic material precision casting machine capable of continuous operation with precise control is required. This is achieved by using a press pour females in which the magnetic material for casting is held and transferred to a casting furnace provided with a casting nozzle, by applying pressure on the surface of the melt in the press-pour furnace by means of pressurized inert gas. The cast metal foil from the casting nozzle is received on a smooth water cooled surface of a rotating drum with a tyre. The rotating drum has a polished surface. The gap between the casting nozzle and the tyre surface is adjustable. This gap is controlled by providing compressed air through air inlets provided on the sides of the casting nozzle and air outlets provided adjacent to the ends of the casting slit on the casting nozzle. The compressed air of a constant pressure is blown on the tyre surface located close to the casting nozzle through the said air outlets on the casting nozzle. Depending upon the gap between the casting nozzle and the tyre surface, a back pressure develops and this pressure difference is sensed by a pair of pressure transducers located in the compressed air path. The signals from both the pressure transducers are used as feed back signals for controlling the gap between the casting nozzle and the tote surface with the help of servo motors. The metal film cast on the tyre surface of the rotating drum is removed by an air knife and the surface is cleaned and polished for receiving fresh molten metal through the casting nozzle. Thus the invention provides a casting machine for continuous casting of metal foil comprising a press-pour furnace for holding the metal to be cast having a lid, a charging spout, a discharge spout and an inlet for introducing inert gas, the said discharge spout being connected to a casting furnace attached with a gate valve and a ceramic casting nozzle having a casting slit facing to the surface of a water cooled rotating drum having a spider wheel assembly and a tyre with a polished tyre surface to receive and cool the melt received through said casting nozzle, an air knife located near the tyre surface at a position downstream of the position where the melt is received, to remove the cast metal film from the tyre surface and a cleaning and a polishing means located down stream of the position of said air knife to clean the tyre surface after the cast metal film is removed from the tyre surface. The invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 shows the casting machine according to the invention. A press-pour furnace (1) having lid (2), charging spout (4) and a discharge spout (5) is used for holding the molten metal. The molten metal is transferred to a casting furnace (7) supported on supports (9) and connected to the discharge port (5) of the press-pour furnace (1) by applying an inert gas pressure through an inlet (3) in the lid (2) of the press-pour furnace (1). The molten metal in the casting furnace (7) is maintained at a predetermined level through out the casting operation by controlling the pressure of inert gas in the press-pour furnace (1). The press-pour furnace (1) is charged with metal to be cast through the charging port (4). A stopper rod assembly (6) is provided in the path of molten metal from the press-pour furnace (I) to the casting furnace (7) for controlling the melt flow to the casting furnace (7). The level of the melt in the casting furnace (7) is kept constant throughout the casting. The casting furnace is provided with a lid attached to a hydraulic cylinder (8) for opening and closing. A ceramic casting nozzle (14) having a casting slit is fixed to an opening at the bottom of the casting furnace (7) using a nozzle holding plate (13). A gate valve (12) is provided to control the flow of molten metal through the casting nozzle (14). A water cooled rotating drum (16) comprising a spider wheel assembly and a tyre with a polished surface is located close to the casting nozzle (14) at a predetermined distance to receive the melt through the casting slit of the said casting nozzle (14). The cast metal foil on the tyre surface is cooled and removed by an air knife (19) and the metal foil is passed to spooling section. A polishing and cleaning means (20) is provided down stream of the air knife (19) close to the tyre surface of the rotating drum (16) for cleaning and polishing the tyre surface after the metal foil is removed. The rotating drum (16) is provided with a drive having a speed control. The rotating drum (16) has a spider wheel assembly with an inlet (17) and outlet (18) for cooling water which cools the tyre surface. The machine is assembled on a main frame (22). A sliding bed (21) having means for turning of the tyre (16) after every casting is provided on the frame (22). A hydraulic brake (11) is provided to the casting furnace (7) for holding the furnace steady during casting. The vertical position of the casting furnace is adjustable by servo motors and transducers which are controlled by sensing the gap between the casting nozzle aid the tyre surface. The casting surface is also provided with a tilting and support means (10) for supporting tiltably the cast finance. The tilting and support means (10) precisely adjusts the vertical position in order to adjust the tyre surface and the casting nozzle. The casting machine according to the invention is suitable for producing very thin foil of magnetic material continuously. Such magnetic foil is an excellent core material for magnetic circuits in electrical and electronic equipments. We Claim: 1. A casting machine for continuous casting of metal foil comprising a press-pour furnace (1) for melting the metal to be cast having a lid (2), characterized in that the said machine comprises a charging spout (4), a discharge spout (5) and an inlet (3) for introducing inert gas, the said discharge spout (5) being connected to a casting furnace (7) attached with a gate valve (12) and a ceramic casting nozzle (14) having a casting slit facing to the surface of a water cooled rotating drum (16) having a spider wheel assembly and a tyre with a polished tyre surface to receive and cool the melt received through said casting nozzle (14), an air knife (19) located near the tyre surface at a position downstream of the position where the melt is received, to remove the cast metal film from the tyre surface and a. cleaning and a polishing means (20) located downstream of the position of said air knife (19) to clean the tyre surface after the cast metal fin is removed from the tyre surface. 2. The casting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casting furnace (7) is provided with tilting and support means (10) for supporting tilt ably the cast furnace and a hydraulic brake (11) for holding the casting furnace in a steady position. 3. The casting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casting furnace is provided with a lid attached to a hydraulic cylinder (8) for opening and closing. 4. The casting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said gate valve (12) is operated by means of a hydraulic cylinder. 5. The casting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the press-pour furnace (1) and casting furnace (7) are induction furnaces. 6. The casting machine as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein said casting furnace (7) is provided with adjustable support and tilting means (10) to adjust the vertical position precisely, in order to adjust the gap between the tyre surface and the casting nozzle. 7. The casting machine as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein said casting nozzle (14) is provided with a control means to control the gap between the tyre surface and the casting nozzle. i. The casting machine as claimed in claim 7, wherein the control means is a servo motor control comprising pressure transducers and servo motors. 9. The casting machine as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein said cleaning and polishing means (20) comprises a brush assembled in a vacuum hood to remove the materials cleaned by vacuum suction. 10. A casting machine for continuous casting of metal foil substantially as hereinabove described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Documents:

72-mas-2002 abstract-duplicate.pdf

72-mas-2002 abstract.jpg

72-mas-2002 abstract.pdf

72-mas-2002 claims-duplicate.pdf

72-mas-2002 claims.pdf

72-mas-2002 corresponences-others.pdf

72-mas-2002 corresponences-po.pdf

72-mas-2002 drawing.pdf

72-mas-2002 form-.19.pdf

72-mas-2002 form-1.pdf

72-mas-2002 form-26.pdf

72-mas-2002 form-3.pdf

72-mas-2002 description (complete)-duplicate.pdf

72-mas-2002 description (complete).pdf