Patent ID: 7004226
Filing Date: 2006-02-28
Classification: B22D

Abstract:
1. Apparatus for continuous vertical casting of metal strips, comprising a mould having top and bottom ends, an open-ended mould cavity with a mould entrance opening at the top end and a strip exit opening at the bottom end, a tundish for holding molten metal, said tundish having a discharge opening in direct communication with the mould cavity to feed molten metal into the mould entrance opening past an interface between the tundish and the mould, a sealing device forming a seal at said tundish-mould interface to prevent molten metal from entering said interface, and a molten-metal feeding device for supplying molten metal to the tundish and maintaining a level of molten metal therein, said sealing device comprises an upwardly facing horizontal flat sealing element support surface on the mould at the top end thereof, said sealing element support surface extending about the mould entrance opening, a flat downwardly facing surface on the tundish, said downwardly facing surface extending about the discharge opening of the tundish, and a sealing element formed of a sheet of graphite and being in constant sealing engagement with both said horizontal sealing element support surface on the mould and said downwardly facing surface of the tundish, said sealing element extending about the mould entrance opening and the discharge opening of the tundish, wherein the mould comprises a pair of side walls, each side wall comprises a vertical graphite block formed from a stack of elongate graphite laminae and one end of said block forms part of said sealing element support surface of the mould.