Abstract:
Equipment for a continuous casting operation includes a closed chamber having first and second connecting holes, a furnace unit disposed in the chamber, a horizontal casting apparatus connected to the first connecting hole and including at least one first die having a first passage connected to the melting furnace, a first drawing unit disposed downstream of the horizontal casting apparatus, an upcast casting apparatus disposed above the chamber and connected to the second connecting hole, and a second drawing unit disposed downstream of the upcast casting apparatus. The upcast casting apparatus includes at least one second die having a second passage connected to the melting furnace. With the equipment, either horizontal casting or upcasting may be performed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to a continuous casting operation, more particularly to equipment for a continuous casting operation. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional horizontal continuous casting apparatus  10  for smelting, but not limited to, copper. The apparatus  10  includes a movable melting furnace  11 , a holding furnace  12 , a die  13 , a cooler  14 , and a drawing unit  15 . The melting furnace  11  receives and melts solid copper into molten copper. The holding furnace  12  receives the molten copper poured out from the melting furnace  11 , and is continuously heated so as to maintain the molten copper at a suitable temperature. The holding furnace  12  has a receiving hole  121  formed in a sidewall thereof in communication with an interior of the holding furnace  12 . A layer of graphite or carbon flakes covers a liquid surface of the molten metal in the corresponding furnace  11 ,  12  so as to minimize contact of the molten metal with the atmospheric air which could result in oxidation of the molten metal. The lining of each of the melting furnace  11  and the holding furnace  12  is made of oxidized aluminum bricks. The die  13  is disposed within the receiving hole  121 , and is formed with a horizontal passage  131  connected to the interior of the holding furnace  12 . The molten metal in the holding furnace  12  passes through the passage  131  to thereby form a casting. The cooler  14  is provided to cool the casting. The drawing unit  15  includes two rollers  151  that rotate in opposite directions to draw continuously and horizontally the casting. 
         [0005]      FIG. 2  illustrates a conventional upcast continuous casting apparatus  20 , which includes a chamber  21 , a melting furnace  22  disposed within the chamber  21  to melt solid metal into molten metal, a die  23  that extends uprightly through the chamber  21  such that a portion thereof is inserted into the melting furnace  22  and another portion thereof is exposed outwardly of the melting furnace  22 , a cooler  24  surrounding the die  23 , and a drawing unit  25  disposed above the cooler  24 . The die  23  is formed with a passage  231  that communicates with an inner portion of the melting furnace  22 . When the molten metal passes through the passage  231 , the molten metal is solidified through the cooler  24  to become a casting that is then drawn upwardly by the drawing unit  25 . 
         [0006]    The aforementioned conventional horizontal and upcast continuous casting apparatuses  10 ,  20  are limited to particular sizes of products. For example, the conventional horizontal continuous casting apparatus  10  is suitable only for producing thick metal rods, so that when metal rods of small diameters (below 12 mm) are to be produced, technical difficulties are encountered by the conventional horizontal continuous casting apparatus  10 . Similarly, the conventional upcast continuous casting apparatus  20  is generally not suitable for producing metal rods of large diameter (over 30 mm) because of technical difficulties that are encountered and the limited size of the apparatus  20 . 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide equipment for a continuous casting operation that is able to perform both horizontal and upcast casting. 
         [0008]    According to this invention, equipment for a continuous casting operation comprises a closed chamber having first and second connecting holes, a furnace unit disposed in the chamber for melting solid metal into molten metal, a horizontal casting apparatus connected to the first connecting hole, a first drawing unit disposed downstream of the horizontal casting apparatus, an upcast casting apparatus disposed above the chamber and connected to the second connecting hole, and a second drawing unit disposed downstream of the upcast casting apparatus. The horizontal casting apparatus includes at least one first die having a first passage connected to the melting furnace to form a casting. The upcast casting apparatus includes at least one second die having a second passage connected to the melting furnace to form a casting. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional horizontal continuous casting apparatus; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a conventional upcast continuous casting apparatus; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of equipment for a continuous casting operation according to the first preferred embodiment of this invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a schematic side view of the first preferred embodiment in a state of use; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a schematic top view of the first preferred embodiment, illustrating a first platform in a first position; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a view similar to  FIG. 5 , but illustrating the first platform in a second position; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a schematic side view of equipment for a continuous casting operation according to the second preferred embodiment of this invention in a state of use; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a schematic top view of the second preferred embodiment, illustrating a second platform in a third position; 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a view similar to  FIG. 8 , but illustrating the second platform in a fourth position; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a schematic top view of equipment for a continuous casting operation according to the third preferred embodiment of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that the same reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 to 6 , equipment for a continuous casting operation according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to comprise a closed chamber  3 , a furnace unit  4 , a horizontal casting apparatus  5 , an upcast casting apparatus  6 , a first drawing unit  7 , a second drawing unit  8 , and a first collecting unit  91 . 
         [0022]    The closed chamber  3  has a first connecting hole  31  and a second connecting hole  32 . 
         [0023]    The furnace unit  4  is disposed in the chamber  3 , and has a receiving hole  41  at one side thereof. The furnace unit  4  serves to melt solid metal into molten metal, and maintains the molten metal at a suitable temperature. In this embodiment, the exemplified metal is copper, and the suitable heating temperature ranges from 600° C. to 1500° C. To melt other kinds of metal, such as aluminum, nickel, copper alloys, aluminum alloys, nickel alloys, etc., the suitable heating temperature range may be adjusted according to the physical properties of the metal used. 
         [0024]    The horizontal casting apparatus  5  is connected to the first connecting hole  31 , and includes a first die  51  and a first cooler  52 . The first die  51  has one end positioned within the receiving hole  41  in the furnace unit  4 , and another end extending out of the chamber  3 . The first die  51  is formed with a first passage  511  connected to the furnace unit  4 . The molten copper in the furnace unit  4  is permitted to flow out of the chamber  3  through the first passage  511 . The first cooler  52  surrounds the first die  51 , and cools the molten copper that flows through the first passage  511 , so that the molten copper is gradually solidified into a copper casting. 
         [0025]    The first drawing unit  7  is disposed outwardly of the chamber  3  in proximity to the first cooler  52  for drawing the copper casting from the first die  51  horizontally and continuously to form an elongated copper rod  500 . The first drawing unit  7  has a pair of rollers  71  that rotate oppositely to clamp and pull out the copper material continuously and horizontally. 
         [0026]    The upcast casting apparatus  6  is disposed above the chamber  3 , and includes a second die  61  and a second cooler  62 . The second die  61  is inserted uprightly into the furnace unit  4  by extending through the second connecting hole  32  in the chamber  3 , and is formed with a second passage  611  connected to an inner portion of the furnace unit  4 . The molten copper in the furnace unit  4  is permitted to flow out of the chamber  3  through the second passage  611 . The second cooler  62  surrounds the second die  61 , and cools the molten copper that flows through the second passage  611 , so that the molten copper is gradually solidified into a copper casting. The second cooler  62  has an inlet  621  for entry of a cooling liquid, and an outlet  622  for exit of the cooling liquid after absorbing the heat of the molten copper. Preferably, the second cooler  62  includes a cooling tower (not shown), and the cooling liquid may be water. The water absorbs the heat of the molten copper and can be cooled and continuously used. 
         [0027]    The second drawing unit  8  is disposed above the second die  61  for drawing the copper casting from the second die  61  upwardly and continuously so as to form an elongated copper rod  500 ′. In this embodiment, the second drawing unit  8  includes four rollers  81  that cooperate with each other to clamp and pull out the copper material continuously. 
         [0028]    The first collecting unit  91 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , is disposed downstream of the first drawing unit  7 , and is used for collecting the elongated copper rods  500 ,  500 ′ drawn by the first and second drawing units  7 ,  8 , respectively. The first collecting unit  91  includes a first platform  913 , a first coiler  912 , and a first runout table  914 . The first platform  913  supports the first runout table  914  and the first coiler  912 , and is movable relative to the chamber  3  between first and second positions. When the first platform  913  is in the first position, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the first coiler  912  is aligned with the first drawing unit  7 . In this state, the copper rod  500  drawn by the first drawing unit  7  can be wound by the first coiler  912  into a coil. When the first platform  913  is in the second position, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the first runout table  914  is aligned with the first drawing unit  7  so as to collect the copper rod  500  drawn by the first drawing unit  7  and to cut the copper rod  500  to a preset length by using a cutter  400  (shown in phantom lines in  FIG. 6 ). 
         [0029]    The purpose of the cutter  400  and the first runout table  914  is to provide another way of collecting the copper rod  500  after drawing. That is to say, instead of winding the copper rod  500  into a coil, the copper rod  500  can be cut into pieces on the first runout table  914 . 
         [0030]    If the first die  51  is to be changed into a die that can produce a metal slab or sheet, the first drawing unit  7  may be configured to draw the metal slab onto the first runout table  914  so as to facilitate a cutting operation. Hence, the equipment of the present invention can produce not only an elongated metal rod, but also a metal slab. 
         [0031]    Referring back to  FIG. 4 , when the first collecting unit  91  is used for collecting the elongated copper rod  500 ′ drawn by the second drawing unit  8 , a guide roller  300  and a winding speed controller  200  may be used to cooperate with the first collecting unit  91 . The guide roller  300  is disposed in proximity to the second drawing unit  8  to guide and change the direction of the copper rod  500 ′. The winding speed controller  200  is mounted on the first platform  913  in proximity to the first coiler  912 . The copper rod  500 ′ is directed downwardly by gravity after passing over the guide roller  300 , and is wound by the first coiler  912  into a coil. Alternatively, the copper rod  500 ′ may be directed to the first runout table  914  to conduct a cutting operation. 
         [0032]    It is worth mentioning that, in this embodiment, since both of the upcast casting apparatus  6  and the horizontal casting apparatus  5  are supplied with molten copper from the same furnace unit  4  to produce the elongated metal rods  500 ′,  500 , and since the first and second dies  51 ,  61  have different forming sizes, different sizes or different forms of metal rods can be produced at the same time by the equipment of the present invention. Further, because it is not necessary to stop the operation of the furnace unit  4  during switching between the upcast and horizontal casting apparatuses  6 ,  5 , different sizes of metal materials can be produced continuously. Hence, the present invention not only can produce different products in small quantities, but can also minimize the danger caused by stopping and re-starting the apparatuses  6 ,  5 . 
         [0033]    The first collecting unit  91 , in this embodiment, includes only one first coiler  912 . However, when the first drawing unit  7  draws a plurality of metal rods  500  from the horizontal casting apparatus  5 , or when the second drawing unit  8  draws a plurality of metal rods  500 ′ from the upcast casting apparatus  6 , the first collecting unit  91  may be provided with a plurality of the first coilers  912  to wind the respective metal rods  500 ,  500 ′ into coils. Since the structure and operation of the first coiler  912  are known in the art, a detailed description of the same is dispensed herewith. 
         [0034]    The equipment of the present invention integrates the conventional horizontal and upcast casting apparatuses into a single unit. Hence, not only is the space occupied by the present invention minimized, but the related operational costs, such as maintenance of the apparatuses  6 ,  5 , can be economized as well. 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIGS. 7 to 9 , equipment for a continuous casting operation according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the equipment further comprises a second collecting unit  92  disposed downstream of the second drawing unit  8  to collect the elongated metal rod  500 ′ drawn by the second drawing unit  8 . The first collecting unit  91  is used to collect the elongated metal rod  500  drawn by the first drawing unit  7 . The second collecting unit  92  has a second platform  923 , a second coiler  922 , and a second runout table  924 . The winding speed controller  200  is mounted on the second platform  923  in proximity to the second coiler  922  in this embodiment. The second platform  923  supports the second runout table  924  and the second coiler  922 , and is movable relative to the upcast casting apparatus  6  between third and fourth positions. When the second platform  923  is in the third position, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the second coiler  922  is aligned with the second drawing unit  8  so as to wind the metal rod  500 ′ drawn by the second drawing unit  8  into a coil. When the second platform  923  is in the fourth position, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the second runout table  924  is aligned with the second drawing unit  8  so as to collect the metal rod  500 ′ drawn by the second drawing unit  8  and to cut the copper rod  500 ′ to a preset length by using a cutter  400 . With reference to  FIG. 7 , the drawn metal rod  500 ′ is wound into a coil by the second coiler  922  through cooperation of the guide roller  300  and the winding speed controller  200 . Alternatively, the drawn metal rod  500 ′ may be collected on the second runout table  924 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , and may be cut to a preset length using the cutter  400  (shown in phantom lines in  FIG. 9 ). 
         [0036]    The second collecting unit  92 , in this embodiment, includes only one second coiler  922 . However, when the second drawing unit  8  draws a plurality of metal rods  500 ′ from the upcast casting apparatus  6 , the second collecting unit  92  may be provided with a plurality of the second coilers  922  to wind the metal rods  500 ′ into coils, respectively. Since the upcast and horizontal casting apparatuses  6 ,  5  of the second preferred embodiment are provided respectively with the collecting units  92 ,  91  and can be operated simultaneously, not only is the winding operation effective, the production yield and the ability to vary product dimensions can be enhanced as well. Further, since the upcast casting apparatus  6  is disposed higher than the horizontal casting apparatus  5 , and since the second collecting unit  92  is also disposed at a level substantially as high as the upcast casting apparatus  6 , the winding operation of the second collecting unit  92  can be carried out effectively. 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIG. 10 , equipment for a continuous casting operation according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the second preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the horizontal casting apparatus  5  cooperates with the first collecting unit  7  to produce four elongated metal rods  500 . Similarly, the upcast casting apparatus  6  can cooperate with the second collecting unit  8  to produce simultaneously four elongated metal rods  500 ′ (see  FIG. 7 ). Hence, the production yield is further increased. Since the upcast and horizontal casting apparatuses  6 ,  5  can separately and simultaneously produce four elongated metal rods  500 ′,  500 , each of the first and second collecting units  91 ,  92  (see  FIG. 7 ) is provided with four coilers  912 ,  922  (see  FIG. 7 ) to cooperate with the corresponding casting apparatus  6 ,  5  to wind the four metal rods  500 ′,  500  into coils, respectively. 
         [0038]    Moreover, in this embodiment, the horizontal casting apparatus  5  includes four first dies  51  (see  FIG. 7 ) and four first coolers  52  (see  FIG. 7 ). The first collecting unit  7  is modified so as to accommodate drawing of the four elongated metal rods  500 . Similarly, the second collecting unit  8  is also modified so as to accommodate drawing of the four elongated metal rods  500 ′. Since modification of each of the first and second collecting units  7 ,  8  is known in the art, a detailed description of the same is dispensed herewith. 
         [0039]    It should be noted that since the first and second collecting units  91 ,  92  (see  FIG. 7 ) in this embodiment are operated in a manner similar to the manner in which they are operated in the second preferred embodiment, only the first collecting unit  91  is illustrated in  FIG. 10 . In  FIG. 10 , the first platform  913  is disposed in the second position. The aforementioned end product, i.e., the elongated metal rods  500 ,  500 ′, is only an example to facilitate description of the present invention. The end product may be changed as required. If the end product is changed, the number and position of the first and second drawing units  7 ,  8  and of the first and second collecting units  912 ,  922  may be altered accordingly, and the present invention is not limited in this regard to the disclosed embodiments. 
         [0040]    While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.