Patent ID: 8579012

Claim:
A casting apparatus for continuously casting a metal strip article, said apparatus comprising a casting cavity defined between a pair of moving opposed casting surfaces, said casting cavity having an entrance and an exit aligned in a direction of casting, a molten metal injector at said entrance, said injector having an internal molten metal channel including a downstream opening for introducing molten metal into the casting cavity, and a pair of side dams at each lateral side of the casting cavity for confining molten metal from the injector within said cavity, wherein said apparatus comprises a twin-belt metal caster having rotating belts forming said casting surfaces, and at least one of said side dams comprises an elongated element having a molten metal contacting surface that is movable laterally relative to said direction of casting during a casting operation but is restrained against movement in the direction of casting, said elongated element extending in said direction of casting from said injector longitudinally between said casting surfaces at least to a downstream position within the casting cavity where, in use, said metal adjacent said element is laterally self-supporting.