Patent ID: 8561669

Claim:
Equipment for the semi-continuous direct chill (DC) casting of sheet ingot or slabs of different dimensions, in particular for rolling purposes, including a mold frame having a pair of facing long side walls and a pair of facing short end walls, the walls defining an upwardly open inlet for the supply of metal and a downwardly facing outlet provided with a starter block provided on a movable support, which prior to each casting, closes the opening and including means for changing the mold dimensions where at least one of the short end walls can be displaced to enable casting of ingots with different sizes, the equipment further including means for indirect and direct cooling of the metal during casting, wherein: the equipment, in addition to the means for changing the mold dimensions, includes means for flexing the long side walls of the mold, thereby enabling adjustment of a flexible middle part of the long side walls inwardly or outwardly to adapt to a desired sheet ingot size, a desired casting speed and/or alloy composition.