Patent ID: 8800636

Claim:
Equipment for lifting billets of aluminium out of a casting pit and transferring the billets after a casting operation, the equipment comprising: a lifting device including a gripping device for retaining one or more of the billets, the lifting device being arranged so that it can move over a casting pit and lift and move the billets, the lifting device comprising a U-shaped lifting frame having upright legs connected to a step, each of the legs being connected at a lower end to a wheeled chassis or wheeled bogie; transport equipment for transporting the billets to a store or further treatment or processing; and a billet positioner extending from the casting pit to the transport equipment, wherein the billet positioner comprises a ramp arranged to rotate or be inclined between the casting pit and the transport equipment, and the lifting device is arranged to move the billets into contact with the ramp which can then be rotated to permit the billets to be transported along the ramp in the direction of the transport equipment.