Patent ID: 8905119

Claim:
Equipment for the semi-continuous direct chill casting of sheet ingot or slabs of different dimensions, the equipment including: a mold frame having a pair of facing long side walls and a pair of facing short end walls, the long side walls and the short end walls defining an upwardly open inlet for the supply of metal and a downwardly facing outlet, wherein at least one of the short end walls can be displaced to enable casting of ingots or slabs of different sizes; and a starter block disposed on a movable support and provided at the downwardly facing outlet, the starter block including a pair of short end walls and a pair of long side walls, wherein at least one of the short end walls of the starter block is movable relative to the long side walls of the mold frame, and thereby may be adjusted to a selected ingot mold dimension prior to casting, wherein the starter block includes a base piece and opposing end pieces, wherein the base piece defines the long side walls of the starter block, and the opposing end pieces are movably disposed between the long side walls of the starter block, and wherein the short end walls of the starter block are connected to the end pieces, respectively, so that the end pieces with the short end walls of the starter block may be adjusted to the selected ingot mold dimension prior to casting.