Hunter Engineering Company

Fata Hunter, Inc.

Norandal USA Inc.

Fata European Group S.r.l.

Hunter Douglas Industries B.v.

Danieli Fata Hunter, Inc.

Christopher A Romanowski

Dennis M Smith

Apparao Duvvuri

Bobby Bruce Speed

Curt Braun

John E Flowers

William E Carey

Bruno Amateis

William M Marrison

Roberto Passoni

Herman Landero

Pieter F Post

A magnesium hot rolling mill system including a rolling mill having at least two work rolls for rolling of magnesium sheet or plate, a hot coiler positioned on either side of the rolling mill for heating and maintaining a desired temperature of the magnesium sheet or plate, active thermal roller tables, a mill drive system for independently driving the work rolls for asymmetrical rolling of the magnesium sheet and a warm coil loading and payoff station.

Magnesium roll mill

A method for twin roll casting aluminum clad magnesium by joining one or more sheets of aluminum cladding to molten magnesium during twin roll casting. The method includes feeding aluminum cladding to at least one roll of a pair of rotating rolls, feeding a core of molten magnesium into a continuous casting mold formed by the roll, solidifying the magnesium core by heat extraction to the rolls and through the aluminum cladding, surface treating the aluminum cladding and the magnesium core to prevent inter-diffusion between the aluminum cladding and the magnesium core, bonding the aluminum cladding with the magnesium core and extruding the composite core and aluminum cladding out of the continuous casting mold by a casting load exerted by the rolls.

Method for twin roll casting of aluminum clad magnesium

A continuous chain caster has upper and lower mold assemblies comprising endless belts and chains traveling at synchronized speeds. The mold assemblies meet to form a mold channel which is filled with molten metal from a headbox and feed tip. As the molten metal passes through the mold channel, the metal solidifies into the shape of the mold channel. Each belt is positioned outside the corresponding chain so that the smooth surface of the belt defines the surface of the mold channel thereby preventing the formation of fins between mold blocks which make up the chain, protecting the chain blocks, and neutralizing deformations in the chain blocks. The upper and lower blocks of the chains have protrusions at opposite ends which engage the opposing blocks to form the sides of the mold channel. By sliding the chains relative to each other, the width of the mold channel is adjustable. Further, the gauge of the mold channel is adjustable over the length of the channel by tilting one mold assembly relative to the other, so that the gauge at one end of the caster is greater than at the other end of the caster. In this embodiment, the protrusions are replaced with retractable legs which are held against the opposing block with a resilient member. The legs move in and out of slots in the blocks as the gauge of the channel mold is decreased and increased respectively.

Continuous chain caster and method

The local thickness across the width of a cast sheet is regulated by controlling the crown of the work rolls in a twin roll continuous casting machine producing the sheet. The work roll crowns are controlled by providing differential cooling in a plurality of cooling subsystems along the length of the rolls. The work rolls contain inlet and outlet water plenums which are connected to peripheral cooling channels between a core and an outer shell of each roll. Water flow to the cooling subsystems is controlled by a movable sleeve within the outlet plenum. In a first position of the sleeve, water is permitted to flow through all areas of the work rolls providing an even heat removal. In a second position, a greater portion of water flows through cooling subsystems in the center portion of the work rolls resulting in increased removal of heat from the center area of the core, reducing the temperature in this area, and thus reducing the crown of the work roll. The sleeve in each roll may be moved incrementally between the first and second positions to provide incremental control over the size of the work roll crowns and the resulting crown of the sheet produced by the rolls. A water manager diverts inlet water to the off-center inlet plenums in the core while removing discharge water from the central outlet plenum. The water manager provides a fluid-tight bearing for a linear actuator acting on the sleeve.

System for a crown control roll casting machine

A method of operation of a twin roll casting apparatus to produce thin gauge sheet metal at high-production rates. The method includes simultaneously adjusting various operating parameters, such as the roll speed, tip position, roll gap, molten metal input temperature and exit strip tension. In an iterative fashion, the strip gauge is reduced in steps while increasing the speed of the rolls and pulling the tip back out of the roll bite. In conjunction with the aforementioned adjustments, the temperature of the molten metal input to the feed tip is gradually reduced to ensure proper solidification at higher speeds. A set of pinch rolls closes on the exit strip at a certain gauge thickness to apply a drag to the strip in order to ensure proper coil wind-up tension.

Thin gauge roll casting method

The crown of roll cast sheet is regulated by controlling the crown of the work rolls in a roll casting machine producing the sheet. The work roll crowns are controlled by providing differential cooling between the center and the ends of the rolls. The work rolls contain inlet and outlet water plenums which are connected to channels within the perimeter of the rolls. Water flow to the center and ends of the work rolls is controlled by movable sleeves within the plenums. In a first position of the sleeves, water is permitted to flow proportionally through all areas to the work rolls providing an even removal of heat from the rolls. In a second position, a greater portion of water flows through the center portion of the work rolls resulting in increased removal of heat from the center areas, reducing the temperature of these areas and the crowning of the of the work rolls. The sleeves may be moved incrementally between the first and second positions providing control over the size of the work roll crowns and the resulting crown of the sheet produced by the rolls.

Roll casting machine crown control

The feed tip is provided by a pair of spaced apart refractory bodies defining a feed path for the molten metal. Each refractory body has an upstream portion and a downstream edge and the bodies taper, in cross-section, in a direction towards the downstream edge. A discharge gap for the molten metal is defined by the downstream edges of the refractory bodies. The refractory bodies are made from a recently developed material which is a blend of aluminosilicate fibers, silicon powder and a boron constituent, preferably boron nitride.

Feed tip and continuous casting method using the feed tip

A method is provided for continuously casting aluminum alloys having more than two percent total alloying elements by a combination of casting at thinner gauges and much higher speeds than usual. Since remelting in the caster is avoided, sheet quality is vastly improved, surface ripples are avoided, and casting rate increased as much 50%. The method is characterized by the thickness of the cast sheet being in the range of from 4 to 5.8 millimeters and the casting rate being in the range of from 1.3 to 1.9 meters per minute. Chlorides in the molten metal are coalesced and oxides filtered to keep the inclusion rate in the cast sheet very low.

Continuous casting aluminum alloy

A method is provided for continuously casting aluminum alloys particularly useful for computer memory disk stock by a combination of casting at thinner gauges and much higher speeds than usual. Sheet quality is vastly improved, surface ripples are avoided, and casting rate increased as much as 50%. The method is characterized by the thickness of the cast sheet being in the range of from 4 to 6 millimeters and the casting rate being in the range of from 0.8 to 1.8 meters per minute. Chlorides in the molten metal are coalesced and oxides filtered to keep the inclusion rate in the cast sheet very low.

Growing community of inventors

Lake Arrowhead, CA, United States of America

Christopher A Romanowski