United States Steel Corporation

Uss Engineers and Consultants, Inc.

Robert Duncan Hind

Joseph W Cudby

Norman H Watts

Philip Weatherall

Jeffrey Hill

Anthony Thrower

Apparatus for applying a clamping force to slide gate valve plates to prevent leakage of molten metal therebetween. The apparatus applies the force uniformly about the annulus of the orifice of the plates and at a location close to the orifice itself, thus providing more effective clamping of the parts together. The apparatus may be either an annular mechanical spring mounted about the orifice of the plates or an annular chamber filled with gas under pressure.

Sliding gate valve with orifice-encircling spring

A slide gate valve for use with a molten metal teeming vessel is provided with elongated resilient supports that may be in the form of leaf springs, or the like, and are operative to resiliently bias the slide plate of the valve against the head plate thereof. The resilient supports are releasably secured to the vessel by linkages that facilitate disassembly of the valve elements for servicing.

Sliding gate valve

Oxidation of a molten metal pour stream is prevented by enclosing the stream in a shroud formed by one or more jets of inert gas arranged to envelope the stream.

Pouring of molten metals

The sliding plate of a sliding gate valve has a mounting for a collector nozzle, and a nozzle is releasably coupled to the mounting by means of a releasable fastening which allows ready replacement of the nozzle when worn. The releasable fastening clamps the collector nozzle to its mounting and holds the nozzle in firm abutment with the underside of the sliding plate.

A sliding gate valve has a sliding plate provided with an under-hung insulating member having a hollow nose, the hollow nose having a tapered bore in which a molten metal resistant liner is cemented, the liner being tapered to fit the bore and a frangible cement being used to detachably secure the liner in the nose so that the liner can be readily replaced when worn.

Teeming of molten metal from a laden vessel into a receiving vessel such as an ingot mould or tundish is accomplished at a controlled rate by detecting the changing weight of one of the vessels and deriving a valve control signal by comparing a changing weight signal with a presettable reference signal, the valve control signal being employed to adjust the setting of a sliding gate valve through which molten metal passes as it is teemed into the receiving vessel.

Growing community of inventors

Rotherham, United Kingdom

Robert Duncan Hind