Apparatus for manufacturing sheet metals through both sheet-casting process and continuous shear-straining process

Abstract

An apparatus for manufacturing sheet metals is disclosed. This apparatus primarily casts a liquid metal into an intermediate sheet through a sheet-casting process, and secondarily strains the intermediate sheet through a continuous shear-straining process, thus forming a desired high quality sheet metal having a high strength, a high formability and a specifically oriented texture without changing the thickness of the intermediate sheet or while slightly changing the thickness. This apparatus thus simplifies the process of manufacturing the sheet steels. The apparatus has a sheet-casting device used for primarily casting a liquid metal into an intermediate sheet, and a continuous shear-straining device used for continuously shear-straining the intermediate sheet from the sheet-casting device to form a desired sheet metal. The apparatus of this invention also has an intermediate device for pre-processing the intermediate sheet from the sheet-casting device prior to feeding the intermediate sheet to the continuous shear-straining device.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for manufacturing sheet metals, comprising: 
 a sheet-casting device used for primarily casting a liquid metal into an intermediate sheet; and    a continuous shear-straining device used for continuously shear-straining said intermediate sheet from the sheet-casting device, thus forming a desired sheet metal.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising an intermediate device used for pre-processing the intermediate sheet from the sheet-casting device prior to feeding said intermediate sheet to the continuous shear-straining device.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said sheet-casting device comprises a double roll-type casting device consisting of two rotating rolls arranged to form a nip between them, with a cooling unit provided in said double roll-type casting device.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said sheet-casting device comprises a chained block-type casting device consisting of two block chains each formed by connecting a plurality of blocks together into a rotatable block chain, with a cooling unit provided in said chained block-type casting device.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said sheet-casting device comprises a belt-type casting device consisting of two belts each wrapped around two rolls, with a cooling unit provided in said belt-type casting device.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said sheet-casting device comprises a melt drag-type casting device consisting of a rotating roll dragging the liquid metal to form the intermediate sheet.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said sheet-casting device comprises a single roll-type casting device consisting of one roll, with a cooling unit provided in said single roll-type casting device.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to any one of  claims 1  to  7 , wherein either an electromagnetic agitator, a mechanical vibrator or an ultrasonic vibrator is installed in said sheet-casting device so as to improve mechanical properties of the intermediate sheet.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said continuous shear-straining device comprises: 
 a mold unit consisting of upper and lower molds and having a shear-straining passage bent at a predetermined angle, said mold unit thus being used for shear-straining the intermediate sheet to form the sheet metal; and    a sheet-feeding unit used for feeding said intermediate sheet to said mold unit.    
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein said sheet-feeding unit and said mold unit are arranged such that the intermediate sheet is initially fed to the mold unit after the intermediate sheet moves along the surface of said sheet-feeding unit to a predetermined position, thus increasing frictional force between the intermediate sheet and the sheet-feeding device.  
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said continuous shear-straining device comprises: 
 a sheet-feeding unit; and    a mold unit used for shear-straining the intermediate sheet while separating said intermediate sheet from the sheet-feeding unit, thus forming the sheet metal.    
     
     
         12 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein said sheet-feeding unit is selected from the group consisting of a first roll-type feeding unit having two rolls, a belt-type feeding unit having two belts each wrapped around two rolls, a second roll-type feeding unit having a plurality of identical rolls regularly arranged opposite each other to form a plurality of pairs of rolls, and a third roll-type feeding unit having a plurality of different-sized rolls.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein each of the rolls of said sheet-feeding unit is uneven on its circumferential surface so as to increase frictional force between the intermediate sheet and the roll of the sheet-feeding unit.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein a predetermined gap is formed in said mold unit or at a position between the sheet-feeding unit and the mold unit to scalp the surface of said intermediate sheet during a continuous shear-straining process.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein said intermediate device is selected from the group consisting of a roller guider, a sheet-winding drum designed to wind the intermediate sheet on its winding roll, a rolling machine designed to hot-roll or cold-roll the intermediate sheet, and a heating or cooling unit designed to heat or cool the intermediate sheet.