Continuous casting apparatus with soft reduction

Abstract

A continuous casting apparatus has a series of rolling stands for lightly rolling a continuously cast strand while the core of the strand is liquid. Each of the rolling stands has a lower module which contains an idler roll disposed at a fixed location. Each of the rolling stands further has an upper module containing a driven roll as well as a hydraulic unit for moving the driven roll towards and away from the idler roll. The upper modules are mounted on pairs of columns where the columns of each pair are located directly across from one another on opposite sides of the strand. The upper modules of two neighboring rolling stands share a pair of columns thereby allowing the distance between such rolling stands to be reduced.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A continuous casting apparatus comprising: 
 a mold designed to form a continuously cast strand from molten material;    at least one support; and    at least two assemblies operable substantially independently of one another to effect a dimensional reduction of a strand formed in said mold, each of said assemblies including a supporting part which rests on said one support, and each of said assemblies further including another part which extends downward from the respective supporting part and comprises at least one reducing member for effecting a dimensional reduction of a strand formed in said mold.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising means for fixing said supporting parts to said one support, said fixing means including a fixing element which urges both of said supporting parts towards said one support.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein said fixing element comprises a threaded shaft.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said supporting part and said other part of one of said assemblies are removable from said one support substantially independently of said supporting part and said other part of the other of said assemblies.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said one support comprises at least one carrying member which resembles or constitutes a column.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said one support is hollow.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , further comprising means for introducing cooling fluid into said one support.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising an additional hollow support, said introducing means including a pipe which bridges and opens into said supports.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said one reducing member of at least one of said assemblies comprises a roll.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein said supporting part and said other part of said one assembly comprise means for driving said roll in rotation.  
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said assemblies further comprises an additional reducing member arranged to cooperate with said one reducing member of said one assembly to effect a dimensional reduction of a strand formed in said mold, said supporting part and said other part of said one assembly including means for moving said one reducing member of said one assembly towards and away from said additional reducing member.  
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein said additional reducing member is anchored to said one support.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a hollow anchoring member for said one support, said anchoring member having an upper side and a lower side separated by a gap, and said one support passing through said upper side and resting on said lower side.  
     
     
         14 . A method of operating a continuous casting apparatus comprising the steps of: 
 providing a mold designed to form a continuously cast strand from molten material;    installing said mold at a casting location;    providing two assemblies operable substantially independently of one another to effect a dimensional reduction of a strand formed in said mold; and    placing said assemblies on at least one support at a reducing location spaced from said casting location, said assemblies being placed on said support so that a supporting part of each assembly rests on said support and another part of each assembly extends downward from the respective supporting part, said other part of each of said assemblies including at least one reducing member for effecting a dimensional reduction of a strand formed in said mold.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the step of fixing said assemblies to said one support with a fixing element which urges both of said assemblies towards said one support.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein each of said assemblies is placed on said support substantially independently of the other assembly.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the steps of forming a partially solidified continuously cast strand in said mold, and subjecting said partially solidified strand to a dimensional reduction in at least one of said assemblies.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said one reducing member of said one assembly comprises a roll and the subjecting step comprises rolling said partially solidified strand.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the steps of providing an additional support, bridging said supports with a pipe, and introducing a cooling fluid into said supports from said pipe.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of said assemblies comprises an additional reducing member which is arranged to cooperate with said one reducing member of said one assembly to effect a dimensional reduction of a strand formed in said mold; and further comprising the step of anchoring said additional reducing member to said one support.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the steps of providing a hollow anchoring member having an upper side and a lower side separated by a gap, passing said one support through said upper side, and resting said one support on said lower side.