Method for steering casting belts of continuous metal-casting machines and continuous metal-casting machine

摘要

Flexible, metallic endless belts for continuous metal-­casting machines usually have the imperfections that are more or less inherent in the parent strip metal from which the belt is made. Belts, as they revolve in the machine, are normally steered through sensing the lateral or side-to-side position of one edge while this edge passes a sensing station. The repeated side-to-side belt motions ("excursions") cause flattening and wear of belt coatings under edge dams, and this uneven wear of belt coatings in turn leads to less uniform heat transfer in the belt while in the moving mold. Such mechanically induced distortions in turn adversely affect the quality of the product being cast. The present invention provides a steering method and system responsive to a single signal source, fixed on a belt edge. This single signal source can be achieved by notching or otherwise cueing a belt at one place along an edge so that the steering sensor senses this cue notch as the belt is revolving. A first electrical circuit is arranged to sense this cue notch and to activate or initiate, i.e. to cue the commencement of, a sensing control operation. The result of the latter control operation, in response to sensing of the tracking error of a predetermined control place or region on the belt following the "cue", then governs the steering mechanism and thereby eliminates or substantially reduces the prior-art continual "hunting" steering problems in twin-­belt metal casting machines.