hainaut - sambre
the other main grouping of firms in the surrounding area became the hainaut - sambre company in 1955, hainaut being the name of the province in which charleroi is situated. the two companies involved in the first merger were the usines métallurgiques de hainaut, founded in 1829, and sambre - et - moselle, founded in 1835. the merger between hainaut - sambre and thy - marcinelle et providence took place in 1979, not long after the transfer of providence to tmm by cockerill .
hainaut - sambre has merged entirely with cockerill. in belgian steel, this equity infusion was determined to be countervailable because the gob paid more per share than the market price of the stock at that time and, hence, its investment was inconsistent with commercial considerations. lacking any information on the nature of the merger between hainaut - sambre and cockerill, we presume that the benefits to hainaut - sambre are now conferred on cockerill as well .
b. snsn capital for cockerill sambre' s liege cold - rolling mill .
the cockerill sambre group of the late 20th century resulted from the 1981 merger of the two major iron and steel groupings of the walloon region of belgium. from its beginnings, the cockerill group had been based at seraing on the river meuse a few miles upstream from liège, while the company hainaut - sambre was based at the town of charleroi, some 65 miles east of liège on the banks of the river sambre. the sambre flows into the meuse and provides a geographical link between these two regions, formerly rich in coal. in both areas, iron and steel production dates back before the 18th century, based on the coal mines of the areas, but the majority of the companies that have been absorbed gradually into the group were originally founded between 1800 and 1838 .
cockerill sambre entered 1998 as a majority state - owned company, 79 percent - owned by the regional government of wallonia (the french - speaking southern half of belgium) - - the remainder was publicly traded. in october 1998 french steelmaking giant usinor s. a. reached an agreement with the government to acquire a 75 percent stake in cockerill sambre, with the government retaining 25 percent .
the number of blast furnaces operating in wallonia declined from their peak of 30 during the postwar period up to 1963: only a third of these were in use by the late 1970s, and by 1988 only four remained at cockerill sambre .
1. cash grants and interest subsidies under the economic expansion law of 1970 2. government funding of early retirement pensions 3. ecological incentives 4. assumption of debt a. assumption of debt related to closing of valfil plant b. assumption of financing costs c. forgiveness of societe nationale de credite a l' industrie (
snci
) loans 5. debt conversions a. 1984 conversion of sidmar debt (not countervailable) b. conversion of clabecq debt into ordinary and non - voting shares c. conversion of clabecq debt into parts and beneficiaries d. conversion of cockerill sambre debt to equity under the claes plan e. conversion of cockerill sambre debt held by the fund pour la restructuration des secteurs nationaux en region walloon (
fsnw
) into equity f. conversion of cockerill debt to equity under the gandois plan 6. equity infusions a. equity infusions for hainaut - sambre b. the societe nationale pour des reconstruction des secteurs nationaux (
snsn
) capital for cockerill sambre' s liege cold - rolling mill c. 1981 equity infusion into cockerill sambre d. clabecq infusion from sococlabecq 7. snci loans 8. belgian industrial finance company (
belfin
) loans 9. the
invests
a. sidinvest b. boelinvest c. clabecqlease 10. snsn loans 11. fsnw loans 12. government guaranteed loans 13. exemption of corporate taxes for grants received under the 1970 law 14. accelerated depreciation 15. exemption from real estate taxes 16. exemption from the capital registration tax 17. european coal and steel community (
ecsc
) article 54 loans and loan guarantees 18. ecsc redeployment aid 19. european social fund 20. water purification subsidies
a chronological perspective provides a clearer overview of the complexities of all these mergers and regroupings. beginning with the rise of the 19th - century companies, there were, to start with, four principal companies in each of the two regions of liège and charleroi. the first significant mergers did not take place until 1955, following reorganization plans initiated after the formation of the european commission for coal and steel in 1952. these resulted in the formation of hainaut - sambre in the charleroi region, and cockerill - ougrée at liège. another ten years passed before the mid - 1960s witnessed two further rationalizations: the incorporation of providence to form cockerill - ougrée - providence at liège, and the coming together of some of the earliest charleroi - based companies to form thy - marcinelle et monceau .
in 1997, while still seeking out potential partners, cockerill sambre reached the decision to focus its operations on three core areas: integrated steelmaking, steel distribution, and the manufacture of steel - based construction products. the company subsequently exited from the manufacture of automotive components with the 1997 disposal of ymos. by the beginning of 1998 cockerill had largely divested its environmental management services sector .
cockerill sambre posted losses of bfr 1. 39 billion in 1992 and bfr 6. 5 billion in 1993 before recovering somewhat in 1994, when it recorded net income of bfr 807 million. in early 1995 cockerill paid dm 150 million (us $ 100 million) for a 60 percent stake in gmbh eko stahl, which had run the largest steel plant in east germany prior to german reunification .
one of the largest industrial groups in belgium, the cockerill sambre group is a medium - sized integrated steelmaking concern. the group has three core activities: integrated steel manufacturing, particularly coated steel sheets; steel distribution, operating primarily in france and the netherlands in addition to belgium; and manufacturing of steel - based products for the construction industry. the group is also involved in several noncore areas, with these activities stemming from the historical development of the group and from a program of diversification embarked upon in the early 1990s. these include mechanical engineering and various services operations .
beat the crowds and enjoy a visit to emerald lake park either before or after the puffing billy journey. this park offers bbq facilities and picnic tables, playground facilities, a wading pool and paddle boats for hire .
share the grandeur and charm of a three hour steam train journey whilst savouring a delicious lunch in our fully enclosed, heritage dining carriages .
any occasion is special enough to receive a puffing billing gift voucher. family vouchers are available and can been redeemed any time in 12 months .
enjoy an intriguing night of murder, mystery and suspense aboard puffing billy’s evening dining train .
this three - hour experience allows plenty of time to savour your meal, take in the scenic vista of dandenong ranges and explore the delights of emerald lake park .
jazz on puffing billy will be trumpeting along with live jazz music with off the cuff, great local wines and a dinner in the historic nobelius packing shed .
here is your opportunity to drive a 130 - year old steam locomotive along a winding, steeply graded narrow - gauge railway, through a variety of inspiring scenery between emerald and cockatoo .
passengers starting their journey at belgrave station will experience puffing billy’s most famous landmark – the iconic monbulk creek trestle bridge .
our live performer will have you up and dancing or, simply sit back and relax with your family and friends .
the evening will be filled with the nostalgia and charm of steam, whilst enjoying our roving musician, providing an unforgettable experience .
join us for a night of fine wine, food and live entertainment by local band ‘black and blue’ .
call us: (03) 9757 0700 (intl. + 61 3 9757 0700 )
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the other key company from the liège area was esperance - longdoz. its origins can be traced back to the dothée family, which was already trading in ironmongery, copper ware, zinc objects and utensils, sheet metal, and hardware during the early 18th century. esperance - longdoz was formed in 1836, based on coal mines at esperance, near seraing, and with the involvement of john cockerill. the first blast furnace opened there in 1838, followed in 1846 by a tin - plate works in the longdoz district of liège. the company was involved in joint ventures with cockerill to exploit mineral rights, and became a major coke producer of this period. esperance - longdoz proved to be one of the most dynamic companies in the history of the group, surviving as a separate entity for 135 years until one of the penultimate mergers in 1970; as late as 1963 a brand new steelworks was built by esperance - longdoz on a greenfield site at chertal, to the north of liège .
within a few years of the implementation of the gandois plan, the success of the measures had become evident, with the company being given a new lease of life, and diversification into other steel - based products taking place. the mid - 1980s were a relatively stable period, culminating in further internal rationalizations, such as the decision to specialize in thin flat products on the steel production side; the development of new products such as coated steel roof tiles by the french - based construction products division; and concentration on heavy engineering in the mechanical engineering division. in 1990 came the acquisition of a majority holding in ymos a. g. , a major german manufacturer of metal and plastic parts for automobiles. other diversification moves included ventures into financial and data processing services as well as environmental management services .
in the early 1990s, the entire european steel industry, largely state - owned at the time, was in crisis. international competition, most notably from japanese and korean steelmakers, kept prices chronically depressed. only a us $ 8. 5 billion 1993 bailout from the european union saved the industry. privatization, restructuring, and consolidation were the watchwords of the decade, and mergers created three dominating european steel giants: arbed of luxembourg, usinor of france, and thyssen - krupp stahl ag of germany .
in september 1996 the still struggling cockerill said that it would seek an alliance with another european steelmaker. the company also announced the launch of the
horizon 2000
plan, a restructuring aimed at significantly reducing costs at one of europe' s most inefficient steelmakers by the turn of the century. to implement the plan, the company expected to cut more than 2, 200 jobs from its 10, 000 - person workforce in belgium. in late 1996 merger discussions with privately owned belgian steelmaker usines gustave boël led nowhere. for fiscal 1996, cockerill posted a net loss of bfr 8. 97 billion, including exceptional costs of bfr 7. 7 billion related to
horizon 2000 .
principal divisions: integrated steel division; distribution division; construction division; mechanical engineering division; services division .
alleur - liège, belgium: editions du perron, 1992, p. 207. smith, michael ,
usinor to acquire majority stake in cockerill ,
450 ans d' espérance: la s. a. métallurgique d' esperance - longdoz de 1519 a 1969 ,
alleur - liège, belgium: editions du perron, 1990. zwick, steve ,
steelmakers swarm to cockerill ,
legal status (the legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed. )
current assignee (the listed assignees may be inaccurate. google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list. )
priority date (the priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed. )
casting melt - holding vessels, e. g. ladles, tundishes, cups or the like
closures sliding - gate type, i. e. having a fixed plate and a movable plate in sliding contact with each other for selective registry of their openings
a l sl' iding gate for metal - holding vessel - filed dec. 22, 1967 i l se es 22' 25 26 25 22 / n ven toi? . john a. @ rosko harney united states patent o 3, 480, 186 sliding gate for metal - holding vessel john a. grosko, whitaker township, allegheny county ,
pa. , assgnor to united states steel corporation, a corporation of delaware filed dec. 22, 1967, ser. no. 692, 767 int. cl. b67d 3 / 00; b65d 47 / 26; f16k 3 / 02 u. s. cl. 222 - 512 2 claims abstract of the disclosure a metal - holding vessel with a bottom outlet has spaced beams secured therebelow, one on each side of the outlet and a closure panel slidably supported on the beams is adapted, in one position, to close said outlet. expansiblechamber motors are carried by the beams on each side of the panel and constantly urge it toward the bottom of the vessel. graphite blocks between the motors and the panel facilitate movement of the latter and protect the motors from the heat of the metal. another motor mounted on the beams actuates the panel to open or close the vessel outlet .
background of the invention this invention relates to means mounting a closure panel for sliding movement on the bottom of a metalholding vessel having a bottom outlet and, in particular, to the means for urging the panel yfirmly against the vessel bottom so it will effect a tight closure of th' e outlet .
more specifically, my invention is an improvement on the apparatus. of shapland patent no. 3, 352, 465. that patent shows a sliding closure panel urged against the vessel bottom by compression springs working through levers of the first class. these springs are located relatively close to the stream of hot metal flowing from the vessel when the panel is in. open position and may be adversely affected by the heat therefrom .
summary of the invention according to my invention, i provide a plurality of expansible chamber motors on each side of the path of the closure panel, disposed and arranged to exert a direct upward force thereon tending to seat the panel firmly against the bottom outlet of the vessel. i further provide graphite bearing blocks between the motors and the panel to facilitate movement of the latter and protect the former from excessive heat .
brief description of the drawings a complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description and explanation which refer to the accompanying drawings illustrating the present preferred embodiment. in the drawings :
3, 480, 186 patented nov. 25, 1969 figure 3 is a partial cross section taken along the plane of line iii - iii. of figure 1 .
detailed description of the
preferred embodiment referring now in detail to the drawings, a refractorylined vessel 10 adapted to hold molten metal, such as a ladle or the like, has a bottom outlet defined by a nozzle block 11, controlled by a conventional stopper rod (not shown). a plate 12 is secured by bolts 13 to the bottom of the vessel with a layer of thermal insulating board 14 therebetween. this plate has a central hole therein to accommodate the projecting lower end of nozzle block 11. angle beams 15 are secured to plate 12, one on ecah side of the nozzle block, by screws 16. a nozzle - block support plate 17 having a central hole adapted to register with that through block 11 is secured to plate 12 by screws 18. beams 15 are connected by upper cross plates 19 and 20 welded thereto .
a cylinder and piston 21 mounted on plate 19 effect sliding movement of a closure panel 22 along ways 23 on the inner faces of beams 15, from the chain - line tothe solid - line position shown in figure 2. when the panel is in registry with plate 17, it blocks iiow of metal through nozzle block 11. the panel has lateral flanges 24 riding on ways 23 .
lower cross plates 25 extending between beams 15 'support motor - housing blocks 26, one on each side of the path of panel 22. as shown in figure 3 the panel has shoulders or flanges 27 overhanging blocks 26. while made principally of refractory material, the panel is metal clad on its lower surfaces. blocks 26 are bored to receive a plurality of expansible - chambcr motors 28, such as bellows, and connections 29 extend therefrom to manifolds 30 connected to a suitable source of uid under pressure through a control valve (not shown). graphite blocks 31 are disposed between motors 28 and shoulders 27, the upper surfaces of blocks 26 being recessed to accommodate them. blocks 31 have their edges beveled, as shown in figure 2, 'so that shoulders 27 will not be obstructed as panel 22 is pushed into place .
it will be evident that motors 28, acting through iblocks 31, exert a constant upward pressure on panel 22, tending to hold it closely against the plate 17. this pressure - may be increased, if necessary, by opening the control valve and relieved, if excessive, by a conventional safety valve .
when it is desired to permit metal iiow through block 11, a panel 22 having a hole therethrough is placed on loading shelf 32 and motor 21 is operated' to push it into registering position, such action, of course, also effecting removal lof closed panel 22 previously in position. to terminate iiow, panel 22 is replaced in the position shown .
although i have disclosed herein the preferred embodiment of my invention, i intend to cover as well any change or modification therein which may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
1. the combination, with a metal - holding vessel having a bottom outlet and a flow - control panel slidable thereover, of support means for said panel comprising a pair lof spaced parallel beams secured to the bottom of said vessel, ways on the adjacent faces of said beams, said panel having laterally extending anges along its sides slidable on said ways, a block carried by each of said beams extending along oneside of said panel, and a plurality of expansible - charnber motors spaced along each block adapted to exert pressure urging said panel toward the vessel bottom .
2. an apparatus as defined in claim 1, characterized by individual graphite blocks between said motors and said panel .
references cited united states patents 2, 654, 924 10 / 1953 wood et al. 222 - 512 x 2, 998, 220 8 / 1961 grieselhuber 251 - 175 x 5 3, 352, 465 11 / 1967 shapland 222 - - 512 stanley h. tollberg, | primary examiner u. s. c1e x. r .
soldering or unsoldering; welding; cladding or plating by soldering or welding; cutting by applying heat locally, e. g. flame cutting; working by laser beam
a machine for forming at least a metal mesh comprising longitudinal wires and transverse wires, comprising at least a welding unit provided with a plurality of welders by means of which the longitudinal wires are welded to corresponding transverse wires, each of the welders comprising at least two electrodes, respectively upper and lower, selectively movable between a first feed position, in which at least a first electrode is distant from the transverse and longitudinal wires, and a second welding position, in which both the electrodes contact and weld the wires by means of a passage of current. the welding unit is electrically fed by a three - phase type system .
the present invention concerns a machine for forming one or more metal meshes, by means of welding. in particular, the invention is applied, preferably but not exclusively, to making electro - welded metal meshes used as reinforcements in reinforced concrete structures. for this reason, in the following description, specific reference will be made to this application, even though the invention can also be used for forming meshes of other types .
machines for producing electro - welded metal meshes are known, which meshes are made from a plurality of longitudinal metal wires or round pieces, distanced with respect to each other. corresponding metal transverse wires or round pieces are welded perpendicularly to the longitudinal wires, according to a predefined interaxis .
such machines generally comprise a welding unit provided with a plurality of welders, at least one for every longitudinal wire, and a unit to feed the transverse wires .
in particular, each welder comprises two electrodes, an upper and a lower one, able to be brought selectively nearer to each other so as to be moved between a first position for feeding the wires to be welded, in which at least one of the two electrodes is moved away from the two wires so as to allow them to be positioned, and a second welding position in which the electrodes are brought into contact with and grip the two wires in correspondence with one of their join sections. in the second position the two electrodes close the electric circuit, thus welding the two wires .
the functioning of such machines provides that a transverse wire, in some cases several transverse wires at the same time, is fed and disposed in an attachment position in which it is welded to the longitudinal wires by means of a relative welding unit .
subsequently, the longitudinal wires are simultaneously made to move forward by a pitch equivalent to the interaxis according to specifications between the transverse wires, so that a new transverse wire can be fed and disposed in the attachment position .
there is an ever - growing need to make production lots of metal meshes having different pitches, and therefore it may be required, even during the course of the same day, to re - equip the machine in order to modify the pitch between the longitudinal wires .
to vary the pitch, so as to obtain a greater diversification of the types of mesh that can be made, the welders having a distance equal to the pitch required are electrically connected in pairs to each other by means of electric bridges. in this way, when the electrodes of each of said pairs are in the welding position, a closed electric circuit which allows the passage of the current needed for welding is formed for each of them. the pitch is therefore made either by means of a single welder, that is, a pair of an upper and a lower electrode, or by means of a plurality of welded pairs connected to each other for the passage of the current .
one disadvantage of the known machine is that this variation in pitch between the longitudinal wires entails complex and laborious operations to equip and calibrate the machines, which are typically carried out manually and mainly derive from the need to disconnect the pre - existing electric bridges and make new electric bridges, depending on the new pitch required for the longitudinal wires. this inevitably increases the times required for setting the machine, proportionally to the frequency with which this operation to modify the pitch has to be performed .
document u. s. pat. no. 3, 053, 972 describes a feeding system for electrodes of the three - phase type, in which two upper electrodes are connected to two distinct phases of the three - phase system, while the third phase feeds a copper bar which acts as a lower electrode. document gb - a - 1. 056. 005 also shows a three - phase feeding system in which pairs of electrodes are fed in distinct phases of the three - phase system, but no indication is provided for the possibility of modifying the pitch of the mesh, that is, of varying the activation of at least some of the electrodes, thus guaranteeing that a balanced electric feed is maintained in any case .
purpose of the present invention is to make a machine for forming a metal mesh which does not need complex and laborious operations of equipping and calibrating the machine, and allows to make meshes substantially of any shape and size quickly, easily and substantially automatically, considerably reducing the setting times .
in particular, purpose of the invention is to reduce drastically the re - equipping times of the machine in the steps of modifying the pitch between the longitudinal wires, thus eliminating in practice the need to intervene with operations to assemble / disassemble mechanical parts in order to make the electric connection between specific welding units activated, and in any case keeping the electric feed perfectly balanced .
the applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages .
the present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea .
in accordance with said purposes, a machine according to the present invention is used, advantageously but not exclusively, to make a metal mesh of the electro - welded type comprising longitudinal and transverse wires .
the machine comprises a plurality of welding units, each consisting of a pair of electrodes, by means of which the longitudinal wires are attached by welding, with a pre - defined or pre - definable pitch, to corresponding transverse wires of the metal mesh .
the two electrodes, respectively upper and lower, of each pair are selectively and reciprocally movable between a first distanced position in order to feed the wires to be welded, in which at least one of the electrodes is distant from the two wires to be welded, and a second welding position in which both the electrodes contact and weld the two wires by means of the passage of current .
in the following description, for the sake of simplicity, reference will be made to the case in which the lower electrodes are fixed in a welding position in contact with the wires to be welded, while the upper electrodes are selectively movable from said distanced position, not in contact with the wires to be welded, to the welding position .
it obviously comes within the scope of the present invention that the upper electrodes are fixed and the lower electrodes are movable, or also that both electrodes are movable to be reciprocally closer / distanced with respect to each other .
the upper and lower electrodes are disposed in pairs respectively facing each other, and longitudinally distanced according to a regular interaxis equal to the minimum pitch of the mesh to be obtained .
according to a characteristic feature of the present invention, the welding unit is electrically fed by a three - phase system, in which at least the lower electrodes of the welders are each individually connected to a specific phase of the three - phase system .
according to the invention, the feed configuration of the lower electrodes is such that, as the required pitch of the mesh varies, and therefore that of the upper electrodes activated and brought into contact with the wires to be welded, the electric circuit between the upper electrode, the wires to be welded and the lower electrode of a triad of lower electrodes longitudinally adjacent is closed in such a manner that all three phases of the three - phase system to which the lower electrodes are connected are present, so as to guarantee a balanced electric feed .
in other words, the upper electrode involved in the welding, even as the pitch varies, always forms with another two adjacent upper electrodes and with the relative and corresponding lower electrodes, sequential triads in which all three phases of the three - phase system of electric feed are present .
in this way, as the pitch required by the mesh varies, it is not necessary to carry out any operation to mechanically re - configure the welding elements, but it is enough to selectively activate the upper electrodes involved, that is, to lower them onto the wires to be welded, thus always maintaining a balanced electric feed condition, and therefore optimal welding conditions .
according to one formulation of the present invention, the connection of the lower and upper electrodes follows a configuration of the star type of the three - phase system .
according to another variant, the upper electrodes of the welders are all connected to the centre of said star, and the star is in any case formed by triads that vary as the electrodes involved vary, depending on the desired pitch of the mesh to be made .
fig. 3 is a front view of the machine in fig. 1 in a second operating condition; and
fig. 4 is a front view of the machine in fig. 1 in a third operating condition ;
figs. 5 a, 5 b, 5 c and 5 d schematically show different configurations of use of the machine according to the invention, respectively with the upper electrodes raised to feed the wires to be welded, with all the upper electrodes lowered to obtain the mesh with minimum pitch, and with some of the upper electrodes lowered to obtain, respectively, a double pitch (fig. 5 c) and triple pitch (fig. 5 d) of the minimum pitch .
with reference to the attached drawings, number 10 indicates in its entirety a machine for forming electro - welded meshes according to the present invention .
in this case, the electro - welded meshes formed with the machine 10 comprise a plurality of longitudinal metal wires 12 distanced from each other and welded to corresponding transverse metal wires 13, also distanced by a pre - defined interaxis .
the machine 10 substantially comprises a frame 11 and at least a welding unit 17, mounted on the frame 11. in this case a welding unit 17 is shown comprising a plurality of welders 14, one adjacent to the other. the welders 14 can also be moved in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of feed of the transverse wires 13. the machine 10 also comprises a longitudinal feed unit and a transverse feed unit, not shown, respectively able to feed the longitudinal wires 12 and the transverse wires 13, to dispose them in cooperation with the welders 14 .
each welder 14 is disposed in correspondence with the join zone between the respective longitudinal wire 12 and the relative transverse wire 13, and comprises a first upper electrode 15 and a second lower electrode 16. the electrodes 15, 16, electrically fed, allow to close, as will be described more fully hereafter, an electric circuit and therefore the passage of a current in correspondence with the wires 12 and 13, thus determining the welding thereof .
each upper electrode 15 is selectively movable vertically in the direction of the second electrode 16, which is fixed, and the transverse wire 13 and the longitudinal wire 12 are able to be positioned on the latter in their join position .
as we said before, the invention is also applied in the case where the upper electrode 15 is fixed and the lower electrode 16 is selectively movable .
in particular, the first electrode 15 is selectively movable between a first feed position (see for example the position of the upper electrodes in fig. 5 a), in which it is raised and distanced from the second electrode 16 and allows the free feed both of the transverse wire 13 and also of the longitudinal wire 12, and a second welding position, in which it is near to the second electrode 16 and with the latter contacts the two wires 12 and 13 (see figs. 5 b, 5 c and 5 d discussed in detail hereafter) .
the welding unit 17 is fed electrically by means of a three - phase system in the known star type configuration, in which all the upper electrodes 15 of the welders 14 are connected to the star' s centre and the lower electrodes 16 of the welders 14 are connected to different phases, indicated in the drawings with the letters r, s, t of the three - phase system .
as can be seen better in figs. 5 a - d, each lower electrode 16 is connected to a respective phase r, s, t of the three - phase feed system .
the welders 14 of each triad 18 are distanced longitudinally with respect to each other by a quantity equal to the minimum pitch desired between the longitudinal wires 12 .
in particular, as can be seen for example in fig. 5 b, when all the upper electrodes 15 are activated, that is lowered on the wires 12, 13 to be welded, the minimum pitch of the metal mesh is obtained, which can correspond, for example, to 50 mm .
the machine 10 can however assume different operating conditions, each corresponding to the production of meshes having different pitches between the longitudinal wires 12 and the transverse wires 13. as can be seen from the drawings, in each of said operating conditions, corresponding in the case of fig. 5 c to the double pitch with respect to that of fig. 5 b, and in the case of fig. 5 d to a triple pitch, the lower electrodes 16 of the welders 14 continue to form triads of adjacent electrodes, in relation to the respective upper electrodes 15 activated, which comprise all the three phases r, s, t (even if not in the same order), thus ensuring the closure of the circuit in balanced feed conditions .
as can be seen starting from fig. 5 b, in which all the upper electrodes 15 are activated in closing the respective electric circuits, the first three lower electrodes 16 form in sequence a triad r, s, t, the second three electrodes form a triad t, s, r, the third three electrodes 16 form a triad s, r, t, and so on, that is, adjacent triads of lower electrodes 16 always and in every case comprise all the phases of a triad .
looking at the situation in fig. 5 c, in which the upper electrodes 15 are activated alternately in order to double the pitch, the first three lower electrodes 16 form the triad r, t, s, the second three lower electrodes 16 form the triad s, t, r, the third form the triad t, r, s, and so on .
finally, in fig. 5 d, in which an upper electrode 15 of every three is activated in order to triple the pitch, the triads r, t, s; s, t, r and so on are formed .
in this way, as the chosen pitch varies, each triad 18 of adjacent lower electrodes 16, associated with the upper electrodes 15 activated, always comprises all the three phases r, s, and t .
in particular the machine 10 according to the present invention as described heretofore functions as follows .
once the desired pitch between the longitudinal wires 12 has been selected, starting from the end 19 of the mesh to be made, the upper electrodes 15 are moved into a welding position having a reciprocal distance equal to said pitch .
thus the triads 18 of welders 14 are formed, contiguous (fig. 4) or not contiguous (figs. 1, 3) in which each lower electrode 16 of each welder 14 of said triads 18 is connected to a different phase r, s, t of the three - phase system .
in this welding position, the upper electrodes 15 of the triads 18 are electrically connected to the respective lower electrodes 16. therefore the upper electrodes 15 of said triads 18 are in short circuit with the respective lower electrodes 16. this corresponds to short circuit each phase of the three phase system with the star centre. the three - phase system of each triad 18 is therefore short circuited. consequently, for each of said triads 18, a closed circuit is formed through which the current needed to weld the wires 12, 13 flows .
it is clear that modifications and / or additions of parts may be made to the machine for forming a metal mesh as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention .
for example, it comes within the scope of the present invention to provide to use two welding units 17 for each machine 10, disposed in a specular manner with respect to each other in order to make at least two metal meshes in parallel. this solution therefore provides to use two star type configurations of the three - phase system disposed parallel with respect to each other .
it is also clear that, although in the course of the description specific reference was made to a three - phase system, the present invention also refers to systems having phases with a different number, other than three .
the feed configuration of the lower or upper electrodes is such that, as the upper or lower electrodes activated and brought into contact with the wires to be welded vary, according to the welding pitch to be obtained, the electric circuit between the lower electrode, the wires to be welded and the upper electrode of a triad of longitudinally adjacent electrodes is closed in such a way that all three phases of the three - phase system to which the lower and the upper electrodes are connected are always present .
2. the machine as in claim 1, wherein the connection of the lower and upper electrodes is performed according to a star type configuration of said three - phase system .
3. the machine as in claim 2, wherein, in the case where the lower electrodes are respectively connected to the phases of the three - phase system, the upper electrodes are connected to the center of said star .
4. the machine as in claim 1, wherein the lower electrodes are fixed and the upper electrodes are selectively movable .
5. the machine as in claim 1, wherein the upper electrodes are fixed and the lower electrodes are selectively movable .
to selectively move all, or only some of the upper or lower electrodes, according to the welding pitch to be obtained, so that the electric circuit between the lower electrode, the wires to be welded and upper electrode of a triad of longitudinally adjacent electrodes is closed in such a manner that all three phases of the three - phase system are always present .
casting melt - holding vessels, e. g. ladles, tundishes, cups or the like for bottom pouring
a mounting chassis, fixed by locking pivots to the base plate of a tundish in a continuous casting plant, supports an upper nozzle seated in a refractory brick. a replaceable lower nozzle coaxial with the upper nozzle is held in contact with the upper nozzle by a quick - release ring .
the present invention relates to molten steel pouring methods and apparatus, in particular (but not solely) for supplying continuous casting moulds .
pouring apparatus constituted by refractory nozzles fixed to the base plate of the liquid steel distribution tundishes provided in continuous casting plants is known. the utility of the nozzles, whose number corresponds to that of the casting lines, lies in the determination of the casting speed which is fixed by their diameter; this speed may nevertheless be slightly adjusted by modifying the steel level in the distribution tundishes .
it is known that the use of the continuous casting method contributes to decreasing the final cost price of iron and steel plants. for this purpose, the design of the majority of plants enables sequential casting in which the steel ladles are changed using a rotating turret and the distribution tundishes may possibly be changed
on line
without having to reset the machine according to the
dummy billet
method .
sequential casting is a major objective and is carried out in order to achieve both a saving in costs and an increase in the rate of use of the plants. however, the service life of the nozzles of distribution tundishes is a limiting factor with respect to the required performance, and the failure of a nozzle during the sequence is detrimental to production outputs. in order to remedy this drawback
on line
replacement of the steel distribution tundishes is one solution; however, this operation is difficult in the case of plants having more than four casting lines and is accompanied by a deterioration of production outputs of the metal .
the present invention aims to remedy this difficulty by providing a particularly advantageous solution consisting in positioning, below and against the base plate of distribution tundishes, a static liquid - steel pouring device. the problem can thus be solved by the replacement, during the sequence, of a defective detachable nozzle by a new detachable nozzle .
a detachable nozzle of this type has, in respect of existing nozzles, the advantage of a considerable increase in production and an increased efficiency, enabling the achievement of performances which are normally obtained in sequential casting, whilst ensuring that the cast product has an improved quality, as this nozzle may be changed at any time when its jet becomes prematurely defective .
the discontinued casting line may then be restarted in accordance with the
dummy billet
method .
the present invention accordingly provides a static liquid steel casting method and an apparatus for carrying out the method comprising a mounting chassis positioned below and against the base plate of a distribution tundish for liquid steel, by one or a plurality of connection points, and acting as a component for retaining a liquid steel collector nozzle, inserted in a refractory seating brick of the distribution tundish, and directly below this collector nozzle and in contact with this nozzle there is coaxially disposed a regulator nozzle which is detachable with respect to the collector nozzle and is maintained against the latter by suitable means .
at least one of the nozzles mentioned above may be of monobloc or one - piece design or may be of a compound design with an insert for example of stabilised zirconium oxide or electro - fused alumina .
preferably, at least one of the nozzles has a frusto - conical external surface. however, various shapes and conicities, and different designs of the junction surfaces of the nozzles, may my envisaged. the junction surfaces are preferably constituted by an assembly of plane and curved surface elements in such a way as to advantageously enable the centering of the lower nozzle and to obtain a high degree of leak - tightness between the nozzles during the passage of the molten steel .
the two nozzles preferably have respective frusto - conical external surfaces which are orientated in opposite directions to one another. the use of a mounting having inverted conicity for the seating brick and the upper nozzle may be envisaged in the case of a cold distribution tundish enabling the upper nozzle to be mounted from the top. the lower nozzle may be of the immersed type .
the upper nozzle may be maintained against the seating brick by means of a rapid - locking fastening ring, the ring resting on the chassis. the lower nozzle may be releasably fixed against the upper nozzle by means of a rapid locking ring. the connection between the fastening ring for the upper nozzle and the lower nozzle may be provided by means of a mounting which is fixed with respect to the lower nozzle. this design enables rotation of the lower nozzle to be prevented during locking. rapid locking means include, for example, bayonet, threaded, wedge, or guide block locking means. a refractory joint, for example of ceramic fibre, may be interposed between the holding ring of the upper nozzle and the mounting supporting the lower nozzle.
hainaut-sambre was a belgian group of steel companies based in the charleroi region , it was founded in 1955 by the merger of usine métallurgiques du hainaut ( based in couillet , charleroi ) , and the metal making division of sambre et moselle ( based in montignies-sur-sambre , charleroi ) . the company absorbed another charleroi based steel group thy-marcinelle et providence in 1980 before being merged with the liege based steel group cockerill in 1981 to form cockerill-sambre . a predecessor company sa marchinelle & couillet built locomotives at the usines métallurgiques du hainaut which were used on industrial railways , and exported around the world . the locomotive builder was commonly known as couillet . 
hainaut-sambre was a belgian group of steel companies based in the charleroi region, it was founded in 1955 by the merger of usine métallurgiques du hainaut (based in couillet, charleroi), and the metal making division of sambre et moselle (based in montignies-sur-sambre, charleroi). the company absorbed another charleroi based steel group thy-marcinelle et providence in 1980 before being merged with the liege based steel group cockerill in 1981 to form cockerill-sambre. a predecessor company sa marchinelle & couillet built locomotives at the usines métallurgiques du hainaut which were used on industrial railways, and exported around the world. the locomotive builder was commonly known as couillet.
hainaut-sambre was a belgian group of steel companies based in the charleroi region, it was founded in 1955 by the merger of usine métallurgiques du hainaut (based in couillet, charleroi), and the metal making division of sambre et moselle (based in montignies-sur-sambre, charleroi). the company absorbed another charleroi based steel group thy-marcinelle et providence in 1980 before being merged with the liege based steel group cockerill in 1981 to form cockerill-sambre. a predecessor company sa marchinelle & couillet built locomotives at the usines métallurgiques du hainaut which were used on industrial railways, and exported around the world. the locomotive builder was commonly known as couillet.