Claims
- 1. A unit for controlling the discharge of molten metal from a metallurgical vessel, said unit comprising:
- refractory material constituting lining of the metallurgical vessel and having a predetermined thickness; and
- a valve comprising a refractory stator fixed to said refractory material and extending therethrough, and a refractory rotor disposed in said stator and also extending through said refractory lining, said rotor being at least one of longitudinally slidable and rotatable relative to said stator from one side of said refractory lining,
- said stator having a cylindrical sealing surface therein and a flow control passageway open to said cylindrical sealing surface on the other side of said refractory material, said rotor having a cylindrical sealing surface extending therearound and a flow control passageway open to the cylindrical surface of said rotor on said other side of said refractory material, one of said flow control passageways being open to the exterior of said valve at said other side of said refractory material, the cylindrical sealing surfaces of said stator and said rotor engaging one another to establish a seal over a portion of said stator and said rotor surrounding said flow control passageways, and said rotor being at least one of longitudinally slidable and rotatable between an open position of the valve at which said flow passageways are aligned with each other at said sealing surfaces and a closed position at which the sealing surface of said rotor is disposed over the flow control passageway of said stator so as to limit flow through the valve, and
- said valve defining a discharge opening therein open at said one side of said refractory material and open to the other of said flow control passageways, and a gap extending over the entire thickness of said refractory material between said stator and said rotor for accommodating for differences in the thermal expansion of said stator and said rotor during the discharging of molten metal through the valve to prevent the valve from jamming during movement of the valve between said positions thereof, the width of said seal between the sealing surfaces of said stator and said rotor being less than the width of said gap between said stator and said rotor.
- 2. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner surface of said stator extending over the thickness of said refractory material and defining said gap with said rotor has a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the sealing surface of said stator.
- 3. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotor is disposed concentrically within said stator and has said discharge opening and said other of said flow control passageways extending therein.
- 4. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stator has said discharge opening and said other of said flow control passageways extending therein.
- 5. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve defines an inert gas-feeding passageway therein open to said gap for allowing inert gas to be fed therethrough into said gap defined between said rotor and said stator.
- 6. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flow control passageway of said stator is spaced, as taken in the direction of thickness of said refractory material, at least 20 mm from said refractory material.
- 7. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said discharge opening extends vertically when said refractory material is in place in the metallurgical vessel.
- 8. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stator and said rotor each have an annular surface at least one of which annular surfaces extends orthogonally to the cylindrical sealing surfaces, and a second seal is established at the annular surfaces.
- 9. A unit as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of the at least one annular surfaces are disposed below the cylindrical sealing surfaces.
- 10. A unit as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of the at least one annular surfaces intersects a respective said cylindrical sealing surface at a right angle.
- 11. A unit as claimed in claim 8, wherein a ring seal is disposed between said stator and said rotor at said at least one annular surface to establish said second seal.
- 12. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of said stator and said rotor at which said seal is established between said stator and said rotor is substantially the entire confronting portion of said stator and said rotor that is disposed on the other side of said refractory material.
- 13. A unit as claimed in claim 1, and further comprising driving means for moving said rotor between the open and closed positions of the valve, said driving means being integral with said rotor at said one side of said refractory material.
- 14. A unit as claimed in claim 13, wherein said driving means comprises a gear integral with said rotor.
- 15. A unit as claimed in claim 12, and further comprising driving means for moving said rotor between the open and closed positions of the valve, said driving means being integral with said rotor at said one side of said refractory material.
- 16. A unit as claimed in claim 15, wherein said driving means comprises a gear integral with said rotor.
- 17. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stator has an annular groove extending therein and open at the cylindrical sealing surfaces at a location between the flow control passageway of said stator and said refractory material, and at least one radial opening extending therein between and open to said annular groove and the exterior of said valve.
- 18. A refractory outer valve part to be used in a valve of a unit for controlling the discharge of molten metal through a nozzle of a metallurgical vessel and fixable within refractory material lining the vessel and defining the nozzle, said refractory outer valve part comprising:
- a one-piece refractory sleeve-shaped body having a frustoconical outer peripheral surface to seat the outer valve part in a nozzle of a metallurgical vessel, and an inner peripheral surface comprising a cylindrical sealing surface and an inner surface extending contiguously thereto in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve-shaped body, the inner surface having a diameter that is larger than the diameter of said cylindrical sealing surface, and said sleeve-shaped body defining a flow control passageway therethrough and open to said sealing surface; and
- wherein said flow control passageway is inclined with respect to the radial direction of the sleeve-shaped body.
- 19. A refractory outer valve part as claimed in claim 18, wherein said sleeve-shaped body has a closed top end.
- 20. A refractory outer valve part as claimed in claim 18, wherein said sleeve-shaped body defines an inert-gas feeding passageway therein open to said inner surface for allowing inert gas to be fed through the passageway to said inner surface.
- 21. A unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outer surface of said rotor extending over the thickness of said refractory lining has a diameter that is at least two tenths of a millimeter less than the diameter of the sealing surface of said rotor.
- 22. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer surface of said rotor extending over the thickness of said refractory lining has a diameter that is at least two tenths of a millimeter less than the diameter of the sealing surface of said rotor.
- 23. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotor is both rotatable and longitudinally slidable relative to said stator, from one side of said lining, between the open and closed positions of the valve.
- 24. A refractory outer valve part to be used in a valve of a unit for controlling the discharge of molten metal through a nozzle of a metallurgical vessel and fixable within refractory material lining the vessel and defining the nozzle, said refractory outer valve part comprising:
- a one-piece refractory sleeve-shaped body having a frustoconical outer peripheral surface to seat the outer valve part in a nozzle of a metallurgical vessel, and an inner peripheral surface comprising a cylindrical sealing surface and an inner surface extending contiguously thereto in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve-shaped body, the inner surface having a diameter that is larger than the diameter of said cylindrical sealing surface and said sleeve-shaped body defining a flow control passageway therethrough and open to said sealing surface; and
- wherein said sleeve-shaped body defines an annular groove open at said sealing surface, and at least one radial opening extending between and open to said annular groove and said outer peripheral surface.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
03629/88 |
Sep 1988 |
CHX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of now abandoned application, Ser. No. 07/414,527 filed on Sept. 29, 1989, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0362215 |
Feb 1989 |
EPX |
0308597 |
Mar 1989 |
EPX |
0183241 |
Jul 1922 |
GBX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
414527 |
Sep 1989 |
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