Claims
- 1. A permeable perimeter wall for a metal mold, comprising:a perimeter wall body of permeable material extending around and defining a mold cavity, said body including an inner surface and an outer surface; and b. at least one delivery conduit adapted to supply a lubricant or gas under pressure to said perimeter wall body for diffusion into said mold cavity through said permeable material; wherein said at least one delivery conduit is adapted to cause an unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from different regions of said inner surface.
- 2. The perimeter wall according to claim 1, wherein said unequal flow is created by varying a surface area of said at least one delivery conduit in different regions of said perimeter wall body.
- 3. The perimeter wall according to claim 1, wherein said unequal flow is created by varying a delivery distance of said at least one delivery conduit from said inner surface in different regions of said perimeter wall body.
- 4. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a plurality of delivery holes extending through said perimeter wall body, and wherein said delivery holes are not equally spaced around said perimeter wall, thereby creating said unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from said different regions of said inner surface.
- 5. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a plurality of delivery holes extending through said perimeter wall body, each delivery hole being spaced from said inner surface by a delivery distance, and wherein said delivery distance is greater in one region of said perimeter wall than another region thereof, thereby creating said unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from said different regions of said inner surface.
- 6. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a plurality of delivery holes extending through said perimeter wall body, each delivery hole having an internal surface area, and wherein said delivery holes in one region of said body have internal surface areas that differ from internal surface areas of said delivery holes in another region of said body, thereby creating said unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from said different regions of said inner surface.
- 7. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a plurality of delivery holes extending through said perimeter wall body, each delivery hole having a length within said body, and wherein said delivery holes in one region of said body have lengths that differ from lengths of said delivery holes in another region of said body, thereby creating said unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from said different regions of said inner surface.
- 8. The perimeter wall of claims 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a delivery hole within said perimeter wall body spaced both from said inner and outer surfaces of said body.
- 9. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a circumferential groove in said outer surface of said perimeter wall body.
- 10. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein the permeability of said permeable material varies in different regions of said perimeter wall body, and wherein said flow of lubricant or gas from said inner surface in said different regions is pre-determined by correlating a property of said at least one delivery conduit to the estimated flow rate of lubricant or gas through said perimeter wall in said different regions, wherein said property of said at least one delivery conduit is selected from the group consisting of surface area of said at least one delivery conduit and distance of separation of said at least one delivery conduit from said inner surface of said perimeter wall body.
- 11. The perimeter wall of claim 1, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a delivery conduit for lubricant and a delivery conduit for gas.
- 12. An assembly of a mold housing and a permeable perimeter wall of a metal mold cavity, comprising:a. a perimeter wall body of permeable material extending around and defining said mold cavity, said body including an inner surface and an outer surface; b. a mold housing having a wall abutting said outer surface of said perimeter wall body; and c. at least one delivery conduit in said abutting wall of said mold housing adapted to supply a lubricant or gas under pressure to said outer surface of said perimeter wall body for diffusion into said mold cavity through said permeable material; wherein said at least one delivery conduit is adapted to cause an unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from different regions of said inner surface.
- 13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein said at least one delivery conduit comprises a delivery conduit for lubricant and a delivery for gas.
- 14. A mold table assembly for the continuous casting of metal, comprising:a plurality of casting molds attached to a casting mold table, each casting mold including: i. a perimeter wall comprising a perimeter wall body of permeable material extending around and defining a mold cavity and having an inner surface and an outer surface; ii. a mold housing having a wall abutting said outer surface of said perimeter wall body; and iii. at least one delivery conduit adapted to supply a lubricant or gas under pressure to said perimeter wall body for diffusion into said mold cavity through said permeable material; wherein said at least one delivery conduit is adapted to cause an unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from different regions of said inner surface.
- 15. A process of providing a permeable perimeter wall for a metal mold, comprising:a. providing a perimeter wall body of permeable material extending around and defining a mold cavity, said body including an inner surface and an outer surface; b. providing at least one delivery conduit adapted to supply a lubricant or gas under pressure to said perimeter wall body for diffusion into said mold cavity through said permeable material; and c. adapting said at least one delivery conduit to cause an unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from different regions of said inner surface.
- 16. A process of continuously casting a molten metal, comprising:a. providing a perimeter wall body of permeable material extending around and defining a mold cavity, said body including an inner surface and an outer surface; b. providing at least one delivery conduit adapted to supply a lubricant or gas under pressure to said perimeter wall body for diffusion into said mold cavity through said permeable material, wherein said at least one delivery conduit is adapted to cause an unequal flow of said lubricant or gas into said mold cavity from different regions of said inner surface; and c. casting metal in the mold cavity while supplying said unequal flow of lubricant or gas to said inner surface.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/620,110, filed Jul. 20, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,557 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/891,019, filed Jul. 10, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
WO 9920418 |
Apr 1999 |
WO |
WO 0100352 |
Jan 2001 |
WO |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
08/891019 |
Jul 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/620110 |
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US |