CONTINUOUS CASTING MACHINE FOR METAL PRODUCTS AND RELATED PROCESS

Claims

1. A continuous casting machine for metal products, comprising: a mold (1) for ingots containing a crystallizer (7); a pouring curve (2) located below the mold (1) and containing a first group of restraining sections (4) by means of which the product moves from a mainly vertical position to a mainly horizontal position; a straightening system located on the horizontal section (22) of the machine after the said casting curve (2) and containing at least one straightening section (5) located after the said first group of restraining sections (4); a second group of restraining sections (4') located on the said horizontal section (22) below the said at least one straightening section (5); a heating furnace (6) located after the said second group (4') of restraining sections; in which at least one hardening group (3) is provided directly behind said at least one straightening section (5).

2. The machine according to claim 1, in which said at least one hardening group (3) is installed in the first section of said second group of restraining sections (4') and / or located between said at least one straightening section (5) and the first section of said second group (4') of restraining sections.

3. The machine according to item 1 or 2, in which the distance A between the outlet of said hardening group (3) and the inlet of the heating furnace (6) is from 15 to 50 meters.

4. A machine according to any of the above points, in which the distance B, measured horizontally, between the outlet section of the mould (1) and the outlet section of said at least one straightening section (5), is in the range from 5 to 20 metres.

5. A machine according to any of the above points, in which said hardening group (3) comprises several hardening devices (9), each hardening device (9) comprises at least one row of upper nozzles (10) located above and transversely with respect to the path of movement of the product, and at least one row of lower nozzles (11) located below and transversely with respect to said path of movement.

6. The machine according to claim 5, in which in each hardening device (9) at least one row of upper nozzles (10) and at least one row of lower nozzles (11) are located along the same plane, transverse to the said path of movement, preferably in which the upper nozzles (10) are located with an offset relative to the lower nozzles (11).

7. The machine according to paragraph 5 or 6, in which in each row of upper (10) and lower (11) nozzles the following are provided: middle nozzles (12, 12') supplied with coolant by means of a corresponding first supply channel (13, 13'); end nozzles (14, 14) located on the sides of said middle nozzles (12, 12'), supplied with cooling liquid by means of a corresponding second supply channel (15, 15'); intermediate nozzles (16, 16') located between said middle nozzles (12, 12') and said end nozzles (14, 14'), supplied with cooling liquid by means of a corresponding third supply channel (17, 17').

8. The machine according to item 7, in which control valves (18) are provided for regulating the flow rate of coolant supplied to the said middle nozzles (12, 12'), end nozzles (14, 14) and intermediate nozzles (16, 16); in which preferably said control valves are located along each respective supply channel (13, 13'; 15, 15'; 17, 17') or along respective supply lines, wherein each supply line is located in front of said first supply channels (13, 13'), second supply channels (15, 15') and third supply channels (17, 17'), respectively.

9. A machine according to any one of paragraphs 5-8, in which said several hardening devices (9) are located between said at least one straightening section (5) and the first section of said second group (4') of restraining sections.

10. A machine according to any one of paragraphs 5-8, in which the hardening devices (9) of said several hardening devices alternate with pairs of restraining rollers (19) of the first section of said second group (4') of restraining sections.

11. A method for continuously casting a metal article using a machine according to any of the above claims, comprising the following steps: a) casting a metal product through a mold (1) and ensuring its passage through a first group of restraining sections (4), wherein said metal product is moved from a substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal position; b) straightening the metal product inside the said at least one straightening section (5) on the horizontal section of the machine after the said casting curve (2); c) performing a hardening treatment using said hardening group (3) immediately after step b), wherein the article still has a liquid core, as a result of which the thermal energy lost by the metal article during the hardening treatment, due to heat exchange between the cooling liquid and the surface of the article, is at least partially restored downstream from said hardening group (3) due to the latent heat of the liquid core of the metal article, as the metal article moves through the second group of restraining sections (4') and continues to solidify.

12. The method according to claim 11, in which the hardening treatment is performed inside the first section of said second group (4') of restraining sections, preferably between a pair of restraining rollers (19) and one other pair of said first section; and / or in which the hardening treatment is performed in the region located between said at least one straightening section (5) and the first section of said second group (4') of restraining sections.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein said quenching group (3) comprises several quenching devices (9), wherein each quenching device (9) comprises at least one row of upper nozzles (10) located above and transversely in relation to the path of movement of the product, and at least one row of lower nozzles (11) located below and transversely in relation to said path of movement; in accordance with which in each row of upper (10) and lower (11) nozzles the following are provided: middle nozzles (12, 12') supplied with coolant by means of a corresponding first supply channel (13, 13'); end nozzles (14, 14') located on the sides of said middle nozzles (12, 12'), supplied with cooling liquid by means of a corresponding second supply channel (15, 15'); intermediate nozzles (16, 16') located between said middle nozzles (12, 12') and said end nozzles (14, 14'), supplied with cooling liquid by means of a corresponding third supply channel (17, 17'); and in which the flow rate of the cooling liquid supplied to said middle nozzles (12, 12'), end nozzles (14, 14') and intermediate nozzles (16, 16'), respectively, is regulated by means of control valves (18) located along each corresponding supply channel (13, 13'; 15, 15'; 17, 17') or located along corresponding supply lines, wherein each supply line is located in front of said first supply channels (13, 13'), second supply channels (15, 15') and third supply channels (17, 17'), respectively.