TRANSPORT DEVICE

Abstract

The invention relates to a transport device (10), in particular for transporting cooling blocks (12) in a caterpillar casting machine, comprising a guide rail (16), which forms an endless circulating track (U) for a caterpillar casting machine (14), and a support element (18) having a plurality of rollers (20), by means of which the support element (18) is guided on the guide rail (16) and rolls along same, wherein a cooling block (12) of a caterpillar casting machine (14) can be placed on the support element (18). The guide rail (16) has a first running surface (16.1) and a second running surface (16.2), wherein the running surfaces (16.1, 16.2) are provided on opposite sides of the guide rail (16). The support element (18) has at least three rollers (20.1, 20.2, 20.3), of which two rollers (20.1, 20.2) are in rolling contact with the first running surface (16.1) of the guide rail (16), and at least one further roller (20.3) is in rolling contact with the second running surface (16.2) of the guide rail (16), wherein at least one roller (20.1; 20.2; 20.3) is preloaded towards the guide rail (16)

Claims

1. A transport device (10) for transporting cooling blocks (12) in a caterpillar casting machine (14), wherein the transport device (10) comprises: a guide rail (16), which forms an endless circulating track (U) for a caterpillar casting machine (14) and a support element (18) with a plurality of rollers (20), by means of which the support element (18) is guided on the guide rail (16) and rolls along same, wherein a cooling block (12) of a caterpillar casting machine (14) can be attached to the support element (18), characterized in that the guide rail (16) has a first running surface (16.1) and a second running surface (16.2), wherein the running surfaces (16.1, 16.2) are provided at opposite sides of the guide rail (16) with respect to one another, and that the support element (18) has at least three rollers (20.1, 20.1, 20.3), of which two rollers (20.1, 20.2) are in rolling contact with the first running surface (16.1) of the guide rail (16), and at least one further roller (20.3) is in rolling contact with the second running surface (16.2) of the guide rail (16), wherein at least one roller (20.1; 20.2; 20.3) is preloaded towards the guide rail (16).

2. The transport device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the two rollers (20.1, 20.2) in rolling contact with the first running surface (16.1) of the guide rail (16) are arranged at a distance (A) apart from one another, wherein the roller (20.3) in rolling contact with the second running surface (16.2) of the guide rail (16) is particularly arranged in the middle between the two rollers (20.1, 20.2), which are in rolling contact with the first running surface (16.1) of the guide rail (16).

3. The transport device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the roller (20.3) in rolling contact with the second running surface (16.2) of the guide rail (16) is preloaded towards the guide rail (16).

4. The transport device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the two rollers (20.1, 20.2), which are in rolling contact with the first running surface (16.1) of the guide rail (16), are arranged on the support element (18) laterally offset to one another in reference to its upper edge (19).

5. A transport device (10) for transporting cooling blocks (12) in a caterpillar casting machine (14), wherein the transport device (10) comprises: a guide rail fixture (17), which forms an endless circulating track (U), and a support element (18) with a plurality of rollers (20), by means of which the support element (18) is guided on the guide rail fixture (17) and rolls along same, wherein a cooling block (12) can be attached to the support element (18), characterized in that the guide rail fixture (17) has running surfaces (L), which are formed in the form of a first guide rail (17.1) and a second guide rail (17.2) arranged opposite and parallel thereto, wherein the guide rails (17.1, 17.2) form between them the endless circulating track (U), and that the support element (18) has at least three rollers (20.1; 20.2; 20.3), of which two rollers (20.1, 20.2) are in rolling contact with the running surface (L1) of the first guide rail (17.1), wherein at least one further roller (20.3) is in rolling contact with the running surface (L2) of the second guide rail (17.2), wherein at least one roller (20.1, 20.2, 20.3) is preloaded towards a guide rail (17.1, 17.2).

6. The transport device (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the two rollers (20.1, 20.2) in rolling contact with the running surface (L1) of the first guide rail (17.1) are arranged at a distance (A) apart from one another, wherein the roller (20.3) in rolling contact with the running surface (L2) of the second guide rail (17.2) is particularly arranged in the middle between the two rollers (20.1, 20.2), which are in rolling contact with the running surface (L1) of the first guide rail (17.1).

7. The transport device (10) according to claim 6, characterized in that the roller (20.3) in rolling contact with the running surface (L2) of the second guide rail (17.2) is preloaded away from the second guide rail (17.2).

8. The transport device (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the preloading of the at least one roller (20.1; 20.2; 20.3) is formed by a spring element (DF; ZF).

9. The transport device (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the at least three rollers (20.1, 20.2, 20.3) are provided on the support element (18) on two opposite side areas (22, 23) thereof—when viewed in its transport direction (T) along the guide rail (16) and/or the guide rail fixture (17)—wherein said at least three rollers (20.1, 20.2, 20.3) are in rolling contact with running surfaces (16.1, 16.2) of the guide rail (16) and/or running surfaces (L) of the guide rail fixture (17).

10. The transport device (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that a plurality of support elements (18), which can be moved in a circulating manner like a caterpillar around the guide rail(s) (16; 17.1, 17.2) by means of a drive device (24), are provided along the guide rail (16) and/or guide rail fixture (17).

Description

[0015] Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the following in detail by means of schematically simplified drawings.

[0016] The following is shown:

[0017] FIG. 1 a perspective view of a support element of a transport device according to the invention in conjunction with a cooling block attached to the support element;

[0018] FIG. 2 a side view of a guide rail of the transport device from FIG. 1 and an endless circulating track thereby formed;

[0019] FIG. 3a side view of two guide rails according to FIG. 2, with which two oppositely arranged endless circulating tracks are formed for a caterpillar casting machine;

[0020] FIG. 4a front view of the support element from FIG. 1;

[0021] FIG. 5 a side view of a caterpillar casting machine, with which a transport device from FIG. 1 is used;

[0022] FIG. 6 a perspective view of the caterpillar casting machine from FIG. 5;

[0023] FIG. 7a perspective view of a support element of a transport device according to the invention according to a further embodiment;

[0024] FIG. 8 a side view of a guide rail fixture of the transport device from FIG. 7;

[0025] FIG. 9a side view of two guide rail fixtures according to FIG. 8, which may be provided jointly for a caterpillar casting machine according to FIG. 4; and

[0026] FIG. 10 a front view of the support element from FIG. 7;

[0027] Preferred embodiments of a transport device 10 according to the invention, which is used particularly for the transport of cooling blocks 12 with a caterpillar casting machine 14, are explained in the following with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. Equivalent features in the drawing are each provided with the same reference numbers. At this juncture, particular reference is made to the fact that the drawing is merely simplified and particularly not shown to scale.

[0028] A first embodiment of the transport device 10 according to the invention is shown and explained in FIGS. 1 to 4.

[0029] As shown by the side view according to FIG. 1, the transport device 10 comprises a guide rail 16, which has a first running surface 16.1 and a second running surface 16.2. Said running surfaces 16.1, 16.2 are provided on opposite sides of the guide rail 16. The transport device 10 further comprises a support element 18, to the upper edge 19 thereof a cooling block 12 of a caterpillar casting machine 14 can be attached, e.g. by means of quick fasteners 13, which are only indicated symbolically in FIG. 1.

[0030] At least three rollers, 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3, are mounted on the support element 18 so as to rotate. Two of these rollers, namely rollers 20.1 and 20.2, are in rolling contact with the first running surface 16.1 of the guide rail 16. In this case, rollers 20.1 and 20.2 are arranged spaced apart from one another by a distance A. The other roller 20.3 is attached to the support element 18 in the middle between rollers 20.1 and 20.2, namely such that said roller 20.3 is in rolling contact with the second running surface 16.2 of the guide rail 16.

[0031] The support element 18 is guided along the guide rail 16 by the rolling contact of rollers 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3 and is transported in a transport device T of the guide rail 16 during operation of a caterpillar casting machine 14 (cf. FIG. 5).

[0032] Roller 20.3, which, as previously explained, is in rolling contact with the second running surface 16.2 of the guide rail 16, is preloaded by a spring element, by a tension spring ZF in this case, towards the guide rail 16. Thus, roller 20.3 is pulled against the guide rail 16 by the tension spring ZF. In the same manner, rollers 20.1 and 20.2 are hereby pulled against the guide rail 16. The result is constant rolling contact of rollers 20.1-20.3 with the running surfaces 16.1, 16.2 of the guide rail 16.

[0033] Deviating from the representation according to FIG. 1, it is also possible for the spring preloading to be provided for roller 20.1 and/or for roller 20.2, or for all of the rollers 20.1-20.3.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the guide rail 16. As is clear, an endless circulating track U is formed by this guide rail 16. A plurality of support elements 18 is guided on the guide rail 16 such that a closed surface is formed in the area of the straight sections of the circulating track U by the cooling blocks 12 adjacent one another. For the purposes of a simplified representation, only two support elements 18 with the cooling blocks 12 attached thereto are shown in FIG. 2.

[0035] FIG. 3 shows a side view of two guide rails 16 according to FIG. 2, with which two oppositely arranged endless circulating tracks U are formed for a caterpillar casting machine 14 (cf. FIG. 5). It is understood with respect to this that a plurality of support elements 18 with cooling blocks 12 attached thereto are guided along each guide rail 16 such that a continuous chain of support elements 18 forms, which are conveyed or transported in the transport direction T along the guide rails 16. To illustrate the functional principle of the present invention, only two support elements 18, with cooling blocks 12 attached thereto, are shown on the two guide rails 16 in FIG. 3.

[0036] FIG. 3 shows that a casting mold 15 is formed between the cooling blocks 12, which reach juxtaposition in the straight sections of the circulating track U of the guide rails 16. In light of the transport device T of the support elements 18 along the guide rails 16, this casting mold 15 is a moving casting mold.

[0037] FIG. 4 shows a front view of the support element 18 from FIG. 1. It is clear from this that the three rollers, 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3, are mounted, so as to rotate, on a left-hand side area 22 and on a right-hand side area 23 of the support element 18. The axes of rotation of these rollers are indicated symbolically by the dashed lines “21.”

[0038] The front view of FIG. 4 is understood to be the view from the left with reference to FIG. 1. Accordingly, only rollers 20.1 are seen in FIG. 4 above the guide rail 16, i.e. in rolling contact with their first running surface 16.1, wherein rollers 20.2 are arranged underneath and cannot be seen in FIG. 4.

[0039] FIG. 5 shows a simplified side view of a caterpillar casting machine 14, with which the transport device 10 according to the invention from FIG. 1 is used. The caterpillar casting machine 14 has an upper caterpillar 14.1 and a lower caterpillar 14.2, each of which is formed from a plurality of support elements 18 and cooling blocks 12 attached thereto, which are transported along the corresponding guide rails 16 in the transport direction T. Casting material 11 (cf. FIG. 5) is produced by casting liquid metal into the moving casting mold 15 (cf. FIG. 3).

[0040] FIG. 6 shows the caterpillar casting machine 14 again in a simplified perspective view. Here it is shown that drive devices 24 with drive wheels 26, with which a transport of the support elements 18 and the cooling blocks 12 attached thereto takes place in the transport direction T, are provided in the deflection areas of the upper and lower caterpillar 14.1, 14.2.

[0041] A second embodiment of the transport device 10 according to the invention is shown and explained in FIGS. 7 to 10.

[0042] As shown by the side view according to FIG. 7, the transport device 10 according to this embodiment comprises a guide rail fixture 17, which has a first guide rail 17.1 and a second guide rail 17.2. A total of three rollers 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3, which are each positioned between the two guide rails 17.1, 17.2, are mounted on the support element 18 of the transport device 10. Specifically, two rollers, namely rollers 20.1 and 20.2, are each in rolling contact with the running surface L1 of the first guide rail 17.2, wherein the third roller, namely roller 20.3, is in rolling contact with the running surface L2 of the second guide rail 17.2. Expediently, roller 20.3 is preloaded against the guide rail 17.2 by means of a spring element, which is by means of a compression spring DF in this case. In other words, roller 20.3 is pressed against the second guide rail 17.2 by means of the compression spring DF. In the same manner, rollers 20.1, 20.2 are hereby pressed against the running surface L1 of the first guide rail 17.1. As a result, play-free guidance of the support element 18 is hereby ensured along the guide rail fixture 17 in the transport device T.

[0043] In the same manner as with the embodiment from FIG. 1, it is possible, for the embodiment from FIG. 7, to attach a cooling block 12, e.g. by means of quick fasteners 13, to an upper edge 19 of the support element 18.

[0044] FIG. 8 shows a side view of a guide rail fixture 17, on which a plurality of support elements 18 and cooling blocks 12 attached thereto are guided along a circulating track U, which is formed by said guide rail fixture 17. For the purposes of a simplified representation, only two such support elements 18 with cooling blocks 12 attached thereto are shown in FIG. 8. In the same manner as previously explained regarding FIG. 2, a closed surface is formed in the straight sections of the circulating track U by means of cooling blocks 12 adjacent to one another, said circulating track being formed by the guide rail fixture 17.

[0045] FIG. 9 shows a side view of two guide rail fixtures 17 according to FIG. 8, with which two oppositely arranged endless circulating tracks U are formed for a caterpillar casting machine 14 of FIG. 5. For reasons of simplification, only two support elements 18, with cooling blocks 12 attached thereto, are shown on the two guide rail fixtures 17 in FIG. 9. In the same manner as explained with FIG. 3, a moving casting mold 15, which is used to produce a casting material 11 (cf. FIG. 5), is formed between the cooling blocks 12, which reach a juxtaposition in the straight sections of the circulating track U.

[0046] FIG. 10 shows the support element of FIG. 7 in a front view. It is clear from this that the three rollers, 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3, are mounted in a rotatable manner in both the left-hand side area 22 and in the right-hand side area 23 of the support element 18. The axes of rotation of the rollers are indicated symbolically by dashed lines “21,” namely in the left-hand side area 22 of the support element 18 for roller 20.1 and in the right-hand side area 23 of the support element 18 for roller 20.2.

[0047] The left-hand side area 22, as shown in FIG. 10, corresponds to a view from the left with reference to FIG. 7. In this case, roller 20.1, which is in rolling contact with the running surface L1 of the first guide rail 17.1, is shown in the image foreground. A part of roller 20.3, which is in rolling contact with the running surface L2 of the second guide rail 20.3, is positioned behind (i.e. underneath roller 201.)

[0048] The representation of the rollers on the right-hand side area 23 of FIG. 10 corresponds to a view of the middle roller 20.2 from the left. In this regard, the representation of FIG. 10 shows roller 20.2 in the image foreground in the right-hand side area 23 of the support element 18. A part of roller 20.3, which is in rolling contact with the running surface L1 of the first guide rail 17.1, is positioned behind (and above roller 20.2 in the image plane from FIG. 10).

[0049] Deviating from the representations in FIGS. 7 and 10, it may also be provided for this embodiment of the transport device 10 that the middle roller 20.2 is in rolling contact with the running surface L1 of the first guide rail 17.1, wherein the two other rollers, 20.1 and 20.3, are both in rolling contact with the running surface L2 of the second guide rail 17.2. Furthermore, it is also possible for the spring preloading to be provided for roller 20.1 and/or for roller 20.3, or for all of the rollers 20.1-20.3.

[0050] The two embodiments of the transport device 10 according to FIGS. 1 and 7 have in common that the cooling blocks 12, which can be attached to the respective support element 18, extend, in one piece, over the entire width B of the mold gap 15 of the caterpillar casting machine of FIG. 5. Accordingly, the support elements 18 are adapted such that a cooling block with such a width B (cf. FIG. 4, FIG. 10) can be attached thereto, e.g. by means of the quick fasteners 13 or similar means suitable for this.

[0051] For both of the previously explained embodiments of the transport device 10, it is significant that the guidance of the support element 18 along the guide rail 16 and/or the guide rail fixture 17 is implemented by means of a total of at least six rollers due to the provision of the rollers 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3 on both the left-hand side area 22 and the right-hand side area 23 of the support element 18. Particularly in the event that a cooling block 12 should have a large width B (cf. FIG. 4, FIG. 7), the attachment of the rollers 20.1, 20.2 to the side areas 22, 23 of the support element 18 has a positive effect on the smooth running behavior along the guide rail(s). The previously explained preloading, to which at least roller 20.3 is subject and thereby pulled in the direction of the guide rail 16 (cf. FIG. 1) and/or pressed against the second guide rail 17.2 (cf. FIG. 7), also contributes to this.

[0052] A cooling device, by means of which the cooling blocks 12 are intensively cooled during operation of the caterpillar casting machine 14, is not shown in the drawing.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0053] 10 Transport device [0054] 11 Casting material [0055] 12 Cooling block [0056] 13 Quick fastener(s) [0057] 14 Caterpillar casting machine [0058] 14.1 Upper caterpillar [0059] 14.2 Lower caterpillar [0060] 15 Casting mold [0061] 16 Guide rail [0062] 16.1 First running surface (of the guide rail 16) [0063] 16.2 Second running surface (of the guide rail 16) [0064] 17 Guide rail fixture [0065] 17.1 First guide rail (of the guide rail fixture 17) [0066] 17.2 Second guide rail (of the guide rail fixture 17) [0067] 18 Support element [0068] 19 Upper edge (of the support element 18) [0069] 20.1.-20.3 Roller(s) [0070] 21 Axes (of rollers 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3) [0071] 22, 23 Side areas (of the support element 18) [0072] 24 Drive device [0073] 26 Drive wheel (of a drive device 24) [0074] A Distance between rollers 20.1 and 20.2 [0075] B Width (of a cooling block 12) [0076] DF Compression spring [0077] L Running surfaces (of the guide rail fixture 17) [0078] L1 Running surface (of the first guide rail 17.1) [0079] L2 Running surface (of the second guide rail 17.2) [0080] T Transport device (of a support element 18 along the guide rail 16 and/or the guide rail fixture 17) [0081] U Circulating track (of the guide rail 16 and/or the guide rail fixture 17) [0082] ZF Tension spring