United States Patent: 3552732

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United States Patent	3,552,732
Rice	January 5, 1971

REFRACTORY LINED LADLE HAVING MEANS TO FACILITATE REMOVAL OF THE LINING

Abstract

A ladle having an outer metal shell which is lined with a refractory material and which has interposed between the shell and the refractory a metal band which facilitates removal of the lining when it has become worn.

Inventors:	Rice; Kendal Wesley (Baltimore, MD)
Assignee:	*Bethlehem Steel Corporation* (
Appl. No.:	04/692,339
Filed:	December 21, 1967

Current U.S. Class: 266/281 ; 266/286

Current International Class: B22D 41/02 (20060101); B22d 041/02 ()

Field of Search: 266/43,39 263/46 126/144 75/95 264/30 110/1A

References Cited [Referenced By]

U.S. Patent Documents


2611330	September 1952	Kirk
2805633	September 1957	Naulin
2829877	April 1958	Davis
3140333	July 1964	Tredennick
3281137	October 1966	Alper
3337206	August 1967	Bouvier
3396962	August 1968	Smith

Primary Examiner: Overholser; J. Spencer
Assistant Examiner: Brown; John S.

Claims

1. In a structure comprising a metal shell and a refractory lining, the improvement comprising a metal band means interposed between said shell and said lining whereby portions of said lining can be separated from said structure by pulling said band means from position.

2. In a ladle comprising a metal shell and a refractory lining the improvement comprising:

a. a first inner layer of refractory adjacent said metal shell;

b. a second outer layer of refractory covering said first inner refractory layer; and

c. metal band means interposed between said first inner and said second outer layers of refractory whereby portions of said second outer refractory layer can be separated from said first layer by pulling said band means from position.

3. In a ladle for holding molten metal comprising a shell having an open top, a sidewall, and a closed bottom, and a refractory lining, the improvement comprising a one piece continuous metal band means interposed between said refractory lining and said shell extending around at least a portion of the periphery of said sidewall and adapted to be pulled from position to dislodge adjacent portions of said refractory lining when said lining has become worn.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said continuous metal band is of substantially greater length than the inner periphery of said shell and overlapped to form two layers for at least a portion of the sidewall periphery of the ladle.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein a second band means is interposed between said refractory lining and said shell along the bottom thereof.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said second band means extends at least partially up the sidewall of said ladle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many fields of metallurgy it is common practice to transport molten metal in known as ladles, which have a metal shell and which are lined with refractory material, such as fireclay brick or the like. In the manufacture of steel molten metal is tapped from a furnace into such a ladle positioned beneath the furnace taphole. The ladle of molten metal is moved by crane to a position above a row of ingot molds, and the metal poured from the ladle, through a bottom nozzle, into the molds to form ingots.

Steelmaking ladles have a circular or oval horizontal section and are generally higher than their length or diameter. The ladles are tapered inwardly, from top to bottom, to facilitate the removal of metal which sometimes solidifies and adheres to the lining forming "skulls." Ladle shells are fabricated from steel plates by welding or riveting, and around the top of the shell and extending inwardly is a lip ring or retaining angle. Usually steel ladles have a double lining consisting of a safety lining, which is next to the steel shell, and a working or service lining, which is laid over the safety lining. Both the sides and bottom of such a ladle are formed with this double lining, the bricks of which are made from a bloating type of fireclay. In the process of installing the linings in the sidewalls and in the bottom, the bricks of at least one row are cut to size and accurately fitted in position so as to lock the remainder of the lining bricks tightly in place. These cut and fitted bricks are referred to as "key" bricks.

When the working lining of a ladle becomes worn to the extent that it requires replacement, the bricks of this lining are cut away, the safety lining is repaired, where necessary, and new working lining bricks are laid over the old safety lining. Cutting away the first few rows of the bricks of the working lining without causing damage to the safety lining is made difficult by two factors; the bricks are "keyed" in place and they are further locked in place by the bloating characteristics of the material from which the bricks are made. It is necessary to manually cut away the first few rows of bricks of the working lining, in both the side walls and bottom, in order to unlock the remainder of the bricks, which can then be removed relatively easily by turning the ladle upside down. Manual removal of the first few rows of bricks of the working lining by men straddling the ladle top or working from a scaffold placed in the ladle is a time consuming and relatively expensive operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide in a refractory lined ladle means for rapidly removing the lining.

Another object of this invention is to provide ladle apparatus from which a worn lining can be easily removed at minimum cost.

The objects of this invention are achieved by interposing, at one or more locations, between the shell and lining of a refractory lined ladle a metal band, which, when partially uncovered and pulled away from position in the ladle, carries with it a portion of the lining whereby the remainder of the lining is loosened from position and easily removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a refractory lined bottom pour ladle according to the concepts of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing details of the arrangement according to FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 there is shown a bottom-pour ladle 10 having sidewall 11 and bottom 12, which are made from steel plate. Slag overflow 13 opens through a portion of the upper periphery of the sidewall and there is an opening, not shown, in the bottom of the vessel through which extends refractory nozzle 14. Lip ring 15 extends horizontally around the top of ladle 10, except at slag overflow 13, and extends both outwardly and inwardly of sidewall 11.

Ladle 10 has lining 16 of suitable refractory composition. Lining 16 consists of safety lining 17, adjacent the steel shell, and working or service lining 18, which covers the safety lining. Safety lining 17 comprises sidewall bricks 19, laid in soldier courses on their flats, and bottom bricks 20, laid on their flats. Working lining 18 comprises sidewall bricks 21, laid up in spiral form, and bottom bricks 22, laid up on end. A thin layer of clay 23 is spread over shell sidewall 11 and between the safety and working linings to smooth out any unevenness. In order to insure that the brick linings are laid tightly and securely locked in place, the top row 24 of working lining sidewall bricks 21 and a center row 25 of working lining bottom bricks 22 are specially cut and fit to their particular spaces. These specially cut and fitted rows of bricks are commonly referred to as "key" rows or bricks, as is well known to those skilled in the art.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 steel strapping band 26 is placed in one continuous piece and in two layers, around the interior of the ladle between the bricks 19 of sidewall safety lining 17 and bricks 21 of sidewall working lining 18, adjacent the top or key row 24 of working lining sidewall bricks 21. In the particular ladle construction shown, band 26 is located just beneath the bottom of slag overflow 13. In similar fashion, strapping band 27 extends across the ladle bottom, between bricks 20 of bottom safety lining 17 and bricks 22 of bottom working lining 18, and partway up the sidewalls of the ladle between bricks 19 of sidewall safety lining 17 and bricks 21 of sidewall working lining 18. Band 27 extends across the ladle bottom, adjacent key row 25 of working lining bottom bricks 22. A second band 28 extends across the ladle bottom, at approximately 90.degree. to band 27 and beneath it.

When working lining 18 has become worn to the extent that sidewall bricks 21 and bottom bricks 22 must be replaced, it is a simple matter to remove the working lining bricks without damage to the bricks of safety lining 17. A few of sidewall working lining bricks 21 are cut away to expose a portion of band 26. A cable is attached at one end to the exposed portion of band 26, and the other end of the cable is secured to a tractor or some other piece of heavy equipment. A continuous force on the cable pulls band 26 out of its position against sidewall safety lining brick 19 and dislodges from position the sidewall working lining bricks 21 covering and adjacent to band 26. By exerting a continuous pull on band 26, it is torn from its position between the safety and service linings. One or more rows of sidewall working lining bricks 21 are removed with band 26, and the remainder of the sidewall working lining bricks, which had previously been tightly keyed or locked in place, are unkeyed or unlocked. Ladle 10 is then turned upside down and the remainder of the worn working lining bricks 21 fall to the ground. Strapping bands 27 and 28 are exposed and pulled upon in similar fashion to remove working lining bottom bricks 22.

Any number of strapping bands may be placed in a ladle in any pattern considered desirable; however, satisfactory results have been achieved by the use of two separate bands, one band around the ladle adjacent its upper end and the other band in the bottom. Any type of band, wire, strapping or cable may be used, the only requirement being that it be sufficiently strong to withstand the tension created by the pulling force exerted upon it. In one embodiment of the invention satisfactory performance has been had from banding 2 inches wide and 0.044 inches thick. I claim:

* * * * *

Current U.S. Class:	266/281 ; 266/286
Current International Class:	B22D 41/02 (20060101); B22d 041/02 ()
Field of Search:	266/43,39 263/46 126/144 75/95 264/30 110/1A