Casting Machine

a device used for the mechanized casting of molten metal to produce ingots and of matte and certain slags produced in nonferrous metallurgy.

The belt-type casting machine, which is used for casting pig iron, is an inclined conveyor of two parallel endless chains, with attached molds. Each mold overlaps the adjacent mold in order to prevent the molten metal from spilling into the spaces between them. A ladle at the lower end of the machine is tilted and molten metal flows into the molds through a spout. The pig iron in the molds then passes through a cooling zone, where it is sprayed with water. When the chains pass over the sprockets at the top of the conveyor, the molds are inverted and the pigs, or ingots of hardened pig iron, slide along a chute onto flatcars or trucks. As the inverted empty molds move in the opposite direction, they are blown with steam and sprayed with milk of lime. A single iron ingot usually weighs 45 kg. Belt-type casting machines are also used for casting ferroalloys, nonferrous metals, and slags in nonferrous metallurgy.

Rotary casting machines are also used in nonferrous metallurgy. They consist of rotating tables with molds, into which molten metal is poured through a spout. The metal hardens as the table rotates and the resulting ingots are ejected when the molds are inverted.