[0001] This application claims the priority and benefit of Korean Patent Application No . 10-2013-0160791 filed on December 20, 2013, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND [0002] The present disclosure relates to a mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster, and more particularly, to a mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster including a vibrating part applying vibrations to the mold of a continuous caster.
[0003] A continuous caster is generally an apparatus that manufactures a slab by continuously casting molten steel. Molten steel from a furnace is tapped into a ladle, transported, and poured into a tundish, from which the molten steel is injected into a mold and cooled to be formed as a slab. [0004] Here, in the mold, the molten steel is initially solidified, and a solidified shell may be formed due to partial solidification of the surface of the molten steel. Such a solidified shell may be adhered to an inner wall of the mold such that a difference in solidification force between the solidified shell of the molten steel and the inside thereof may

occur to reduce the solidification force of a slab. In this case, when the slab obtained after the molten steel has solidified is moved downwardly, a problem may occur in which the solidified shell ruptures due to the reduced solidification force of the slab.
[0005] Such a phenomenon in which the solidified shell ruptures and the molten steel spills out from the interior of the solidified shell is known as breakout. In order to prevent such breakouts, a vibrating unit 20' may be provided to a mold 2', as illustrated in FIG. 1.
[0006] The vibrating unit 20' may apply vibrations to the mold 2' and thereby create a minute gap between the solidified shell and the mold, preventing a breakout from occurring. [0007] Meanwhile, the provision of vibrations by the vibrating unit 20' according to the related art is conducted with 2 or fewer vibrating parts installed on the mold 2' . In such a case, a guide roll R is required to prevent the mold 2' from moving out of position in the front-rear and left-right directions of the mold.
[0008] However, abrasion may be created due to such adjustments of a position of the mold 2' by the guide roll R from repeated contacts between the mold 2' and the guide roll R, not only reducing durability of the continuous caster including the guide roll R, but creating errors in the position of the mold 2' and causing a problem of decreased finished slab quality.

[0009] Also, a problem of increased maintenance and repair costs of the continuous caster may occur, due to the need for the frequent replacement of worn-out guide rolls R. [0010] Therefore, research into developing mold vibrating apparatuses for continuous casters, in order to resolve such problems, is required.
SUMMARY
[0011] An aspect of the present disclosure may provide a mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster for improving the quality of a produced slab, by applying vibrations to a mold while preventing the mold from moving out of position due to the vibrations.
[0012] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster may include an apparatus body and a vibrating unit including at least 3 vibrating parts connected to and combined with the apparatus body and a mold of the continuous caster.
[0013] The vibrating unit of the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster may include 3 vibrating parts.
[0014] The vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster may be respectively provided at vertices of an isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the vibrating parts on a bottom surface of the mold.
[0015] The vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus for

a continuous caster may be provided at two ends of one side of the bottom surface of the mold and in a central position of the other side opposing the one side.
[0016] The vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster may include upper pivot parts provided on upper end portions of the vibrating parts and pivot-connected to the mold, and lower pivot parts provided on lower end portions of the vibrating parts and pivot-connected to the apparatus body in a direction perpendicular to a direction of connection of the upper pivot parts.
[0017] A separation distance L between the vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster may have a value of L = (Ax n)/2, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., in a case in which a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts is provided in a sine wave, and a value of L = (A x n) /2 + A/4, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., in a case in which a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts is provided in a cosine wave, where A is a vibration wavelength of the vibrations applied by the vibrating parts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0018] The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster according to the related art;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure;
FIGS . 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating positions in which vibrating parts are connected to a mold in the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure; and
FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating an upper pivot part and a lower pivot part in the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments in the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0020] The disclosure may, however, be exemplified in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the specific embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
[0021] Therefore, dimensions of elements in the drawings may

be exaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals will be used throughout to designate the same or like elements. [0022] According to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, a mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster may stably adjust front-rear and left-right positions of a mold 2 by applying vibrations to the mold 2, through 3 or more vibrating parts applying the vibrations to the mold 2 of the continuous caster.
[0023] Thus, the mold 2 may be provided in a correct position, preventing a decrease in a quality of a slab and reducing maintenance and repair costs of a continuous caster, through reducing the need for the replacement of parts such as a guide roll adjusting the position of the mold 2.
[0024] Also, by securing positions of the mold on which the vibrating parts are provided so as not to vibrate, reductions in durability of a vibrating unit 20 may be prevented. [0025] In detail, FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2, the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may include an apparatus body 10 and a vibrating unit 20 including at least 3 vibrating parts connected to and combined with the apparatus body 10 and the mold 2 of a continuous caster.

[0026] Also, the vibrating unit 20 of the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may include 3 vibrating parts.
[0027] The apparatus body 10 may support the vibrating unit 20 applying vibrations, to be described below. In other words, the vibrating unit 20 may be provided in combination with the apparatus body 10.
[0028] Here, the apparatus body 10 may be positioned on one side of the vibrating unit 20, and in a case in which the vibrating unit 20 applies vibrations; the apparatus body 10 may be fixed while serving as a support point thereof. [0029] The vibrating unit 20 may provide vibrations to the mold 2 of a continuous caster producing a slab from molten steel. Thus, a phenomenon in which solidified shells formed due to partial solidification of the surface of molten steel adhere to the mold 2 may be prevented, thereby preventing a decrease in quality of the slab due to breakouts in the solidified shells. [0030] Meanwhile, when vibrations are applied to the mold 2, in a case in which one or two points of vibration are provided, for example, in a case in which only one or two vibration sources are provided; only a single point of vibration or two points of vibration formed in a linear manner may be possible. In this case, only one dimensional movement, for example, in a linear manner, is possible. Accordingly, in such a case, a

2-dimensional or 3-dimensional movement of the mold 2 may be problematic in terms of only the application of vibrations through one or two vibration sources being possible. [0031] In other words, additional components, such as a guide roll and the like, may be required for guiding front-rear and left-right movements of the mold 2. However, in such cases, additional maintenance, such as part replacement, may be required, due to wear of the guide roll and the like from friction against the mold 2 through vibrations.
[0032] On the other hand, in the case of the vibrating unit 20 according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, 3 or more vibrating parts may be provided, thus allowing for position setting of the mold 2 to be extended to 2-dimensional planar positions or 3-dimensional spatial positions, and the like.
[0033] For example, in a case in which the vibrating unit 20 includes 3 vibrating parts, for example, a first vibrating part 21, a second vibrating part 22, and a third vibrating part 23, 3 points of vibration may be formed by the vibrating unit 20, so as to be provided on a 2-dimensional plane and move the position of the mold 2 from front to rear and from left to right by adjusting an intensity of applied vibrations. [0034] Thus, in order to facilitate the moving of the position of the mold 2 through the applied vibrations, the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third

vibrating part 23 may respectively be provided at vertices of an isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the 3 vibrating parts and spaced apart from each other by distances at which one vibrating part may be disposed in a position that is not affected by amplitude of vibrations generated by a different vibrating part. A detailed description thereof follows with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
[0035] Meanwhile, the vibrating unit 20 including the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be provided, and here, a lower pivot part 25 connected to the apparatus body 10 and an upper pivot part 24 connected to the mold 2 are positioned perpendicularly to each other, thereby allowing for free movement of the mold 2 in front-rear and left-right positions in the case in which the vibrations are applied. A detailed description thereof follows in reference to FIG. 5.
[0036] Here, the vibrations applied by the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be provided as vibrations applied to the mold 2 caused by fast up-and-down movements of cylinders.
[0037] In addition, the vibrations may be applied as vibrations using a piezoelectric element connected to an external power source or as vibrations using magnetostriction. [0038] In order to adjust the vibrations of the vibrating parts such as the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part

22, the third vibrating part 23, and the like, applying the vibrations, the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be connected to a control part C. In a case of excessive vibrations or an inclination of the mold 2 to one side due to insufficient vibrations, the control part C may stably adjust the position of the mold 2 by adjusting a frequency or the amplitude of the vibrations.
[0039] FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating positions in which the vibrating parts are connected to the mold 2 in the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a case in which a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts has a sine wave form, and FIG. 4 illustrates a case in which a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts has a cosine wave form. [0040] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may respectively be provided at vertices of an isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the 3 vibrating parts on a bottom surface of the mold 2.
[0041] Also, the vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may be provided at two ends

of one side of the bottom surface of the mold 2 and in a central position of the other side opposing the one side. [0042] Also, a separation distance L between the vibrating parts of the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may have a value of L = (Ax n)/2, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., when a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts has a sine wave form, and a value of L = (A x n)/2 + A/4, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., when a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts is provided in a cosine wave. Here, A refers to a vibration wavelength of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts.
[0043] Thus, in order to facilitate the moving of the position of the mold 2 through the applied vibrations, the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be respectively provided at the vertices of the isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the 3 vibrating parts and spaced apart from each other by a distance at which one vibrating part may be disposed in a position that is not affected by amplitude of vibrations generated by a different vibrating part, for example, in a position in which a level of amplitude of vibrations generated by a different vibrating part is zero.
[0044] In other words, the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be

provided so as to be spaced apart from each other at the vertices of the isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the 3 vibrating parts.
[0045] For example, the second vibrating part 22 and the third vibrating part 23 may respectively be provided at two ends of one side of the bottom surface of the mold 2, and the first vibrating part 21 may be provided in the central position of the other side opposing the one side.
[0046] In this manner, in a case in which the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 are respectively provided at the vertices of the isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the 3 vibrating parts and spaced apart from each other, vibrations of the second vibrating part 22 and the third vibrating part 23 spaced apart from each other by the same distance from the first vibrating part 21 may be combined to adjust the movement of the mold 2 in the Y-axis direction due to a difference between the combined vibration and those of the first vibrating part 21. The movement of the mold 2 may be adjusted in the X-axis direction due to a difference between the vibrations of the second vibrating part 22 and the third vibrating part 23.
[0047] In other words, in a case in which a combination of the vibrations of the second vibrating part 22 and the third vibrating part 23 is larger than the vibrations of the first vibrating part 21, the mold 2 may move in the direction of the

first vibrating part 21 in the Y-axis direction, and in an opposite case, the mold 2 may move in the direction of the second vibrating part 22 and the third vibrating part 23 in the Y-axis direction.
[0048] Also, for example, when the second vibrating part 22 applies stronger vibrations than the vibrations applied by the third vibrating part 23, the mold 2 may move in the direction of the third vibrating part 23 in the X-axis direction, and in an opposite case, the mold 2 may move in the direction of the second vibrating part 22 in the X-axis direction. [0049] Meanwhile, the vibrating parts such as the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, the third vibrating part 23, and the like may be respectively provided in positions that are not affected each other by amplitude of vibrations thereof, for example, in a respective position in which a level of amplitude of vibrations generated by a different vibrating part is zero, to prevent the vibrating parts from interfering with each other in generating and applying the vibrations.
[0050] For example, in the case in which the frequency of the vibrations has a sine wave form, the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be provided to be spaced apart from each other with a separation distance L satisfying the equation L = (A x n)/2, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., meaning that the vibrating parts are spaced

apart from each other by a distance which is a multiple of the half wavelength of the vibration wavelength A. [0051] Also, in the case in which the frequency of the vibrations has a cosine wave form, the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may be provided to be spaced apart from each other with a separation distance L satisfying the equation L = (A x n) /2 + A/4, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., meaning that the vibrating parts are spaced apart from each other by a distance which is a multiple of the half wavelength of the vibration wavelength A, plus a distance of A/4.
[0052] These positions may be positions in which the amplitude of the vibrations applied by the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, and the third vibrating part 23 may not interfere with each other, for example, a respective position in which a level of amplitude of vibrations generated by a different vibrating part is zero.
[0053] The vibrating parts such as the first vibrating part 21, the second vibrating part 22, the third vibrating part 23, and the like may provide vibrations to the mold 2 in synchronization, in order to prevent the vibrating parts from interfering with each other.
[0054] FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating an upper pivot part 24 and a lower pivot part 25 in the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment

in the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, the vibrating part of the mold vibrating apparatus 1 for a continuous caster according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may include the upper pivot part 24 provided on an upper end portion of the vibrating part and pivot-connected to the mold 2 and the lower pivot part 25 provided on a lower end portion of the vibrating part and pivot-connected to the apparatus body 10 in a direction perpendicular to a direction of connection of the upper pivot part 24.
[0055] For example, the upper pivot part 24 and the lower pivot part 25 may be provided in combination, allowing for a free movement of the mold 2 in front-rear and left-right positions. [0056] In other words, the upper pivot part 24 may be combined with the mold 2 in parallel to the X-axis direction, securing freedom to move in the Y-axis direction, and the lower pivot part 25 may be combined with the apparatus body 10 in parallel to the Y-axis direction, securing freedom to move in the X-axis direction.
[0057] To this end, a pivot connection of the upper pivot part 24 and the mold 2 may be implemented by connecting an upper pivot connector tab formed on an upper end portion of the vibrating part and a mold pivot connector tab formed on the bottom surface of the mold 2 to each other via a pin.
[0058] Also, a pivot connection of the lower pivot part 25 and the apparatus body 10 may be implemented by connecting a lower

pivot connector tab formed on a lower end portion of the vibrating part and a body pivot connector tab formed on an upper surface portion of the apparatus body 10 to each other via pin. [0059] As set forth above, according to exemplary embodiments in the present disclosure, the mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster in the present disclosure may be provided to control front-rear and left-right positions of the mold through vibrations applied to the mold of a continuous caster. [0060] Thus, the mold may be provided in the correct position, preventing decreases in the quality of slabs and reducing maintenance and repair costs of the continuous caster, since the replacement of parts, such as guide rolls adjusting the position of the mold, may not be required.
[0061] Also, by securing the vibrating parts to be disposed in positions that may not interfere with each other due to amplitude of vibrations thereof, reductions of durability of the vibrating unit may be prevented.
[0062] While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

WE CLAIMS:-
1. A mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster, comprising:
an apparatus body; and
a vibrating unit including at least 3 vibrating parts connected to and combined with the apparatus body and a mold of the continuous caster.
2 . The mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vibrating unit comprises 3 vibrating parts.
3 . The mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster as claimed in claim 2, wherein the vibrating parts are respectively provided at vertices of an isosceles triangle formed by the positions of the vibrating parts on a bottom surface of the mold.
4 . The mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster as claimed in claim 3, wherein the vibrating parts are respectively provided at two ends of one side of the bottom surface of the mold and in a central position of the other side opposing the one side.
5 . The mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster

as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vibrating parts comprise: upper pivot parts provided on upper end portions of the
vibrating parts and pivot-connected to the mold; and
lower pivot parts provided on lower end portions of the
vibrating parts and pivot-connected to the apparatus body in
a direction perpendicular to a direction of connection of the
upper pivot parts.
6 . The mold vibrating apparatus for a continuous caster as claimed in claim 1, wherein a separation distance L between the vibrating parts has a value of L = (Ax n)/2, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., when a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts has a sine wave form, and a value of L = (A x n) /2 + A/4, where n = 1, 2, 3, ..., when a frequency of vibrations applied by the vibrating parts has a cosine wave form, A being a vibration wavelength of the vibrations applied by the vibrating parts.