Abstract: A carrier for suspending a pair of skis from a shoulder has an elongated, flexible carrying strap which is designed to be attached to the skis forward and rearward of the ski bindings. One end of the strap is connected with a sheath for receiving the trailing ends of the skis. The sheath carries a band which serves to attach the sheath to the skis and to bind the trailing ends of the skis to one another. The other end of the carrying strap is connected with a coiling device which is designed to be clamped between the skis forward of the ski bindings. The coiling device again carries a band for attaching the skis to the coiling device and binding the leading portions of the skis to one another. The coiling device is receivable by the sheath. When the skis are to be used, the sheath and the coiling device are detached therefrom. The carrying strap is then wound onto the coiling device, and the latter is subsequently inserted into the sheath.

Abstract: An information carrying card has an EPROM device. Individual steps of a manufacturing or inventory scheme are operated using the card. Information can be added to or deleted from the card by a central processing unit or a local read/write device. The information carrying device need not be a card and it can constitute or include an EEPROM or an equivalent device.

Abstract: A device is provided for detecting the influence of a gravitational forceon a body due to changes in a freefall state. The device includes a spherical housing, and a flow medium is contained in, and is adapted to travel about and undergo flow in the housing. Monitoring means are provided at preselected positions about the housing for sensing the presence or absence of medium at said positions.

Abstract: A continuous casting installation has a dummy bar which is designed such that its connection with a strand can be broken by moving the dummy bar and the strand relative to one another in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the strand. A straightening roll for the strand is movable in this direction between a raised position and a lowered position. A support roll is mounted in the region of the straightening roll and is pivotable between an elevated position and a depressed position clear of the casting path. In operation, the connection between the dummy bar and the strand is positioned between the straightening roll and the support roll. The straightening roll is in its raised position and is located above the strand while the support roll is in its elevated position and supports the dummy bar. The straightening roll is now lowered to straighten the strand thereby simultaneously breaking the connection between the dummy bar and the strand.

Abstract: A roller guide for use in a continuous casting installation for steel is divided into segments. Each segment includes a fixed guide member which rests on a base and a movable guide member which is supported by the fixed guide member. The guide members carry rollers which cooperate to define a path for a continuously cast steel strand. The fixed guide member has a series of hollow columns which are aligned with respective tubular elements provided on the movable guide member. Spacers for adjusting the distance between the rollers are disposed between the columns and tubular elements. A tie rod extends through each column and has a first end located externally of but adjacent to the respective column. The first end of each tie rod has a passage which registers with a corresponding passage in the base. Each pair of registering passages receives a locking pin. The locking pins connect the tie rods to the base and indirectly connect the fixed guide member to the base via the tie rods.

Abstract: An apparatus for cleaning surfaces has a cleaning head which is designed to bear against a surface being cleaned. The cleaning head includes a discharge nozzle which is connected with a source of flowable cleaning material and is arranged to discharge such material against the surface being cleaned. A pair of shields is disposed about the discharge nozzle. The cleaning head further includes a suction nozzle which is connected with a source of suction and serves to remove contaminated cleaning material from the surface being cleaned. A brush is disposed between the discharge nozzle and the suction nozzle and functions to scrub the surface after the cleaning material has been applied thereto. The discharge nozzle, suction nozzle and brush are surrounded by a tubular sleeve which inhibits the escape of contaminated cleaning material so that virtually all such material is recovered via the suction nozzle.

Abstract: Hot, elongated metallic products are delivered to a horizontal roller table and then transferred to one side of the latter transverse to the longitudinal dimensions of the products. The transfer arrangement for the products includes several pairs of I-beams which stretch from one side of the roller table to the other and are upwardly inclined in the direction of transfer. The I-beams of each pair are spaced from one another, and a wheeled carriage is located in the gap between the I-beams of each pair. The wheels of the carriages are situated between the flanges of the respective I-beams. The carriages are aligned with one another in the longitudinal direction of the products and are driven in synchronism. This permits each product in the path of the carriages to be engaged by all of the carriages simultaneously. As the carriages travel in the transfer direction, the carriages sequentially lift the products from the roller table along a direction which is inclined to the horizontal.

Abstract: A continuous casting machine for billets and blooms has a curved mold which is followed by a curved cooling zone and a straightener. A dummy bar for the casting machine has a length at least equal to the distance between the mold and the straightener. The dummy bar has a rigid portion and a flexible portion which are pivotally connected with one another. The rigid portion, which is curved and has a radius equal to the casting radius, includes a dummy bar head. The flexible portion is made up essentially of pivotally connected, curved links having radii equal to the casting radius. The flexible portion is designed such that it can assume radii equal to or less than the casting radius. When the dummy bar is in position for casting, the flexible portion assumes the casting radius and the dummy bar conforms to the curvature of the casting machine.

Abstract: An apparatus for the continuous casting of hollow metal shapes includes a cooled, open-ended mold having a cooled mandrel positioned centrally of the mold cavity. The inner surface of the mold and outer surface of the mandrel together define a casting space. Molten metal is teemed into this space and solidifies adjacent the inner surface of the mold and the outer surface of the mandrel. In this manner, a body consisting of a molten mass confined between a pair of solidified skins is formed. The body is continuously withdrawn from the mold thereby generating a continuous strand which is hollow due to the presence of the mandrel in the mold. The outer surface of the strand is sprayed with coolant outside of the mold so that the molten mass within the strand solidifies progressively. The mandrel is provided with a passage which opens to the hollow center of the strand and a finely divided solid such as sand is fed into the center of the strand via this passage.

Abstract: A detector for monitoring the bath level in an oscillatory continuous casting mold oscillates with the latter. The detector generates signals indicative of the bath level and a control unit interprets the signals and initiates adjustment of the bath level if this is outside of prescribed limits. Since the detector oscillates with the mold, and thus relative to the bath, the distance between the detector and the surface of the bath changes continuously even if the bath level remains constant. Inasmuch as the detector cannot distinguish between its own movement and that of the bath level, the oscillation of the detector results in the supply of misinformation to the control unit. In order to correct for the oscillation of the detector, a limit switch is connected with the detector or the control unit and is arranged to be closed by the oscillator at a predetermined point of its stroke. Thus, the detector will always be at the same position when the limit switch is closed.

Abstract: A continuous casting installation has a curved secondary cooling zone in which a partially solidified, continuously cast strand originally having a generally vertical orientation is turned towards the horizontal while being cooled. Spray nozzles are provided for spraying the upper and lower surfaces of the strand, as well as the sides of the strand, with cooling fluid during passage of the strand through the curved cooling zone. The spray nozzles for cooling the sides of the strand have slot-like openings which curve in the same direction as the curved cooling zone. These spray nozzles thus produce curved spray patterns. This makes it possible to reduce the number of spray nozzles required to cool the strand in the curved cooling zone thereby simplifying spray nozzle alignment problems. Furthermore, by appropriate selection of the radius of curvature of the slot-like openings, the spray nozzles for the sides of the strand may be positioned farther away from the strand than previously.

Abstract: A mold assembly for continuous casting has a plurality of open-ended molds. The mold assembly further has a cooling member which is common to all of the molds and cooperates with each mold to define one or more cooling passages therewith. The cooling member, which is provided with one or more pairs of coolant inlet and outlet bores, is in the form of a cooling jacket or in the form of a back-up plate depending upon whether the molds are tube molds or plate molds. The mold assembly is rotatably mounted on a mold table having a casting location at which a mold is positioned during a casting operation. A coolant supply and coolant discharge conduit are arranged in the mold table adjacent the casting location. In operation, one of the molds of the assembly is positioned at the casting location with the remaining molds being in standby positions. At least one pair of the coolant inlet and outlet bores in the cooling member is aligned with the coolant supply and discharge conduits in the mold table.

Abstract: A continuous casting installation has a generally vertical open-ended mold supported on a casting platform, a flexible dummy bar for sealing the lower end of the mold prior to the start of a cast, a curved guide below the casting platform for the strand formed in the mold and a mechanism for handling the dummy bar. This mechanism includes a carriage which is provided with a semi-circular, downwardly concave roller bed having a length at least equal to that of the dummy bar. The carriage is located on the casting platform and is movable between the mold and a location above that at which the dummy bar emerges from the strand guide. A rotatably driven, telescopic arm on the carriage pivots on the axis of the semi-circular roller bed. The arm is capable of engaging the dummy bar. In operation, the carriage is positioned above the location at which the dummy bar emerges from the strand guide.

Abstract: A dummy or starter bar for starting a strand in a continuous casting installation having an open-ended mold is provided with a head which is receivable in the mold. The dummy bar head has a peripheral surface which faces the inner surface of the mold. The dummy bar head further has an end face at least part of which is inclined with respect to the peripheral surface. The end face is directed towards the inlet end of the mold. The dummy bar head is provided with a dovetail-like recess which opens to the inclined part of the end face. The recess enables the strand to become coupled to the dummy bar head and is arranged so that coupling occurs in a manner which permits the strand and the dummy bar head to become detached by relative movement thereof in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the strand.

Abstract: An apparatus for continuous horizontal casting has a vessel for holding the molten metal to be cast. The vessel has an opening in its side which is arranged so that a stream of molten metal issuing therefrom enters a horizontal path. The stream is maintained in a molten state in the upstream end portion of the path and is cooled in an adjacent downstream portion of the path. A mechanism is provided for continuously drawing the strand formed from the stream of molten metal along the path. During the initial stages of solidification, the strand consists of a thin shell of solidified metal surrounding a molten core. The strand tends to sag here and an arrangement is provided for counteracting the weight of the strand. This arrangement includes a connected pair of electrical contacts one of which is immersed in the body of molten metal and the other of which contacts the strand. The arrangement further includes magnets which generate a horizontal magnetic field extending normal to the axis of the strand.