A turning mechanism for the movement of casting ladles in steel mills of type wherein a member turning about a vertical shaft is provided with two diametrically opposite arms adapted to receive in each case a casting ladle. Each arm is fork-shaped and mounted to swing about a horizontal shaft fixed to the upper portion of the turning member. The two forked ends each receive a vertical support for the ladle pivotally mounted on a horizontal pivot received in the said forked end each support being pivotally connected at its upper end to one end of a rod whose other end is pivotally connected to the upper portion of the said turning member in such a way that the arm forms on each occasion with the corresponding rod a deformable parallelogram which constantly maintains the support in the vertical direction during the rotation of the arms.
A carrying tower for a metallurgical vessel includes at least one carrying arm cantilevering from a non-rotatable carrying column and pivotable about the carrying column, which carrying arm carries at least one metallurgical vessel. A pivot bearing is provided between the carrying arm and the carrying column. In order to enable a simple check, maintenance and a quick removal of the pivot bearing with the carrying arm remaining on the carrying tower, a single pivot bearing accommodating axial and radial forces as well as tilting moments, with a lower-side shoulder of a first bearing race, rests on a supporting surface arranged on the upper end of the carrying column. The carrying arm is mounted so as to be suspended on a second bearing race of the pivot bearing.
