Crack resistant valve plate for a slide gate valve

This invention generally relates to valve plates for use in slide gate valves for controlling a flow of molten metal, and is specifically concerned with a valve plate that is resistant to cracks caused from thermomechanical stresses. The invention relates to a refractory plate () for a slide gate valve, having a pouring hole (), circumscribed by a circle C of center (), at least a portion of the edges () of the plate () are angularly oriented so as to focus the clamping forces optimally in the throttling area and around the pouring hole.