CA1203156A - Process and installation for the treatment of rough sheets issuing from a rolling mill for flat products - Google Patents

Abstract

PROCESS AND INSTALLATION FOR THE TREATMENT
OF ROUGH SHEETS ISSUING FROM A ROLLING MILL
FOR FLAT PRODUCTS

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The process is for cutting rough mother sheets TM
issuing from a rolling mill into daughter sheets of pre-determined dimensions. In the course of this process, there is determined the` inscribability of each mother sheet so as to establish a marking plan permitting an optimum utilisation of the sheet. Each mother sheet is passed through devices 5, 6 for cutting the sheet to dimensions and cutting the daughter sheets. The deter-mination of the inscribability comprises projecting onto the mother sheet TM a network of crossing luminous lines t1, t2, t3-a to t3-g, selectively shifting each of the luminous lines while maintaining it parallel to itself so as to define on the mother sheet a batch of daughter sheets to be obtained, determining the coordinates of the luminous lines relative to a reference system pertaining to the mother sheet,and cutting the mother sheet in accordance with the obtained coordinates.

Description

12~31S6 DESCRIPTION .
TITL~ :
" Process and installation for the treatment of rough sheets issuing from a rolling mill for flat products The present in~ention relates to the treatment of XQush sheets (hereinafter termed mother sheets) of great th1ckness and large`~;men~ions issuing from a rolling mill, The treatment of p~oducts issuing from a set of ~olls of a rolling mill for flat products com~rises irst of all a determination of "inscribability" in the rough sheet and then a cutting to more precise dimensions by means of shears.
The term "inscribability" here.means the possible distribution in a given mother sheet of sheets to be cut out (hereinafter termed daughter she`ets) in accordance with acutting prQcedure implying a minl,mu,m, loss of metal bearing in mind the unevenness of the edges of the mother sheet and defects within the sheet~
At the present time, the determination of the inscribability is effected above all by marking by means of a piece of chalk and by an approximate es-timation.
In the course~ of the manual process, the marker moves over the sheet and notes the zone or zones which are utilizable, declares by approximate estimations the partial or total inscribability of the daughter sheets and proceeds to a determination of the rpmaining recoverable zones, .

lZ~31S6;

- 2 -a~ the case may be. Once the marking plan has been established, it is transmitted to the shear operators for shearing the edge portions and cutting to length~
It will be obvious that this rocess is not appro-priate for a modern industrialization, since it requiresconsiderable labour, results in division errors and is consequently costly.
In order to assist the narker in his work, it is already known to dispose along the roller table on which the mother sheet is disposed for the marking out, a rod provided with light sources which permit the deinition of one more lines on the sheet in the direction of the length thereof. However, it has been found that thi~
single aid can only very slightly improve the manual process described hereinbefoxe and in no way does away with the calculating and marking work performed by the marker for the`division of~the mother sheet in-to daughter sheets in the direction of the` len~th of the sheet.
Consequentl~v, an object o the invention is to provide a process and an installation for the treatment of mother sheets iss~ing from a rolling mill which com-pletely avoid the aforementioned drawbacks.
The inyention therefore provides a process for the treatment of mother sheets issuing from a rolling mill for the purpose of cutting up these sheets into daughter sheets of ~redetermined dimension, in the course of which the process comprises determining the inscribability of 1203~56 each mother sheet for establishing a marking plan pe~m;itt-ing the o timum utilization of the mother sheet, the~
~assing each mother sheet into ~eans for cutting the~
mother sheet into daughter sheets to the desired dim~n-sions, t.he operation for determining the inscribabil~lt,~comprising projecting onto the'mother sheet a networ~ ~of crossed luminous lines, selectively displacing each ~Ff said luminous lines while maintaining the luminous l~ne parallel to itself ~ as to define on the mother she~
a batch of daughter sheets to be obtained, determinin~
the coordinates o the luminous lines relative to a ~efe-rence system pertaining to the mother sheet,and cut~ng : the mother sheet in accordance with the coordinates obtained.
By means of these features, the marking opera~r~n can be carried out by an operator p}aced in an obser~g cab~ by an appXopriate control of the luminous lines~ich .renders this work convenient and precise, it being ~s'i-ble to transmit the determined coordinates easily to ~he shears for cutting the sheet to the required dimensi~.
The invention also provides an installation for c.ar~ying out the process defined hereinbefore.
Further features of the inVention will be appa~3nt' from the following description which is given merely-~
way of example with refexence to the accompanyingdrawings, in which ~
Fig. l is a diagrammatic plan view of an inst~ t'non )3~S~

according to the invention for cutting out in a mother sheet a nu~ber of daughter sheets in accordance with marking plan established by means of said installati~
f~o~ a theoretical marking plan ~
Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic perSpective view of the marking station employed in the installation shown i8 Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the means controlling a couple of edge marking lasers employed in the installation according to the invention ;
Fig~ ~ is similar to Fig. 3 and shows a laser ~~
marking transverse lines , Fig. 5 is a general diagram of the information processing circuit according to the invention ;
15- Fig~ 6 is a general flowchart of the operatio~s ca~-ried out by the circuit shown in Fig. 5 ;
Fig. 7 is a diagram~atic plan view of ~ mother sheet in the course of the marking out, and Fig~ 8 is a diagrammatic geometric representatiQn illustrating the calculation ef~ected for determ; n; ng the inscribability of a bent mother sheet.
Fig. 1 shows diagram~latically in plan an installation according to the invention. It comprises a marking station 1 provided at its downstream end with a shearing device 2 for cutting off the head end of the mother sheets TM after which there is provided a marking unit 3. T~is unit is mounted above a transfer table 4 adapted to dispose lZl)3~56 the sheets to be cut out in the path of a double edge shearing device 5 which is followed by a shearing device 6 for cutting the daughter sheets from the mother sheet.
~ discharge table 7 for the daughter sheets is provided at the end of the installation.
The marking station 1 whi'ch is shown in perspective in Fig~ 2 compris,es a marking table 8 known per se, the top of which is formed by a set of rollers 9 on which is movable the mother sheet TM coming from the rolling 10 mill (not shown) in which it is produced.
At the upstream end of this table, ie between the latter and the output end of the rolling mill, there is provided a cross-beam 10 which transversely straddles the path defined for the sheet~ Provided on the right of the table 8 in the direction of the travel of the sheet, is an edge rod 11 against which the mother sheet is applied in,the course of the marking out. ~ounted along the opposite slde o~ the table is a series 12 of l'i g h t sources 13a to 13g (in the presently-described embodiments seven sources), while the cross-beam 10 supports two of the sources indicated by the references 14a and 14b. The light sources are preferably produced ,w~ith the aid of lasers which may be masked by shutters when the beam they produce is not been used. The light sources 14a and 14b each produce two parallel beams Fl and F2 located in the same plane and oriented downward-ly at different anales and are thus able to produce on the 1~)315~;

mother sheet longitudinal luminous lines tl and t2. If lasers are employed, the beams Fl and F2 may issue from lasers having a ~ylind~ical optical system ox of the sweeping type so that these beams impinge on the entire length o~
the sheet in accordance with a predetermined sequence.
The light sources 13a to 13g each produce a luminous beam F3 so as to project onto the sheet the same number of transverse lines t3-a to t3-g. These beams are pro-duced preferably by lasers sweeping in a variable pla~e.
The sources 13a to 13g are all ~ivotally mounted on supports (described hereinafter in detail) so that the line they produce may be placed at will by the operator in a variabl~ predetermined place of a zone of the mother sheet to which the considered laser relates, In other words~ the lines t3-a to t3-g may be moved in the longitudinal direction under the control o the operator by a suitable means controlling the movements of the light sources 13a to 13g, Fig. 3 shows a diagram of a device 15 or shiting the light sources 14a and 14b, This device comprises bearings 16 which are fixed to the cross-beam 10 and in which is mounted a ball bearing lead-screw 17. A
support carriage 15 comprising nuts 19 is mounted on the lead-screw to be movable in translation when the latter is driven in rotation~ This carriage supports one or the other of the Light sources 14a or 14b each of which is here provided with two lasers 20a and 20b respectively i~31S6 producin~ the beams Fl~ F2.
The lead-screw 17 may be driven in rotation by a step-by-step motor 2I through a coupling 22. An angular encoder 23, preferably of the absolute multi-revolution type, is also coupled to the lead-screw 17, This encoder is capable of generating a binary code of the "Gray" type the value of which is a function of the linear displace-ment of the carriage 18 along the lead-screw. This code is conyerted into a pure binary code in a converter 24 which is followed by a circuit 25 for correcting the tole-rances in the measurement and a calculating and control unit 26 which is connected to the step-by-step motor 21 and also to a computer 27 (Fig. 5) which will be described hereinafter, The device 15 for the light source 14b further com-prises a speed reducer 28, 29 owin~ ~o -the relatively g~eat length of the endless lead-screw 17 o this device.
This speed reducer is also coupled toan enco~er 23 shown ~n dot-dash lines in Fig. 3~
Fig. 4 shows a device 30 controlling one of the light sources 13a to 13g~ It comprises a sweep laser 31 mounted on a support 32 pivotable about a horizontal axis, the optical axis of the laser being inclined to the horizontal so that the beam F3 may mark a transverse line on the mother sheet TM~ The pivotal support is pivotally mounted in a fixed bracket 33.
The device further comprises a ball lead-screw 34 ~Z~)315~

on which is mounted a nut 35 whi:ch is movable thereo~ li!n translation and has extending therethrough two smoot~
rods 36 which are fixed in the`pivotal support 32. T~e lead-screw 34 is coupled through a speed reducer 37 ~o a step-by-step motor 38 and to an angular encoder 39 ~ h a coupling 40.
As in the device 18 for the light sources 14a a~ 14b, the encoder39 is connected to a converter 41 o the G~!y code into a binary code which is followed by a circu~;~ ~;2 for com~ensating forthe tolerances and to which is conn~r~d a unit 43 for calculating and controlling which is ~ec-ted to the computer 27.
Fi~. 5 shows a general circuit diagram for proc~cs`L~ng data and controlling designated by the reference n~ 44.
This cixcuit comprises as the central component th~
micro-calculator or computer 27 around which the ol~ im-~peripheral units are grouped.
The general management of the con-trols and.the E~ri-cation of the mother sheets and daughter sheets is c~r,ri~(Qd out by means of a central computer 45 of very large c~a-city which may be the managing computer of the firm which the installation according to the invention is placed. This computer stores and manages in particu~r the orders relating to sheets to be delivered to the clients and these orders are transferred through a L~e 46 to the computer 27 of the present installation in ~e form of a document termed "marking ticket"~ ThiS do~m~nt, g which may be produced on the printer,comprises in parti-cular the dimensionsand the metallurgical characteristics of the sheets to be tre~ted.
The computer 27 is also connected through lines 47, 48 and 49 respectiveIy to the light sources 13a to 13g and 14a, 14b, to a marking control desk 50 and to a monitor 51 or other display device through a line 52.
All these components are disposed in the marking station 1.
~he data obtained in the course of the marking are transferred to the managing computer 45 and also through lines 53 and 54 to the shearing devices 5 and 6 which are provided with control desks 55 and 56 and display screens 57 and 58. They are also sent, as concerns the abscissae deter~ined in the course oE the marking~ to the marking unit 3 through a line 59, this unit being adapted to affix on each daughter sheet to be cut out a complete identification infor~ation.
The end shearing device 2 is connec-ted to the computer 27 through the line 52.
~ device 60 for measuring the temperature is provided for introducing corrections in length and thus compensating for possible expansion of the sheets in accordance with the temperature. Thi`s device is connected to the computer 27 through a line 61. Another device 62, connected to this computer through a line 63 permits, if required, taking into account changes in thickness from one sheet to another, which changes may have an effect on the 12~3~56 measurements effected by means of the positions of the lasers in the course of the marking.
The operator desk 50 is also connected to the com~
puter 27 through other lines 64, 65 and 66 through which travel instructions relating to defects ascertained on the mother sheets in the course of the marking, such as a bent sheet, a ~heet under the required length, a sheet having defects which may not be recovered, etc..
The installation just described has for prime function to per~it the optimu~ distribution of the daughter sheets in the mother sheets,~lich opera~ion is in the main carried out at the marking station 1 and which thus permits determining what those skilled in the art term the "inscribability"~
With reference to Fig. 6, there will now be described the procedure for determining the inscrib~bility Which occurs in the marking station with the aid oE the circuit 44 shown in Fig. 5.
Upon t~e arrival o a mother sheet in front of the end shearing device 2, this sheet coming from the rolling mill (the sheet passing under the cross-beam 10), the operator demands, by means of the keyboard of his desk 50, the characteristics of the considered mother sheet in mentioning the rolling number. These characteristics, entered on the "marking ticket", are sent to the computer 27 by the managing computer 45 and are displayed on the screen 51 (operations 67 and 68 in Fig. 6).

~2~33~56 The computer 27 having thus received the data con-cerning the posit:Lon and the characteristics of the daughter sheets tv be marked out, automatically actuates the motor 21 and the light source 14b which displaces the luminous line t2 so as to determine the placement of the left edge of the sheet (as viewed in the direction of displacement), this edge being hereinafter termed "large edge". The sheet of course advances as it is applied against the rod ll by its opposite edge,herein~f-te~ termed the "small edge". The large edge line t2is placed at a theoretical distance or dimension lmaX
from this rod ll.
With the sheet positioned in such ma~ner that its front or "head" edge is located under the shearing device 2, its end is sheared and the operatorinstructs the light source 14a to shi~t t h e small edge line tl, this instruction bein~ introduced on the desk 50 and travell-ing toward the corresponding device 15 (Fig, 3) by w~y of the calculator 27.
In shifting the line`tl, the operator will attempt to move a~a,y as far as possible the unevennesses of the edge of the moth~er sheet from the small edge (Fig. 7), which in the presently-described embodiment can only be achieved at the cost of the loss of a relatively wide strip of the sheet. Indeed, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the mother sheet has a marginal defect D
which must of course be eliminated when cutting out the 1~)3~56 - 12 _ daughter sheets (it will be observed that the size of the defects has been greatly magnified for purposes of explanation~.
After having thus shifted the line tl, the operator validates the chosen position on his desk 50 and thi~
introduces the corresponding data in the memory of the computer 27 (operation 69 in Fig. 6), In the course of the` setting of the line tl, the lasers 14a and 14b are shifted together to the same extent and in the same direction so that the lines tl and t2 maintain the sa~e distance lmaX therebetween.
The operator checks whether, under these conditions, the inscribability as concerns width is correct. (no deect on the right of the line t2 when viewed in the dir~ction o travel of the sheet). If it is correct, the inscr;~nil;ty as concerns width is determined and the position o the line t2 is validated by the operator and stored in the memory of the computer 27. In the opposite case, the ope-rator effects a cor~ection and thereafter validates the new position (operation 70) which results in an effective width less than the maximum width (which case is not shown in Fig. 7).
Owing to the presence of the defect D in the oppo-site edge, the mother sheet has, in the illustrated embo-diment, a useful or effective width lu which is indeedless than the width lmaX~ but this defect can be ~lim;n~
in another manner,as will be understood, the daughter ~2~)3~5~

- 13 _ sheets finally cut out having therefore the width -~æ
notwithstanding the presence of the defect, The inscribability data as concerns the effect~i~;e width and the m,aximum width'appear on the screen 51 the operator (operations 71 and 72).
The installation is then ready to receive the ~ata leading to the inscribability as concerns the lengt~ ~of the mother sheet TM. The end shearing device 2 pro~de~s a length reference of the sheet after having cut the Ihe~ad end and~or cut a sa~ple, Howèver, according to a ~i~
fication, this length reference may also be obtaine~
optically by n~eans of one of the transverse lasers ~'3a to 13g). This laser will then be termed the "head ~er".
~he operator then selects and positions one o~
transverse lasers of the series or system 12 in acc~r~ance with the theoretical length of the sheet ~foot laser~ 7 SO
as to separate any unevenness from the opposite edge ~E
the head and validate the position thus chosen. Thls operation then delivers to the computer 27 an effecti~
length magnitude between the cutter of the shearing d~i(ce 2 and the validated position of the foot laser,beari~ iIn mind, as the case may be, the taking of the sample p~ition at the head end of the sheet. Samples may if desire~ ,~e defined in other regions of the sheet and the length (~ata relating thereto are extracted from the managing com~uter 45 which applies them to the concerned lasers of the system 12 through the computer 27~

,~ .

lZ~3~5~

The position of the foot laser is then validate2 (operation 73).
The computer 27 having received temperature data from the device 60 (Fig~ 5), it is inquired whether ï~ is necessary to correct the value'of the measured lengt~ in order to compensate for expansion (operation 73a). T~e operator can thereafter validate this len~th (74) or correct it (75).
In the absence of defects, the computer 27 is no~
ready to inscribe in the mother sheet T~l a number of daughter sheets (operation 76) bearing in mind, on one hand, the marking ticket i,t received from the computer ~5 and, on the other hand, the dimensions measured by the edge lasers and the foot laser.
Various sub-programs may be connected to the la3t~
mentioned operation~ , First of all, as shown in Fig. 7, the operator can (at 77) proceed to define "dead strips" BM in oxder to isolate the defect D in the sheet (or another defect located elsewhere in the` sheet) by an appropriate actu~tion of the lasers which are in this case the lasers 13d and 13e.
The oper~or can also define an additional sample strip (at 78) after which the program progresses to an operation demanding the marking at 79 which initiates the calcula-tion on the part of the computer of the final marking ~f the sheet in accor~ance with all the previously introduce~

1;~03156 da~a. The com~uter positions all the lasers f~om the laser 13a to the foot laser. Consequently, the result is dis layed on the screen 61 ~operation 80).
If at ~1 the operator wishes to modify this final marking, the program returns to operation 90 so that a corrected marking can be established.
The program then passes to a marking validation ope-ration 82 which stops any modification in the marking station 1, the marking plan being then maintained set until the sheet has been discharged.
It will be understood that, after the validation, the computer 27 stores all the data in its memory (83)~
In the foregoing description, it has been assumed that the treated mother sheet permits, in any case, a division thereof into daughter sheets in accordance with the ma~king ticket and orders defining the parameters of the daughter sheets taking into aCcQunt tolerances pertaining to the mother sheet, the temperature, the thickness of the sheet, etc~.
However, in some cases, the accumulation of the tolerances does not permit the marking with an optimum division or distribution and, in this case, the installa-tion according to the invention enables a distribution compromise to be found which nonetheless results in an o~timum utilisation of the material of the mother sheet while remaining within the tolerances required fox the product le~vin~ the installation.

~2~3~S6 - 16 _ Generally~ the daughter sheets are sold With a nominal length dimension cn which,apart from an exception which will be mentioned hereinafter, must never be excee-ded beyond the lower limit. On the c o n t r a r y, t h e sheets are deIivered at this nominal dimension increased by a positive tolerance e,it being customary to require that the length of the delivered product have~ as far as possible, the dimension cn + e termed the maximum length Lmax ~
When, at the end of the operation 76 of the proce-dure (Fig. 6), the operator has determined and validated the effective length L of the mother sheet, .it could occur that this length be insufficient, bearing in mind the length of the strip removed,~o~ enab~e ~he cutting out of the daughter sheets required by the markingticket so that all have a dimension cn + e.
If the effective length Lu of the mother sheet is then greater than the sum of the lengths of dimension c of the daughter sheets and the minimum dimension of the removed strip, the computer 27 effects a mean calculation which gives,in the course of the marking,a length to the daughter sheets of magnitude cn < c ~ cn + e ~operation 84, Fig. 6~.
On the other hand, if the effective length Lu is less than the sum of the lengths of dimension c of the daughter sheets and the removed strip, the computer is so program-med as to establish a division or distribution which i2()3:~56 eliminates one or more daughter sheets, the scrap of -the mother sheet being then recycled (operation 85).
In some cases, the daughter sheets may be fabricated with a tolerance in the neighbourhood of the nominal value, for example in thé case where these sheets are used in the manufacture of tubes.
In this case~ after the effective length Lu of the mother sheet is determined at 76, the operator introduces limit values LM and Lm of the allowed range of tolerances.
The computer 27 is then so actuated as to effect a sub-program of distribution or division (operation 86) ~hich is based on a calculation for establishing the number x of sheets of length LM and the number ~ of sheets of l_ngth Lm.
In a first stage,- this sub-program checks whether Lu is divisible by LM. If this is so, the computer indi-cates the number x = LU/LM of sheets of ma~imum length LM, the number ~ of sheets of minimum length Lm being then equal to zero.
If Lu is not divisible by LM, the computer carries out the followinq alqorithm :

L - E L~ .

x = E
L~, - L~
L
~u

3~56 wherein :
x = number of sheets of length LM (maxi ~llm) y = numbex of sheets of length Lm (minimum) Lu = effective length of the mother sheet E = factor indicating the ratio of the sum of the lengths of the daughter sheets to the effecti~
length of the mother sheet.
This algorithm consequently enables the compute~ 27 to determine the maximu~ number of daughter sheets w~h can be marked in a giVen mother sheet~
The sub-program may include instructions introd~ced as desired by the o~erator and resulting in a marki~$l~f daughter sheets whose lengths are between L~l and Lm ~n accordance with the formula :
Lu ~ xL~

wherein ~i is the intermediate length o the dau~hte~
sheets.
The computer may also introduce a distribution sub-program (operation 87) which takes into account defects in the mother sheet which were previously n~ed.
In thiS case, the computer 27 considers each sectio~ ~o,f the mother sheet TM devoid of a defect as a mother s~eet of length L'u which is considered to be a new mothe~
sheet in which the division into daughter sheets ca~ }~e effected as described hereinbefore.
The sub-program includes instructions enabling ~'~03~56 non utilisable strips in these "secondary" mother sheets to be grouped as a consequence of the distribution calcu-lation, with strips having a defect, which results in an optimum utilisation of material If the operator has found that the effective width u found during the operation 70 is not sufficient, he visually ~xa~;nes the sheet so as to check whether the sheet is under width or has a bent shape so that a c~rrect division in length cannot be carried out normally. The sheets are generally always presented on the marking table 1 in such manner that their concave edge is facing the rod 11.
If he finds that the sheet is bent, the operator ini-tiates (operation 88) the sub-program "bent sheet"
(operation 89? and the computer 27 can then calculate the inscribability in accordance with the following algorithm (Fig. 8) ;

1 ~ 1th 1 - L2 4 1 + 4f _ _ - 4f2 ~ 4z~

L + L = L L
r reb 2 wherein :
lr = recoverable width of the bent mother sheet ~.2~56 _ 20 -1th = theoretical width o~ the bent mother sheet f = the r i s e of the inner arc (adjacent to the rod 11) of the bent mother sheet L = length of the chord of the inner arc Lr = recoverable length Lreb= recoverable length after the cutting of the end of the mother sheet The calculation of Lreb and Lr permits the determi-nation of the inscribability as concerns width by compa-rison of lr and -max of the daughter sheets to be marked and the number of daughter sheets to be distributea on the recoverable length.
~ fter the operation 83 for storing the inscribability information, the computer 27 may he actuated for transmi.tt~
ing the corresponding data to the other devices of the cutting installation and in particular to the marking :
machine 3, to the edge shearing device 5 and to the shear-ing device 6 for cutting to length~ it being possible also to store the data in the central mana~ing computer 45 The marking unit 3 receiVes the data of length corresponding to the beginnings o~ the daughter sheets and, by means of these data, affixes a mark to the daughter sheet$ thus identi~ied~
The same may be true as concerns the shearing devices 5 ~nd 6 which ~ay be actuated directly by the inscri-bability data det~rm;n~ at the marking station or may he actuated by an o~erator who receives these data and .~ .

S~

introduces the~ in the control desk pertaining to the shearing devices~
In the latter case, a cutting plan of the daughter sheets ~s transmitted to the operator of the shearing device 6. This pl~n includes the instructions for positioning the moving abutment of the shearing device required for obtaining the daughter sheets.

Claims (27)

Having now described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is :

1. A process for the treatment of rough mother sheets issuing from a rolling mill so as to cut said sheets into daughter sheets of predetermined dimensions, comprising the steps of determining an inscribability of each mother sheet for establishing a marking plan permitting an optimum utilization of the mother sheet and then passing each mother sheet into means for cutting the mother sheet to length and to width so as to cut out the daughter sheets, the determination of the inscribability comprising the steps of projecting onto the mother sheet a network of crossing luminous lines, selectively displac-ing each of said luminous lines while maintaining it parallel to itself so as to define on the mother sheet a batch of daughter sheets to be obtained, determining length and width coordinates of the luminous lines relative to a reference system pertaining to the mother sheet and cutting the mother sheet in accordance with the determined coordinates.

2. A process according to claim 1, comprising cutting a transverse end of the mother sheet so as to obtain a length reference of said reference system.

3. A process according to claim 1, wherein a length reference of said system of coordinates is established by a luminous line which is projected transversely of the mother sheet.

4. A process according to claim 1, wherein one of the luminous lines extends longitudinally of the mother sheet and constitutes a width reference of said reference system.

5. A process according to claim 1, wherein the determination of the inscribability comprises the steps of shifting luminous lines which extend longitudinally of the mother sheet so as to determine the inscribability as concerns width of the mother sheet and then shifting luminous lines which extend transversely of the mother sheet so as to determine the inscribability as concerns length of the mother sheet.

6. A process according to claim 5, comprising, in the course of the determination of the inscribability as concerns width, shifting a first one of the longitudinal luminous lines so as to move it away from unevennesses of a first longitudinal edge of the mother sheet and shifting a second longitudinal luminous line opposed to said first longitudinal line in accordance with a theore-tical width of the mother sheet, then checking whether said second longitudinal luminous line is spaced away from unevenness of a second longitudinal edge opposed to said first longitudinal edge of the mother sheet and correcting, if required, the position of said second luminous line so as to space it from a larger edge unevenness, and validating the positions of the longitudinal luminous lines so as to determine the width coordinates.

7. A process according to claim 6, comprising, in the course of the determination of the inscribability as concerns length of the mother sheet, shifting a foot lu-minous line which is the luminous line closest to an edge of the mother sheet opposed to a head reference edge of the mother sheet so as to determine the effective length of said sheet avoiding unevennesses of said edge, other intermediate transverse luminous lines being positioned in accordance with lengths of the daughter sheets to be obtained, and validating the positions of all the trans-verse luminous lines so as to determine the length coordinates.

8. A process according to claim 7, comprising, in the course of the determination of the length inscriba-bility, shifting at least certain of the transverse luminous lines so as to avoid edge defects present in the mother sheet.

9. A process according to claim 7, wherein said other transverse luminous lines are automatically shifted as a function of calculations for obtaining optimum utilization of the mother sheet effected by a computer in which are introduced length data of said batch of daughter sheets to be obtained.

10. A process according to claim 9, comprising measuring the temperature of the mother sheet in the course of the marking and correcting the positions of the transverse luminous lines in accordance with the results of said measurement,

11. A process according to claim 9, comprising correcting the positions of the transverse luminous lines as a function of the thickness of the mother sheet.

12. A process according to claim 9, comprising positioning the transverse luminous lines as a function of dimensions which correspond to upper limits of tole-rance ranges to within which thd daughter sheets must be cut.

13. A process according to claim 12, wherein, in the case where the sum of the lengths of the daughter sheets corresponding to said upper limit exceeds said effective length of the mother sheet, lengths for the daughter sheets whose values are within the limits of said tolerances are established,

14. A process according to claim 9, comprising selectively positioning the transverse luminous lines for determining a part of said batch of daughter sheets having a length corresponding to a maximum length of a tolerance range and a part of said batch having a length correspond-ing to a minimum length of said tolerance range, in accor-dance with the algorithm :

_ 26 -wherein :
x = number of daughter sheets of length LM
y = number of daughter sheets of length Lm E = factor indicating the ratio of the sum of the lengths of daughter sheets to said effective length (Lu) of the mother sheet.

15. A process according to claim 9, comprising, for effecting the inscribability of a mother sheet bent in the direction of the length, positioning said network of longitudinal luminous lines and transverse luminous lines according to the algorithm :

wherein :
1r = recoverable width of the bent mother sheet 1th _ theoretical width of the bent mother sheet f = the rise of the inner arc of the bent mother sheet L length of the chord of the inner arc Lr = recoverable length Lreb= recoverable length after cutting the end of the mother sheet.

16. An installation for the treatment of rough mother sheets issuing from a rolling mill so as to cut said sheets into daughter sheets of predetermined dimen-sions, said installation comprising a marking zone, means for cutting the mother sheet to dimensions, and means for optically determining the inscribability of a given number of daughter sheets in each mother sheet, said means for optically determining the inscribability comprising a group of first light sources each capable of projecting a longitudinal luminous line on the mother sheet, said sources being mounted in such manner as to be laterally movable relative to said longitudinal edges of the mother sheet, a group of second light sources each capable of projecting a luminous line which is movable over the mother sheet while being maintained parallel to itself and extends transversely of the longitudinal edges of the mother sheet, means for shifting said light sources, position detecting means for detecting the evolution of the position of the light sources and information process-ing means capable, in response to information from said position detecting means, of producing signals which are applied to said shifting means for positioning the sources in accordance with a given marking plan.

17. An installation according to claim 16, wherein said light sources comprise sweeping lasers.

18. An installation according to claim 16, wherein said light sources comprise lasers having a cylindrical optical element.

19. An installation according to claim 16, wherein said shifting means comprise a step-by-step driving motor, a lead-screw, a support which is coupled to the considered light source and is movable along said lead-screw upon rotation of the lead-screw, said motor being coupled to the lead-screw, and said detecting means also being coupled to the lead-screw.

20. An installation according to claim 19, wherein the first light sources are directly mounted on their support and said lead screw is mounted on a cross-beam which is placed in front of the marking zone and straddles a path in which the mother sheets travel.

21. An installation according to claim 19, wherein the second light sources are each mounted on a mounting element which is pivotable about a horizontal axis, said mounting element being pivotable about said axis by a mechanism which couples it to said support, the optical axis of said light source being downwardly inclined and all the second light sources being mounted in spaced-apart relation on a system which is placed parallel to the marking zone.

22. An installation according to claim 16, wherein a device for establishing a head reference is mounted at an end of the marking zone opposed to the first light sources.

23. An installation according to claim 16, compris-ing a computer connected to receive position signals coming from said detectors and for transmitting command signals to said driving means, said computer being moreover connected to a control desk with an associated display screen.

24. An installation according to claim 23, wherein said computer is also connected to a circuit for detect-ing the temperature of the mother sheet for the purpose of compensating for expansion of the mother sheet.

25. An installation according to claim 23, compris-ing a circuit for determining the thickness of the mother sheet and connected to said computer for compensating for marking errors due to different thicknesses of the sheets to be treated.

26. An installation according to claim 22, wherein said computer is connected to circuits actuating means for cutting the mother sheet to dimensions for the transmission of position data of the light sources at the end of the marking.

27. An installation according to claim 23, further comprising a marking unit for affixing to each mother sheet identification indications of the daughter sheets in accordance with signals of position of said light sources coming from said computer.