EP0665776B1

EP0665776B1 - Manufacturing line for shaping steel strips

Info

Publication number: EP0665776B1
Application number: EP93924253A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Lars Ingvar Ingvarsson
Original assignee: Ortic AB
Current assignee: Ortic AB
Priority date: 1992-10-25
Filing date: 1993-10-25
Publication date: 2002-02-06
Anticipated expiration: 2013-10-25
Also published as: DE69331548D1; EP0665776A1; DK0665776T3; NO951304D0; WO1994009925A1; SE9203130D0; SE505672C2; SE9203130L; NO301870B1; DE69331548T2; NO951304L

Abstract

The invention relates to a quickly rearrangeable production line (1) for the profiling of thin metal strip into profiled sheets (10) in a roll-forming machine with undriven forming rollers. The profiling operation is carried out after the strip has been cut into sheets of desired lengths. The production line (1) is also provided with a slitter (14) so that sized non-profiled sheets can be cut from the same coil (8). A protective foil (24) as well as condensed water absorbing felt cloth (23) can be applied to the strip (9).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

The invention relates to a production line for the profiling of thin, coated metal strip by which it is possible to roll-form the strip, to cut it in desired lengths, to slit and cut it to sheets for making cover plates for roof ridges and the like, coating the strip with condensed water absorbing felt cloth, protective foil etc. The strip is primarily adapted to be used as roof and wall cladding.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART.

Thin metal sheet has since long been used as cladding for roofs and walls. The sinusoidal galvanized sheet is classical. The development has been fast in the later years. The demands for increased load bearing capacity and better appearance have been increased. The longitudinal profiling is now more varied both with regard to form and to profile depth, and one can choose among numerous colours for the strips that are to be used as starting material for the roll-forming. The thickness of the strips that are used is normally between 0.4 and 1 mm. When the product is to be used in a corrosive atmosphere, its surface is first coated with a rust preventing layer of zinc or a mixture of zinc and aluminium and minor additives. In order for the surface to have the desired appearance, it is coated with a coloured polyester or alternatively PVC (plastisol). One side of the strip can have a protective coating but it is more common nowadays that both sides have coatings such that they can both be a front surface and that the two sides have different colours so that the stock of coils can be reduced when the user is particular about the choice of colour.
From the stockholding point of view, it is desirable to have the stock in the form of coils from which one can produce sheets of different colours, surface design, and length. Since the user only in a late stage of erecting a building can decide for example the length of the sheets to be used, it is a great advantage to be able to quickly exchange coils and to adapt the roll-forming equipment to various profiles and lengths. It is also a great advantage to be able to cut from the same coil, plane sheets of various length and width for use as non-profiled sheets and for use as roof edges, barge boards and the like. Since the producer of the coils cannot guarantee against disturbing colour deviations between coils produced at different occasions, it is often necessary to take all the material out of one and the same coil or at least out of the same stock.
The underside of some sheets intended to be used as roof sheets on which water is likely to condense should have a bendable condensed water absorbing felt cloth which will prevent condensed water from dripping from the inside of the roof. This way of preventing drip of condensed water is described more closely in SE-315380-A and SE-383374-A.
The front side of the sheets can be coated with a protective foil in order to protect the sheets from transport damages.
To cut the strip into sheets with desired lengths before the profiling has many advantages such as:
1. The end cutting waste is reduced
2. Only straight cutting edges are needed
3. The tranverse cutter need not be flying,that is, it need not move with the strip.
4. It is simple to coat only parts of the strip with the condensed water absorbing cloth.
5. The coating with a protective foil is simplified.
6. It is simple to take out sized plane sheets since the same cutter can be used for sheets that are to be delivered as sized non-profiled sheets and for sheets that are to be delivered as sized profiled sheets.
Modern roll-forming machines form the strip between undriven roller pairs. The strip is forced through the roll-forming machine by means of stations with driven rolls that are used solely to move the strip.
A production line for the profiling of thin metal strip is disclosed in US-3 421 353-A.
Roll-forming machines with quick exchange of profiles are described for example in EP-339063-A and SE-9003123-8.
End effects at the profiling, that is, profile ends that do not keep the required tolerance in width, are difficult to avoid. Only very rugged machines with particular calibration of the forming rolls and possibly also an increased number of forming stations will manage to form precut sheets to desired profiles.

THE INVENTION

It has now been proved that it is possible to design a production line for the profiling of thin metal strip in which the strip is cut in desired lengts before the profiling step (which can be quickly rearranged for various profiles) and sized non-profiled sheets can be cut from the same coil by slitting in a slitter and tranverse cutting in the usual cutter. When desired, the strip can be coated with a condensed water absorbing felt cloth and also be coated with a protective foil. All the steps can be contolled by a computer that is fed with input data in accordance with the customer requirements on the design of the product.
The invention is defined in the claims and described in the following desciption of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings.
Fig 1 is a top plan view of the production line and
Fig 2 is a side view of the first part of the production line.

CLOSE DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:

The coils 8 that are to be used in the production line 1 when effecting an order are mounted on the arbors of a turret 3. Between the decoiler 2 and the turret 3, there is a conveying device that is usually running on rails. There is equipment for moving the coil 8 from the turret 3 to the conveying device 4 and vice versa as well as for mounting the coil on the decoiler 2 and vice versa. The upper part of the conveyer 4 on which the coil rests is turnable on a vertical shaft in order to be able to mount the coil 8 on the decoiler so that alternatively one or the other side of the coated strip will be the upper side during the decoiling. This is because the coil may have different coatings on its two surfaces. The strip 9 from the decoiler 2 passes an entry guiding table 5, first between a pair of driven horizontal rollers and then over horizontal conveying rollers. The strip 9 is guided also sideways by means of vertical rollers. The design of the entry table can be varied. The strip 9 is then levelled in a conventional roller leveller 13 with rollers located in a zig-zag arrangement. The roller leveller 13 comprises also two feeding devices 12 that are located one at the inlet and one at the outlet of the roller leveller.
The strip 9 is then cut in a main cutter 17 which has straight edges, either into sized plane sheets that are moved to a receiving store 18 located downward the main cutter 17 or, alternatively, the strip is moved over a driven roller table and between side guides 19 through the roll-forming machine 20 in which they are profiled in a number of forming stations to the desired profile and then received in one of a number of final receiving stores for further delivery transport.
The main cutter 17 is thus fixed before the roll-forming machine 20 which is designed so as to permit a quick change between a number of different profiles, often no more than six. Most important is that the roll-forming machine can form flat entry sheets to profiled sheets that have no intolerable end effects and intolerable width variations. To accomplish that, the roll-forming machine must be very rugged, its forming rollers must be accurately calibrated and the number of forming stations be increased.
For avoiding transverse marks in the surface of the strip 9 when the strip is not moving in the roller leveller 13, for example during the cutting , the rollers of the roller leveller 13 can have a somewhat rearward movement relative to the strip 9.
For making longitudinal slitting possible, the production line 1 has a slitter 14 before the main cutter 17 that cuts the strip 9 transverely. In principle, the slitter comprises two driven shafts vertically one above the other and one above the strip and the other below the strip. The shafts are transverse to the movement of the strip. The shafts have circular cutting edges; lower cutting edges and upper cutting edges which can cooperate in pairs and which are laterally adjustable for various slitting widths. For a slitting operation, the shafts are moved together so much that the respective pairs of cutting edges 15,16 overlap and thus perform the slitting. When not performing a slitting operation, the cutting edges 15,16 are separated so that the strip 9 can pass them freely.
For applying a protective foil 24 on the upper surface of the strip 9, it is only necessary to force away the air between the foil 24 and the strip 9. Then the foil will adhere sufficiently. By mounting a coil 6 of protective foil on a horizontal shaft tranverse to the direction of strip movement and above the strip 9, and forcing the foil 24 and the strip 9 together between even rollers of the feeding device 12 located before the roller leveller 13, the foil 24 will adhere to the upper surface of the strip 9. From the coil 6, the protective foil 24 is first conveyed over a deviating roller designed as a conventional smoothing roller 7, that is, half the roller is provided with a clockwise spiral bead and the other half with a counterclockwise spiral bead. The beads will strive to move the foil 24 outwardly towards the edges of the strip so that the foil will be stretched transversely.
The condensed water absorbing felt cloth 23 will of course be applied to the underside of the strip 9 and this is carried out principally in the same way as the application of the protective foil 24. An adhesive felt cloth is used which has its adhesive surface covered with a protective paper 29. When the protective paper 29 has been separated from the felt cloth 23, the cloth is deviated over over a smoothing roller 7 and is then forced to the strip 9 in the same feeding device 12. The protective paper 29 is removed by being succesively rolled onto a receiving roller 25 which is friction driven and keeps the protective paper 29 streched so much that it separates from the felt cloth 23. Normally, the profiled sheets overlap when mounted on the building. There must be no felt cloth 23 between the metal surfaces in the overlap since the water cannot easily evaporate from the overlap. Therefore, an accurate lateral guiding of the felt cloth is necessary when the felt cloth is applied so that the profiled sheets will have such a part without felt cloth. To this end, the felt cloth storage 30 can be adjusted axially with great accuracy. The width of the felt cloth must also be accurate so that the other edge of the felt cloth coincides with the edge of the profiled metal sheet 10. The best way is to cut away continuously the redundant felt cloth shred 26 for example by forcing a cutter 27 against the felt cloth 23 and to take care of the felt cloth shred on a waste coiler 28. The control of the production line can be carried out from consols 22. The best way is to use a computer into which all input data for a material specification is fed and to have the computer to control all factors such as choice of profile, cutting length for the sheets 10, when to coat with protective foil 24, when and where the strip shall be coated with the condensed water felt cloth 23, the choice of suitable coil 8,how the coil 8 shall be turned on the decoiler 2, etc.

Claims

Production line for the profiling of thin metal strip (9)
characterized by

a conveying device (4) that moves a coil (8) from a turret (3) with arbors to a decoiler (2)

an entry guiding table (5) that guides the decoiled strip (9) to a roller leveller (13) in which the strip is levelled a slitter (14) for longitudinally slitting the strip when desired

a main cutter (17) with straight cutting edges for cutting the strip tranversely to sized plane sheets (11) or to sheets (11) to be profiled

a receiving store (18) for sized plane sheets

a quickly readjustable roll-forming machine (20) for profiling the pre-cut sheets (9),

and a final receiving store (21) for receiving the profiled sheets (10).
Production line (1) for thin metal strip (9) according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the upper part of the conveying device (4) is horizontally turnable.
Production line for thin metal strip (9) according to claim 1 or 2
characterized in that
a coil of protective foil (6) is mounted above the entry guiding table (5) and the protective foil (24) is, when needed, conveyed from the coil via a smoothing roller (7) to the inlet feeding device of the levelling device (13) where the protective foil (24) is forced against the upper side of the strip (9).
Production line (1) for thin metal strip (9) according to claim 1 or 2
characterized in that
under the entry guiding table (5), there is mounted a device for forcing a condensed water absorbing adhesive felt cloth (23) on the underside of the strip (9) by means of the inlet feeding device (11) of the levelling device (13).
Production line (1) for thin metal strip (9) according to claim 4
characterized in that

the device for applying the condensed water absorbing adhesive felt cloth (23) consists of a felt cloth storage (30) that can be accurately adjusted sideways,

a friction driven receiving coil (25) that pulls off the protective paper (29) from the felt cloth (23) and collects it, and

a smoothing roller (7) that flattens the felt cloth (23) before its moving into the even rollers of the feeding device.
Production line (1) for thin metal strip (9) according to claim 5
characterized by
an edge cutter (27) for cutting the condensed water absorbing felt cloth to the desired width.