GB2120589A

GB2120589A - Cooling apparatus for the cooling of wire which is hot from the rolling operation

Info

Publication number: GB2120589A
Application number: GB08312425A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Duepper
Original assignee: Kocks Technik GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Kocks Technik GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1982-05-26
Filing date: 1983-05-06
Publication date: 1983-12-07
Also published as: SE8302839D0; ES8401344A1; JPS58215221A; GB2120589B; DE3219672A1; GB8312425D0; SE449306B; FR2527487A1; FR2527487B3; SE8302839L; IT1166443B; IT8347931A0; ES520315A0; DE3219672C2

Abstract

In a cooling path for the cooling of wire (3) which is hot from the rolling operation and which is deposited onto a conveying means (6) in spread-out, mutually overlapping loops (5) by a loop-laying device (4), various types of reception means (8, 13) are provided in the coil-forming station for collecting the loops and can be selectively brought into the reception position in order to vary the cooling conditions in the region of the coil-forming station and therebeyond. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cooling apparatus for the cooling of wire which is hot from the rolling operation The invention relates to a cooling apparatus for the cooling of wire which is hot from the rolling operation, comprising a loop-laying device for depositing the wire in spread-out, mutually overlapping loops, a coil-forming station for collecting the said loops and a conveying means of greatly variable conveying length for conveying and cooling the loops between the loop-laying device and the coil-forming station.

In a known cooling apparatus (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 29 32 729 of this kind, the greatly variable conveying length of the cooling conveying means serves to vary the strength of cooling and, in this manner, to adapt different materials to requirements. However, even when the very hot short minimum length of this known conveying means is chosen, the wire loops are received in the coil-forming station by a mandrel on which they continue to be exposed to the atmospheric air and are cooled with corresponding rapidity. Despite the short conveying length of the conveying means in the known cooling apparatus the rate of cooling then occurring is too high for certain materials.

Moreover, in the case of certain special steels, it is necessary that the wire loops coming from the loop laying device should be collected in the shortest possible time, such as within 1 80 seconds, in a container from which the ingress of air can be eliminated. With the known cooling apparatus, this is no more possible than extremely slow cooling in an annealing furnace or in a thermally insulated, possibly heatable container.

Two coil-forming stations are provided in another known type of construction (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 25 24 673), one of which coil-forming stations is disposed shortly beyond the loop-laying device in the region of the front portion of the conveying means, and the second coil-forming station is disposed at the end of the conveying means. Therefore, as in the firstmentioned known type of construction, a short or a long air-cooling phase can be chosen even if intermediate lengths are not provided as in the case of the first-mentioned known type of construction. However, the two coil-forming stations are of identical construction, have container-like reception means and thus serve for the slow cooling of corresponding materials, such as special steels, in the region of the coil-forming station.Hence, this known type of construction is not suitabie for other materials which are to be cooled more rapidly and which are manufactured in coils of great height. Since the container-like reception means of the two coil-forming stations of this known type of construction impede the dissipation of heat and also the conveying away of a high and heavy coil in the region of the coilforming station, they prove to be unsuitabie for cooling these materials more rapidly and to lower temperatures, and also for the collection of particularly high and large coils.

An object of the invention is to provide a cooling path of the kind described initially and which is suitable for a variety of materials which are hot-rolled and subsequently cooled in a controlled manner.

In accordance with the invention, a cooling apparatus for cooling wire which emerges hot from a rolling operation, comprises a loop-laying device for depositing the wire in spread-out, mutually overlapping loops, a single coil-forming station for collecting the said loops, the coilforming station being located closed to the looplaying device, and a conveying means of greatly variable conveying length arranged to convey and cool the loops between the loop-laying device and the coil-forming station, the single coil-forming station being provided with a variety of reception means such as mandrels, containers, reels or cages for the wire loops, which are selectively movable or pivotable into the reception position.

The various reception means, may, for example, be mandrels, containers, reels or cages.

As a result of this, the coil-forming station, as well as a conveying length of the conveying means can be adapted to the lengths of wire and the materials to be cooled at any given time.

According to the type of material, a reception means is chosen which admits the atmospheric air freely, restrictively or not all to the work material, and, according to the length of wire, the reception means chosen is that which is required in order to produce the coil of wire with the desired dimensions. This does not require a plurality of coil-forming stations but only one in which the reception means are, of course, interchangeable in the region of the reception position.

It is known per se from, for example German Auslegeschrift No. 14 02 717, to construct the reception means so as to be interchangeable, although not in the sense of the present invention and only for the purpose of being able to exchange a reception means filled with wire loops for an empty reception means of the same type of construction. This known interchange of the reception means is not meant in the present instance, but the selective use of various different types of reception means in the same coil-forming station in dependence upon the material and the dimensions of the coil of wire. In the use of the present invention, the cooling conditions of the wire are to be substantially changed also in the region of the coil-forming station and therebeyond by corresponding interchange of the reception means. By way of example, closed containers enable very slow cooling.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 are a side elevation and a plan view respectively of a cooling apparatus operating with reception mandrels; Figures 3 and 4 are a side elevation and plan view respectively of the cooling apparatus of Figures 1 and 2, with the use of closable containers serving as reception means.

Referring to Figure 1, a guide tube 2 is contiguous with the end portion 1 of a water cooling path and feeds a wire 3 to a loop-laying device 4. The loop-laying device 4 lays the wire 3 in spread-out, mutually overlapping loops 5 on a conveying means 6 which conveys the loops 5 in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 2. The loops 5 are thereby brought into contact with the atmospheric air for a long period of time and are thereby cooled. The conveying means 6 feeds the loops 5 to a coil-forming station 7 where the loops are collected. In the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, this is effected by means of a mandrel 8 which is disposed below the conveying means 6 and onto which the loops 5 drop.When the mandrel 8 is filled with loops 5, it can be exchanged for a second empty mandrel 8a by rotating it away in the manner described in, for example, German Patent Specification No. 20 41179. The loops 5 are removed from the mandrel 8 which is then located in a horizontal position, and are transferred to a conveying means (not illustrated).

The mandrels 8 and 8a are disposed on a carriage 9 which is movable on rails 12 by a drive 10 by way of a traction means 11. It is thereby possible to exchange the mandrels 8 and 8a for, for example, containers 13 which are mounted on a second carriage 14 which is movable on rails 12 in the same way as the carriage 9. If necessary, the same drive 10 can also be used for the carriage 14. The containers 13 have covers 1 5 which render it possible substantially to keep the atmospheric air away from the loops 5 and to avoid rapid cooling.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the cooling path of Figures 1 and 2 is illustrated such that the loops 5 are fed beyond the loop-laying device 4 to the containers 1 3 along the shortest possible path, for which purpose a short portion 6a of the length of the conveying means 6 is swung upwardly, so that the loops 5 can no longer pass along the entire length of the conveying means 6 as in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, but only along the short initial portion which is only required to accept the loops 5 from the loop-laying device 4 in a reliable manner and to feed them to the coilforming station 7, as is illustrated by the arrows in Figure 4. The carriages 9 and 14 are displaced in the coil-forming station 7 such that the mandrels 8 and 8a are not located in the reception position, one of the containers 13 being disposed exactly below the swung-up portion 6a of the conveying means 6. The containers 1 3 can be exchanged by moving the carriage 14 and then, in a filled state, are exchanged by a changing means (not illustrated) for an empty container 1 3 or a reception means of some other construction, possibly on a further carriage. Such other reception means may, for example, comprise one or more reels or one or more baskets or cages.

Claims

1. A cooling apparatus for cooling wire which emerges hot from a rolling operation, comprising a loop-laying device for depositing the wire in spread-out, mutually overlapping loops, a single coil-forming station for collecting the said loops, the coil-forming station being located close to the loop-laying device, and a conveying means of greatly variable conveying length arranged to convey and cool the loops between the looplaying device and the coil-forming station, the single coil-forming station being provided with a variety of reception means, such as mandrels, containers, reels or cages for the wire loops which are selectively movable or pivotable into the reception position.

2. A cooling apparatus claimed in claim 1, in which one of the reception means comprises at least one mandrel.

3. A cooling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which one of the reception means comprises at least one container.

4. A cooling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , 2 or 3, in which one of the reception means comprises at least one reel.

5. A cooling apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, in which one of the reception means comprises at least one basket or cage.

6. A cooling apparatus for cooling wire, constructed and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.