US1684867A - Method and apparatus for handling strips - Google Patents

Description

Sept; 1a, 1928, 1,684,867

' L. JOHNSON METHODAND APPA ATU FOR HANDLiNG s'rRIPs: Filed De cJfZ G, 1924 INVENTOR %L Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

& FOUNDRY COMPANY, PENNSYLVANIA.

OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING STRIPS.

Application filed December 26, 1924. Serial No. 758,026.

per minute. As the strips leave suclf rolls' at a comparatively high temperature, it will be apparent that the proper disposition thereof is a matter of some concern.

i It has heretofore been proposed to, provide a rolling mill with a run-out table having a plurality of coiling devices cooperating therewith and adapted to be brought into operation at will. Sucha construction broadly is claimed in the.copending application of Bigger-t and Johnsfin, Serial No. 618,- 636, filed February 12, 1923. It has been found, however, that in such layouts it is practically essential that some of the ceiling devices will be located comparatively closely to the last stand of rolls, while other of the coiling devices may be located at quite a distance therefrom. The time. interval represented between the delivery of the strips from the last stand of rolls, and their passage tooneof the coiling devices has a direct hearing on the character of the material produced. As the strips have a comparatively high temperature when leaving the rolls, it

will be apparent that if they are immediately coiled, a considerable amount of this heat will be conserved and it has been found in practice that coils from some of the coiling devices located more closely adjacent the last stand of rolls are annealed to such an extent as to im air theirutility. Coils, on the other hand, 0 tained from one of the coiling devices comparatively remote from the last stand of rolls may have entirely different characteristics due to the greater time which has elapsed before the strips have been coiled thereby. This makes it extremely difiicult to I deliver strips even from the same heat, re-

ferring to the original metal from which the billets are formed, having'uniform specifications. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus-for overcoming these objections and insure the production of strips having uniform characteristics.

In the accompanying drawings there are shown for purposes of illustration only certain preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, these embodiments serving as diagrammatic illustrations only, and not defining the limits of my invention as changes in the construction and operation disclosed therein may be made without departing either from the spirit of the invention or the scope of my broader claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a diagrammatic top plan view of one form of lay out embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the construction illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line III-III of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 2i1lustratinga slightly modified embodiment of the invention, and v Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but representing a section along the line VV of Figure looking in the direction of the arrows.

In carrying out the present invention, there may be associated with the last stand of rolls 2 ofa strip mill a run-out table 3 adapted to deliver the strip to any desired point.- Located at spaced points along the run-out table, and preferably in superimposed relation with respect thereto may be ascries of coiling devices 4. Any one of these coiling devices may be brought into operation at will by means of a deflector or gate 5 adapted to be dropped from a position in spaced relatiofi to the run-out table to a position. in which it will serve to deflect metal from the table, as illustrated for example, at the extreme right of Figure 2.

It will be obvious that any desired number of these coiling devices may be provided, each coiling device being adapted to deliver formed coils tosuitable storage and transfer devices 6. Each of these units, however,

' necessarily requires a considerable amount of floor space, thereby making it necessary to space different units different distances from the last stand of rolls. This condition makes it impossible to deliver strips to all of the coiling devices at the same temperature. Conditions of operating economy, with respect to floor s ace, further require that the ,units shall all e as close to the mill as possible. Due to the present speed of delivery of the strips, coiling devices so located receive the strips at a temperature high enough so that when they are formed into coils-there is apt to result an objectionable heat treatment.

In order to overcome the objections before pointed out, and still obtain the required tially in the plane of the roll table. A fluid supply connection 9 may be provided for delivering. fluid under pressure to the trough 7 to thereby insure the formation of a plu rality of cooling jets through the plate 8 and against the underside of a strip passing thereover. At the same time, the strip may be .supplied from above by a distributing box 10 having a perforatedlower face 11 and a fluid supply connection 12. With this arrangement, it will be understood that the amount of'cooling fluid may be varied at will in order to insure coiling of the strips at the desired temperature,- The amount of cooling fluid may also be varied in accordance wit-h the particular coiling unit which is in operation, the amount of cooling increasing as the units in operation more close 1y. approach the last standof rolls.

In Figures 4 and 5 there is illustrated a slightly modified embodiment of the invention in. which parts corresponding to the parts already described are illustrated by the same reference characters having a prime afiixed' thereto. In this embodiment the cooling meansis illustrated as comprising opposing air boxes 7 and 10, these air boxes serving to deliver jets of cooling air to opposite si des of the strip.

It will be apparent that with either form of the invention, or by the use of difi'erent modifications thereof, it will be possible to bring the temperature of the strips down to a point at which they may be satisfactorily coiled and at which the coiling temperature of successive strips may be made more nearly uniform. In this manner a more nearly.

uniform product is insured without any loss of time, and without requiring any subsequent heat treatment as heretofore been necessary. R. 1 Certain of the advantageous features of the present invention will be realized in mills not utilizin coilin devices, but utilizing some other Eorm 0 material handling mechanism, as for example a piler. At the present time it is not uncommon practice to cut strip into lengths with a flying shear and pile it hot. In such"'installat-ions .-the artifis cial cooling will be of advanta e. I therefore use the expression materlal handling means in its generic sense in the claims for the purpose of defining all such uses whether a reel, a hot bed, a piler or other means.

The term fluid as used in the claims is likewise used generically as inclusive both of liquid and gas.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of some means intermediate the rolling mill and one or all of the coiling devices for artificially changmg the temperature of the strips as delivered 1 by the mill I claim:

1; In a strip mill, a roll stand a pluralit of coiling devices cooperating with said ro 1 stand but located at different distances therefrom, means for guiding strip from said roll stand but located at different distances therefrom, means for guiding strip from said roll stand ,to any of said coiling devices at will, and means insuring delivery of said 'stri to all of said coiling devices at substantially the same temperature irrespective of their distance from the roll stand, substantiallyas described.

2. In a strip mill, a roll stand, a plurality of coiling devices cooperating with said roll stand but located at different distances therefrom, means for guiding strip from said roll stand but located at different distances therefrom, means for guiding strip from said roll stand to any of said coiling devices atwill, and means insuring delivery of said strip to all of said coiling devices at substantially the same temperature irrespective of their distance from the roll stand, said means comprising artificial cooling means located intermediate the roll stand and the closest coiling device, substantially as described.

3. The method for insuring uniformity of a characteristic of the material in a plurality of reels of metal formed at unequal distances from a set of rolls, which comprises passing the metal constituting the reels through a thermal control device after it leaves the rolls and varying the effectiveness of the thermal control device in accordance with after it leaves the rolls and varying the efthe distance over which the metal travels befectiveness of the thermal control device in fore reaching the desired reel. accordance with the distance over which the 4. The method for insuring uniformity of metal travels before reaching the desired 5 the material in a plurality of metal workmetalworking device.

ing devices disposed at unequal distances In testimony whereof I have hereunto set from a set of rolls which comprises passing my hand. a metal through a thermal control device LANE JOHNSON.

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