US3471039A

US3471039A - Apparatus for separating a plurality of bars

Info

Publication number: US3471039A
Application number: US645928A
Authority: US
Inventors: William P Fulginiti; Quin Shen Yu
Original assignee: United States Steel Corp
Current assignee: United States Steel Corp
Priority date: 1967-06-14
Filing date: 1967-06-14
Publication date: 1969-10-07
Anticipated expiration: 1986-10-07

Description

United States Patent 3,471,039 APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING A PLURALITY 0F BARS William P. Fulginiti, McCandless Township, Allegheny County, and Quin Shen Yu, Forest Hills, Pa., assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 14, 1967, Ser. No. 645,928 Int. Cl. B65g' 60/00, 49/00 US. Cl. 2148.5 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to apparatus for separating a plurality of bars arranged side by side into two groups. When bar billets are rolled from an ingot they are of such length'that they must be cut into a number of sections for further processing. These sections include a top section which includes the top part of theingot, a bottom section which includes the bottom part of the ingot, and several middle sectionsL-For various reasons it is necessary to separate the top, bottom and middle sections and identify them. At the present time one way of separating the bars is to allow the top and bottom bars to pass over a hot bed onanormal cooling cycle after which they are unloaded from the discharge end of the hot bed and placed in storage bins for subsequent cooling. Later, when the hot bed is not being used the billets are placed back on the hot bed for proper identification and separation and unloaded manually for further processing. The middle billets are separated as they come from the mill and cooled on another hot bed.

It is therefore an object of our invention to provide apparatus for readily separating top, middle and bottom billets or bars.

Another object is to provide such apparatus for separating top bars from bottom bars at the discharge end of the hot bed on which they are cooled.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus for our invention, with parts broken away and omitted in order to show the parts on a larger scale;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken on the line IIIIII of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken on the line 1V-IV of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view showing the top and bottom bars separated, but with the bars of each group in abutting relationship; and

FIGURE 6 is a view taken on the line VI-VI of FIGURE 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates a cooling bed of conventional construction. Billets rolled in a billet mill are sheared into a predetermined number of pieces of desired length. In one particular installation one top piece T, four middle pieces, and one bottom piece B are cut from one billet. The middle pieces are conveyor to a second hot bed, not shown, and the top and bottom pieces are transferred alternately and packed in a group of twelve on the hot bed 2. This hot bed includes a plurality of transverse skids 4 on which the pieces B and T rest. Means, not shown, such as disappearing dogs mounted on a carriage driven by a wire rope, may be provided to position the pieces B and T at the discharge end of the hot bed 2. A plurality of bar lifters 6 spaced apart longitudinally of the bed 2 are arranged between pairs of skids 4. While two such lifters are shown, the number may vary as required. Each bar lifter 6 (FIGURE 4) includes a vertical hydraulic cylinder 8 having a piston rod 10 connected to a horizontal cross head 12 which has its ends received in vertical guides 14. Six spaced apart vertical fingers 16 are attached to and extend upwardly from the cross head 12. The distance between the fingers 16 is greater than the width of the bars and the width of the fingers 16 is slightly less than the width of the bars.

Two separating devices 18 are provided between adjacent pairs of bar lifters 6. Each separating device 18 is located between adjacent skids 4. Each separating device 18 (FIGURE 3) includes a horizontal hydraulic cylinder 20 having its piston rod 22 attached to a cross head 24. A peel 26 is attached to the cross head 24 and extends parallel to the piston rod 22 toward the hydraulic cylinder 20. A pusher dog 27 is attached to the top of cross head 24. The hydraulic cylinder 20 is located below the top of the skids 4 and the peel 26 is located above the top of the skids 4 a distance at least as great as the thickness of the bars B and T. The cross head is guided by spaced apart guides 28 (FIGURES 1 and 2). Stops 30 are spaced apart along the length of cooling bed 2 with each guide being positioned between adjacent skids 4. A guide 32 is provided for each stop 30 and is attached to the skids 4. A screw actuator 34 is connected to the bottom of each stop 30 to move it up and down. In its lower position (FIGURE 6) the top of the stop 30is below the top of the skids 4. The stops 30 are aligned longitudinally of the cooling bed 2 at a position slightly to one side of the bars B and T.

The operation of our device is as follows:

With the bars B and T located on the skids 4, as shown, and with all parts in the positions shown in FIGURES l to 4, and 6, the bar lifters 6 are raised by providing fluid to the bottom of cylinders 8. This will raise all the top bars T simultaneously by means of the fingers 16 engaging the bottom of the bars. This positions the bars T from the bars B a distance at least as great as the vertical height of peels 26. The stops 30 are raised by means of the screw actuators 34 from the position shown in FIG- URE 6 to the position shown in FIGURE 5. Fluid is then delivered to the forward end of cylinders 20 so that the peels 26 will move from the full line position of FIG- URE 3 into the space between top bars T and bottom bars B as shown in the broken line position of FIGURE 3. The bar lifters 6 are then lowered until the fingers 16 are below the peels 26. Continued movement of the peels 26 will cause the cross heads 24 and pusher dogs 27 to engage the bottom bars B and top bars T to push 3 them against the stops 30 as shown in FIGURE 5. A magnet 36, attached to a crane, not shown, can now unload all the top bars T from the peels 26. Fluid is then introduced to the rear end of cylinders 20 so as to retract the peels 26 to their starting position. The magnet 36 can then unload all the bottom bars B from the skids 4. The cycle will then be repeated.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for separating a plurality of elongated bars into two groups at diiferent elevations comprising means for supporting said bars in side by side relationship, and said means including a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart transverse supports having their tops in a common generally horizontal plane for engaging said bars; and a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart bar lifting means arranged between said spaced apart supports for engaging only some of said bars, each of said bar lifting means including fingers for engaging selected spaced apart bars, said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than the horizontal transverse width of a bar, and means for raising said fingers with the selected bars thereon to a position where there is a vertical space between the bottom of the selected bars and the top of the remaining bars.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which each of said bar lifting means includes a generally horizontal cross head, vertical guide means for said cross head, said fingers being attached to said cross head in spaced apart relationship and extending upwardly therefrom to an initial position below the top of said transverse supports, said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the fingers and the width of the fingers being less than the width of the bars, and means for raising said cross head and fingers so that said fingers raise alternate bars.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 including stop means arranged adjacent one of the outer bars on the side remote from the other bars; and a plurality of spaced apart separators arranged between said bar lifting means; each separator including a peel, means for moving said peel between said selected bars and the remaining bars, and means for pushing the selected bars against said stop means into one group and the remaining bars into another group.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which each said separators includes a fluid cylinder and piston rod arranged between adjacent supports below the top thereof, a cross head attached to said piston rod on the side of said bars remote from said stop means and extending above the top of said supports, and means supporting said peel on said cross head above said supports with said peel extending parallel to the top of said supports and toward said stop means.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which said stop means includes a plurality of vertically positioned pins, 9. guide for each pin, and means for moving each pin from a lower position with its top substantially in the plane of the top of said supports to an upper position to be contacted by said top andbottom bars.

6. Apparatus according to claim .3 int which each of said bar lifting means includes a generally horizontal cross head, vertical guide means for said cross head, said fingers being attached to said cross head in spaced apart relationship and extending upwardly therefrom to an initial position below the top of said transverse supports, said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the fingers and the width of the" fingers being less than the width of the bars, and means for raising said cross head and fingers so that said fingers raise alternate bars.

7. Apparatus according to claim'6 in which each of said separators includes a fluid cylinder and piston rod arranged between adjacent supports below the top thereof, a cross head attached to said piston rod on the side of said bars remote from said stop means and extending above the top of said supports, and means supporting said peel on said cross head above said supports with said peel extending parallel to the top of said supports and toward said stop means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said stop means includes a plurality of vertically positioned pins, a guide for each pin, and means for moving each pin from a lower position with its top substantially in the plane of the top of said supports to an upper position to be contacted by said top and bottom bars.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENT 823,051 6/1906 Keyes. 2,498,071 2/ 1950 Dalziel. 2,649,232 8/ 1953 Ferguson. 3,258,145 6/1966" Costello 2l4-16.4 X

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner GEORGE F. ABRAHAM, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2l41, 6