US369154A - Method of cooling metal plates - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. AIKEN.

METHOD OF COOLING METAL PLATES.

No. 369,154. Patented Aug. 30,1887.

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UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY AIKEN, OF HOMESTEAD, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF COOLING METAL PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,154, dated August 30, 1887,

Application filed April 13, 1887. Serial No. 234,668. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, HENRY AIKEN, of Home stead, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Methods of Cooling Metal Plates; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the cooling of large metal plates, and is designed to prevent the warping, distortion, and'the weakening of the same from internal strains caused by unequal cooling. It has been a common custom heretofore to place these plates one on top of an other in piles on the-floor of the rolling-mill or on cars as they come hot from the rolls, and to permit them to remain in such position until cool enough to be handled, when they were taken to the shears to be trimmed. As they are not rolled to a uniform size, but vary greatly in dimensions, the edges of some of the plates in the piles will extend beyond the edges of others, so that the center of the pile is built up solidly of hot plates, while the projecting edges of the larger plates are exposed more or less to contact with the atmosphere, which can gain no access to the middle portions of such plates. The result is that they cool unequally and the edges become warped and distorted, and internal strains are produced which tend to weaken the plates and injure their quality. Such plates also require more shearing on this account,which produces a larger percentage of waste. When the plates are 'placed singly on the floor to cool, they are also liable to warp and buckle, owing to the fact that the air cannot obtain free access to the under side.

My invention is designed to obviate all of these difticulties; and to enable others skilled in the art to practice it, I will now describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 show a plan view of a platemill, a cooling-table, and the shears; and Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of a portion of the cooling-table and shows a method of driving the rollers of the same.

The rolling-mill a is of a usual construction for rolling plates, and is provided with roller feed-tables b c, for carrying the heavy piece to and from the rolls. As these parts. have no relation to my invention, it is not necessary to describe them more particularly.

Extending from a point adjacent to the feedtable 0, upon which the plate is delivered after its last pass, and preferably in line with said table, is a roller table, d, of considerable length, terminating, preferably, at or near the shears e. The rollers f of the table (I are driven by power in any known or desired way. In the table I now have in use they are driven as follows, viz: On one end of each roller there is a pinion, 9, Fig.- 3, and these pinions are connected by intermediate pinions or idlers, 71,

one of which is placed between every two pinions, 9. At suitable intervals a counter-shaft, i, is journaled in the sides of the table below one of the rollers f, and this shaft is provided with a small pinion, k, which gears into the pinion g of that roller, and on its outer end with a beveled pinion or gear-wheel, m. A power shaft or shafts, a, driven by any suitable engine, (indicated at 0, Fig. 2,) extends along the side of the table, and is provided with beveled pinions p, which engage the gear-wheels The rollers f are therefore driven by the shaft or shafts a through the medium of the pinions p, gear-wheels m, pinions k, pinions g, and idlers h. Suitable reversing-gear may be used for the purpose of driving the rollersfin either direction, as will be understood. It is sometimes convenient as well as economical to drive some of the rollersf adjacent to the feed-table c by power from the shaft q, by which the rollers of the feed-tables are driven. I do this by extending the first counter-shaft z' of the table (I and the shaft (1 until they meet, and then connecting them by beveled gearing 1", as in Fig. 1. This shaft t has the pinion k, which gears into a pinion, g, on one of the rollers,which roller drives the adjacent rollers by means of idlers h, as shown in Fig. 3.

\Vith a construction such as I have just described my improved method of cooling the plates is practiced in the following manner, viz: The plate, which usually leaves the rolls at a dull-red heat,is conveyed by the rollers of the feed-table c to and delivered on the table d. The rollers f, being revolved at a slow speed, carry it slowly along the table to the shears c. In its progress the plate is exposed to the air on all sides, and 'never being allowed to remain stationary it has no opportunity to bend or buckle by its own weight, even if at first hot enough to do so. The lines of impingement upon the rollers are constantly changing, and at most occupy but a small portion of the under surface, so that the under side of the plate is for all practical purposes as much exposed to the cooling influences of the air as the upper side. The result is that the plate cools uniformly on all sides, and the tendency to warp, buckle, and set up internal strains is obviated. If the plate is not sufficiently cooled when the end of the table is rcachcd,the rollers may be reversed, and thus the plate be carried back and forth until sufficiently cooled. If the rolling is continued in the meanwhile, this reverse motion may be kept up until another plate comes from the rolls, and then the forward movement may be resumed to receive the new plate. Usually there are a number of plates on the table at a time, and there is asufficient intermission between the deliveries of the plates from the rolls to allow of considerable reverse travel, if necessary. In Fig. 3 I show a plate, 8, traveling over the table.

It is not necessary that the table d should connect with the feed-table c. It may be at another place and the plates be conveyed to it by any suitable means; nor is it necessary that it should lead to the shears; but the economy and convenience of such an arrangement is obvious.

Practical experience has demonstrated that my invention prevents buckling and warping and renders less trimming necessary.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method of cooling metal plates herein described, which consists in conveying them singly through the atmosphere upon moving surfaces, where they are exposed to the atmosphere on all sides and the points of support are constantly changing, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of April, A. D. 1887. HENRY AIKEN. \Vitnesses:

THOMAS E. KERR, W. B. OoRwIN.

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