WO1982002506A1

WO1982002506A1 - Billet equipment

Info

Publication number: WO1982002506A1
Application number: PCT/GB1982/000023
Authority: WO
Inventors: Loewy Ltd Davy
Original assignee: Stubbins Derek; Woodcock Brian
Priority date: 1981-01-27
Filing date: 1982-01-27
Publication date: 1982-08-05
Also published as: GB2108455B; GB2108455A

Abstract

An installation for inspecting and dressing billets (13) issuing from a billet mill has a moving beam conveyor which includes dogs (17) for intermittently moving the billets along the conveyor path. That path passes through four stations at each of which there is an inspection/dressing location (21) consisting of a walkway above the conveyor. A lifting mechanism (23) at each station lifts a single billet off the conveyor and presents one face of the billet to an operator on the walkway for inspection and dressing. The billet is then returned to the conveyor, turned over by a turnover mechanism (25), and moved to the next station for similar treatment of the next billet face. On leaving the final station, the billet has been inspected and dressed on all four faces.

Description

BILLET EQUIPMENT

This invention relates to billet equipment for use in the inspection and/or dressing of billets.

Billets from a billet mill are manually inspected and dressed, i.e. treated for surface defects. The normal practice is for the billets to be moved on a moving beam conveyor to the inspection location, the billets lying with their lengths transverse to the conveying movement and spaced apart in the direction of that movement; the conveyor is stopped and an operative or operatives walks or walk along the length of the billet at the inspection location and inspects and dresses all four faces of that billet. The operative must then move out of the confines of the conveyor before the latter can be moved to bring the next billet to the inspection location. That practice is not only dangerous in that premature start up of the conveyor can result in injury to the operative, but is time consuming and may limit the output rate of the billet mill.

In the present invention, the billets are moved beneath an inspection and/or dressing location at which an operative or operatives are stationed and each billet in turn is raised from the conveyor to the location. There is then no possibility of danger to the operative during the conveyor movement and no time is lost in having the operative mount on to and dismount from the conveyor. Thus, according to the present invention a billet inspection and/or dressing station comprises at least one station which includes a manual inspection and/or dressing location; a conveyor for moving billets in succession along a prescribed path passing through the station or stations below the level of the location or locations; and, at the station or at each station, a lifting mechanism for lifting a billet from the conveyor to the inspection and/or dressing station thereat.

Where there are a number of stations, there are preferably means for turning over each billet between the locations of successive stations so as to present a fresh face for inspection at each location. Thus, there may be four stations, each for inspecting and/or dressing a different billet face, and the turn over means are constructed to turn each billet from one face to the next successive face between the locations of successive stations.

The invention will be more readily understood by way of example from the following description of a billet inspection and/or dressing installation in accordance therewith. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the equipment, Figure 2 shows in side view and in greater detail the mechanism for moving the billets and the turnover mechanism, and Figures 3 to 6 illustrate the operation of a turnover mechanism.

The equipment includes a beam conveyor comprising a number of fixed beams 12, which are spaced apart transversely to the direction of movement of billets 13 on the conveyor, and a number of oscillating beams 14 lying between the fixed beams 12 and mounted on rollers 15 to enable them to move in the direction of their length relative to the fixed beams 12. The oscillating beams 14 are moved to and fro on the rollers 15 by a swinging arm 16 which is reciprocated through a fixed stroke by means not shown.

The oscillating beams 14 carry ducking dogs 17 at intervals along their lengths, the spacing between successive dogs being equal to the throw of the oscillating beams 14. Thus, on each reciprocation of the swinging arm 16, all the billets 13 are slid along the fixed beams 12 through a fixed distance during the forward (left to right) movement of the beams 14. During the return movement of billets 13 themselves are brought to the installation on an entry table indicated generally at 18 and transferred from the entry table to the beam conveyor by unloading arms 20, which lift each billet 13 from the table 18 and deposit it on the beam conveyor.

The billets 13 are thus traversed along a fixed path, which passes through four separate stations, at each of which there is a walkway 21A - 21D above and bridging the beam conveyor and extending transversely of the direction of movement of that conveyor. Upstream of each walkway 21 there is a billet lift 22 consisting of a number of vertical rams 23 located between the beams 12, 14 and arranged to be raised and lowered together by means of a rack and pinion mechanism 24.

Downstream of each of the first three of the stations is a billet turnover mechanism indicated generally at 25. Each turnover mechanism consists of a number of dogs 26 aligned at right angles to the beams 12. Each dog is pivoted in a fixed mounting 29 about a pin 27 which is at right angles to the beams 12, and is gravity biased into the position shown in Figure 3 by a downwardly extending tail 28. Each dog has a rectangular cut-out 30 which in the rest position of the dog faces the oncoming billet and which is adapted to receive a corner of a billet 13. In normal conditions, the dog is as shown in Figure 2, with the faces of the cut-out 30 extending horizontally below the level of the beams 12 and vertically upwardly beyond that level. As a billet 13 is advanced by the dogs 17, the billet first engages the vertical face of the cut-out 30 (Figure 3) of each dog and then, with further movement, causes the dogs to turn progessively about their axes 27. At the same time, as illustrated in Figures 4 to 6, the billet 13 itself is turned and is redeposited on the beams 12 in an attitude displaced by 90° from its original attitude. The billet proceeds from the turnover mechanism with a different face uppermost. As soon as dogs 26 are released by the billet, they swing back under gravity bias. The arrangement of the cut-out 30 and the pivot pin 27 of each dog is such that each billet is turned over without losing contact with the surface of the beams 12 , i. e. the bi llet is simply rotated about one edge, rather than being lifted, turned and redeposited on the beams 12; for this purpose the arc through which the corner of the cut-out 30 moves is arranged to lie entirely below the surface of the beams 12 on which the b i l l e t s m o v e . The operation of the installation is as follows :-

The s eparation between succes sive billet lifting mechanisms 22 is equal to two throws of the moving beams 14, and hence of the drive dogs 17. Each billet 13 , after having been deposited by the unloading arm 20 is brought by the dogs to a position, indicated at 13A, immediately above the first lifting mechanism 22A. That mechanism is operated to elevate the billet to the position shown in chain-line at 13B , where it can be inspected by an operator on the walkway 21A. The operator then inspects the uppermost surface of the billet and s carfs that face as neces sary. If the bi l l et s are so long that the time taken f or a s ing le operator to inspect and dres s the billet face exceeds the norma l interval between the arrival of bi l l ets , two operators may work on each walkway. After the billet has been inspected and dressed, the operator presses a button, causing the mechanism 22 to lower the billet back on to the beams 12, and is advanced by the dogs 1 7. In the first throw of the moving beams 14 after the bill et is returned to the beam conveyor the billet passes through the turning mechanism 25 to bring a new face uppermost. In the next throw, the billet arrives at a position above the lifting mechanism 22B and is rais ed, inspected, dressed and returned at the second station. In a s imilar manner, the billet moves through the third and fourth stations, the third and fourth faces of the billet being s imilarly treated at each. Lastly, the billet is deposited on to an exit table 31 for removal. At any one time, different faces of four successive billets are being inspected and rectified at the four stations, each billet leaving the first station having been treated on one face only, each leaving the second station having been treated on two faces, and each leaving the fourth and last station having been treated on all four faces. Only when the buttons at all four stations have been pressed, and the billets at all those stations lowered back on to the conveyor, is the conveyor reactivated to move the billets on to the next stations.

Claims

1. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation comprising: at least one station which includes a manual inspection and/or dressing location (21A - 21D); a conveyor (12, 14) for moving billets in succession along a prescribed path pasing through the station or stations below the level of the location or locations; and, at the station or at each station, a lifting mechanism (22) for lifting a billet from the coveyor to the inspection and/or dressing station thereat.

2. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation according to claim 1, in which there are a number of stations and there are means (25) for turning over each billet between the locations of successive stations.

3. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation according to claim 2, in which the billets have rectangular sections, there are four stations each for inspection and/or dressing a different billet face, and the turn over means (25) are constructed to turn each billet from one face to the next successive face between the locations of successive stations.

4. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the conveyor (12, 14) is a moving beam conveyor for moving billets thereon intermittently along the conveyor path.

5. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the conveyor (12, 14) is arranged to move the billets with their lengths transverse to the path, and the turn over means comprise a plurality of turn-over mechanisms (25) of which one is located between each station and the succeeding station and each comprises at least one dog (26) located in the conveyor path, but pivoted about an axis (27) below the path, and with a rebate (30) designed. to receive a billet (13), the dog being biased towards a given position in which the rebate is located to receive the billet, and the pivot axis being so situated relative to the path of movement that further movement of the article along the path results in pivoting of the dog and the depositing of the article with a new face uppermost.

6. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation according to claim 5, in which the pivot axis is so located that the article (13) is not raised out of contact with the conveyor (12, 14) but is caused to turn about one corner.

7. A billet inspection and/or dressing installation according to claim 5 or claim 6, in which the conveyor (12, 14) is a moving beam conveyor having a plurality of reciprocating beams (14) and a plurality of stationary beams (12) and in which each turn-over mechanism (25) comprises a plurality of the dogs (26), which are aligned transversely to the direction of movement of the conveyor.