Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Loop forming – By orbital guide
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-05
2002-06-18
Rivera, William A. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Loop forming
By orbital guide
C242S361400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06405958
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for minimizing the coil height of wire coils formed in a coil forming chamber, wherein individual wire windings are conveyed on a horizontal conveyor, the wire windings are allowed to drop at the end of the conveyor in an approximately vertically dropping movement, and the wire windings drop into the coil forming chamber so as to form the coil.
2. Description of the Related Art
In wire rolling mills, finish-rolled wire is placed by means of a winding layer in loops with defined diameters on a conveyor belt, the loops are conveyed on the conveyor belt and cooled as they are conveyed. At the end of the conveying distance, the wire windings are collected in a coil forming chamber and are placed into coils. When the windings drop into the coil forming chamber without any manipulation devices, such as gripping members, hooks, rotating devices for defining the placement positions of the windings, for example, rotating internal mandrels, coils are formed which have a height determined by the randomness of the placement, wherein the windings are placed essentially approximately centrically around an internal mandrel of the coil forming chamber.
The coil height of windings in a coil forming chamber can be decisively influenced by an ordered placement of the windings. This results in a more uniform coil formation than would be the case when the windings are allowed to drop freely into the coil forming chamber. Moreover, an ordered placement makes it possible to more easily uncoil the wire and leads to a higher stability of the wire coils.
EP 0 768 126 A1 discloses a method of minimizing the height of wire coils formed by successively collecting a plurality of wire windings in a coil forming chamber. It is the object of this known method to provide a possibility for minimizing the height of wire coils and for simultaneously achieving a packing of the wire windings in the wire coils which is as tight as possible.
For this purpose, the wire windings are subjected during their essentially vertical dropping movement to an additional horizontal centrifugal movement. The centrifugal movements acting on the individual wire windings produce the result that the wire windings are displaced outwardly to a greater diameter than the diameter determined by the inlet housing and, consequently, the wire windings are offset either relative to the inner circumference of the coil forming chamber or relative to each other. This produces in a simple manner in the coil forming chamber densely packed winding packets or wire coils whose height is reduced and which are inherently stable.
In an apparatus for carrying out this method, a wire winding conveying device is followed by a vertically aligned inlet housing for successive wire windings and by a coil forming chamber underneath the inlet housing. The apparatus is constructed essentially in such a way that an additional wire guiding housing is located in the vertical area located between the inlet housing and the coil forming chamber, wherein the wire guiding housing is driveable so as to move on a horizontal curved path extending around the vertical longitudinal axis of the inlet housing and the coil forming chamber.
DE AS 1 586 287 describes a device for collecting, pressing and tying wire windings which are conveyed in a spread-apart manner. The transfer of the wire windings collected in a ring from the collecting station to a pressing and tying device is such that the compact placement achieved during collection of the wire windings is not changed until tying. Moreover, the centering and guiding effect of the mandrel for the dropping wire windings is to be improved in order to prevent damage to the wire windings and to ensure a problem-free collecting of the wire windings. For this purpose, the mandrels are arranged in the known manner on a rotary table which can be swivelled about a vertical axis and the mandrels are displaceable together with their base plates in the direction of the mandrel axis. Means for minimizing the coil height of wire coils produced by collecting a plurality of wire windings in the coil forming chamber are not provided.
EP 0 583 099 B1 describes a device for receiving loops which drop from a vertical path of a discharge device, and for collecting the loops in a ring-shaped wire coil, with a device for horizontally distributing the loops as they drop downwardly.
The device includes means for defining a circular path which surrounds the vertical path. The device further includes a rotatable guide element with a curved guide surface with an upper edge which extends around a segment of the circular path from a front end toward a rearward end with a downwardly inclined edge, and which upper edge extends from the rearward edge to a lower end and with a guide edge at an angle from the lower end to the front end of a downwardly inclined edge, wherein the guide surface extends into the vertical path and is arranged in such a way that the guide surface comes into contact with the downwardly dropping loops and deflects the loops horizontally from the circular path. The device further includes means for driving the guide element about the circular path for distributing the deflected loops around the axis of the ring-shaped coil. The guide element is arranged centrally in the coil forming chamber. Other means for compacting the packed placement of the individual wire windings into a compact coil whose height is minimized are not part of the device.
EP 0 442 835 B1 discloses a method of forming coils of metal wire in which preshaped wire windings are allowed to drop into a chute which has an essentially cylindrical wall with a vertical axis, wherein the windings are placed on top of each other to form a coil. The method is used in connection with a metal wire which can be attracted by a magnet, wherein an attraction force directed in the direction toward the wall of the chute is exerted on the windings during the free fall of the windings. This force is produced by a rotating magnetic field which penetrates into the interior of the chute to a depth which is at least equal to the difference between the inner diameter of the chute and the diameter of the windings. The direction of the force is determined by rotary movements about the axis of the chute. The magnetic field is produced by electromagnets which are arranged distributed at equal distances around the circumference of the chute and which are cyclically supplied with direct current.
The method is relatively cumbersome and additionally dependent on the susceptibility of the respective wire material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, in view of the prior art discussed above, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for minimizing the coil height of wire coils produced by collecting a plurality of wire windings in a coil forming chamber, wherein it is simultaneously possible to realize a placement of the wire windings in the coil which is as tight as possible, and wherein this can be achieved with means which are as uncomplicated and variable as possible.
In accordance with the present invention, the method includes the steps of
placing the wire windings N
w
from their drop line eccentrically relative to the axis of symmetry of the coil forming chamber, and
adjusting an angle offset &Dgr;&phgr; between two successive windings in accordance with the number of wire windings which are placed per 360° in the coil forming chamber, wherein the adjustment is constant or variable, and wherein &Dgr;&phgr;=360°/N
w
.
Accordingly, in accordance with the placement principle of the present invention, the individual windings or winding packets are placed eccentrically with an angle offset relative to each other in the coil forming chamber. Eccentricity and angle offset can be varied for achieving an optimum coil and depend on the wire thickness and the dimensions of the coil forming chamber as well as the rolling speed of the wire or the
Behrens Holger
Grimmel Rüdiger
Hartung Hans-Georg
Keller Karl
Friedrich Kueffner
Rivera William A.
SMS Schloemann--Siemag Aktiengesellschaft
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