Metal deforming – With use of control means energized in response to activator... – Metal deforming by use of roller or roller-like tool element
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-22
2003-02-04
Tolan, Ed (Department: 3725)
Metal deforming
With use of control means energized in response to activator...
Metal deforming by use of roller or roller-like tool element
C072S011700, C072S365200, C700S154000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06513358
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL AREA
The invention is a control method and system for continuous and semi-continuous processes for the production of substantially long and flat sheet or strip of material such as copper, steel or aluminium. More particularly it is a method and system for flatness control for use in a rolling mill where strip is processed subsequent to a rolling operation.
BACKGROUND ART
In the rolling of strip and sheet materials it is common practice to roll a material to desired dimensions in a rolling mill stand and then feed the resulting strip to a coiler. In the coiler, the strip is wound up into a coil. Such coils are then taken off the coiler and after some time has elapsed moved on to subsequent processes such as annealing, slitting, or surface treatment processes and other processes. At the beginning of subsequent processing, the coil is unwound and the strip fed into the subsequent process.
The tension in the strip between a mill stand and a coiler is carefully monitored and it is known to measure tension distribution across a strip in order to regulate the flatness of the rolled material. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,194 Sivilotti and Carlsson disclose a strip flatness sensor. It comprises a measuring roll over which the strip passes between a mill stand and, for this example, a coiler. The measuring roll detects the pressure in a strip at several points across the width of the strip. The pressure represents a measure of the tension in the strip. The measurements of tension in the strip result in a map of flatness in each of several zones across the width of the strip. U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,957 discloses a strip or sheet mill in which tensile stress distribution is measured to characterise flatness. The measures of flatness are compared to a target flatness and a difference between measured flatness and target flatness is calculated, as a flatness error. The flatness error is fed back to a control unit of the mill stand, so as to regulate and control flatness in the strip in order to approach a zero flatness error.
Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,765 describes a method and apparatus for rolling strip in which a difference is computed between a strip evenness measured over the width of the strip, and a target evenness. Shape adjusting elements in the roll stands of a train of rolls are then operated such that the difference is minimised. The difference to target evenness is thus fed back or forward to other roll stands in the same train, or used in the same stand for a subsequent pass on the same strip in the case of a reversing stand. The method is said to produce an improvement of the surface evenness independently of the processes during cooling of the hot strip on the runout table and in the coil.
However, a problem arises during downstream or subsequent processing of the coiled strip. When the coiled strip is unwound and subsequently processed, it is often found that it does not have the same measurements of flatness as it had when it was measured before the strip was coiled up. This means that the strip does not have the same flatness after uncoiling as it had before coiling, introducing a flatness error into the strip product from a rolling mill.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to reduce flatness error in a strip. It is another object of the invention to reduce flatness error in a part of the length of a strip. It is a further object of the invention to reduce flatness error in a strip that is coiled after rolling. It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a method to measure error in flatness after coiling. Another object of the invention is to provide a flatness target for subsequent processes. Another further object of the invention is to provide a compensating factor with which flatness in both a rolling mill and subsequent processes may be improved.
The invention may be summarily described as a method in which flatness of a given strip after de-coiling is measured and compared to a second and length-dependent flatness target, Mill Flatness Target 2, and a second flatness error is determined which is used to adjust both the rolling of subsequent lengths of strip through a mill stand, and to control subsequent and downstream processes for the same given strip, as well as devices and a system for carrying out the method. By this means, an error in flatness at different positions along the length of a strip due to coiling may be detected and subsequently used to reduce or correct such errors.
The main advantage of the invention is that a strip of rolled material which is processed in subsequent processes after rolling may be produced to the required flatness with less error, and consequently less downgrading of product, scrap and waste.
Another advantage is that flatness error after de-coiling may be successively used to improve flatness of each production of strip rolled to the same strip specification. A further advantage is that the post rolling flatness measurements may be fed forward to subsequent downstream processes and used to provide improved flatness control during those processes.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5235835 (1993-08-01), Sakai et al.
patent: 5373545 (1994-12-01), Friedrich et al.
patent: 5960657 (1999-10-01), Anbe et al.
patent: 5987948 (1999-11-01), Neushutz et al.
patent: 6098060 (2000-08-01), Yuan et al.
patent: 3-266007 (1991-11-01), None
patent: 11-2511 (1999-01-01), None
Jonsson Lars
Meyer Klaus
ABB AB
Dykema Gossett PLLC
Tolan Ed
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