ES2686371T3 - Horizontal band accumulator with thin band support trolleys and passive central hitch system - Google Patents

Abstract

A horizontal band accumulator installation (1) in a continuous band processing line, comprising a winding carriage that moves on a pair of external rails (5) that increases or decreases the belt turns to maintain a speed of constant belt in a processing section, while an adjacent processing section runs for a certain time at a different speed, with several belt support carriages (2), each comprising a vertical frame (3) arranged on two wheels ( 4) that move on the same external rails (5), with cross members (7) and support rollers (6) located transversely with respect to the vertical frame (3) to support the strip (10) between the winding carriage and a belt feeding location, characterized in that the vertical frame (3) is connected on each side of the belt to inclined supports (8) provided with rollers with guiding cam (12) that move in res pective profiles or guide beams (9) located under the rails (5), in order to guide the band support carriage (2) on the external rails (5) in an anti-tipping manner.

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Horizontal band accumulator with thin band support trolleys and passive central hitch system Field of the invention

The present invention pertains to the technical field of horizontal band accumulators with band support carts, which can be mounted on a flat base.

In addition, the invention relates to belt support carriages with a slim design and roll-over system, as well as a passive central hitching and disengagement system of the band support carriages placed in dedicated locations with a maintenance system in these locations when They disengage.

The present invention is intended to be used in continuous web processing lines such as pickling, continuous grinding, PLTCM, continuous annealing, galvanizing, tin plating, color coating, anodizing, polishing, .. Lines for the metal industry. There are also possible applications in continuous processing lines for the production of plastic or fabrics.

Previous technological and technical background

Horizontal belt accumulators with band support carts are increasingly requested due to their reliability compared to accumulators with roller gates and the fact that they do not affect the belt, even in adverse conditions.

Accumulators such as those used in the context of the present invention comprise several parts: on one side fixed rollers, which feed and recover the belt in the accumulator, on the other side an accumulator car that is driven on rails. The accumulator car generates the turns for the accumulation of the band. The forward direction is normally specified when the car increases the band turns. The recoil movement occurs while the turns decrease. The force necessary to increase belt turns is normally transmitted by a winch, rope and pulley system attached to the accumulator car. The recoil movement is performed by the tensioning force of the band, compensated accordingly by the winch.

The band accumulator car is followed by several band support carriages, which will limit the buckling of the band to prevent the band branches from rubbing against each other. The band support carriages are hooked to the accumulator carriage and to each other, when the accumulator is in its minimum band filling. These band support carriages must be distributed at a required interdistance over the length of the accumulator to fulfill their desired function, when the accumulator is filled with the band. The band support carriages are collected by means of the winding carriage and are hooked to it or to the support carriage already attached thereto, when the winding decreases.

Typical prior art designs use an accumulator car and a system to locate the band support carriages in different ways:

- individual electric drives for each car that needs a considerable amount of cable chains (EP 388708 A1), or an electrified rail and carriage arm or machining (DE 10104093 A1), or a linear motor (DE 3925193 A1);

- a drive with rope (EP 110864 A1) or toothed belt (CN 1158765 A) to always have the same distance between the carriages, requiring a very long toothed belt / rope and a special pulley / pinion system;

- a passive coupling and locking system with dampers to stop the cars, when they reach their respective dedicated locations (FR 2 698 803 A1).

Most of these systems use four-wheeled support cars to overcome the danger of tipping over, which requires the reservation of a certain space, reducing the capacity of the accumulator to the same extent. Several attempts have been made to reduce this disadvantage:

- provide an elastic system (such as springs), which allow one carriage shaft to be pulled very close to the next, when the support band carriages are pushed together (JP H03 91118 U);

- have two pairs of rails that allow the telescoping of the cars when pushed together (DE 102004042595 A1, DE 3925193 A1), but it is not foreseen that the support carriages can be introduced into the accumulator car;

- have a central "I" profile to allow telescoping of an open triangular base of the carriages (Chinese design patent ZL201120051403.0).

The possible danger of preventing the car from overturning is sometimes considered in known designs:

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- using rails that allow hooks that go under the rail to prevent the wheels from getting out of it. But this simple system generates a braking effect, when the car makes a tilt movement (CN 201665446 U);

- placing the rails at medium height, which reduces the tipping moment, but does not allow mounting on a flat base without a special support structure for the rails and does not eliminate the danger of tipping over (FR 2 698 803 A1) ;

- using cam rollers running inside an open central profile in "H" or "I", connected to the carriage (Chinese design patent ZL201120051403.0). This solution has the disadvantage that the branch of the lower band is high due to the connecting elements between the carriage and the cam rollers.

The coupling and disengagement system is more crucial for a system without a suitable band support carriage drive:

- The most common hitching system is used by train tracks, but it needs manual actions to engage, as well as, to unhook. It has the great advantage that towing efforts are applied on the carriage shaft;

- there are several coupling systems, which need at least one operation, regardless of engaging or disengaging, an active system (electric, hydraulic / pneumatic or manual force or combination) (DE 2425181 A1, US 791,445 A);

- the automatic coupling system (decoupling by cam or manual action) described in DE 2425181 A1 is provided with horizontal hooks and return springs.

A completely passive system is used in the horizontal belt accumulator (FR 2 698 803 A1) that uses a hook and cam system with complicated locking / unlocking, but is not applied in the center of the car, which requires special precautions, especially for guiding the car on the rail and for fixing the rail.

EP 2 468 428 A1 refers to a horizontal belt accumulator in a continuous processing belt line, comprising a winding carriage that travels on a pair of external rails and several adjacent supporting roller carriages that move on the same external rails to support the band between the winding carriage and a belt feeding location, where the band support carriages have a horizontal triangular bottom and a vertical frame, the triangular bottom having a transverse base open opposite a vertex, to allow telescoping of the band support carriages in the internal triangular space between the open base and the other two triangular sides that are rejoined at the opposite vertex.

Objectives of the invention

The present invention aims to avoid the drawbacks of the prior art. In particular, the invention pursues the following objectives:

- design a band support car, which only reduces the theoretical capacity of the accumulator by the presence of these cars to a minimum possible;

- allow mounting on a flat base with the lowest band branch as low as possible without adverse effects;

- use a passive system of coupling and disengagement in specific locations, which is in the center of the cars to avoid unwanted efforts on the rails.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to an installation of a horizontal belt accumulator in a continuous band processing line, comprising a winding carriage that travels on a pair of external rails that increase or decrease the band turns to maintain a speed constant band in a processing section, while the adjacent processing section runs for a certain time at a different speed, with several band support carriages, each comprising a vertical frame arranged on two wheels that move on the same external rails, which have crossbars and support rollers located transversely with respect to the vertical frame to support the band between the winding carriage and a belt feeding location, characterized in that the vertical frame is connected to each side of the belt to inclined supports provided with rollers with guiding cam that move in respective guiding profiles or beams located under the rails, so that the band support carriage is guided on the external rails in a roll-over manner.

In accordance with the preferred embodiments, the installation of the invention also includes one or more of the following features:

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- Guiding profiles or beams are "C", "H", "I" or "U" profiles;

- the lower crossbar of the frame is provided in its center with a fixed hook on the back side and with a clip, which can be raised and lowered thanks to a joint, on the front side, or vice versa, to automatically engage the band support carriage to the next or to the winding carriage when it is close enough to it;

- the fixed hook is provided internally with a hook opening capable of accommodating the clip of the next band support carriage;

- the hook is provided externally with an inclined part capable of raising the clip until it falls into the opening of the hook for hooking;

- the clip is mounted so that it cannot be lowered below the lower end of the inclined part;

- the installation further comprises a stationary release cam system, the centrally provided clip being provided with a crossbar of the clip, which is wider than the bandwidth and narrower than the inner part of the frame, each end of the crossbar of the clip with a cam roller so that the stationary release cam system can automatically disengage the band support carriage from a next one or from the winding carriage by raising the cam roller;

- the stationary disengagement cam system is provided with a suitable inclination to disengage a band support carriage from a next one or from the winding carriage when the cam roller attached to the crossbar of the clip travels over the slope of the stationary release cam system, the latter being provided with a return stop that cooperates with a corresponding ratchet in the crossbar to prevent any recoil movement except from said disengaged band support carriage;

- the height of each crossbar of the car clip with cam and ratchet roller and its corresponding release cam system with its return stop is arranged so that the release and return stop function only for a carriage support specific band, while the other support cars still engaged are not affected;

- each band support carriage is designed to be stopped gently by one or more shock absorbers in its forward movement at the moment of disengagement at its specific location, the latter being defined by one or more damping stops that cooperate with the respective shock absorbers;

- the shock absorbers are indistinctly in the support carriage or in a fixed post and the stops are in a fixed post or in the support carriage respectively, and are arranged so that only the newly disengaged band support carriage stops ;

- the shock absorbers and the corresponding stops for different support carriages are arranged at different respective heights;

- additional shock absorbers are fixed on at least one crossbar on the front or rear side respectively of each band support carriage and on the rear side of the winding carriage to soften the contact and the acceleration of recoil between the train constituted by the accumulator carriage and / or hooked band support carriages that move backward to collect and engage the stopped band support carriages in their dedicated locations;

- the belt support rollers are attached directly to the vertical frame or in particular crossbars;

- the rollers with guide cam are also provided to the vertical frame at least close to one wheel, to guide each band support carriage laterally to each side of the rail.

Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 represents an elevation view of the band support carriages according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 represents a cross-sectional front view of the band support carriages according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 represents a detailed elevational view of the engagement / disengagement system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 represents a plan view of the engagement / disengagement system in accordance with the present invention.

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Detailed description of the invention and preferred embodiments thereof

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention (FIG. 1 and 2), the horizontal accumulator 1 comprises band support carriages 2 which specifically consist of a vertical frame 3 arranged on two wheels 4 that move on them rails 5 than the accumulator winding car (the latter not shown). These frames 3 are equipped with the necessary belt support rollers 6. The crossbars 7 of the frame 3 are located where they do not obstruct the web roll 10.

The forward movement of the winding carriage, corresponding to the increase in belt turns, defines the sides of the carriages. The front side of the carriage corresponds to the side turned towards the direction of the forward movement or increase of the turns. The rear side of the carriage corresponds to the side turned in the direction of the backward movement or reduction of turns.

The supports 8 are fixed at an angle given to the vertical frame 3 on each side. These supports 8 are equipped with cam rollers 12 that move in an open profile 9, which has, for example, a shape of the type "C", "H", "I" or "U", which is located below the rails 5, to obtain a guidance and roll-over system 11 of the frame 3. These supports 8 can be on both the inner and outer sides of the frame 3, according to the design requirements.

Rollers with guide cam 12 are also provided to the vertical frame 3 to guide each band support carriage 2 laterally to each side of the rail 5 near a wheel 4.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment (FIG. 3 and 4), the lower cross member 7 of the frame 3 has, at its center, a fixed hook 13 on one side, and a clip 14 on the other side, being the latter able to go up and down thanks to a joint. This clip 14 cannot be lowered below the lower end of an external slope 15 of the adjacent hook 13, allowing an automatic engagement to the next band carriage 2 or to the accumulator carriage, when approaching it. The clip 14 is then raised by progressively sliding on the slope 15 of the hook 13 until it falls into the opening of the hook 16.

The clip 14 is equipped with a cross member 17, which is wider than the band 10, but smaller than the inside of the frame 3 (FIG. 2). In dedicated stationary locations, a disengagement cam system 18 under the crossbar 7 of the lower carriage lifts a roller with cam displacement from the clip 20 thanks to a slope 19, when this cam roller 20 moves on the latter, which results in the desired release of carriage 2 (FIG. 3). The clip 14 and its crossbar 17 are in a lower position than when engaged, when they move backward after disengagement. This effect is used to provide a cooperating ratchet 24 and the return stop 21 of a support carriage lock that prevents its possible backward movement. When the clip 14 is raised to engage, as described above, the ratchet 24 on the cross member 17 is higher than the return stop 21 and a recoil offset is possible.

The height of the cam roller 20 located on the crossbar 17 and the release and recoil stop system 18 and 21 must be arranged in such a way that they work only for the dedicated band support carriage 2, while the other carriages support, still hooked, are not affected. This can also be achieved by varying the width of the different crossbars.

Even in accordance with a preferred embodiment, a shock absorber 22 is provided to stop the forward movement of each band support carriage 2 at the moment when the latter is disengaged at its specific location. The shock absorbers 22 and their respective shock absorbers 23 are arranged so that only the disengaged band support carriage 2 stops, for example, arranged at different heights. Other shock absorbers 22 located this time on the crossbar of the band support car soften the contact and the acceleration of recoil between the train constituted by the accumulator car and / or the attached band support carriages that move back to collect and hook the band support carriage in its desired location.

The belt support rollers 6 are fixed to the frame 3 interchangeably in their vertical parts or on particular roller crossbars, if different rollers are used over the width.

Advantages

The present invention shows the following advantages.

A first advantage of this band support system is the minimum space required to accommodate the band support carts, while the latter still fulfill their required functions. No additional transmission or drive system is necessary for them. Another advantage is that the use of a rail attached to an open profile is beneficial for the rail joining system and does not affect the total height of the accumulator.

In case the accumulator has to be mounted on a steel structure, the beams under the rails can be used for the guidance and roll-over system.

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The simple system of disengagement, blocking and engagement according to the present invention is completely mechanical and automatic, without the need for external energy, which means that it is passive. It has the great advantage of staying in the center of the car avoiding unwanted efforts or moments in the system, which require special devices to overcome or prevent mechanical problems. This allows the use of open or similar U-profiles for the support carriage frame, which results in lighter support carriages.

However, the following disadvantages must also be expected.

A first disadvantage is that two additional extra profiles are needed under the rails, but it also has a beneficial compensation effect since there will be less fixations on the ground than with the usual rail arrangement.

The supports with its cam roller system favorably replace the second pair of wheels requested by the prior art solutions, but make the system a bit wider.

List of reference symbols

1 horizontal accumulator

2 band support carriage

3 vertical frame

4 wheel

5 rail

6 support roller

7 crossbar

8 support

9 guidance profile

10 band roll

11 roll system

12 roller with guide cam

13 hook

14 clip

15 hook earring

16 hook opening

17 clip crossbar

18 release cam system

19 pending release cam system

20 clip cam roller

21 kickback

22 shock absorber

23 buffer stop

24 clip crossbar ratchet

25 lower belt support roller

Claims (14)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 40 Four. Five fifty 55 1. A horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) in a continuous band processing line, comprising a winding carriage that travels on a pair of external rails (5) that increases or decreases the band turns to maintain a constant band speed in a processing section, while an adjacent processing section runs for a certain time at a different speed, with several band support carriages (2), each comprising a vertical frame (3) arranged on two wheels (4) that move on the same external rails (5), with crossbars (7) and support rollers (6) located transversely with respect to the vertical frame (3) to support the band (10) between the winding carriage and a belt feeding location, characterized in that the vertical frame (3) is connected on each side of the band to inclined supports (8) provided with rollers with a guide cam (12) which is detached they link in respective profiles or guide beams (9) located below the rails (5), in order to guide the band support carriage (2) over the external rails (5) in a roll-over manner. 2. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the guiding profiles or beams (9) are profiles in "C", "H", "I" or " OR". 3. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the lower cross member (7) of the frame (3) is provided at its center with a fixed hook (13) on the rear side and with a clip (14), which can be raised and lowered thanks to a joint, on the front side, or vice versa, to automatically hook the band support carriage (2) to a next one or to the winding carriage when it is close enough to it. 4. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 3, characterized in that the fixed hook (13) is internally provided with a hook opening (16) capable of accommodating the clip (14) of the next carriage band support (2). 5. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 3, characterized in that the hook (13) is externally provided with an inclined part (15) capable of raising the clip (14) until it falls into the opening of the hook (16) to hook. 6. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 5, characterized in that the clip (14) is mounted so that it cannot descend below the lower end of the inclined part (15). 7. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 3, characterized in that it further comprises a stationary release cam system (18), the clip (14) centrally provided with a crossbar of the clip being provided (17), which is wider than the width of the band and narrower than the inside of the frame (3), each end of the clip cross member (17) being provided with a cam roller (20) so that The stationary disengagement cam system (18) can automatically disengage the following band support carriage (2) or the winding carriage by lifting the cam roller (20). 8. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 7, characterized in that the stationary disengagement cam system (18) is provided with a slope (19) suitable for unhooking a band support carriage ( 2) of a next one or of the winding carriage when the cam roller (20) attached to the crossbar of the clip (17) moves on the slope (19) of the stationary disengagement cam system (18), the latter being provided of a return stop (21) cooperating with a corresponding ratchet (24) in the crossbar (17) to prevent any recoil movement except for said unattached band support carriage (2). 9. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 8, characterized in that the height of each carriage crossbar (17) with cam roller (20) and ratchet (24) and its corresponding release cam system (18) with its return stop (21) is arranged so that the release and return stop work only for a particular band support carriage (2), while the other carriages of Support still hooked are not affected. 10. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that each band support carriage (2) is designed to be stopped softly by one or more shock absorbers (22) in its movement of advance at the moment of disengagement in its specific location, the latter being defined by one or more buffer stops (23) that cooperate with the respective shock absorbers (22). 11. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 10, characterized in that the shock absorbers (22) are interchangeably in the support carriage or in a fixed post and the stops (23) are in a post fixed or in the support carriage respectively, and are arranged so that only the newly disengaged band support carriage (2) stops. 12. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 11, characterized in that the shock absorbers (22) and the corresponding stops (23) for different support carriages are arranged at different respective heights. 13. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that 5 additional shock absorbers (22) are fixed on at least one cross member (7) on the front or rear side respectively of each band support carriage (2) and on the rear side of the winding carriage to soften the contact and the acceleration of recoil between the train constituted by the accumulator carriage and / or the band support carriages (2) engaged that move back to pick up and hook the band support carts (2) stopped at their dedicated locations The installation of horizontal belt accumulator (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the band support rollers (6) are attached directly to the vertical frame (3) or in particular crossbars (7). 15. The horizontal belt accumulator installation (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the rollers with guide cam (12) are also provided to the vertical frame (3) at least close to a wheel (4), for guide each band support carriage (2) laterally to each side of the rail (5). fifteen