US2484347A - Fluid operated strip guide - Google Patents

Description

L. IVERSEN FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE Oct. ll, 1949.

7 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 22, 1946 INVENTOR Lorenz /f/e/s en oct. 11, 1949. L. NERSE.; 2,484,347

FLUID OPERATED xSTRIP GUIDE ATTORNEYS v Oct. ll1, 1949. NERSEN 2,484,347

FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE Filed May 22, 1946 7 sheets-sheet 4 'lNvENTok Ore/72 /ve/sen L. IVERSEN FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE oct. 11, 1949.

Filed May/ 22, 194e 7 Sheets-Sheet 5- mw m @W W1 mm. 0 Y B am .I

ATTORNEY j FLUID OPERA'IED STRIP GUIDE A' Filed lay 22, 1946 'r sheets-sheet 6 INVENTOR 4 ore/72 /I/e/Sen Zik-(97% ATTORNEYS Oct. 11, 1949. l.. lvERsEN FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed May 22, 1946 ore/72 /versen v Patented Oct. l1, 1949;

FLUID PERATED STRIP GUIDE Lorenz Iversen, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Mesta Machine Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation oi' Pennsylvania Application May 22, 1946, Serial N0. 671,562

This invention relates to strip guides to be used, for example, in guiding hot metal strip to a coller.

Paul Patent No. 2,111,054, dated Merch 15,

7 Claims. (Cl. 271-25) General arrangement and function See particularly Figure 1. Figure 1 diagrammatically illustrates a coller I of conventional type, such as that illustrated 1938, discloses strip guides for use with a coiler, in- Figure 1 of the paul Patent No. 2,111,054 A these guides being Simultaneously adlustable t0- metei strip s to be coiied treveis to the coiier in ward or away from one another so as to'accomthe direction of the. arrow. Strip guides 2 and 3 modate different Widths 0f str1? and heme also are provided one on each side of the strip path. Simultaneously mevnble toward and away from In Figure 1 these guides are shown positioned one another in any adjusted POSI'GIOH S0 as t0 10 equidistent from the center iine CL of the strip provide an open setting and a closed setting. My path and the coller. invention is an improvement Over the Paul Provision is made for "setting" the strip guides Patent 2 and 3; i. e., adjusting their spacing to accom- A common difficulty experienced with het c011- modete strips of diner-ent widths. The setting of ers isl the tendency of the strip to te1escop e in l5 the guides ls manually controlled, the toil; that iS t0 Say the ends 0f the e011 m' Provision is further made for actuating the stead of being plane are concave and convex. guides; i. e., moving their toward and away from .'l'eles'eoped Coils are incmvenlent 01' difficult, to one another in any set adjustment. This is done handle in Subsequent PlOeeSSlngr' and bettel'mg so that the guides may be spaced apart as the of the strip edges with consequent loss frequently 2o leading end passes to the coller, and then moved results. toward one another to provide a spacing only I attribute the defect 0f teleSeODlng Pl'melpelly slightly greater than the strip width so as to guide to the presence of a Smell amount 0f eemberf 1n it properly. The actuation ofy the guides is stripthe hot rolled strip. By eember I mean e Sheh' controlled and is automatic.

curvature of the strip in its own plane, so that if provision is also made for "glsel-,tll-lg th a long Strip were out nat centrer line guides; i' e" positioning them asymmetricauy would not be Straight but Would be eul'ved- Cemwith respect to the center line CL. This adjustber may result from e Slight Over'rolhng 0f the ment is manually controlled and will be made by Stllp 0n 0ne Side Even a. Very Sme/ll meunt 0f the operator according to his visual observation camber is likely to result m teleseeped 6911eof the coils being produced. The offsetting of My inVennOn makes 1t POSSlble te ellmlnete the guides does not aiect their spacing, nor does teleeeeped G0115' and apart from thls 1t proVldeS it affect their actuation. It does laterally shift an improved en d highly Satisfeetory guide Sethe mid-point between the guides and hence the tuig and actuating mechanism mid-point of the strip as it is presented to the Y In the accompanying drawings illustrating a cogen present preferred embodiment of the invention, Guide settingQ-The guides 2 and 3 are lfigure 1 iS e diagram illustrating the Side mounted on piston rods 4 having pistons 5 workguides and the several controls therefor; lng in fluid cylinders 5 and 1 respectively Move- Figure 2 is a longitudinal Vertlcel Sectlon ment of the guides toward one another is effected thlOugh the entering guide meehenisln df the by compressed "air operating back of the pistons 0011er; 5. The compressed air is supplied through pipes Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line of 3 and 9 branching from a supply pipe |0 extend- III-.III 0f Flgure 2; ing from a manually operated three-way control Flgure 4 is a' tralcsverse sectlon on the Ime of valve Il. When the valve is in the position IV-IV me 1 ,i u b k 45 shown in Figure 1, the valve Il providesa pres- Figure 1S a' p p an v ew' par yf ro en sure communication to the pipe I0 from a presaway, showing the mechanism of Figure 2, |21 di f 1 n I3 th h Figure 6 is a top plan view of the main guide sure plpe ea ng rom a' upr. y ne mug actuating mechanism; y a pressure reducing and a dJusting valve I4. .The Figure 7 is a vertical section partly in elewfv 50 valve I4 .functions to maintain a predetermined tion, on the line of VII-VII ofeFigure 6; Pressure 1n the p1pe I2. l

Figure 8 is a vertical section, partly in eleva. While air pressure is used to bias the guides 2 tion, on the line of VIII-VIH of Figure 6; and and 3 toward one another, a. liquid, such as oil, Figure 9 isa, vertical section on the line 1X1X is used to limit the amount of movement of the of Figure 6. so guides toward one another and to effect moveescasa 3 ment in the opposite direction. The inner ends of the cylinders 8-and 'I are accordingly filled with oil and are connected by oil pipes I and I8 respectively to a guide setting mechanism indicated generally by the reference character I1. l,

This mechanism comprises two cylinders I8 and I9 of diierent diameters and a stepped plunger therein. The pipe I5 is connected to the top of the cylinder I8 and the pipe I8 to the top of the cylinder I8. In Figure l the plunger 20 is shown in its uppermost position and the guides 2 and. 3 at their maximum opening. Neglecting the effect of the other mechanism for the moment and assuming the inner ends of the cylinders 8 and 1 and the pipes I5 and I8 full of oil, it will be seen that despite the pressure of the air on the rear ends oi the pistons 5, the guides cannot move inwardly, the oil being incompressible. I! now the stepped plunger 28 is lowered somewhat, an annular space ,will be provided in the upper end of the cylinder I8 by reason of the fact that the portion 29a of the plunger 20 will now-be spaced from -the top of the cylinder and the portion 28h which is of smaller diameter will be extending into the cylinder I8. 'This per,-

mits a corresponding quantity of oil to now through the pipe I5. Air under pressure in the pipe 8 will then causethe guide 2 to move inwardly a distance corresponding to the volume of oil which flows out of the cylinder 6 to ll the annulus at the top of the cylinder I8.

A corresponding movement of the guide 3 is effected simultaneously by flow of oil through the pipe I8 into the top of the cylinder I 9, the uppermost portion 20c of the stepped plunger 20 being. g;

of such diameter relative to the portions 20a and 28h as to insure that the oil-receiving annulus at the top of the cylinder I9 is ofthe same volume as that at the top of the cylinder I8.

It follows that the guides 2 and 3 may be set to any desired spacing by 'adjusting the vertical position of the plunger 20 and that vertical adjustment of the plunger 20 will cause equal adjustment of the guides.

The adjustment of the plunger 20 is controlled by the inilow or outflow of oil below the portion 20a of the plunger 28. The source of oil is a supply tank 2|. A pipe 22, having a manually operated control valve 23 therein, connects the bottom of the tank 2| with the bottom of the cylinder I8. A cross connection 24, having a 4 the guides to their maximum setting. Oil will also ilow through the check valves '2l and 88 it the lines they feed are not wholly illled.

check valve 25 therein, is provided to bypass the I valve 23. This check valve permits ow of oil to the cylinder I 8 but prevents back-How.

The tank 2l is connected at its top by a branch pipe 26 to the reducing valve I4 so that the same pressure is maintained on top of the oil in the tank 2l as ls maintained in the air pipe I2. The tank 2I is further provided with a sight glass 21 so that the amount of oil can readily be observed. Oil may be added or withdrawn through' a valved connection at the bottom of the tank, as shown.

A branch pipe 28 leads from the oil pipe 22 through check valves 29 and 30 and thence through pipes 3| and 32 respectively, cnnecting with the pipes I5 and I8 respectively. The check valves are used f or illling the system. They permit the ilw of'oil into the pipes I5 and I 6 but prevent back-flow.

'Ihe valve II has a relief port 33 whereby Ithe air pipes 8, 9, and III may be vented to the atmosphere by turning the valve. If the pipes be thus vented, oil willilow into the bottom of the cylinder I8 through the check valve 25 and will raise the plunger 20 to its uppermost position and separate It, now, the valve II is returned to its normal illustrated position, a biasing pressure will be provided behind the pistons 5, but it will not be effective because the inner ends of the cylinder 5 and 1 and the pipes I5 and I8 will be completely iilled with oil. Ii the valve 23 is now opened, the plunger 28 will commence to move downwardly. This movement will be due to two causes: First, while the air pressure in the pipes 8 and 9 will be the same as the oil pressure in the pipe 22, the eiective area of the pistons 5 upon which the air acts is materially greater than the effective area upon which the oil acts (due to the diameter of the piston rods); second. the plunger 20 is very heavy. By manipulating the valve 23, the operator can thus elect the desired initial setting of the guides.

An indicator 34 is secured to the top of the plunger 20 and coacts with a gauge 35 to indicate the guide setting.

' Guide actuating.-The pipes I5 and I8 are connected to branch pipes 36 and 31 respectively,

centric 4I is carried on a shaft 42 carrying a y worm wheel 43 meshing with a worm 44 on the shaft of a motor 45. The motor 45 is supplied with current from` power lines 46 leading to a control indicated diagrammatically at 41. A pair of wires 48 extend from the control 41 to a flag switch 49 in the path of the oncoming strip S.

The mechanism in the control 41, whose electrical-details form `no part of the present invention, serves to actuate the motor 45 so as to rotate the eccentric 4I a half turn, thereby causing lowering of the plungers 48 when the strip trips the flag 49. It further serves to actuate the motor so as tov restore the plungers 48 to their initial raised position after the strip has passed over the ag 49. The eiect of the rst movement is to provide additional volume in the oil systems for each of the guides so that under 'the Apressure of air supplied throughthe pipes 8 and 9, oil is forced from the cylinders 6 and 1 into th'e cylinders 38 and 39 respectively, thus causing the guides to move together from their set position.

=' The second movement of the eccentric 4I causes the plungers 48 to force oil from the cylinders 38 and 39 back to the cylinders 5 and 1 respectively, thus opening the guides after the strip has passed and leaving -them spread apart to permit the free entry of the leading end of the next strip.

By reason of the fact, heretofore noted, that the effective area of the outer end of the pistons 5 is greater than the effective area of their inner ends, the .unit pressure in the pipes I5 and I8 will remain greater than the unit pressure in the pipe 28 and consequently no oil will enter through sired.

`able distance from the guides 2 and 3 to insure that theleading end of the strip S will have entered the guides before they move inwardly. Alternatively, a time control mechanism can be employed in the control 41. 1

Osetting control.-An asymmetc setting of the guides 2 and 3 with respect to the center line CL is effected by substantially simultaneously increasing the volume of the closed oil system for one of the guides and decreasing the volume of the closed oil system for the other guide. To this'end, the pipes I5 and I6 are provided with additional branches 50 and 5I leading to the tops of cylinders 52 and 53 respectively. These' cylinders contain plungers 54 and 55 respectively, which are actuated by eccentrics 56 and 51 respectively. The throws of the two eccentrica are' 180 apart. They are both mounted on a shaft 58 carrying a worm wheel 59 meshing with a worm 69 on the shaft of a motor 6I. The motor is connected to a. control box 62 having push buttons 63 and 64 so that it may be rotated in either directionv to a desired extent. Actuation of the motor 6I displaces oil from one or the other of the cylinders 52 and 53, depending upon the direction of rotation, and permits lowering of the plunger in the other cylinder with consequent permitted increase of volume. Assuming that the plunger 54 has been moved upwardly, the result will be to force oil through the pipe I5 .into the cylinder 6, thus moving the guide 2 to the right, as viewed in Figure 1.y (It will bel understood that the maximum opening of the guides 2 and 3 is greater than that necessary for any strip width to be handled and consequently that the offsetting control will not be employed except when the pistons 5 are at some initially adjusted position intermediate the ends of the cylinders 6 and 1.) As the plunger 54 is moved upwardly, the plunger 55 moves downwardly by reason of the flow of oil through the pipe I6 from the cylinder 1, thus causing the guide 3 to move to the right simultaneously withthe guide 2 and in a similar amount. The initial setting of the guides 2 and 3 will thus be shifted to the right with respect to the center line CL. Actuation of the motor 6I in the opposite direction will cause oiisetting of the guides to the left. 'I'he midpoint of the guides may thus be shifted as de- Guidev structure vmechanism for a down-coiler; i. e., a coller which 'the eccentric 4I.

mechanism of Figure 2. the gate 66 is raised to its dotted line position 68.', thereby deflecting the oncoming strip into the throat 1I of the coller.

A serrated roller 1.2 intermeshes with notches in the gate 66 and the table member 13 to prevent any possible escape of the leading end oi' the strip from the throat 1 I After the strip passes the guides 2 and 3, it travels4 between thev pinch rolls I4r of the coller.

In Figure 3, I have shown the guides 2 and 3 initially offset to the right, as will appear from the relative positions of the pistons 5 and the Guide actuating mechanism See particularly Figures l, 6, '7 and 9.

The cylinders 38 and 39 are bored in a cylinder block 15 which is mounted on a base plate 16 that supports the guide settingmechanism I1 (cylinders I8, I9 and associated mechanism) and the motors 45 and 6I. 'Ihe tops of the cylinders are closed oil by a cover plate 11 secured to the cylinder block by cap screws 1 Ia.

The cylinder block 15 is horizontally bored, as vindicated at 18, to accommodate the eccentric 4I. The ends of the bore 18 are closed oi by cover plates 19 and 80. A bearing block 8| having a push t in the bore 18 is located intermediate the two ends and forms the inner bearing 82 for The outer bearing is formed in the cover plate 19. The worm wheel 43 is keyed to the shaft 42 of the eccentric 4I and meshes with the worm 44 of the motor 45. The shaft 42 has a portion 83 projecting outside the cover plate 19 and carrying an eccentric 84 which coacts with an arm 85 pivoted at 86 and actuates limit switches 81, forming a part of the control mechanism indicated diagrammatically at 41 in Figure l for controlling the motor 45.

The motor 45 is additionally 'provided with a brake 89 working on a drum 89 so as to prevent motor drift and insure accurate control.

In Figure 7 the rams 49 are shown in an intermediate position. The motor 45 will be so controlled and actuatedas to cause a 180 rotation of the eccentric 4I, iirst in one direction and then in the other, so as to raise or lower the two rams permits of supplying oil as required, and Vsealing lies below the plane of travel of the oncoming strip. Coilers of this sort are frequently arranged in tandem, as shown in Paul Patent No. 2,111,054, and used alternately. In Figure 2 the rim-out table 65 is shown with a gate 66 rockable on a. shaft 61 which carries actuating arms 68 extending over the plungers 69 (see Figure 5) of the lled oil within the apparatus.

Since the downward movement' of the rams 40 necessarily displaces some oil from the bore 19,

4provision must be made for accommodating the oil displaced. For this purpose, two expansion chambers 92 are formed in the cylinder block 15 at its mid-section. These bores intersect the bore 18 at their bottoms, as best shown in Figure 9, and the bearing block 8l is made cruciform in section so as to permit free travel of oil to and from either side of Athe block V8I and to and from See particularly Figures 1 and 6-9 inclusive.

The offsetting cylii .1ers t! and ll are formed in the right hand hal! of the cylinder block 'IB as it is viewed in'Figure '1. The shaft Il for the eccentrics 58 and B1 is provided with an inner bearing 93 in the bearing block Il and an outer bearing 9| in the cover plate Il. The connecti'onl of the motor BI with the 'eccentrics through the worm wheel u and theworm 60 is best illustrated in Figures 'l and 8.

The motor 6| is provided with a brake Il operating on a drum 96 so as to prevent drift of the motor 8| after the current has been cut oir.

The 'shaft It projects outside the cover plate l 80 and carriesa cam il which actuates an indicating lever 90. The lever $8 terminates in an indicating pointer 99 which traversesan indicating dial suitably graduated to show the amount of offsetting for any adjusted position of the rams 54 and Il.

Each of the cylinders Il. 39. 52 and ll and the expansion chambers 92 is provided with a vent plug lili for bleeding air from the system as required.

Operation While it is believed that the operation of the apparatus will be`c1ear from the foregoing description, it will be recapitulated brieily.

The valve 23 will be opened and oil bled from the cylinder il until the pointer ll and gauge l indicate a guide setting of the proper width for the strip to be coiled. Successive strips will then be fed to the coller, each coil being ejected in known manner after it has been formed. Each strip as it passes to the coller will actuate thel iiag 49. At this time the guides 2 and I lwill be spaced a distance 'greater than the strip width. When the flag 49 is tripped, the rams 4l will be lowered in their cylinders by the operation of the motor 45, thus bringing theguides closer together and spacing them at a. distance corresponding to the strip width (it will be understood, of course, that the setting contemplates a Y small clearance). 'I'he closing of vthe guides will not be completed until after the leading end of the strip has entered the guiding zone.

If the operator observes that the coil is telescoping, he will actuate the push button control 82 and offset the guides laterally in one direction or another so as to eliminate it. This may be done during coil formation or between coils as he may desire.

After the trailing end of the strip has passed the flag 49, the motor 45 automatically operates in the reverse direction and raises the rams 40 to their topmost position, thereby opening the guides to permit the entering of the next strip.

Save for adjusting the guides to the proper strip widths, and manually adjusting the oil'- setting control to meet conditions as they arise, the operation is automatic.

My invention has many advantages. It provides an accurate and close control which functions under the most severe mill conditions. The telescoping of coils with consequent likelihood of damage to the strip edges and defect in subsequent processing may be overcome. The actuating and controlling mechanism is of suchv character that it may be conventiently located for ready access and most satisfactory operation. By reason oi the fact that the control mechanism is connected to the strip guides only by oiland air-lines, its position relative to the guides may be altered as desired, thus giving the mill designer a down coller for hot strip.

8 more latitude. The mechanism is adaptable to a wide variety or us.

I'have illustrated and described a present preferrediembodiment ci the invention as applied to It will be understood however, that this is by way oi' illustration only and that the invention may be otherwise embodiii within the scope of the following claims.

I cl

l1. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair ci' oppositely disposed side guides, means for biasing the guidesl toward one another, a variable-volume liquid-pressure means for each guide for moving it in opposition to its biasing means, means for substantially simultaneously increasing and decreasing the volume of liquid in the' two liquid-pressure means, thereby to eil'ect a guide setting, and means for diil'erentially adjusting the volume of liquid in the two liquid-pressure means, thereby to eiiect lateral ofisettingof the guides.

2. Mechanism tor-guiding a metal strip ccmprising a pair of oppositely disposed side guides, variable-volume liquid-pressure means for moving the guides. variable-volume liquid-receivers connected thereto, means for simultaneously adjusting the en'ectivevolume of the receivers so as to eiiect a setting of the guides, means for supplementally varying the eilective volume so as to effect movement ot the guides, and means for substantially simultaneously adding. liquid to one or said systems and withdrawing liquid from,

the other'thereby to eilect lateral oilsetting of the guides.

3. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair oi oppositelv disposed side guides.

. a pair of variable-volume liquid-pressure means,

one for each guide, for moving the same. varlablevolume liquid-receivers connected thereto, means for simultaneously adjusting the eiective volume of the receivers so as to efi'ect a setting oi' the guides, means for supplementally varying the liquid volumes so as to eirect movement of the guides, and means for substantially simultaneliquid volume thereof, and means controlled by the strip for actuating the volume-changing means.

5. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair of oppositely disposed side guides, means for substantially constantly urging the guides toward one another, a variable-volume liquid-pressure means for each guide effective upon a change in the volume oi liquid therein to coact with the guide urging means and effect a movement oi the' guide corresponding in amount to the change in liquid volume, a guide setting device consisting of means for substantially simultaneously changing the volume of liquid in each of the liquid pressure means, a guide-opening and -closing device consisting of a supplemental volume-changer for each o! the liquidpressure means adapted to increase or decrease the Iliquid volumes by an increment corresponding to a desired guide-opening or -closing movement, and means controlled by the strip for actu.- t

coact with the guide urging means and effect a movement of the guide corresponding in amount to the change in liquid volume, va guide setting device consisting of vmeans for substantially simultaneously changing the volume of liquid in each of the liquid pressure means, a guide-opening and -closing device consisting of a supplemental volume-changer for each of the liquid pressure means adapted tn increase or decrease the liquid volumes by an increment corresponding to a desired guide-opening or -closing movement, and means controlled by the strip for substantially simultaneously actuating the supplemental volume changers.-

7. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair of oppositely disposed side guides,

means substantially constantly urging the guides toward one another, a guide-operating cylinderand-piston means for each guide for limiting the `action of the mst-mentioned means and effecting movement of the guides in opposition thereto, a rst pair of cylinders. one operatively connected to one of the guide-operating cylinders and the other operatively connected to the other guide-operating cylinder, means for substantially Ysimultaneously adjusting the eiective volume of each of the said rst pair of cylinders thereby to effect a setting of the guides, a second pair of cylinders, open operatively connected to one of the guide-operating cylinders and the other operatively connected to the other guideoperating cylinder, and means for substantially simultaneously adjusting the effective volume of each of the said second pair of cylinders thereby.

to eect guide opening or closing.

LORENZ IVERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Certificate of Correction Pmnt No. 2,484,347 october 11, 1949 LORENZ IVERSEN f It is hereby certified that errors appear in the'printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 6, line 26, for 71a read 77a; column 10, line 10, for the word open read one; and that the said Letters Patent should be Aread with these corrections therein that the same lmay conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and this 24thday of January, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oonwmconer of Patents.

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