Methods and apparatus to monitor material conditioning machines
AssigneeThe Bradbury Company, Inc.
InventorsClarence B. Cox, III, Gregory S. Smith
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus to monitor conditioning machines are disclosed herein. An example system includes a plurality of work rolls to process a continuous strip material positioned between an entry and an exit of an apparatus. A sensor determines a measured distance between an upper surface of the strip material and a reference location, where the sensor is downstream from the exit of the apparatus. A controller determines a difference value between the measured distance and a predetermined distance to detect material curvature in the strip material.
Claims23
A system comprising:
- a plurality of work rolls to process a continuous strip material positioned between an entry and an exit of an apparatus;
- a sensor to determine a measured distance between an upper surface of the strip material and a reference location, the sensor mounted to a frame of the apparatus downstream from the exit of the apparatus, wherein the sensor is coupled to the frame via a slider, the slider to enable independent adjustment of the sensor in a first direction relative to at least one of the frame or the strip material and a second direction non-parallel to the first direction;
- and
- a controller to determine a difference value between the measured distance and a predetermined distance to detect material curvature in the strip material.
A method to detect material curvature in a strip material, the method comprising:
- processing a strip material via a plurality of work rolls positioned between an entry and an exit of an apparatus;
- determining, via a sensor coupled to a frame of the apparatus downstream from an exit of the apparatus via a slider configured to enable independent adjustment of the sensor in a first direction relative to at least one of the frame or the strip material and a second direction non-parallel to the first direction, a measured distance value between an upper surface of the strip material and a reference location downstream from the exit of the apparatus as the strip material exits the work rolls;
- and
- comparing, via a controller, the measured distance value and a predetermined distance to detect material curvature in the strip material.
A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:
- process a strip material via a plurality of work rolls positioned between an entry and an exit of an apparatus;
- determine a measured distance value between an upper surface of the strip material and a reference location downstream from the exit of the apparatus as the strip material exits the work rolls via a sensor coupled to a frame of the apparatus downstream from the exit of the apparatus via a slider configured to enable independent adjustment of the sensor in a first direction relative to at least one of the frame or the strip material and a second direction non-parallel to the first direction;
- and
- compare, via a controller, the measured distance value and a predetermined distance to detect material curvature in the strip material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.