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US 10,994,317 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for controlling metal strip profile during rolling with direct measurement of process parameters
AssigneeNovelis Inc.
InventorsMatthew J. Fairlie, Timothy F. Stanistreet, Carlos Eboli, Hansjuerg Alder, Luiz Murad
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rolling mill control system and method includes use of sensors located between rolling mill stands to directly measure metal sheet or plate flatness, thickness profile, position, and the camber of the rolls in the mill. A feedback loop control system adjusts or adapts rolling mill control mechanisms to control the rolling process.
Claims14
A method comprising:
- measuring a thickness profile of a metal strip with a thickness profile measurement sensor, wherein the thickness profile measurement sensor is disposed at an interstand location at one of an entry side or an exit side of a rolling mill stand of a rolling mill;
- measuring a flatness of the metal strip with a flatness measurement sensor, wherein the flatness measurement sensor is disposed at an interstand location at one of the entry side or the exit side of the rolling mill stand;
- measuring a camber of at least one of an upper work roll or a lower work roll of the rolling mill with a roll camber sensor;
- measuring a roll gap geometry of the rolling mill stand with a roll gap geometry sensor, wherein the roll gap geometry is directly measured by the roll gap geometry sensor by measuring a distance between the upper work roll and the lower work roll;
- receiving data at a controller from at least one of the thickness profile measurement sensor, the flatness measurement sensor, the roll camber sensor, or the roll gap geometry sensor;
- and
- adjusting, by the controller, a rolling mill control mechanism such that the roll gap geometry provides a desired thickness profile and a desired flatness of the metal strip within predefined tolerances.
4 more elements
A rolling mill control system comprising:
- at least one thickness profile measurement sensor for measuring a thickness profile of a metal strip, wherein the at least one thickness profile measurement sensor is disposed at an interstand location between one or more upstream rolling stands and one or more downstream rolling stands at a first interstand location of a rolling mill having a plurality of rolling stands;
- at least one roll camber sensor for measuring a camber of at least one work roll of a plurality of work rolls;
- a roll gap geometry sensor for measuring a roll gap of at least one rolling stand of the plurality of rolling stands, wherein the roll gap geometry sensor directly measures the roll gap geometry by measuring a distance between an upper work roll and a lower work roll of the at least one rolling stand of the plurality of rolling stands of the rolling mill;
- a rolling mill control mechanism;
- and
- a controller;
- wherein the controller receives data from the at least one thickness profile measurement sensor and the at least one roll camber sensor and adjusts the rolling mill control mechanism such that the roll gap geometry of the at least one rolling stand of the plurality of rolling stands is configured to produce a desired thickness profile of the metal strip.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.