Interstand tension control method and apparatus for tandem rolling mills

In a tandem rolling mill consisting of at least a first rolling stand and a second rolling stand, an interstand tension control method for controlling the interstand tension imparted to a workpiece being rolled by said first and second rolling stands, comprising

• the first step of detecting the rolling torque and rolling force at said first rolling stand after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said first rolling stand but before the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand and computing the rolling torque to rolling force ratio representative of the reference torque arm for said first rolling stand for storing such reference torque arm value in a memory,
• the second step of detecting the respective rolling torques and rolling forces at said first and second rolling stands immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand and computing the reference torque arm for said second rolling stand on the basis of these detected values and the stored reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand for storing the reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand in a memory, and
• the third step of detecting the respective rolling torques and rolling forces at said first and second rolling stands while the workpiece is being rolled by both said first and second rolling stands for computing the respective rolling torque to rolling force ratios at said first and second rolling stands to obtain the respective torque arms at said first and second rolling stands and then computing the difference between the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said first rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand and the derivation of the detected torque arm valves at said second rolling stand from the stored reference to torque arm value for said second rolling stand, and controlling the interstand tension imparted to the workpiece portion moving between said first and second rolling stands to be constant in response to the value of the difference thus computed.

In a tandem rolling mill consisting of at least a first rolling stand, a second rolling stand and a third rolling stand, an interstand tension control method for controlling the interstand tension imparted to a workpiece being rolled by said first, second and third rolling stands, comprising

• the first step of detecting the rolling torque and rolling force at said first rolling stand after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said first rolling stand but before the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand and computing the rolling torque to rolling force ratio representative of the reference torque arm for said first rolling stand for storing such reference torque arm value in a memory,
• the second step of detecting the respective rolling torques and rolling forces at said first and second rolling stands immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand and computing the reference torque arm for said second rolling stand on the basis of these detected values and the stored reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand for storing the reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand in a memory, and
• the third step of detecting the respective rolling torques and rolling forces at said first and second rolling stands while the workpiece is being rolling by both said first and second rolling stands for computing the respective rolling torque to rolling force ratios at said first and second rolling stands to obtain the respective torque arms at said first and second rolling stands and then computing the difference between the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said second rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand and the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said second rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand so as to reduce said difference to zero by controlling the rolling speed of any one of said first and second rolling stands,
• the fourth step of detecting the respective rolling torques and rolling forces at said second and third rolling stands immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said third rolling stand and computing the reference torque arm for said third rolling stand on the basis of these detected values and the stored reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand for storing the reference torque arm value for said third rolling stand in a memory, and
• the fifth step of detecting the respective rolling torques and rolling forces at said first, second and third rolling stands while the workpiece is being rolled by at least said first, second and third rolling stands for computing the respective rolling torque to rolling force ratios at said first, second and third rolling stands to obtain the respective torque arms at said first, second and third rolling stands and controlling the rolling speed of said second rolling stand so as to reduce to zero the difference between the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said first rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand and the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said second rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand while, at the same time, controlling the rolling speed of said third rolling stand so as to reduce to zero the difference between the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said second rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand and the deviation of the detected torque arm value at said third rolling stand from the stored reference torque arm value for said third rolling stand.

In a tandem rolling mill consisting of at least a first rolling stand and a second rolling stand, an interstand tension control apparatus for controlling the interstand tension imparted to a workpiece being rolled by said first and second rolling stands, comprising

• first rolling force detecting means for detecting the rolling force at said first rolling stand,
• first rolling torque detecting means for detecting the rolling torque at said first rolling stand,
• first computing means for computing the torque arm at said first rolling stand determined by the ratio of the output of said first rolling torque detecting means to the output of said first rolling force detecting means,
• first memory means for storing the output of said first computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said first rolling stand, said output of said first computing means being representative of the reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand,
• second rolling force detecting means for detecting the rolling force at said second rolling stand,
• second rolling torque detecting means for detecting the rolling torque at said second rolling stand,
• second computing means for computing the torque arm at said second rolling stand determined by the ratio of the output of said second rolling torque detecting means to the output of said second rolling force detecting means,
• second memory means for storing the output of said second computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand,
• third computing means for computing the reference torque arm value for said second rolling stand on the basis of the output of said first memory means, the output of said first computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand and the output of said second memory means,
• fourth computing means for computing the difference between the value representing the difference between the output of said first memory means and the output of said third computing means and the value representing the difference between the output of said first computing means and the output of said second computing means while the workpiece is being rolled by said first and second rolling stands, and
• control means for controlling the relative rolling speed between said first and second rolling stands in response to the difference computed by said fourth computing means.

In a tandem rolling mill consisting of at least a first rolling stand, a second rolling stand and a third rolling stand, an interstand tension control apparatus for controlling the interstand tension imparted to a workpiece being rolled by said first, second and third rolling stands, comprising

• first rolling force detecting means for detecting the rolling force at said first rolling stand,
• first rolling torque detecting means for detecting the rolling torque at said first rolling stand,
• first computing means for computing the torque arm at said first rolling stand determined by the ratio of the output of said first rolling torque detecting means to the output of said first rolling force detecting means,
• first memory means for storing the output of said first computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said first rolling stand, said output of said first computing means being representative of the reference torque arm value for said first rolling stand,
• second rolling force detecting means for detecting the rolling force at said second rolling stand,
• second rolling torque detecting means for detecting the rolling torque at said second rolling stand,
• second computing means for computing the torque arm at said second rolling stand determined by the ratio of the output of said second rolling torque detecting means to the output of said second rolling force detecting means,
• second memory means for storing the output of said second computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand,
• third rolling force detecting means for detecting the rolling force at said third rolling stand,
• third rolling torque detecting means for detecting the rolling torque at said third rolling stand,
• third computing means for computing the torque arm at said third rolling stand determined by the ratio of the output of said third rolling torque detecting means to the output of said third rolling force detecting means,
• third memory means for storing the output of said third computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said third rolling stand,
• fourth computing means for computing the reference torque arm value for second rolling stand on the basis of the output of said first memory means, the output of said first computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said second rolling stand and the output of said second memory means,
• fifth computing means for computing the difference between the value representing the difference between the output of said first memory means and the output of said fourth computing means and the value representing the difference between the output of said first computing means and the output of said second computing means while the workpiece is being rolled by said first and second rolling stands,
• first control means for controlling the relative rolling speed between said first and second rolling stands in response to the difference computed by said fifth computing means,
• sixth computing means for computing the reference torque arm value for said third rolling stand on the basis of the output of said second memory means, the output of said second computing means appearing immediately after the workpiece is fed into the nip between the rolls of said third rolling stand and the output of said third memory means,
• seventh computing means for computing the difference between the value representing the difference between the output of said forth computing means and the output of said sixth computing means and the value representing the difference between the output of said second computing means and the output of said third computing means while the workpiece is being rolled by said first, second and third rolling stands, and
• second control means for controlling the relative rolling speed between said second and third rolling stands in response to the difference computed by said seventh computing means.