Metal strip downcoilers-II

Apparatus for selectively (a) coiling a hot steel transfer bar or (b) allowing the bar to pass uncoiled through the appartus, comprising:

• frame means supporting a plurality of rollers for transferring a bar in one direction,
• bend roller means located above said plurality of rollers and being adapted to apply a down curvature to a transfer bar passing therethrough,
• ramp means upstream of the bend roller means with respect to said one direction and adapted selectively (a) to be placed in the path of a transfer bar to cause the latter to be deflected upwardly to enter said bend roller means, or (b) to allow the transfer bar to pass along said rollers under said bend roller means,
• a sub-frame downstream of the bend roller means and carrying at least one roller, the sub-frame being mounted for movement between a first position in which said at least one roller is raised above the level of the rest of the rollers, and a second position in which said at least one roller is level with the rest of the rollers, said at least one roller defining, with a further roller immediately upstream thereof and with a coil-guide roller located generally beneath the bend roller means but above said level of the rest of the rollers, a cradle in which the initial convolutions of a coiling transfer bar can be contained, the said at least one roller and the coil-guide roller defining at said further roller an angle whose value in degrees changes as said sub-frame is moved between said first and second positions.