US 5,634,360 AGranted

Guiding apparatus for roughing mill

AssigneesIshikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., Kawasaki Steel Corporation

InventorsNobuhiro Tazoe, Hiroaki Kuwano, Katsumi Okada, Makoto Shitomi, Hideyuki Nikaido, Takeshi Fujitsu, Katsumi Kawakami, Tetsuo Shima, Shinji Tanaka

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Abstract

A guiding method and apparatus are presented for preventing the generation of lateral curving in a rolled slab produced in a roughing mill train, consisting of an edging mill and a horizontal mill in tandem, for example. The apparatus basically includes a first side guide placed upstream at the entrance to the edging mill, a second side guide placed downstream at the exit of the horizontal mill and a third side guide placed between the edging mill and the horizontal mill. The first side guide at the entrance to the edging mill synchronously closes the separation distance of the guide components upon the entry of the rolled slab into the first side guide, leaving a narrow space between the guide and the rolled slab. The third side guide closes the separation spacing based on slab exit timing representing the instant the tail end of the rolled slab passes through the edging mill. The second side guide assumes a narrow separation distance when the head end of the rolled slab enters therebetween. The restraining force provided by the narrow separation distance prevents lateral shifting to occur during the rolling process thereby reducing snaking of the rolled slab.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A guiding apparatus for guiding a longitudinally extending rolled slab, defined by top and bottom surfaces and side surfaces, moving continuously from upstream to downstream through a roughing mill train which includes an upstream edging mill for widthwise control of said rolled slab, and a downstream horizontal mill for thickness control of said rolled slab, to prevent lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab during rolling, said guiding apparatus comprising:

(a) a first pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed upstream of said edging mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving laterally towards the side surfaces of said rolled slab;
(b) a second pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed downstream of said horizontal mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving laterally towards said side surfaces of said rolled slab;
and
(c) a third pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed between said edging mill and said horizontal mill for controlling the lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving towards said side surface of said rolled slab;
wherein
said left guide component and said right guide component of at least said first pair of side guides, of the three pairs of side guides, are provided for performing centering operations to continually align a widthwise center position of said rolled slab with an imaginary rolling line joining a widthwise center of said horizontal mill by moving symmetrically and synchronously with each other towards and away from said imaginary rolling line, and said first pair of side guides are provided for clamping and centering said rolled slab between said left guide component and said right guide component of said first side guides when a head end of said rolled slab is positioned upstream of said edging mill;
and wherein said left guide component and said right guide component of said third pair of side guides define surfaces that are substantially parallel to one another, and remain parallel to one another as they move towards said side surfaces of said rolled slab.

4 more elements

A method for guiding to prevent lateral positional shifting of a longitudinally extending rolled slab, defined by top and bottom surfaces and side surfaces, moving continuously from upstream to downstream through a roughing mill train including an edging mill for widthwise control of said rolled slab, and a horizontal mill for thickness control of said rolled slab, wherein guiding is performed by guiding means comprising:

(a) a first pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed upstream of said edging mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving said left guide component and said right guide component, symmetrically and synchronously with each other, towards and away from an imaginary rolling line joining a widthwise center of said edging mill with a widthwise center of said horizontal mill;
(b) a second pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed downstream of said horizontal mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving laterally towards said side surfaces of said rolled slab;
and
(c) a third pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, said left guide component and said right guide component defining surfaces that are substantially parallel to one another, disposed between said edging mill and said horizontal mill for controlling the lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving towards said side surface of said rolled slab;
said method comprising the steps of:
(d) maintaining a wide separation distance of said first side guides so as to provide a hindrance-free entry of said rolled slab therebetween until said rolled slab enters between said first side guides;
(e) clamping said rolled slab between said left guide component and said right guide component of said first pair of side guides, and centering said rolled slab between said first pair of side guides;
and
(f) moving said left guide component and said right guide component of said third pair of side guides toward said rolled slab such that the respective surfaces of said left guide component and said right guide component remain substantially parallel.

6 more elements

(a) a first pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed upstream of said edging mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving said left guide component and said right guide component, symmetrically and synchronously with each other, towards and away from an imaginary rolling line joining a widthwise center of said edging mill with a widthwise center of said horizontal mill;
(b) a second pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed downstream of said horizontal mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving laterally towards said side surfaces of said rolled slab;
and
(c) a third pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, said left guide component and said right guide component defining surfaces that are substantially parallel to one another, disposed between said edging mill and said horizontal mill for controlling the lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving towards said side surface of said rolled slab;
said method comprising the steps of:
(d) clamping said rolled slab between said left guide component and said right side component of said first pair of side guides, and centering said rolled slab between said first pair of side guides;
(e) moving said left guide component and said right guide component of said third pair of side guides toward said rolled slab such that the surfaces of said left guide component and said right guide component remain substantially parallel;
(f) providing a wide separation distance to said second side guides so as to allow a hindrance-free entry of said rolled slab therebetween;
(g) moving said left guide component and said right guide component of said second side guides towards said imaginary center line so as to provide a narrow separation distance to provide guided passing as soon as said rolled slab enters the second side guides;
and
(h) maintaining said narrow separation distance to provide guided passing until said rolled slab passes through said second side guides.

8 more elements

(a) a first pair of said guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed upstream of said edging mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving said left guide component and said right guide component, symmetrically and synchronously with each other, towards and away from an imaginary rolling line joining a widthwise center of said edging mill with a widthwise center of said horizontal mill;
(b) a second pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, said left guide component and said right guide component defining surfaces that are substantially parallel, disposed between said edging mill and said horizontal mill for controlling lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving laterally towards said side surfaces of said rolled slab;
and
(c) a third pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, said left guide component and said right guide component defining surfaces that are substantially parallel, disposed between said edging mill and said horizontal mill for controlling the lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab by moving towards said side surface of said rolled slab;
said method comprising the steps of:
(d) clamping said rolled slab between said left guide component and said right guide component of said first pair of side guides, and centering said rolled slab between said first pair of side guides;
(e) providing a wide separation distance to said third side guides so as to allow a hindrance-free entry of said rolled slab therebetween until a head end of said rolled slab passes through said edging mill;
(f) moving said left guide component and said right guide component of said third side guides towards said imaginary center line, such that the surfaces of said left guide component and said right guide component remain substantially parallel, so as to provide a narrow separation distance to provide guided passing of said rolled slab before or as soon as said tail end of said rolled slab passes through and enters the edging mill;
and
(g) maintaining said narrow separation distance to provide guided passing of said rolled slab until said rolled slab passes through said third side guides.

7 more elements

A guiding apparatus for guiding a longitudinally extending rolled slab, defined by top and bottom surfaces and side surfaces, moving continuously from upstream to downstream through a roughing mill train which includes an edging mill for widthwise control of said rolled slab, and a horizontal mill for thickness control of said rolled slab, to prevent lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab during rough rolling, said guiding apparatus comprising:

(a) a first pair of side guides, consisting of a left guide component and a right guide component, disposed upstream of said edging mill, for clamping and centering said rolled slab when a head end of said rolled slab is positioned upstream of said edging mill;
(b) a pair of pinch rolls, having said rolled slab positioned between an upper pinch roll and a lower pinch roll, disposed between said edging mill and said horizontal mill, to roll compress said rolled slab so as to prevent lateral positional shifting of said rolled slab during rough rolling while allowing passing of said rolled slab therethrough;
and
(c) a control device for providing adjustable roll compressing force to at least one of said upper pinch roll and said lower pinch roll.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.