Water driven roller for hot strip mill sideguides

A sideguide assembly adapted to be mounted to a conveyor sideguide for use in directing a steel strip along a length of a conveyor, the sideguide assembly comprising:

• a) first and second spaced apart sideguides extending upwardly from the conveyor and bounding opposite edges of the steel strip, the first and second sideguides being spaced from respective edges of the steel strip;
• and
• b) first and second roller assemblies, the first roller assembly positioned adjacent the first sideguide and the second roller assembly positioned adjacent the second sideguide, each of the roller assemblies including:
• 1) a rotatable roller member having a plurality of flutes spaced apart on an outer surface of the roller member;
• 2) a support assembly including:
• i) a roller support assembly to rotatably support the roller member;
• and
• ii) a mounting assembly for securing the roller assembly with respect to the conveyor and positioning the roller member in a first position such that the roller member extends beyond an inner surface of its respective conveyor sideguide facing the steel strip to be adjacent an edge the steel strip;
• and
• 3) a fluid manifold for directing pressurized liquid at the roller member to sequentially impinge each of the plurality of flutes and cause the roller member to rotate with respect to the roller support assembly at a predetermined angular velocity, the angular velocity of the roller member automatically adjusting to correspond to a linear velocity of the steel strip when an edge of the steel strip contacts the roller member.

A roller assembly for use in directing a steel strip along a conveyor having a conveyor sideguide, the roller assembly comprising:

• a) a roller member comprising at least one roller driving surface;
• b) a support assembly including:
• i) a roller support assembly that rotatably supports the roller member;
• and
• ii) mounting assembly means for securing the roller assembly with respect to the conveyor and for positioning the roller member such that the roller member can be contacted by an edge of the steel strip;
• and
• c) means for directing pressurized liquid at the roller member to impinge upon said at least one roller driving surface and cause the roller member to rotate with respect to the roller support assembly.