Graphical rolled steel sheet flatness display and method of using same

A Graphical flatness display for a rolled steel sheet, comprising:

• at least one sensor for measuring a property of a rolled steel sheet at a plurality of locations on the rolled steel sheet and producing a property output signal corresponding to a magnitude of the sensed property at each of the plurality of locations;
• a processor operatively connected to the at least one sensor for receiving said sensor property output signals,
• a memory operatively connected to said processor storing property magnitude ranges and a color corresponding to each of said property magnitude ranges;
• and
• a color display operatively connected to said processor;
• wherein said processor receives a property output signal, determines the property magnitude range indicated by said received property output signal, and plots a point in the color corresponding to the determined property magnitude range on the display at a point on the display related to the location on the rolled steel sheet at which the property was sensed, and said processor produces an output for creating a first and a second graphical image representing the flatness of the rolled steel sheet on the display, wherein said first graphical image comprises a color illustration of a flat surface of the sheet of rolled steel and the second graphical image comprises a waterfall plot of the average tensions values.

A method of indicating the flatness of a first rolled steel sheet, comprising the steps of:

• measuring tension at a plurality of points across a first segment of a first rolled steel sheet;
• generating an output signal related to the tension sensed at each of the first segment plurality of points;
• measuring tension at a plurality of points across a subsequent segment of the first rolled steel sheet;
• generating an output signal related to the tension sensed at each of the subsequent segment plurality of points;
• displaying a representation of the first and subsequent segments of the first rolled steel sheet, the representation including regions corresponding to the plurality of points from each of the first and subsequent segments;
• and
• displaying a color at each region related to the tension measured at the corresponding one of the plurality of points from each of the first and subsequent segments;
• repeating said measuring, generating and displaying steps until an end of the first sheet of steel is detected;
• measuring the tension at a plurality of points across a first segment of a second rolled steel sheet;
• generating an output signal related to the tension sensed at each of the plurality of points on the second rolled steel sheet;
• and
• displaying a representation of a first portion of the second rolled steel sheet adjacent a representation of a subsequent portion of the first rolled steel sheet, the representation of a first portion of a second rolled steel sheet including a region corresponding to each of the plurality of points on the second rolled steel sheet;
• and
• displaying a color at each region related to the tension measured at the corresponding one of the plurality of points on the second rolled steel sheet.

A device for depicting the flatness of a rolled steel sheet in real time, comprising:

• a processor operatively connected to a sensing device measuring tension at a number of points on a rolled steel sheet and producing tension output signals related to sensed tensions;
• a database for storing numerical data related to said output signals;
• a memory storing colors corresponding to ranges of said numerical data;
• wherein said processor produces a display signal based on data in said database to create a real time color image of the rolled steel sheets on a display with regions on the display corresponding to points on the rolled steel sheets, wherein the colors of the regions on the display are related to the tension level sensed at the corresponding points on the rolled steel sheet, wherein said database includes a first table containing numeric data related to sensed tension levels and a second table containing averaged tension values from longitudinally spaced points along the sheet.

A device for monitoring the performance of a steel rolling mill, comprising:

• a plurality of sensors positioned to sense a tension at selected points along the width of a sheet of rolled steel being processed in a rolling mill, each of said sensors producing an output signal proportional to the sensed tension;
• a processor operatively connected to said tension sensors for receiving the sensor output signals,
• a memory operatively connected to said processor storing tension ranges and a color corresponding to each of the tension ranges;
• and
• a color display operatively connected to said processor;
• wherein said processor produces a representation of the surface of each sheet of rolled steel emerging from the rolling mill on the display comprising a plurality of regions corresponding to the selected points on the surface of said each sheet of rolled steel, the color of each region corresponding to the tension range into which the sensed tension at the corresponding selected point falls, and wherein the representations of the surface of each sheet of rolled steel emerging from the rolling mill includes a centerline, and the wherein the centerlines of adjacent sheets of rolled steel are aligned.

A device for displaying tension levels in a rolled steel sheet, comprising:

• a processor operatively connected to a plurality of tension sensors for measuring tension at a plurality of locations spaced across the width of a rolled steel sheet and producing an output signal corresponding to the sensed tension;
• a memory operatively connected to said processor storing tension ranges and a color corresponding to each of the tension ranges;
• and
• a color display operatively connected to said processor;
• wherein said processor produces processor output signals for generating a color image on a color display comprising regions corresponding to the plurality of locations representing the tension of multiple rolled steel sheets, the color of each of said regions corresponding to the range into which the sensed tension falls.

A method of measuring the flatness of a sheet of rolled steel, comprising the steps of:

• measuring the tension at a plurality of measurement points on the surface of a sheet of rolled steel;
• determining a plurality of tension ranges into which the sensed tension level can fall;
• associating a color with each of the determined tension ranges;
• and
• displaying a representation of the tension of multiple rolled steel sheets comprising a plurality of regions corresponding to the plurality of measurement points wherein the color of each region is the color associated with the tension range into which the measured tension for each measurement point corresponding to each display point falls.

A real time flatness display, comprising:

• a processor connectable to a sensing device for measuring flatness at a number of points on a rolled steel sheet and producing an output signal corresponding to sensed flatness;
• and
• a memory operatively connected to the processor storing color information for each sensed flatness;
• wherein the output signal produces on a display a two-dimensional image representing the flatness of multiple rolled steel sheets comprising a plurality of regions each corresponding to one of the plurality of points on each sheet of rolled steel, the color of each region being related to the sensed flatness at the corresponding point on the rolled steel sheet.

A method of indicating the flatness of a first rolled sheet of steel rs1 comprising the steps of:

• a. providing a first rolled sheet of steel rs1 having a plurality of width segments w1 . . . Wm along a length of the first sheet of rolled steel rs1;
• b. providing a sensing device having a plurality of sensors d1 . . . dn;
• c. measuring a tension at a number of points x1 . . . xn across each width segment w1 . . . wm of the first sheet of steel rs1;
• d. generating output signals having a value s1 . . . sn related to the tension sensed at each point x1 . . . xn for each width segment w1 . . . Wm;
• e. for each width segment w1 . . . Wm storing the values s1 . . . sn in a row r1 . . . rm of a table t1 wherein each column of the table comprises signals from one of said sensors d1 . . . dn;
• f. associating a color with each of said output signals s1 . . . sn based on the level of tension represented by said output signal;
• g. for each width w1 . . . wn plotting points p1 . . . pn on a display corresponding to points x1 . . . xn on the width of the steel rs1 wherein the color of each point p1 . . . pn is based on the level of tension represented by the output signals s1 . . . sn.