GB2096973A

GB2096973A - Guiding metal strip onto coiler

Info

Publication number: GB2096973A
Application number: GB8112158A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: British Steel Corp
Current assignee: British Steel Corp
Priority date: 1981-04-16
Filing date: 1981-04-16
Publication date: 1982-10-27

Abstract

Metal strip (9) is guided towards and into contact with the periphery of a rotating coiler (13), and is maintained in contact with the coiler surface by gaseous jets (12, 15) directed onto the exposed surface of the strip. The gas jets are directed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the coiler but inclined at an angle of approximately 20 DEG to its radius in the direction of movement of strip on the coiler. The gas jet manifold (14) can be slid away from the coiler (13) after winding commences. The strip is peeled from a rotating workpiece (5) by tool (6). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Manufacture and processing of metal strip This invention relates to the manufacture and processing of metal strip and foil. In one aspect it is concerned with the manufacture of metal strip by peeling a layer of metal from the surface of a rotating workpiece. In another aspect it is concerned with the coiling of metal strip and foil (hereinafter referred to as 'strip').

Proposals have previously been made for the production of metal strip which involve peeling a surface layer from a rotating billet or disc and collecting the peeled strip around a wind-up mandrel. In order to start the process it has been proposed that the leading portion of the peeled strip should be fed towards the mandrel and wrapped around the mandrel using some form of mechanical wrapping system, one of which involved the use of guides and a belt wrapper assembly. This particular proposal suffered from the disadvantage that there exists a time interval before the tension applied to the peeled strip reaches a value consistent with the production of peeled strip having a uniform thickness. Thus the starting up of the process has hitherto been somewhat slow and the initial portion of the peeled strip has often been of unsuitable thickness for consistent further processing.Other mechanical wrapping systems for use in this strip peeling process and for other purposes suffer from this and other disadvantages, particularly where the leading edge of the strip is thin and exhibits a tendency to coil and not to lie flat.

According to the present invention in one aspect a method manufacturing metal strip includes the steps of rotating a cylindrical metal workpiece about its longitudinal axis, feeding a cutting tool continuously into the peripheral surface of the workpiece as it rotates to produce a continuous metal strip peeled from the surface of the workpiece and collecting the peeled strip by winding it around a rotating coiler, said method including the steps of guiding the leading portion of the peeled strip towards and into contact with the periphery of the coiler, and directing gaseous jets onto the exposed surface of the strip to maintain contact between the strip and the coiler periphery.

In one arrangement, the gaseous jets are discharged from a retractable manifold which encompasses at least the major part of the coiler periphery and is connected to a source of compressed gas, preferably air. The manifold may take the form of annular assembly which is retractable along the axis of the coiler.

In one embodiment of the invention, the gas jets are directed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the coiler but inclined at an angle of approximately 200 to its radius in the direction of movement of strip on the coiler.

According to the invention in another aspect, apparatus for manufacturing metal strip from a cylindrical metal workpiece includes means for rotating the workpiece about its longitudinal axis, a cutting tool together with means for feeding said cutting tool continuously into the peripheral surface of the workpiece to produce a continuous metal strip peeled from the surface of the workpiece, a coiler for collecting the peeled strip and a manifold connected to a source of gas under pressure which encompasses at least the major part of the peripheral surface of the coiler and which is provided with a plurality of apertures positioned to direct discrete gaseous jets onto the surface of the strip as it passes onto and around the coiler periphery.

The peeled strip leaving the workpiece is preferably held at a substantially constant angle to the tangent of the workpiece at the position where the cutting tool engages the workpiece.

The workpiece may be disc shaped with its longitudinal axis equal in length to the width of the peeled strip. Alternatively, the workpiece may be in a billet form, the length of the billet's longitudinal axis being greater than the width of the peeled strip. In this case strip may be peeled in turn from sections of the billet by using a parting tool in combination with the cutting or peeling tool such that the peeled strip has two free edges as it is cut or peeled frorn the billet. This arrangement is described in greater detail in our co-pending UK patent application No. 49057/75. In both cases the workpiece may be of annular configuration.

According to the present invention in a further aspect, a method of coiling metal strip includes guiding the leading portion of the strip onto the peripheral surface of the coiler and directing discrete jets of gas under pressure onto the exposed surface of the strip to urge it into contact with the periphery of the coiler.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of apparatus in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a plan view partly in section of features of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, a bedway 1 supports a horizontal slideway 2. A peeling tool holder 3 is slidably moveable on the slideway 2 and can be driven in a horizontal direction by a lead screw 4 which is in turn connected to a hydraulic drive motor (not shown).

A circular section steel feedstock 5 is mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis. The feedstock is rotatably driven by the same hydraulic motor (not shown) as that which drives the lead screw 4 although the gearing is different.

A peeling tool 6 mounted in a tool block is rigidly secured to the tool holder 3 such that the cutting edge of the tool engages the surface of the feedstock 5. A strip guide plate 7 is held by a support mounted on the tool holder 3 in such a manner that it is spaced a small distance away from the upper surface of the tool holder. The guide plate 7 defines with the opposed surface of the tool holder a gallery 8 through which strip 9 peeled from the periphery of the feedstock initially passes. The gallery 8 opens into a telescopic guide box 10 which is lengthwise extendable.

A nozzle 11 connected to a source of gas under pressure is positioned to direct a jet of gas into the space which exists between the feedstock 5 and the guide plate 7 initially to direct the leading end of the peeled strip into the gallery 8. A similar nozzle 12 is positioned to direct a jet of gas into the guide box 10. The purpose of the nozzle 1 2 is to direct the strip leading end on to and into contact with the periphery of a rotatable coiler 1 3 operable to collect the strip peeled from the feedstock 5.

The coiler 13 is drivable in the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 1 by drive means (not shown) which is independent of the hydraulic drive for the feedstock 5. An annular manifold 14 is positioned around and spaced from the periphery of the coiler 13. This manifold is connected to a source of air under pressure (typically 100 psi) and includes in its inner surface a plurality of spaced apertures 15 through which the pressurised air can be directed towards the coiler periphery. Typically, these nozzles are directed inwardly in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the coiler 13, but inclined at an angle of approximately 200 to the coiler radius in the direction of movement of strip 9 on to the coiler.

An aperture 16 is providecl in the manifold 14 to allow the telescopic extension features of the guide box 10 to project into the interior of the manifold assembly and almost on to the surface of the coiled.

As will be seen from Figure 2 of the drawings the manifold 14 is mounted upon slides 17 so as to enable it to be retracted away from the coiler in the direction of the coiler axis. Additionally, the telescopic part of the guide box 10 is provided with a hinged lid and base 18, 19 which open automatically when the manifold assembly is retracted axially from the coiler to allow clear passage of strip during coil build-up.

Upon start-up of the equipment, the drive means to the coiler 13 is actuated with the manifold assembly 14 located in the position shown in the drawings. At the same time, drive to the feedstock 5 is initiated the peripheral speed of the feedstock gradually increasing whilst the peeling tool 6 is driven into the peripheral surface of the feedstock. The leading end of the peeled strip 9 is directed into the gallery 8 by the gas jet issued from the nozzle 11 and passes through this gallery and the guide box 10. It is then directed on to the surface of the coiler 13 by means of the gas jet issuing from nozzle 12 and is held on to the surface of the coiler by the gas jets issuing from the nozzles 1 5. The inclination of the jets prevents the leading edge from being lifted off from the coiler surface.As the coiler rotates the strip is carried with it and overlaps at the end of the first revolution. After several laps have been fed on to the coiler, the frictional forces between the strip and the coiler should be sufficient to accommodate the tension stresses produced in the strip by the peeling control settings. At this point, the gas supply to the manifold 14 is turned off and the manifold retracted from the coiler along the slides 17. Simultaneously, the hinged flaps 18, 19 to the guide box 10 are lifted to allow free passage of strip. The coil then builds up in the usual way.

It is to be understood that whilst the invention has been described with reference to a strip peeling process the strip wrapping system lent itself to other processes where there is a need to wrap a strip of foil around the periphery of a rotating coiler.

Control of the peeling process may be effected using one of the control procedures described and claimed in our co-pending application No.

29628/78.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing metal strip including the steps of rotating a cylindrical metal workpiece about its longitudinal axis, feeding a cutting tool continuously into the peripheral surface of the workpiece as it rotates to produce a continuous metal strip peeled from the surface of the workpiece, guiding the leading portion of the peeled strip towards and into contact with the periphery of a rotating coiler, and directing gaseous jets onto the exposed surface of the strip to maintain contact between the strip and the coiler periphery during initial coiling of the strip.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the gas jets are directed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the coiler but inclined at an angle of approximately 200 to its radius in the direction of movement of strip on the coiler.

3. Apparatus for manufacturing metal strip from a cylindrical metal workpiece including means for rotating the workpiece about its longitudinal axis, a cutting tool together with means for feeding said cutting tool continuously into the peripheral surface of the workpiece to produce a continuous metal strip peeled from the surface of the workpiece, a coiler for collecting the peeled strip and a manifold connected to a source of gas under pressure which encompasses at least the major part of the peripheral surface of the coiler and which is provided with a plurality of apertures positioned to direct discrete gaseous jets onto the surface of the strip as it passes onto and around the coiler periphery.

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the manifold is mounted upon slides so as to enable it to be retracted away from the coiler in the direction of the axis of routing of the coiler.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the apertures are designed and positioned to direct jets of gas in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the coiler but inclined at an angle of approximately 200 to the coiler radius in the direction of movement of strip on the coiler.

6. A method of coiling metal strip including guiding the leading portion of the strip onto the peripheral surface of the coiler and directing discrete jets of gas under pressure onto the exposed surface of the strip to urge it into contact with the periphery of the coiler.

7. A method of manufacturing metal strip substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

8. Apparatus for manufacturing metal strip substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.