Systems for removing viscous materials during the machining of a metal object
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE202019006121
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2018-06-13
- Filing Date
- 2019-06-13
- Publication Date
- 2025-04-10
- Estimated Expiration
- 2029-06-30
Smart Images
Figure 00000000_0000_ABST
Abstract
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONSThe present application claims priority to and the benefit of filing U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 684,446, filed Jun. 13, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure relates generally to metallurgy and, more particularly, to metal fabrication.BACKGROUNDUnless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application, and are not intended to be prior art by inclusion in this section.Existing machining methods may use a wiper to contain viscous materials (e.g., liquid detergents, lubricants, refrigerants, pre-treatment agents, or the like, or any combination thereof) applied to a rolled material product (e.g., a metal article) during and / or after machining steps that require the application of a viscous material (e.g., cleaning, lubrication, cooling, pre-treatment, or the like, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the rolled material product is not completely flat (i.e., planar) and may have a curved cross-sectional shape along a width and / or length. In addition, the rolled material product may have surface irregularities including protrusions, depressions, or any other non-planar surface characteristics. Thus, for example, when applying a liquid coolant to control a temperature of a metal object, subsequent complete removal of the liquid coolant using a rigid and / or non-compliant seal is inefficient or impractical.SUMMARYThe term embodiment and similar terms are intended to refer broadly to the entire subject matter of this disclosure and the following claims. Statements containing these terms should be understood not to limit the subject matter described herein or to limit the meaning or scope of the following claims. Embodiments of the present disclosure covered herein are defined by the following claims, not by this summary. This summary is a general overview of various aspects of the disclosure and introduces some of the concepts that are further described in the following Detailed Description section. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to suitable portions of the entire specification, any or all of the drawings, and each claim.Disclosed herein is a system for removing viscous material from a surface of a metal object, comprising: a flexible seal movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface along a width of the flexible seal between a first position and at least a second position, the flexible seal configured to contact the surface along the width of the flexible seal; and a biasing mechanism configured to move selected portions of the flexible seal along the width of the flexible seal to conform the flexible seal to the surface across a width of the surface. In some examples, the system further comprises a tangible object, wherein the tangible object is at least one of a moving tangible object or a metal object. Additionally, the flexible seal may be movable in a direction normal to the tangible object along a width of the flexible seal between a first position and a plurality of other variable positions.In some examples, the biasing mechanism is a static biasing mechanism or a movable biasing mechanism, wherein the movable biasing mechanism includes a plurality of portions that move independently of each other or that move in accordance with each other. In some aspects, the static biasing mechanism may include a curved rod, wherein a convex side of the curved rod includes a bearing for the flexible seal, wherein the flexible seal is pressed against the material object by positioning the curved rod adjacent the material object. In some non-limiting examples, the movable biasing mechanism includes multiple actuators, multiple springs, or a inflatable bladder (e.g., a bladder inflatable with a gas, a liquid, a gel, or any suitable fluid medium, any combination thereof, or any suitable biasing mechanism). In some cases, the system further includes multiple mounting devices, where a single mounting device is attached to a single biasing mechanism (e.g., a single actuator or spring). Optionally, multiple mounting devices may be attached to the inflatable bladder. In some examples, the plurality of actuators may be pneumatic actuators, electrical actuators, hydraulic actuators, mechanical actuators, magnetic actuators, thermal actuators, or any combination thereof, or another suitable actuator. In some cases, the plurality of mounting devices may be clamps, clips, pins, clips, any combination thereof, or any other suitable mounting device.In some non-limiting examples, the biasing mechanism may extend at least a first portion of the flexible seal beyond at least a second portion of the flexible seal. The flexible seal may have a width sufficient to traverse at least partially across a width of the tangible object, and in some cases, the flexible seal may traverse the entire width of the tangible object.In some non-limiting examples, the seal further includes a contact edge, a mounting edge, and a body, the body positioned between the contact edge and the mounting edge, and the mounting edge is disposed opposite the contact edge. In some cases, the body, contact edge, and mounting edge may have any suitable cross-sectional shape, including, but not limited to, a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, a circle, an ellipse, a knife blade, or the Greek capital letter Omega. In some aspects, the seal is a flexible seal having a degree of flexibility such that the contact edge matches a surface topography of the tangible object and / or any of any cross-sectional shape of the tangible object that may occur during processing.Also disclosed herein is a method of removing viscous material from a tangible object, including attaching a seal to a biasing mechanism to provide a seal attached to a biasing mechanism, placing the seal attached to the biasing mechanism adjacent the tangible object with a contact edge of the seal contacting the tangible object, and applying pressure from the biasing mechanism such that the seal maintains contact with the tangible object. In some examples, the seal is placed adjacent an area where viscous material is applied to the tangible object and passes the tangible object across the seal. In some cases, the biasing mechanism may allow the seal to match a cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and / or a surface topography of the tangible object. In some cases, the viscous material applied to the material object cannot pass through the seal.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe description refers to the following accompanying figures, wherein the use of like reference numerals in different figures is intended to illustrate like or analogous components. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a viscous material removal system in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic of an enlarged view of a portion of the viscous material removal system, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a seal in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the seal of FIG. 3 contacting a tangible object, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 shows schematic cross-sectional views of example gaskets according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONCertain aspects and features of the present disclosure relate to rolling mills for rolling a metal object in a hot rolling mode, a cold rolling mode, a hot rolling mode, or any combination thereof. Further aspects and features of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for cooling metal articles and / or work rolls involved in hot rolling, cold rolling, or hot rolling. Still further aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for removing viscous materials (e.g., refrigerants, cleaning agents, pre-treatment agents, lubricants, or the like, or any combination thereof) applied to the metal article without damaging a surface of the metal article.As used herein, the terms "invention", "the invention", "this invention", and "the present invention" are intended to broadly refer to the entire subject matter of this patent application and the following claims. Statements containing these terms should be understood not to limit the subject matter described herein or to limit the meaning or scope of the following claims.The meaning of the terms "a", "an" or "the" used herein includes singular or plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.The meaning of the term "room temperature" as used herein may include a temperature of about 15° C. to about 30° C., for example 15° C., about 16° C., about 17° C., about 18° C., about 19° C., about 20° C., about 21° C., about 22° C., about 24° C., about 25° C., about 26° C., about 27° C., about 28° C., about 29° C., or about 30° C.The term "plate" as used herein generally has a thickness of from about 4 millimeters (mm) to about 100 mm. For example, a plate may refer to an aluminum product having a thickness of about 4 mm, about 5 mm, about 10 mm, about 15 mm, about 20 mm, about 25 mm, about 30 mm, about 35 mm, about 40 mm, about 45 mm, about 50 mm, about 55 mm, about 60 mm, about 65 mm, about 70 mm, about 75 mm, about 80 mm, about 85 mm, about 90 mm, about 95 mm, or about 100 mm.As used herein, the term "sheet" refers generally to an aluminum product having a thickness of about 0.2 mm to less than about 4 mm. For example, a sheet may have a thickness of about less than 4 mm, less than 3 mm, less than 2 mm, less than 1 mm, less than 0.5 mm, less than 0.3 mm, or less than 0.25 mm.As used herein, the term "foil" refers to an alloy thickness in the range up to about 0.2 mm (i.e., 200 microns (μm)). For example, a film may have a thickness of about up to 10 μm, 20 μm, 30 μm, 40 μm, 50 μm, 60 μm, 70 μm, 80 μm, 90 μm, 100 μm, 110 μm, 120 μm, 130 μm, 140 μm, 150 μm, 160 μm, 170 μm, 180 μm, 190 μm, or 200 μm.In some non-limiting examples, a rolling mill may include at least one working stand, and in some examples, the rolling mill may include multiple stands. For example, the mill may have two stands, three stands, four stands, five stands, six stands, or any other number of working stands as needed or desired. Each stand may include a pair of work rolls that are vertically oriented. In some cases, each stand includes a pair of backup rolls that support the pair of work rolls. In some examples, each stand also includes a pair of intermediate rollers. During rolling of the metal article, the metal article passes through a roll nip defined between the work rolls. Rolling the metal article reduces the thickness of the metal article to a desired thickness and imparts particular properties to the metal article depending on the composition of the metal article. Depending on the desired properties or other considerations for the final metal product, the rolling mill may operate in a hot rolling mode, a cold rolling mode, a hot rolling mode, or any combination thereof.Hot rolling is generally carried out at temperatures above a recrystallization temperature of the metal. For example, in some cases where the metal article is aluminum or an aluminum alloy, hot rolling may be performed at a temperature greater than about 250° C., such as from 250° C. to about 550° C. In other examples, various other temperatures may be used for hot rolling.In contrast to hot rolling, cold rolling is generally carried out at temperatures below the metal recrystallization temperature. For example, in some cases where the metal article is aluminum or an aluminum alloy, cold rolling may be performed at a temperature of about less than 200° C., such as from about 20° C. to about 200° C. In other examples, various other temperatures may be used for cold rolling.In some cases, a metal article may be rolled by a hot rolling process that occurs at a temperature below the metal recrystallization temperature but above the cold rolling temperature. For example, in some cases where the metal article is aluminum or an aluminum alloy, cold rolling may be performed at a temperature of about 200° C. to about 250° C. In other examples, various other temperatures may be used for hot rolling.In some examples, the rolling mill includes a metal article cooling system configured to apply a coolant to the outer surface of the metal article to control a temperature of the metal article. In some non-limiting examples, the coolant is water, oil, gel, or any suitable transfer medium. In some cases, the coolant is an organic heat transfer medium, a silicone fluid heat transfer medium, or a glycol-based heat transfer medium (e.g., ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, or any other polyalkylene glycol, or any combination thereof). Although this description is given in the context of liquid refrigerants, the systems and methods described herein may also be applied to any viscous material, including refrigerants, cleaners, pre-conditioners, lubricants (e.g., gels, sol-gels, and certain glasses), or the like.In some examples, the metal article cooling system is configured to reduce a temperature of the metal article during processing. In various examples, the metal article cooling system includes a metal article cooling head configured to apply a coolant to at least one surface of the metal article to control the temperature of the metal article. In some examples, the metal article cooling system also includes a viscous material removal system for removing coolant or other viscous material (e.g., pre-treatment agent, detergent, lubricant, etc.) from a desired area on the metal article (i.e., drying the metal article) and / or confining the coolant or other viscous material to a desired area on the metal article. In various examples, any number of rollheads and viscous material removal systems may be used, depending on the configuration of the mill. The metal article cooling system may be provided at various locations within the rolling mill, such as below the metal article, above the metal article, adjacent to the metal article in a vertical rolling mill, combinations thereof, or any suitable location where cooling is desired and the coolant or other viscous material is to be removed before the metal article enters a subsequent work stand or other processing equipment. In some non-limiting examples, the metal article may be a metal coil, a metal strip, a metal plate, a metal sheet, a metal foil, a metal bar, a metal ingot, or the like.In some further examples, the rolling mill includes a cleaning system configured to apply a cleaning agent to the outer surface of the metal object to remove contaminants that may accumulate on the metal object. In some examples, the cleaning system is configured to apply solvents, detergents, surfactants, acids, bases, any other suitable surface cleaner, or any combination thereof, to at least one surface of the metal article during processing. In various examples, the metal article cleaning system includes a metal article cleaning head configured to apply the cleaning agent to at least one surface of the metal article to remove oils and / or dirt from the surface of the metal article. In some examples, the metal article cleaning system also includes a detergent and / or contaminant removal system for removing the detergent and / or contaminants from a desired area on the metal article (i.e., drying and / or wiping the metal article), and / or for confining the detergent and / or contaminants to a desired area on the metal article. In various examples, any number of roll cleaning heads and cleaning agents and / or contaminant removal systems may be used depending on the configuration of the rolling mill. The metal article cleaning system may be provided at various locations within the mill, such as below the metal article, above the metal article, adjacent to the metal article in a vertical mill, combinations thereof, or any suitable location where cleaning is desired and the cleaning agent and / or contaminants are to be removed before the metal article enters a subsequent work stand or other processing equipment.Similarly, in some other examples, the rolling mill includes a pre-treatment system configured to apply a pre-treatment agent to the outer surface of the metal article to prepare the outer surface of the metal article for particular downstream processing. In some examples, the pretreatment system is configured to apply adhesion promoters, corrosion inhibitors, aesthetic films, or any other suitable surface pretreatment agent to at least one surface of the metal article during processing. In various examples, the metal article pretreatment system includes a metal article pretreatment head configured to apply the pretreatment agent to at least one surface of the metal article. In some examples, the metal article pretreatment system also includes a removal system for removing excess pretreatment agent from a desired area on the metal article (i.e., drying the metal article) and / or for confining the pretreatment agent to a desired area on the metal article. In various examples, any number of rolling pretreatment heads and surplus pretreatment agent removal systems may be used depending on the configuration of the rolling mill. The metal article pretreatment system may be provided at various locations within the mill, such as below the metal article, above the metal article, adjacent to the metal article in a vertical mill, combinations thereof, or any suitable location where pretreatment is desired and the excess pretreatment agent is to be removed before the metal article enters a subsequent work stand or other processing equipment.In certain aspects, the metal article may be a generally planar metal article. However, during certain processing steps performed at elevated temperatures (e.g., hot rolling, hot rolling, cold rolling, solubilizing, annealing, and / or homogenization), the metal article or portions of the metal article may not become planar. In certain examples, the metal article may be heated to temperatures that may result in a soft metal (e.g., heated to temperatures near a liquidus temperature of the metal article). Heating the metal object may result in a metal object having a non-planar cross-sectional shape (e.g., a curved shape along a width of the metal object). Such a non-planar cross-sectional shape may result, for example, in process lines generating more stress along a center of the metal object than along a first edge and / or a second edge of the metal object as the metal object moves from a first working stand to a second working stand. Thus, in a process line in which the metal object is maintained substantially horizontal, the center of the metal object may be higher in the vertical direction than at a first edge and / or second edge of the metal object. Similarly, in some other examples, in process lines that generate a higher stress along the first edge and / or the second edge than along the center of the metal object, as the metal object moves from a first working stand to a second working stand, the center of the metal object may sag and be lower in the vertical direction than the first edge and / or the second edge of the metal object. In some cases, the stress in a process line may vary, resulting in variable vertical heights along the width of a metal object being processed in a process line in which the metal object is maintained substantially horizontal and moves in a direction along a length of the metal object. Such variable vertical heights may provide a dynamic horizontal profile across the width of the metal object. For example, as the metal object moves in a horizontal process line, a profile of the width of the metal object may constantly vary at a particular processing point (e.g., a point where coolant is applied).In some cases, cooling the metal article after processing steps that require heating the metal article may result in a non-planar cross-sectional shape and / or surface irregularities at least in a portion of the metal article where the coolant may be applied. The surface irregularities may produce a surface topography that has different elevations across the surface (e.g., ridges and valleys). The non-planar cross-sectional shape and / or surface irregularities may pose challenges for non-uniform removal of the coolant from the metal article.In some further examples, a roll cooling system may be provided in at least one working stand and may be configured to reduce a temperature of the roll during processing. In some examples, the roller may be a work roller, a backup roller, or the like. In some cases, the work roll may be stainless steel, steel, or may be made of any suitable material. In various examples, the roll cooling system includes a roll cooling head configured to apply a coolant to at least one surface of the roll to control the temperature of the roll. In some examples, the rolling cooling system also includes a viscous material removal system for removing coolant from a desired surface and / or for confining the coolant to a desired surface on the roll. In various examples, any number of rolling cooling systems may be used depending on the configuration of the rolling mill. The rolling cooling system may be provided at various locations within the rolling mill, such as a working stand, before a first working stand, after a last working stand, between working stands, etc. In some non-limiting examples, the metal article cooling system and the rolling cooling system may be separate or combined systems.As described herein, the viscous material removal system for removing a liquid coolant from a metal object and / or a roller may include a seal and a biasing mechanism. In some non-limiting examples, the seal may be a flexible seal. For example, the seal may be a polymeric seal. Exemplary polymers for use in the polymer gasket include, for example, synthetic rubber (styrene butadiene), natural rubber, elastomers, cellulose, or the like, or any combinations thereof. In some examples, the seal may be a polysilicon seal, a fabric seal, or any suitable material that will not damage the metal article and / or the roller when contacting the metal article and / or the roller. The seal may have sufficient flexibility such that the seal may be adjusted or generally adjusted to any non-planar cross-sectional shape and / or surface irregularities (e.g., topography), as described above. In some examples, the seal may conform to any non-planar cross-sectional shape and / or surface irregularities by applying a force via at least one biasing mechanism to urge the seal toward the metal object.These illustrative examples are provided to introduce the reader into the general subject matter discussed herein and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed concepts. The following sections describe various additional features and examples with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like elements and directional descriptions are used to describe the illustrative embodiments, but like the illustrative embodiments, they should not be used to limit the present disclosure. The elements included in the illustrations herein need not be drawn to scale.FIG. 1 is a schematic of a viscous material removal system 100 as described herein. The viscous material removal system 100 may be used to remove viscous material (e.g., a coolant, a detergent, a lubricant, a pre-treatment agent, or the like) from a roll-processed material (e.g., a metal article, a polymer film, or any suitable roll-processed material that requires application, optionally containment, and removal of a viscous material) and / or contain the viscous material on a desired surface of the metal article. In some examples, the metal article is aluminum, aluminum alloys, magnesium, magnesium-based materials, titanium, titanium-based materials, copper, copper-based materials, steel, steel-based materials, bronze, bronze-based materials, brass, brass-based materials, composites, sheets used in the composites, or any other suitable metal or combinations of materials. The article may include monolithic materials, as well as non-monolithic materials such as rolled together materials, cladding materials, composite materials (such as but not limited to carbon fiber containing materials), or various other materials. In some examples, the metal article is a metal coil, a metal strip, a metal plate, a metal sheet, a metal ingot, a metal ingot, or the like. In some cases, the systems and methods described herein may be used with a non-metal article. As shown in FIG. 1, the viscous material removal system 100 includes a flexible seal 110 having a width W and a biasing mechanism. The biasing mechanism may be any desired biasing mechanism, such as multiple actuators 120 in the example of FIG. 1. the seal 110 may attach the multiple actuators 120 to any suitable mounting device, including but not limited to a clip, pin, clip, or clamp 130. In other examples, the biasing mechanism may be multiple springs, a inflatable bladder as described below, a curved rod as described below, or any other biasing mechanism that allows a vertical height of the seal in a height direction H along the width W of the seal 110 to be varied. The seal 110 may be flexible and have a degree of flexibility such that the seal 110 may be adjusted to any non-planar cross-sectional shape and / or surface irregularities in the metal article. The seal 110 may be formed of any suitable material. For example, the seal 110 may be a polymeric seal. Polymers for use in the polymer gasket include, for example, synthetic rubber (styrene butadiene), natural rubber, elastomers, cellulose of the like, or any combinations thereof. In some examples, the seal may be a polysilicon seal, a fabric seal, or a seal made of any suitable material that will not damage the metal article and / or a work roll (for example, in certain aspects, wherein the viscous material removal system is used to remove viscous material from a work roll).The plurality of actuators 120 may be pneumatic actuators, electric actuators, hydraulic actuators, mechanical actuators, magnetic actuators, thermal actuators, or other suitable actuators. In some cases, the plurality of actuators 120 may be attached to the seal 110 in any suitable manner, including via a plurality of mounting devices 210 (see FIG. 2 ). In some non-limiting examples, each mounting device 210 may include a mounting arm 215, a pivot base 220, a pivot pin 230, and a clamp 130. In some cases, each mounting device 210 may be attached to the mounting arm 215 by a pivot pin 230 to allow pivoting of the pivot base 220 about the pivot pin 230. Each mounting device 210 may be attached to a subsequent mounting device 210 by a connecting pin 240 to allow each mounting device 210 to pivot with respect to each subsequent mounting device 210. The succession of the mounting devices 210 attached to the plurality of actuators 120 may generate (i) a suitable pressure for contacting the metal object and (ii) a suitable flexibility for accommodating any non-planar cross-sectional shapes and / or surface irregularities that occur during processing in the metal object. In some aspects, a suitable pressure is a force applied to the plurality of actuators 120 such that the seal 110 may apply a pressure to the metal object. For example, the plurality of actuators 120 may exert a pressure in the range of about 40 pounds per square inch (psi) to about 120 psi, or up to a maximum air pressure available at a production facility. For example, the plurality of actuators 120 may have a pressure of about 40 psi, 41 psi, 42 psi, 43 psi, 44 psi, 45 psi, 46 psi, 47 psi, 48 psi, 49 psi, 50 psi, 51 psi, 52 psi, 53 psi, 54 psi, 55 psi, 56 psi, 57 psi, 58 psi, 59 psi, 60 psi, 61 psi, 62 psi, 63 psi, 64 psi, 65 psi, 66 psi, 67 psi, 68 psi, 69 psi, 70 psi, 71 psi, 72 psi, 73 psi, 74 psi, 75 psi, 76 psi, 77 psi, 78 psi, 79 psi, 80 psi, 81 psi, 82 psi, 83 psi, 84 psi, 85 psi, 86 psi, 87 psi, 88 psi, 89 psi, 90 psi, 91 psi, 92 psi, 93 psi, 94 psi, 95 psi, 96 psi, 97 psi, 98 psi, 99 psi, 100 psi, 101 psi, 102 psi, 103 psi, 104 psi, 105 psi, 106 psi, 107 psi, 108 psi, 109 psi, 110 psi, 111 psi, 112 psi, 113 psi, 114 psi, 115 psi, 116 psi, 117 psi, 118 psi, 119 psi, 120 psi (corresponding to about 276 kpa, 283 kpa, 290 kpa, 296 kpa, 303 kpa, 310 kpa, 317 kpa, 324 kpa, 331 kpa, 338 kpa, 345 kpa, 352 kpa, 359 kpa, 365 kpa, 372 kpa, 379 kpa, 386 kpa, 393 kpa, 400 kpa, 407 kpa, 414 kpa, 421 kpa, 427 kpa, 434 kpa, 441 kpa, 448 kpa, 455 kpa, 462 kpa, 469 kpa, 476 kpa, 483 kpa, 489 kpa, 489 kpa, 496 kpa, 503 kpa, 510 kpa, 517 kpa, 524 kpa, 531 kpa, 538 kpa, 545 kpa, 552 kpa, 558 kpa, 565 kpa, 572 kpa, 579 kpa, 586 kpa, 593 kpa, 600 kpa, 607 kpa, 614 kpa, 621 kpa, 627 kpa, 634 kpa, 641 kpa, 648 kpa, 655 kpa, 662 kpa, 669 kpa, 676 kpa, 683 kpa, 689 kpa, 696 kpa, 703 kpa, 710 kpa, 717 kpa, 724 kpa, 731 kpa, 738 kpa, 745 kpa, 752 kpa, 758 kpa, 765 kpa, 772 kpa, 7779 kpa, 786 kpa, 793 kpa, 800 kpa, 807 kpa, 814 kpa, 820 kpa, 827 kpa) or greater or anywhere therebetween.In some cases, the air pressure supplied to the plurality of actuators 120 may provide a working pressure applied to the metal object by the seal 110. In some examples, the working pressure may be from about 2 pounds force per linear inch (lb / in) (0.226 Nm) of the width W of the seal 110 to about 50 lb / in (5.649 Nm). For example, the working pressure may be about 2 lb / in, 4 lb / in, 6 lb / in, 8 lb / in, 10 lb / in, 12 lb / in, 14 lb / in, 16 lb / in, 18 lb / in, 20 lb / in, 22 lb / in, 24 lb / in, 26 lb / in, 28 lb / in, 30 lb / in, 32 lb / in, 34 lb / in, 36 lb / in, 38 lb / in, 40 lb / in, 42 lb / in, 44 lb / in, 46 lb / in, 48 lb / in, 50 lb / in, greater than 50 lb / in (corresponding to about 0.226 Nm, 0.462 Nm, 0.678 Nm, 0.904 Nm, 1.130 Nm, 1.336 Nm, 1.582 Nm, 1.808 Nm, 2.034 Nm, 2.260 Nm, 2.486 Nm, 2.712 Nm, 2.938 Nm, 3.164 Nm, 3.390 Nm, 3.616 Nm, 3.841 Nm, 4.067 Nm, 4.293 Nm, 4.519 Nm, 4.745 Nm, 4.931 Nm, 5.197 Nm, 5.423 Nm, 5.649 Nm, greater than 5.649 Nm) or anywhere therebetween. In some aspects, applying the working pressure may allow the seal 110 to maintain contact with the metal article across its width W without buckling the seal 110 (e.g., applying a working pressure that is too high may drive the seal 110 into the metal article, thereby deforming the shape of the seal 110 and creating areas where the seal 110 loses contact with the metal article and viscous material may pass under or around the seal 110).FIG. 3 is a schematic of an example of a seal 110 as described herein. In some cases, the seal 110 may have a triangular shape (although it may not have), where one edge may be a contact edge 310 and another edge may be a mounting edge 320. For example, the mounting edge 320 may be held by the clamp 130 (see FIG. 1 ). In some cases, the clamp 130 may hold the seal 110 such that the seal 110 may move in a lateral direction L along the width W of the seal 110 while simultaneously preventing the clamp 130 from exiting in an approximately vertical direction, as in the example of FIG. 4 (e.g., with respect to FIG. 2, the seal 110 may slide laterally in the lateral direction L within each clamp 130 without vertically exiting each clamp 130). In some non-limiting examples, the seal 110 may be hollow, including a clearance 330 in a cross-sectional center of the seal 110. In some aspects, the clearance 330 may allow the seal 110 to compress when contacting the metal object. Allowing the gasket 110 to compress may further allow the gasket 110 to enter / adapt to irregularities and defects in the metal object surface when the elasticity of the gasket 110 drives the gasket 110 to return to its uncompressed state, further driving the contact edge 310 into the surface of the metal object. In some cases, the seal 110 is solid and does not include clearance.In the example of FIG. 4, when the contact edge 310 of the seal 110 is in a first position, it contacts the metal object 410. The seal 110, the mounting device 210, and the mounting arm 215 are positioned such that an angle 420 between the metal object 410 and a front surface of the seal 110 is from about 15° to about 90°. For example, the angle 420 may be an angle of about 15°, 16°, 17°, 18°, 19°, 20°, 21°, 22°, 23°, 24°, 25°, 26°, 27°, 28°, 29°, 30°, 31 °, 32°, 33°, 34°, 35°, 36°, 37°, 38°, 39°, 40°, 41°, 42°, 44°, 45°, 46°, 47°, 48°, 49°, 50°, 51°, 52°, 53°, 54°, 55°, 56°, 57°, 58°, 59°, 60°, 61°, 63°, 64°, 65°, 66°, 67°, 68°, 69°, 70°, 71°, 72°, 73°, 74°, 75°, 76°, 77°, 78°, 79°, 80°, 81°, 82°, 83°, 84°, 85°, 86°, 87°, 88°, 89°, 90°, or anywhere therebetween. In some other examples, the angle 420 may vary based on a shape of the seal 110 and may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a seal 110 having a knife blade shape may contact the metal article 410 at an angle 420 that is from about 0° to about 90° (e.g., 0°, 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, 5°, 6°, 7°, 8°, 9°, 10°, 11°, 12°, 13°, 14°, 15°, 16°, 17°, 18°, 19°, 20°, 21°, 22°, 23°, 24°, 25°, 26°, 27°, 28°, 29°, 30°, 31°, 32°, 33°, 34°, 35°, 36°, 37°, 38°, 39°, 40°, 41°, 43°, 44°, 45°, 46°, 47°, 48°, 49°, 50°, 51°, 52°, 53°, 54°, 55°, 56°, 57°, 58°, 37 °, 59 °, 60°, 61°, 62 °, 63°, 64 °, 65°, 66 °, 67°, 68°, 69 °, 70°, 71°, 72 °, 73°, 74 °, 75 °, 76 °, 77°, 78°, 79 °, 80°, 81 °, 82°, 83°, 84 °, 85°, 86 °, 87°, 88°, 89°, 90° or anywhere therebetween). In still further examples, a seal 110 having a circular cross-sectional area and a round contact edge may contact the metal object 410 at any suitable angle 420 such that the mounting device 210 does not contact the metal object 420.In some non-limiting examples, in a process step as described above, the metal article 410 may pass over the seal 110 in a direction 415. Pressure may be applied by the plurality of actuators 120 such that the seal 110 may remain in constant contact with the metal object 410 across the width of the metal object 410, even in surfaces where the metal object 410 is curved or has irregularities. The plurality of actuators 120 may apply a pressure along the width W of the seal 110 such that the seal 110 may move to a plurality of second positions (i.e., each individual actuator may move a portion of the seal 110 attached to that individual actuator to a single second position, see FIG. 1 ), which forces the seal 110 to conform to a shape of the metal object 410 across the width of the metal object 410. As described above, each clamp 130 is configured to allow the seal 110 to move in the lateral seal L (see FIG. 2 ) along the width W of the seal 110 (e.g., each clamp 130 grasps the seal 110 sufficiently loosely to allow the seal 110 to move laterally without vertically exiting each clamp 130). Further, allowing the seal 110 to move in the lateral direction L allows the seal 110 to move in the height direction H to the plurality of second positions without loading the seal 110 along the width of the seal 110. In this way, the vertical position of the seal 110 may vary across the width W of the seal 110, as in the example of FIG. 1. In some non-limiting examples, the plurality of actuators 120 may force the seal 110 to conform to a curved shape, a concave shape, a convex shape, a sinusoidal shape, or any suitable shape of a metal object 410 that it may assume during processing. In some examples, by forcing the seal 110 to take the shape of the metal object 410, one may prevent any viscous material 430 deposited on the metal object 410 from passing the seal 110, thereby providing for the removal of the viscous material 430 from the metal object 410.In some examples, instead of multiple actuators, the biasing mechanism may be a inflatable bladder. The inflatable bladder may be filled with any suitable fluid medium (e.g., water, air, gel, or the like, or any combination thereof). The seal 110 may be attached to the inflatable bladder with any suitable mounting device. The fillable bladder may be filled by applying a pressure such that the seal may remain in constant contact with the metal object 410 by conforming to a shape of the metal object 410 across the width of the metal object 410. In some examples, the inflatable bladder may act as a seal by contacting a contact edge of the inflatable bladder with the metal article 410. In some aspects, the inflatable bladder may be compressed when contacting the metal object 410. Allowing the inflatable bladder to compress may further allow the inflatable bladder to enter / adapt to irregularities and defects in the metal object surface 410 because the elasticity of the inflatable bladder drives the inflatable bladder to return to its uncompressed state, which further drives the contact edge of the inflatable bladder into the surface of the metal object 410.In other examples, the biasing mechanism may be a curved rod. The seal 110 may be attached to the curved rod by any suitable mounting device. The curved rod may be placed adjacent to the metal object 410 such that the seal 110 is pressed against the metal object 410 and may remain in constant contact with the metal object 410 during processing.The biasing mechanism is not limited to the examples described above, but may be any structure that allows for matching a seal to a non-planar metal object or a metal object having surface irregularities over at least a portion of the width of the metal object.The seal 110 may have any suitable cross-sectional shape. As shown in FIG. 5, some non-limiting examples of the shape of the seal include a line 500, a rectangle 510, a square 520, a triangle 530, a circle 540, an ellipse 550, a knife blade 560, or the Greek capital omega 570.The viscous material removal system 100 can be a compact system when compared to existing refrigerant and refrigerant containment systems. In some non-limiting examples, the viscous material removal system 100 may be disposed at any desired position adjacent to the metal object such that the coolant (or, for example, any viscous material applied to a metal object during a rolling process) may be removed. In some examples, the viscous material removal system 100 may be positioned adjacent any roll in a rolling mill or may be positioned before or after any roll in a rolling mill. In some aspects, the viscous material removal system 100 may be positioned adjacent to any roller that needs to be cooled by a liquid coolant. The viscous material removal system 100 may be placed adjacent an upper rolling mill, a lower rolling mill, an upper backup roll, a lower backup roll, a first work roll in a vertical rolling mill, a second work roll in a vertical rolling mill, a first backup roll in a vertical rolling mill, a second backup roll in a vertical rolling mill, or any roll that needs to be cooled by a liquid coolant (or, for example, the application of any viscous material to a roll may be required).As used below, any reference to a series of examples may be disjunctively understood as reference to each of these examples (e.g., "Examples 1-4", is understood as "Examples 1, 2, 3, or 4".Example 1 is a system for removing a viscous material from a surface of the material object, comprising: a flexible seal movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface along a width of the flexible seal between a first position and at least a second position, the flexible seal configured to contact the surface along the width of the flexible seal; and a biasing mechanism configured to move selected portions of the flexible seal along the width of the flexible seal to conform the flexible seal to the surface across a width of the surface.Example 2 is the system of any preceding or following example, further comprising the tangible object, wherein the tangible object is at least one of a moving tangible object or a metal object.Example 3 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the flexible seal is movable in a direction normal to the tangible object along a width of the flexible seal between the first position and a plurality of other variable positions.Example 4 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the biasing mechanism is a static biasing mechanism or a movable biasing mechanism.Example 5 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the movable biasing mechanism includes a plurality of portions that move independently of one another or that move in unison with one another.Example 6 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the static biasing mechanism comprises a curved rod, wherein a convex side of the curved rod includes a bearing for the flexible seal, wherein the flexible seal is pressed against the tangible object by positioning the curved rod adjacent to the tangible object.Example 7 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the movable biasing mechanism includes at least one of: a plurality of actuators, a plurality of springs, or a fillable bladder fillable with a fluid medium.Example 8 is the system of any preceding or following example, further comprising a plurality of mounting devices, wherein a single mounting device of the plurality of mounting devices is attached to a single actuator or subset of the plurality of actuators, or a single mounting device is attached to a single spring or subset of the plurality of springs, or the plurality of mounting devices is attached to the inflatable bladder.Example 9 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the plurality of mounting devices includes at least one of clamps, clips, pins, or clips.Example 10 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the plurality of actuators includes at least one of pneumatic actuators, electrical actuators, hydraulic actuators, mechanical actuators, magnetic actuators, or thermal actuators.Example 11 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the biasing mechanism is configured to position the flexible seal such that a first portion of the flexible seal has a height different than a height of a second portion of the flexible seal.Example 12 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the flexible seal is configured to at least partially traverse across the width of the tangible object.Example 13 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the flexible seal is configured to fully traverse the width of the metallic object.Example 14 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the flexible seal further comprises: a body; a contact edge; and a mounting edge, wherein the mounting edge is disposed across the body opposite the contact edge.Example 15 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the body, the contact edge, and the mounting edge define a cross-sectional shape selected from the group consisting of a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, a circle, an ellipse, a knife blade, the Greek capital letter omega, or any combination thereof.Example 16 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the flexible seal has a degree of flexibility such that the contact edge conforms to a curved cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and a surface topography of the tangible object during processing.Example 17 is a system for removing viscous material from a tangible object, comprising: mounting a seal on a biasing mechanism; placing the seal attached to a biasing mechanism adjacent to the tangible object such that a contact edge of the seal contacts the tangible object; and applying a pressure from the biasing mechanism such that the seal remains in contact with the tangible object across the width of the seal.Example 18 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein placing the seal attached to a biasing mechanism adjacent to the tangible object further comprises: placing the seal attached to a biasing mechanism adjacent to a region on the tangible object comprising a viscous material applied to the tangible object.Example 19 is the system of any preceding or following example, further comprising, for contacting the tangible object, passing the tangible object across the seal attached to a biasing mechanism.Example 20 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein applying pressure from the biasing mechanism further comprises allowing the seal to conform to a cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and to a surface topography of the tangible object across the width of the seal.Example 21 is the system of any preceding or following example, further comprising using the biasing mechanism to position the seal such that a first portion of the seal has a height different than a height of a second portion of the seal.Example 22 is the system of any preceding or following example, wherein the viscous material applied to the tangible object is prevented from passing through the seal.The foregoing description of the embodiments, including the illustrated embodiments, has been presented for purposes of illustration and description only and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the precise forms disclosed. Numerous modifications, adaptations, and applications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedUS 62 / 684,446
[0001]
Claims
A system for removing a viscous material (430) from a surface of a tangible object (410), comprising: a flexible seal (110) movable in a direction (H) substantially perpendicular to the surface along the width (W) of the flexible seal between a first position and at least a second position, the flexible seal configured to contact the surface along the width (W) of the flexible seal; a movable biasing mechanism (120) configured to move portions of the flexible seal and comprising at least one of a plurality of actuators, a plurality of springs or a fillable bladder fillable with a fluid medium, and a plurality of mounting devices (210) comprising clamps (130), wherein a single mounting device of the plurality of mounting devices is attached to at least one actuator (120) of the plurality of actuators, at least one spring of the plurality of springs (120), or the inflatable bladder, wherein the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to move selected portions of the flexible seal (110) along the width (B) of the flexible seal to conform the flexible seal to the surface of the tangible object (410) over a width of the surface of the tangible object (410), and the seal (110) can slide side-to-side in a lateral direction (L) along the width (W) of the seal within each bracket (130) without vertically exiting the bracket (130).The system of claim 1, further comprising the tangible object, wherein the tangible object is at least one of a moving tangible object or a metallic object.The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flexible seal (110) is movable between the first position and a plurality of other variable positions.The system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the movable biasing mechanism comprises a plurality of portions that move independently of each other or that move in accordance with each other.The system of claim 1, wherein the movable biasing mechanism (120) comprises a plurality of actuators, wherein the plurality of actuators comprises at least one of pneumatic actuators, electrical actuators, hydraulic actuators, mechanical actuators, magnetic actuators, or thermal actuators.The system of claim 1, wherein the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to position the flexible seal (110) such that a first portion of the flexible seal has a height that is different than a height of a second portion of the flexible seal.The system of claim 1, wherein the flexible seal is configured to traverse at least partially across the width of the tangible object or is configured to traverse entirely across the width of the tangible object.The system of claim 1, wherein the flexible seal (110) further comprises: a body; a contact edge (310); and a mounting edge (320), the mounting edge being disposed across the body opposite the contact edge.The system of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the body, the contact edge, and the mounting edge define a cross-sectional shape selected from the group consisting of a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, a circle, an ellipse, a knife blade, a Greek capital letter omega, or any combinations thereof.The system of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the flexible seal (110) has a degree of flexibility such that the contact edge (310) is configured to adapt during processing of a curved cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and a surface topography of the tangible object.The system of any of claims 1 to 10, comprising: means for mounting a seal (110) to the biasing mechanism (120); means for placing the seal mounted to the biasing mechanism adjacent to the tangible object such that a contact edge (310) of the seal contacts the tangible object; and means for applying a pressure from the biasing mechanism (120) such that the seal remains in contact with the tangible object across a width of the seal.The system of claim 11, wherein the means for placing the seal (110) mounted to a biasing mechanism (120) adjacent the tangible object further comprises a means for placing the seal mounted to a biasing mechanism adjacent an area on the tangible object having a viscous material attached to the tangible object.The system of claim 11 or 12, further comprising means for guiding the tangible object over the seal (110) mounted to a biasing mechanism (120) and contacting the tangible object; and / or the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to position the seal such that a first portion of the seal has a height that is different than a height of a second portion of the seal.The system of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the means for applying the pressure from the biasing mechanism (120) further comprises means for allowing the seal (110) to conform across the width of the seal to a cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and a surface topography of the tangible object.The system of any of claims 11 to 14, which prevents the viscous material applied to the material object from passing through the seal.A system for removing a viscous material (430) from a surface of a tangible object (410), comprising: a flexible seal (110) movable in a direction (H) substantially perpendicular to the surface along a width (W) of the flexible seal between a first position and at least a second position, the flexible seal configured to contact the surface along the width (W) of the flexible seal; a biasing mechanism (120) configured to move portions of the flexible seal; and mounting devices (210) comprising a plurality of clamps (130); wherein the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to move selected portions of the flexible seal along the width (W) of the flexible seal to conform the flexible seal to the surface of the tangible object (410) across a width of the surface of the tangible object, characterized in that the seal (110) can slide in a lateral direction (L) along the width (W) of the seal within each clamp (130) side-to-side without vertically exiting each clamp (130).The system of claim 16, further comprising the tangible object, wherein the tangible object is at least one of a moving tangible object or a metal object.The system of claim 16 or 17, wherein the flexible seal (110) is movable between the first position and a plurality of other variable positions.The system of any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the biasing mechanism (130) is a static biasing mechanism or a movable biasing mechanism, preferably wherein the movable biasing mechanism comprises a plurality of portions that move independently of each other or that move together with each other, and / or at least one of: a plurality of actuators; a plurality of springs (120) or a fillable bladder fillable with a fluid medium; and / or wherein the static biasing mechanism comprises a curved rod, wherein a convex side of the curved rod includes a bearing for the flexible seal (110), and wherein the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to urge the flexible seal against the material object by positioning the curved rod adjacent the material object.The system of claim 19, wherein in the movable biasing mechanism, a single one of the plurality of mounting devices is attached to at least one actuator (120) of the plurality of actuators, at least one spring of the plurality of springs, or the inflatable bladder.The system of claim 19 or 20, wherein the movable biasing mechanism (120) comprises a plurality of actuators, wherein the plurality of actuators comprises at least one of pneumatic actuators, electrical actuators, hydraulic actuators, mechanical actuators, magnetic actuators, or thermal actuators.The system of claim 16, wherein the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to position the flexible seal (110) such that a first portion of the flexible seal has a height that is different than a height of a second portion of the flexible seal.The system of claim 16, wherein the flexible seal is configured to traverse at least partially across the width of the tangible object or is configured to traverse entirely across the width of the tangible object.The system of claim 16, wherein the flexible seal (110) further comprises: a body; a contact edge (310); and a mounting edge (320), the mounting edge being disposed across the body opposite the contact edge, preferably wherein the body, the contact edge, and the mounting edge define a cross-sectional shape selected from the group consisting of a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, a circle, an ellipse, a knife blade, a Greek capital letter Omega, or any combinations thereof.The system of any of claims 16 to 24, wherein the flexible seal (110) has a degree of flexibility such that the contact edge (310) is configured to adapt during processing of a curved cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and a surface topography of the tangible object.The system of any of claims 16 to 25, comprising: means for mounting a seal (110) to the biasing mechanism (120); means for placing the seal mounted to the biasing mechanism adjacent to the material object such that a contact edge (310) of the seal contacts the material object; and means for applying pressure from the biasing mechanism (120) such that the seal maintains contact with the material object across a width of the seal.The system of claim 26, wherein the means for placing the seal (110) mounted to a biasing mechanism (120) adjacent the tangible object further comprises a means for placing the seal mounted to a biasing mechanism adjacent an area on the tangible object having a viscous material attached to the tangible object.The system of claim 26 or 27, further comprising means for passing the material item over the seal (110) mounted on a biasing mechanism (120) and contacting the material item; and / or wherein the biasing mechanism (120) is configured to position the seal such that a first portion of the seal has a height that is different than a height of a second portion of the seal.The system of any of claims 26 to 28, wherein the means for applying the pressure from the biasing mechanism (120) further comprises means for allowing the seal (110) to conform across the width of the seal to a cross-sectional shape of the tangible object and a surface topography of the tangible object.The system of any of claims 26 to 29, further preventing the viscous material applied to the material object from passing through the seal.