Cold Rolling Device Zonal Cooling Aluminum Foil Flatness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cold rolling methods for aluminum foil, particularly battery foil, struggle to maintain high flatness and planarity with low heat input due to low forming work, as conventional zone cooling is limited by insufficient temperature differences and heat generation.
Innovation Solution
A cold rolling device and method that utilize zone cooling and inverse zone cooling to control flatness by heating rolls across their entire width using liquid heating media or inductive heating, and selectively adjusting heating zones to achieve effective temperature differences and geometric corrections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If zone cooling is used to control flatness in cold rolling of aluminum foil, then flatness control is improved, but the method becomes ineffective when heat input from forming work is too low to establish sufficient temperature difference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary heating to the work rolls before the cold rolling process to establish the necessary temperature difference. By pre-heating the rolls using heating devices (such as induction heating or contact heating from heating rolls), the system ensures that sufficient temperature gradient exists between the roll surface and cooling medium even when the forming work heat input is low, thereby enabling effective zone cooling for flatness control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the thermal parameters of the rolling system by introducing active heating mechanisms. Instead of relying solely on the heat generated during forming (which is insufficient for thin foil), the system actively controls the temperature of work rolls through external heating devices, thereby adjusting the temperature parameter to enable effective zone cooling
2Temperature
If cooling medium temperature is reduced to increase temperature difference for zone cooling, then temperature difference is improved, but solubility of additives and condensation impose limitations
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of cooling the rolls (which has limitations due to additive solubility and condensation), the patent inverts the approach by heating the rolls. This reverse strategy allows achieving the necessary temperature difference without reducing cooling medium temperature below the problematic thresholds, thus avoiding solubility issues and condensation problems while still enabling effective zone cooling
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional zone cooling is used for aluminum foil with low forming work, then cooling is provided, but insufficient temperature difference prevents effective flatness control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces heating devices as intermediary elements between the rolling process and the zone cooling system. These heating devices (such as induction heating coils or heating rolls) act as mediators that add thermal energy to the work rolls, creating the necessary temperature gradient that enables zone cooling to function effectively even when the forming work itself generates insufficient heat
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures sufficient temperature differences for zone cooling even with low heat input, enabling high flatness and planarity control in aluminum foil production, particularly for battery foil, with thickness deviations of less than 2mm wave height at 8 N/mm² auxiliary tension.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one of the several rolls is heated over the entire roll width during the control via zone cooling, in particular by being supplied with a liquid heating medium or by being inductively heated
Implementation Method 2
the control is carried out at least partially via zone cooling on at least one of the several rolls
Implementation Method 3
the temperature difference between the cooling medium and the work rolls, which serves as the driving force for the roll gap contour change, is generated by the forming process itself
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to the use of a cold-rolling device (2) for the controlled cold rolling of aluminium foil (20), in particular battery foil, wherein the cold-rolling device (2) has a number of rollers (6, 8), wherein the cold-rolling device (2) has a closed-loop control device (16), which is designed to carry out closed-loop control of a cold-rolling operation, in particular for checking the flatness and/or the planarity of the aluminium foil (20), wherein the cold-rolling device (2) has a cooling-medium application device (38, 40), which is designed to apply a liquid cooling medium (60) to at least one of the number of rollers (6, 8), wherein the cold-rolling device (2) has a roller-heating device (42, 44), which is designed to heat the at least one of the number of rollers (6, 8), wherein the cooling-medium application device (38, 40) is designed to apply a liquid cooling medium (60) to a number of cooling zones (58.1 - 58.11) of the at least one of the number of rollers (6, 8) separately in controllable manner, wherein the closed-loop control device (16) is designed to carry out the closed-loop control at least partially by way of zonal cooling by activating the cooling-medium application device (38, 40), and wherein the closed-loop control device (16) is designed to activate the roller-heating device (42, 44) in such a way that the at least one of the number of rollers (6, 8) is heated substantially over the entire width of the roller while the zonal cooling is in progress. The invention also relates to a further use of a cold-rolling device (2) and to a method for the controlled cold rolling of aluminium foil (20).