Cooling Bed Delivery Feedback Control for Rebar Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rolling mills face challenges in accurately aligning rolling stock on cooling beds, leading to misalignments, gaps, and lack of grooves, which result in structural defects, reduced productivity, and increased downtime due to manual identification and correction processes.
Innovation Solution
A control system that captures images of rolling stock from multiple angles to detect misalignments, gaps, and groove abnormalities, determining setpoints for actuators to prevent these issues in subsequent stock, ensuring precise alignment and groove formation through closed-loop feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If aligning rollers are used to push rebars towards a hard surface for alignment, then alignment of rebars is achieved, but the rebars are damaged and fail quality test
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical aligning rollers that physically push rebars with an optical detection system (imaging units) and a control system that adjusts the delivery process. Instead of mechanical contact for alignment, the system uses image capture, processing, and feedback control to detect misalignment and adjust subsequent rebar delivery parameters, thereby avoiding mechanical damage while achieving alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a closed-loop feedback system where imaging units capture images of rebar positions, the control system processes these images to detect misalignment, and then adjusts delivery parameters (such as channel rotation speed or pinch roller timing) based on the detected deviations. This feedback mechanism enables continuous alignment correction without physical contact that could damage the rebars.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional aligning rollers are used, then some alignment is achieved, but productivity is reduced and misaligned rebars affect quality during subsequent processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical aligning rollers with a non-contact optical detection and control system. The imaging units capture rebar positions, the control system processes images to detect misalignment, and automatically adjusts delivery parameters. This eliminates the time-consuming mechanical alignment process while maintaining alignment quality, thereby improving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs alignment detection and correction in advance during the delivery process itself, rather than requiring subsequent manual or mechanical alignment operations. By detecting misalignment through imaging and adjusting delivery parameters proactively, the system prevents misalignment issues before they affect subsequent processes, maintaining both quality and productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual operators are employed to align rebars on the cooling bed, then alignment is achieved, but productivity is reduced and the process is labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an automated self-correcting system where the imaging units and control system automatically detect misalignment and adjust delivery parameters without human intervention. The system serves itself by using its own detection capability to correct alignment issues, eliminating the need for manual operators and maintaining high productivity while achieving precise alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual human operators with an automated optical detection and control system. The imaging units capture rebar positions, the control system processes images to detect misalignment, and automatically adjusts delivery parameters. This automation eliminates labor-intensive manual alignment while maintaining alignment quality and productivity.
4Device complexity
If the number of aligning rollers is limited, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to align each rebar is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal detection and control system that can handle all rebars regardless of their position or misalignment degree. The imaging units capture images of the entire cooling bed area, and the control system processes all detected misalignments and adjusts delivery parameters accordingly. This single multi-functional system replaces multiple specialized aligning rollers, reducing device complexity while improving alignment coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses comprehensive feedback from imaging units that monitor the entire cooling bed area to detect misalignment in any rebar. The control system processes this feedback information and adjusts delivery parameters to correct misalignment for each rebar individually, even though there is only one delivery mechanism. This feedback-based approach enables limited hardware to achieve comprehensive alignment coverage.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention relate to delivering rolling stock 105a to 105n to a cooling bed 106 in a rolling mill 100. More specifically, the embodiments of the present invention relate to provide a feedback in a closed-loop control system to ensure the rolling stock are delivered to the cooling bed without abnormalities. A control system 110 receives a plurality of images of a rolling stock and determines one or more abnormalities in the rolling stock. Further, one or more setpoints are determined for avoiding the one or more abnormalities in rolling stock to be delivered in future or subsequent rolling stock. The one or more setpoints are provided to one or more actuators 101, 102. The one or more actuators are operated according to the one or more setpoints and the subsequent rolling stock are delivered without the one or more abnormalities.