Cooling Drum Guiding Device for Continuous Strip Winding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling apparatuses for continuous strips, such as those used in tire building, suffer from unpredictable behavior due to steering rollers being offset from the cooling drum surface, leading to sliding, deformation, and uncontrollable winding, as the strip cools and stiffens.
Innovation Solution
A cooling apparatus with a guiding device featuring first and second guiding elements that direct the continuous strip in controlled transitions between windings, minimizing axial shifting and shear deformation, and maintaining consistent behavior by keeping guiding elements at uniform distances from the cooling surface and using rollers with tilted deflection axes for optimal orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If steering rollers are used to guide the continuous strip between windings, then the winding process can be controlled, but the steering rollers become increasingly offset from the cooling drum surface causing unpredictable strip behavior, sliding, and deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a guiding device with guiding elements that act as intermediaries between the cooling drum surface and the steering rollers. These guiding elements receive the continuous strip directly from the cooling drum at a first distance, direct it in a transition direction, and place it back onto the cooling drum at a second distance, mediating the interaction to prevent offset-related problems while maintaining winding control
Solution Approach 2:
The guiding device is segmented into multiple guiding elements arranged at different positions around the cooling drum. Each guiding element independently manages the strip transition at its specific location, allowing precise control of the strip path while maintaining consistent distances from the cooling surface, thereby preventing cumulative offset errors
2Temperature
If the continuous strip is allowed to cool on the cooling drum, then cooling efficiency is improved, but the strip stiffens and behaves differently when winding over later steering rollers compared to earlier ones
Solution Approach 1:
The guiding device is designed to be rotatable about the cooling drum's rotation axis, allowing dynamic adjustment of the guiding elements' positions. This enables the system to adapt to the changing properties of the strip as it cools and stiffens, maintaining optimal guiding conditions throughout the winding process rather than using fixed steering rollers
3Adaptability or versatility
If steering rollers are positioned to control winding pitch, then winding geometry can be adjusted, but the distance between where the strip leaves the cooling surface and where it runs over the rollers varies considerably, causing unguided sections
Solution Approach 1:
The guiding elements serve multiple functions: they guide the strip transition between windings, maintain consistent distances from the cooling surface, prevent sliding and deformation, and enable winding pitch control. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate steering rollers and reduces overall system complexity while achieving the desired adaptability
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a cooling apparatus and a method for cooling a continuous strip, wherein the cooling apparatus comprises a cooling drum and a guiding device for guiding the strip in a plurality of windings around the cooling drum, wherein the guiding device comprises first and second guiding elements, wherein each one of the first guiding elements forms a set with one of the second guiding elements, wherein the first guiding element of the set receives the strip from a first winding in a first winding direction and directs the strip in a first transition direction towards the second guiding element which receives the strip in a second transition direction and directs the strip into a consecutive winding in a second winding direction, wherein the first transition direction is different from the first winding direction and the second transition direction is different from the second winding direction.