Floating Coating Head for Strip Casting Film Quality
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Strip casting plants produce films with irregular thickness and waviness due to deviations in the metal strip and vibrations, leading to reduced quality and requiring high control engineering efforts and powerful drives.
Innovation Solution
A strip casting plant with a container outlet opening that 'floats' on an air cushion over the first strip roll, allowing vertical movement and decoupling from the machine frame, enabling the outlet opening to follow strip deviations and vibrations, maintaining a constant distance and reducing control engineering efforts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the container is rigidly attached to the machine frame, then the structure is stable and simple, but the film quality deteriorates due to reflections of strip irregularities and vibrations
Solution Approach 1:
The container is mounted on the first strip roll instead of being rigidly fixed to the machine frame, allowing it to move dynamically with the strip roll. This dynamic mounting enables the container to follow the surface profile of the strip roll, compensating for irregularities and vibrations, thereby improving film quality without requiring complex active control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The first strip roll acts as an intermediary element between the machine frame and the container. By mounting the container on the strip roll rather than directly on the frame, the strip roll serves as a mediator that transmits the smooth surface profile to the container, filtering out vibrations and irregularities from the machine frame.
2Manufacturing precision
If electronic regulation is used to control the distance between outlet opening and strip, then film quality improves, but control engineering effort and drive power requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The container mounted on the first strip roll automatically maintains a constant distance from the strip surface through its own movement with the strip roll. The system is self-regulating and does not require external electronic control systems, sensors, or powerful drives to maintain film thickness uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the distance control function from the machine frame and transfers it to the first strip roll. By removing the rigid connection to the frame, the system eliminates the need for complex electronic regulation while maintaining consistent film thickness through the natural movement of the strip roll.
3Manufacturing precision
If the outlet opening is fixed at a constant distance from the strip, then control is simple, but film quality deteriorates due to vibrations and strip irregularities
Solution Approach 1:
The container is mounted dynamically on the first strip roll, allowing it to move with the strip roll's surface profile. This dynamic mounting maintains constant distance from the strip surface while automatically compensating for vibrations and irregularities, achieving both film quality improvement and operational simplicity.
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
The solution significantly improves film quality by maintaining consistent thickness and reducing vibrations' impact, while minimizing control engineering and drive power requirements.
Implementation Method 1
The outlet opening 'swims' or 'floats' as it were on an imaginary cushion of air which rests on the deflection roller
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6~8
AI summary
The invention relates to a strip casting installation (1), which comprises at least a first and a second strip roller (2, 3), a continuous metal strip (4) running on said strip rollers (2, 3), and a container (5) having an outlet opening (6), which outlet opening faces the metal strip (4) and is spaced apart from the metal strip. The outlet opening (6) of the container (5) is supported in a floating manner in relation to the metal strip (4) with regard to the distance (x) between the outlet opening (6) and the metal strip (4). Alternatively, the outlet opening (6) of the container (5) can also be supported in a floating manner in relation to the first strip roller with regard to the distance (x) between the outlet opening (6) and the first strip roller (2). For example, the support can be accomplished by means of runners (9) and/or rollers (10), which lie on the metal strip (4) or on the first first strip roller (2).