Retractable Transfer Table Looping for Steel Entry
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Solution Overview
Problem
The entry section of continuous steel processing lines, particularly where two strips are welded together, is a bottleneck due to high cycle times, especially when handling hot rolled strips of high thickness and weight, requiring a different entry design for safe loop creation and centering.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates two transfer tables with looping functions and a common pinch roll, where loops for strip centering are created directly on the transfer tables, and the upper table is retractable and liftable to facilitate efficient loop creation and centering, eliminating the need for a separate looping table and reducing transfer time to the welder.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate looping table is used for strip centering, then loop creation and centering can be performed, but the entry cycle time increases and device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the looping table function with the transfer table by making the transfer table retractable. The transfer table can retract to create loops for strip centering and then return to its normal position for transferring strips to the welder, eliminating the need for a separate looping table and reducing entry cycle time.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer table is designed to perform multiple functions: it can both transfer strips to the welder and create loops for strip centering by retracting. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated separate equipment for loop creation, thereby reducing overall device complexity and entry cycle time.
2Reliability
If a separate looping table is used for strip centering, then loop creation and centering can be performed, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the looping table function with the transfer table by making the transfer table retractable. The transfer table can retract to create loops for strip centering and then return to its normal position for transferring strips to the welder, eliminating the need for a separate looping table and reducing entry cycle time.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer table is designed to perform multiple functions: it can both transfer strips to the welder and create loops for strip centering by retracting. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated separate equipment for loop creation, thereby reducing overall device complexity and entry cycle time.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional transfer tables are used without looping function, then transfer process is simple, but loop creation and centering cannot be performed efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer table is designed with retractability, allowing it to dynamically change its position and configuration. It can retract to create loops for strip centering when needed and return to its normal position for efficient transfer operations, combining simplicity with enhanced functionality to improve entry cycle efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a continuous industrial equipment having an entry section comprising two uncoiling devices (1a, 1b) for uncoiling and feeding out strip materials to be processed, a cutting device (2a, 2b) and a transfer table (3a, 3b) for each strip, and a joining device (4), so that the transfer tables (3a, 3b) deliver said strips to the joining device (4) where a coil tail strip and a coil head strip are joined, at least a looping table (5) for strip centering and a welder (6) where said coil tail strip and said coil head strip are butt welded. Each of the transfer tables (3a, 3b) is also a looping table (5), whereby the loops for strip centering can be made directly on said transfer tables (3a, 3b) and it is provided so as the joined strips at the joining device (4) are directly fed to the welder (6), without further looping.