Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SPRAY_UNIT FOR ROLLING MILL
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This invention relates to a spray unit for supplying
cooling an/or lubricating liquid to the rolls of a rolling mill
or to the material being rolled therein.
It is known to provide for the purpose of spraying the
rolls o~ a rolling mill, or the rolled material, a so~called
spray bar which extends widthwise of a mill stand, the spray bar
being fed with liquid under pressure and being provided with
suitable nozzles disposed so as to emit the lubricant in the
desired direction. Valves are provided within the rolling mill
system in order to control the emission of lubcicant through the
nozzles and these valves work on the "on~off" principle, i.e.
they are either fully open or fully closed.
Hitnerto these valves, which are incorporate~ in the
spray bars, have been complicated ano demanded precision
machining, and consequently they have proved to be expensive to
produce and to maintain. In the present invention a spray bar
is provided with a valve arrangement wnich is simple,
comparatively inexpensive and easy to maintain.
The present invention provides in one aspect a spray
unit for a rolling mill comprising:
a spray bar which is adapted to be mounted adjacent the
mill rolls;
said spray bar having a manifold for liquid to be
sprayed and defining a chamber;
a series of spray nozzles or sets of spray nozzles
carried by, and spaced along said bar;
a conduit connected to said nozzles and having an end
opening to said chamber of said manifold: and
for each said nozzle or set of nozzles:
a flexible diaphragm peripherally clamped securely to
the wall of said manifold and permanently closes an opening in
that wall; and
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means for controlling said diaphragm bet ween an
obturation position in which said diaphragm closes the end of
said conduit and prevents flow to th conduit end and an open
position in which said idaphragm is displaced from said conduit
end and allows passage of liquid from said manifold to said
conduit and thence to the spray nozzle or set of nozzles.
By using a diaphragm valve for the control of each
nozzle or set of nozzles, the complexity, cost, and maintenance
of the valve is much reduced. In particular a valve
construction can be adoptea which requires the minimum of
precision machining relative to spray bar valves which are
normally used.
l'he diaphragm valves may be actuated by pneumatic means.
Preferably each spray nozzle or each set of such
nozzles has a supply pipe with an open end accesible to the
manifold; the valve for that nozzle or set then comprises a
flexible diaphragm which is controlled either to engage and
obturate the open end or to allow communication bet ween the
pipe and the manifold. Thus, the diaphragm may form part of a
chamber to which fluid under pressure may be supplied to control
its obturating action.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a
rolling mill for rolling metal including a pair of roll
assemblies between which the work (W) to be rolled is passed,
and at least one spray unit mounted adjacent the roll assemblies
for delivering liquid to one or both of the roll assemblies
and/or the work; the spray unit or at least one of the spray
units comprising a manifold having a chamber extending parallel
i to the axes of the rolls; means for supplying liquid to the
chamber; a nozzle bar carried by manifold; a series of spray
nozzles or sets of spray nozzles carried in passages in the
nozzle bar and spaced along the manifold in the axial direction
of the rolls; and, for each spray nozzle or set of spray
nozzles, a pipe in communiction with the passage or passages and
passing across the manifold chamber transversely to the axes of
the rolls, a flexible diaphragm which is peripherally clamped
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securely to the wall of the manifolcl and permanently closes an
opening in the manifold wall opposite the ends of the pipe, and
means externally of the chamber for varying the separation of
the disphragm from the end of the pipe to control flow of liquid
from the manifold chamber into the pipe and thence to the spray
nozzle or nozzles.
~ 'he invention will be more readily understood by way of
example ~rom the following description of a rolling mill spray
unit in accordance therewith, reference being made to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a side elevation of a
rolling mill provideci with the spray unit.
Figure 2 is a section view through a spray bar of the
spray unit and shows details o~ the valve arrangement, and
Figures 3 and 4 show modifications in which the valves
of Figure 2 are controlled electrically.
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As seen in Figure 1 a rolling mill 2 has two roll
assemblies, exemplified by work ro]l 4 and back-up roll 8,
and work roll 6 and back-up roll 10. A workpiece W is shown
as being rolled between the two assemblies. For the purpose
of supplying rolling coolant/lubricant in the form of a
fluid to the rolls and the workpiece, the mill is provided
with spray bars 12, 14 arranged adjacent the mill and
parallel to the roll axes. The spray bar 12 has spaced
along its length sets of nozzles, each set comprising a jet
nozzle 16 for directing fluid to the top back-up roll, a
nozzle 18 for directing fluid to the top work roll and a
nozzle 20 for directing fluid to the upper side of the
workpiece.
Spray bar 14 is similar, having nozzles 22, 24 and 26
for directing fluid to the bottom back-up roll, the bottom
work roll and the underside of the workpiece respectively.
Dealing now with details of each spray unit, reference
is made to Figure 2 which shows a section through the spray
bar 14, it being understood that the bar 12 is similar in
most respects.
Thus, spray bar 14 is formed as a manifold 28 having a
chamber 30 and an adaptor 32 is threaded into the manifold.
A nozzle bar 34 attached to the manifold 28 has, for each
set of nozzles, three passayes 21, 23 and 25 which open to
the exterior of the nozzle bar and which are threaded to
receive the jet nozzles 22, 24 and 26. The passages 21, 23,
25 open to a normally plugged blind hole 36 within the
nozzle bar 34, communicating with a tapped hole 42 aligned
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wi-th an opening 40 through the adjacent wall of the manifold
28. A tubular member 38 passes through the hole 40 in the
manifold and is threaded into tapped hole 42 there being one
tubular member 38 in respect of each set of nozzles. As
shown, mernber 38 extends across the chamber 30, i.e.
transversely of the roll axes and partly into an opening in
the opposite wall of the manifold 28.
Each set of jet nozzles 22, 24, 26 has its own control
valve for controlling flow of lubricant from manifold
chamber 30 to the nozzles. Each valve is similar and
comprises an enclosure plate 44 secured to the exterior of
manifold 28 by means of nuts 46 threaded on to studs 48, and
defining compartment 50 aligned with the open end of tubular
member 38. A pipe 52 is connected to a tube 54 which
connects with the compartment 50 at 56. A diaphragm 58,
conveniently made of a flexible polyurethane material, is
securely clamped between the plate 44 and the manifold 28,
so that it closes off compartment 50 and the opening in the
adjacent wall of the manifold, the diaphragm is spaced
slightly from the end of member 38, there being normally a
gap between the adjacent face 60 of the tubular member 38
and the face of the diaphragm.'
A supply of compressed air is provided and this is fed
as desired from each pipe 52 and tube 54 to the respective
compartment 50 to deflect the diaphragm 58 into firm contact
with the face 60 of the tubular member 38, thereby to close
off the nozzle set and prevent the passage of lubricant from
the manifold chamber 30 to the nozzles.
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Coolant/lubricant fluid under pressure is supplied via
the adaptor 32 in the chamber 30 of the manifold 28. When
t11e diaphragm 58 of any valve is not forced into obturating
engagement with the tubular member 38, lubricant passes
through the bore of that member into hole 36, and thence to
the jet nozzles 22, 24, 26 to spray on to the rolls 6, 10
and the workpiece W.
When it is desired to cut off the supply of fluid from
any particular nozzle set to the rolls and the workpiece
compressed air is allowed to pass through the pipe 52 and
the tube 54 into compartment 50 of the respective control
valve. The polyurethane diaphragm is urged into engagement
with the end face of the tubular member 38, thus preventing
the fluid in the manifold 28 passing through the member 38
and hole 36 to the jet nozzles.
The valves constituted by the diaphragms 58 in Figure 2
may alternatively be operated under electrical control, by
means of a solenoid for each valve and a control circuit for
selectively energising the solenoids to bring the diaphragms
58 into obturating positions in relation to the ends of the
member 38.
The electrical operation of the valves is illustrated
in Figure 3 and 4, where the spray bar 14 is shown in
outline, with the nozzles, represented by the uppermost 26,
projecting therefrom. The enclosure 50 of each valve is
dispensed with and plate 44 is replaced by a housing 70
containing the solenoid for the respective diaphragm 58.
In Figure 3, a separate line 72 for each valve leads
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from a control box 74 to the respective solenoid, which is
also connected to a common return line 76. Selective
energisation of lines 72 results in selected valve
diaphragms 58 being brought to the closed positions.
Figure 4 shows a generally similar arrangement, but
using encoded signals on a common control line 78. In this
instance, the control box 74 incorporates an encoder which
emits on line 78 a coded signal according to the particular
valve that is required to be operated. Latched solenoids
are employed and each has a decoder which decodes any signal
designated for it and passes it to the solenoid to change
over the condition of the latter. Control of individual
valves may be effected manually or patterns of valves may be
selected automatically under computer control.
