阅读说明：本技术 具有用于冷却钢带的框架式冷却器的辊框架 (Roller frame with frame cooler for cooling steel strip ) 是由 T.朗高尔 B.林泽尔 A.赛琳格尔 M.扎赫迪 于 2018-07-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及用于冷却钢带(50)的框架式冷却器(20),其代替工作辊(5)和相关联的安装件(5a和5b)安装在辊框架(11)中。为此目的,框架式冷却器(20)的大小被设计成使得其可以通过辊框架(11)的操作者侧辊机架(1)安装在辊框架(11)中。框架式冷却器(20)包括下水箱(21b)和上水箱(21a),其各自具有用于冷却剂的连接件(22)和沿框架式冷却器(20)的深度方向(T)布置的多个冷却喷嘴(23)或冷却管(23a)或沿框架式冷却器(20)的深度方向(T)延伸的至少一个冷却槽(24)。下水箱和上水箱(21b和21a)可以由此通过相应的连接件(22)供应有冷却剂,并且钢带(50)的底侧可以通过下水箱(21b)的冷却喷嘴(23)或冷却管(23a)或冷却槽(24)被冷却,并且钢带(50)的顶侧可以通过上水箱(21a)的冷却喷嘴(23)或冷却管(23a)或冷却槽(24)被冷却。(The invention relates to a frame cooler (20) for cooling steel strips (50), which is mounted in a roll frame (11) in place of a work roll (5) and associated mountings (5 a and 5 b). For this purpose, the frame cooler (20) is dimensioned such that it can be mounted in the roll frame (11) by means of the operator-side roll stand (1) of the roll frame (11). The frame cooler (20) comprises a lower water tank (21 b) and an upper water tank (21 a), each having a connection (22) for a coolant and a plurality of cooling nozzles (23) or cooling pipes (23 a) arranged in the depth direction (T) of the frame cooler (20) or at least one cooling groove (24) extending in the depth direction (T) of the frame cooler (20). The lower and upper water boxes (21 b and 21 a) may thus be supplied with coolant through respective connectors (22), and the bottom side of the steel strip (50) may be cooled through the cooling nozzles (23) or cooling pipes (23 a) or cooling grooves (24) of the lower water box (21 b), and the top side of the steel strip (50) may be cooled through the cooling nozzles (23) or cooling pipes (23 a) or cooling grooves (24) of the upper water box (21 a).)

1. A roll stand (11) has an operator-side roll stand (1) and a drive-side roll stand,

-wherein the work rolls (5) and the bearing blocks (5 a, 5 b) for the work rolls (5) are not provided in the roll stand (11), but the roll stand (11) has a stand cooler (20) for cooling the steel strip (50);

-wherein the frame cooler (20) is dimensioned such that the frame cooler (20) can be mounted in the roll stand (11) by means of the operator-side roll stand (1) of the roll stand (11);

-wherein the rack cooler (20) comprises a lower water tank (21 b) and an upper water tank (21 a), wherein the lower water tank (21 b) and the upper water tank (21 a) each have one connector (22) for a coolant and a plurality of cooling nozzles (23) or cooling tubes (23 a) arranged in the depth direction (T) of the rack cooler (20) or at least one cooling channel (24) extending in the depth direction (T) of the rack cooler (20), such that the lower water tank (21 b) and the upper water tank (21 a) can be supplied with coolant through the respective connector (22) and the lower side of the steel strip (50) can be cooled through the cooling nozzles (23) or the cooling tubes (23 a) or the cooling channels (24) of the lower water tank (21 b) and the upper side of the steel strip (50) can be cooled through the cooling nozzles (23) or the cooling tubes (23) or the cooling channels (24) of the upper water tank (21 a) The cooling pipe (23 a) or the cooling groove (24) is cooled.

2. A roll stand (11) according to claim 1, characterized in that the stand cooler (20) has at least two guide surfaces (26), wherein the guide surfaces (26) are connected to the lower water tank (21B) or the upper water tank (21 a) such that the stand cooler (20) can be incorporated into the roll stand (11) in the width direction (B) of the roll stand (11).

3. A roll stand (11) according to any of the claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the stand cooler (20) is embodied in one piece, wherein the lower water tank (21 b) and the upper water tank (21 a) are connected to each other by a stand (27).

4. A roll stand (11) according to any of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the stand cooler (20) is embodied in at least two pieces, wherein the lower water tank (21 b) and the upper water tank (21 a) each have two guiding surfaces (26).

5. A roll stand (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lower water tank (21 b) and/or the upper water tank (21 a) each have two lateral support lugs (25), wherein the support lugs (25) each have one guide surface (26).

6. A roll stand (11) according to any of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lower and upper water boxes (21 b, 21 a) have one first and one second connector (22), respectively, so that the peripheral area of the steel strip (50) can be cooled to different degrees by the respective first connector (22) and the central area of the steel strip (50) by the respective second connector (22).

7. A roll stand (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the roll stand (11) has support rolls (4) and in that the stand cooler (20) is arranged between the support rolls (4) of the roll stand (11) in the mounted state in the roll stand (11).

8. A roll stand (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the roll stand (11) has an additional work roll (5) and bearing housings (5 a, 5 b) for the work roll (5), and in that the work roll (5) and the bearing housings (5 a, 5 b) for the work roll (5) are dimensioned such that the work roll (5) and the bearing housings (5 a, 5 b) can be mounted in the roll stand (11) by an operator-side roll stand (1) of the roll stand (11) after the stand cooler (20) has been unloaded from the roll stand (11).

9. Method for mounting a stand cooler (20) for cooling a steel strip (50) in a roll stand (11) of a rolling mill train, wherein the stand cooler (20) comprises a lower water box (21 b) and an upper water box (21 a), wherein the lower water box (21 b) and the upper water box (21 a) each have one connector (22) for a coolant and a plurality of cooling nozzles (23) or cooling tubes (23 a) arranged in a depth direction (T) of the stand cooler (20) or at least one cooling slot (24) extending in the depth direction (T) of the stand cooler (20), the method comprising the method steps of:

-removing the chock (5 a, 5 b) and the upper and lower work rolls (5) from the roll stand (11);

-mounting the frame cooler (20) in the roll frame (11), wherein the frame cooler (20) is joined horizontally in the width direction (B) of the roll frame (11) by an operator-side roll frame (1); and

-connecting the connectors (22) of the upper and lower water boxes (21 a, 21 b) to a coolant supply device so that the upper and lower sides of the steel strip (50) can be cooled by coolant through the cooling nozzles (23) or cooling pipes (23 a) or cooling channels (24) of the lower and upper water boxes (21 b, 21 a).

10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the installation of the stand cooler (20) is performed during ongoing operation of the rolling train (40) or during an interruption in the operation of the rolling train (40).

11. Method according to any of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that the coolant is supplied to at least one connector (22) at a pressure of 2 to 5 bar.

12. Method according to any of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the coolant is supplied to at least one connector (22) at a pressure of 0.1 to 1 bar.

13. Method for rolling a steel strip in a hot rolling train (40) having a plurality of roll stands (11), comprising the following method steps:

-hot rolling a first steel strip in at least two roll stands (11) of the rolling train (40);

-cooling the first steel strip in a cooling section (45);

-transporting away the first strip after cooling;

-installing a rack cooler (20), which step is performed according to the method of any one of claims 9 to 12;

-hot rolling a second steel strip in at least one roll stand of said rolling train (40);

-cooling the second steel strip by means of the stand cooler (20) in at least one roll stand (11) of the rolling train;

-cooling the cooled second steel strip in the cooling section (45);

-carrying away the cooled second steel strip.

14. Method for dismounting a stand cooler (20) for cooling a steel strip (50) from a roll stand (11) of a rolling mill, wherein the stand cooler (20) comprises a lower water box (21 b) and an upper water box (21 a), wherein the lower water box (21 b) and the upper water box (21 a) each have one connector (22) for a coolant and a plurality of cooling nozzles (23) or cooling tubes (23 a) arranged in a depth direction (T) of the stand cooler (20) or at least one cooling channel (24) extending in the depth direction (T) of the stand cooler (20), the method comprising the following method steps:

-disconnecting the connectors (22) of the upper and lower water tanks (21 b, 21 a) from a coolant supply;

-detaching the frame cooler (20) from the roll stand (1), wherein the frame cooler (20) is horizontally extracted from the operator-side roll stand (1) in the width direction (B) of the roll stand (11);

-mounting bearing blocks (5 a, 5 b) and upper and lower work rolls (5) in the roll stand (11).

15. Method according to claim 14, characterized in that the dismantling of the stand cooler (20) is performed during ongoing operation of the rolling train (40) or during an interruption in the operation of the rolling train (40).

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of rolling mills and in particular to hot rolling and cooling a metal strip (for example a steel strip or plate) in a rolling train. The rolling train can be, for example, a finishing train for producing strip or a hot rolling train for producing sheet.

The invention relates in one aspect to a roller stand having an operator-side roller stand and a drive-side roller stand, wherein no working rollers and no bearing blocks for the working rollers are provided in the roller stand.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for installing a frame cooler in a roll frame for cooling a steel strip, and a method for dismounting a frame cooler of this type from a roll frame.

For the sake of clarity, in this document, a roll stand with unmounted bearing blocks and unmounted working rolls is also referred to as a roll stand. This nomenclature is self-evident to those skilled in the art and improves clarity.

Background

As is known, in hot rolling, the hot rolled material is plastically deformed in the roll gap by so-called work rolls, thereby reducing the thickness of the rolled material, for example. After hot rolling, the rolled product is usually cooled in a cooling train and subsequently removed from the rolling train, for example as a strip or plate.

The material properties of the hot-rolled strip depend not only on the chemical composition of the strip but also to a very large extent on the time sequence of the process steps in the hot-rolling mill. In the case of casting/rolling complex plants (for example, the Arvedi ESP plant), the chronological sequence of continuous casting, pre-rolling, intermediate heating, finish rolling, cooling and coiling is of great importance. The time interval between the last rolling pass in the roll stand of the rolling train and the beginning of the cooling of the strip is also significant when the microstructure or the phase fraction of the rolled strip (hot rolled strip after finish rolling is referred to as finished strip) is set individually. In many cases, the duration should be as short as possible.

The hot rolling mill has a fixed number of roll stands, so that due to the high technical complexity of said machine it is not possible to dismantle one or more roll stands of the mill when producing thick strip and to add again the dismantled roll stands when producing thin strip. Therefore, the rolling mill must generally be suitable for producing thick strips as well as for producing thin strips.

It is known that in rolling mills thick strip is conveyed more slowly and is reduced in thickness to a lesser extent than thin strip. For example, this often results in a thick strip having been rolled to its final thickness before the last roll stand (e.g. in the second roll stand), whereas in the same rolling mill a thin strip has been rolled to its final thickness only in the last roll stand (e.g. in the fifth roll stand). In the first-mentioned case, the roll stands 3, 4 and 5 are thus opened so that the thick strip passes through them without being rolled therein. However, due to the fact that the conveying speed of the thick strip is relatively slow and that the last forming has taken place in one of the first roll stands, this results in a relatively long duration until the finished strip reaches the cooling section following the last roll stand and is cooled therein by a certain intensity. Such long durations can result in thick strip no longer being able to achieve specific material properties, thereby limiting the product mix of the mill.

This problem is further exacerbated in continuous operation of the casting/rolling complex, since the strip transport speed and strip thickness are indirectly proportional. Furthermore, the intermediate strip or the finished strip cannot be accelerated on the roller table due to the continuous operation, since said strip is coupled to the continuous casting plant. This results in a conveying speed of the thick strip in the ESP plant potentially in the range of 0.5m/s or less and therefore significantly slower than in the case of other hot rolling mills which do not operate in a continuous manner and which can accelerate the rolling stock before, during or after moving through the rolling train, respectively.

However, even in the case of discontinuous operation of the hot rolling mill (for example in batch operation or semi-continuous operation), this fundamental problem cannot be satisfactorily solved, since the variations in strip speed are always also associated with the temperature variations at the last rolling pass in the finishing train. Furthermore, the elimination of the endless coupling between the plants of the hot rolling mill can lead to a number of well-known problems, such as the passing of the strip into and out of the roll stands and cooling sections, the impact due to the strip head and strip base, the different temperatures of the strip head and strip base, etc. Thus, this potential solution is either completely excluded or at least not implemented in a satisfactory manner.

A cooling module which can be arranged in front of or behind the roll stand is known from US 2017/0056944a 1. The cooling module has design embodiments (in terms of basic method), such as are known in conventional cooling sections. However, the cooling module is several meters shorter than a conventional cooling section.

An intermediate-stand cooling device for cooling a steel strip after a roll stand is known from DE3704599a 1. The intermediate frame cooling device comprises a lower water tank and an upper water tank, wherein the water tanks each have one connector for coolant and a plurality of cooling nozzles or cooling pipes arranged in the depth direction of the frame cooler. The water tank may be supplied with coolant through the connector. Thus, the lower and upper sides of the steel strip can be cooled by means of cooling nozzles or cooling pipes of the water box.

An inter-bay cooling device is also known from DE2235063a 1. The inter-frame cooling device comprises a lower water tank and an upper water tank, wherein the water tanks each have a connector for coolant and a cooling tank extending in the depth direction. The water tank may be supplied with coolant through the connector. Thus, the lower and upper sides of the steel strip may be cooled by the cooling channels of the water box.

It is not known from the prior art how the problem of long duration can be overcome in the case of thick strip in a hot rolling mill between the last rolling pass and the start of cooling, in particular in the case of continuously operating casting/rolling plants.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to improve the prior art by means of an innovative solution for a hot rolling mill, in particular a casting/rolling complex, and here in particular a continuously operating casting/rolling complex, such that the time period between the last rolling pass and the start of cooling of the strip during hot rolling can be reduced without having to remove one or more roll stands from the hot rolling mill before producing thick strip, or without having to reinstall the removed roll stands before subsequently producing thin strip. Thanks to this solution, the product mix of the hot rolling mill will be enlarged and a wide range of high quality steel strips can be produced.

This object is achieved in terms of the device by a rolling mill having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of claims 2 to 8 dependent on claim 1.

In particular, the solution is achieved by a roll stand with an operator-side roll stand and a drive-side roll stand,

wherein the work rolls and the bearing housings for the work rolls are not provided in the roll stand, but the roll stand has a stand cooler for cooling the steel strip;

-wherein the frame cooler is dimensioned such that it can be mounted in a roll stand by an operator-side roll stand of the roll stand;

wherein the rack cooler comprises a lower water tank and an upper water tank, wherein the lower water tank and the upper water tank each have one connector for the coolant and a plurality of cooling nozzles or cooling pipes arranged in the depth direction of the rack cooler or at least one cooling trough extending in the depth direction of the rack cooler, such that the lower water tank and the upper water tank can be supplied with the coolant through the respective connectors, and the lower side of the steel strip can be cooled through the cooling nozzles or cooling pipes or cooling troughs of the lower water tank and the upper side of the steel strip can be cooled through the cooling nozzles or cooling pipes or cooling troughs of the upper water tank.

The term "stand cooler" refers to a cooling device which can cool a steel strip with adjustable strength and which is installed in the roll stand instead of the chock and the work roll. The term explicitly refers to cooling devices that are not rollers of a cooling roller stand!

The rack cooler may also have a combination of a plurality of cooling nozzles or cooling pipes and one or more cooling channels, respectively.

Instead of the bearing blocks and the upper and lower work rolls, frame coolers can be mounted in the roll stands, so that the roll stands can cool the upper and lower sides of the steel strip by a given strength by the frame coolers. Cooling here means cooling comparable to that in a cooling section arranged downstream of the rolling mill train.

It is known to use inter-stand cooling devices between the roll stands of a hot rolling mill train in order to dissipate the heat generated in the material during deformation and to keep the strip temperature within the allowed limits. In the context of the present invention, such cooling devices are not generally dimensioned for achieving strip cooling. In order to enlarge the cooling area, a combination of a frame cooler and an intermediate cooling device (which cools the strip only between the roll frames) is possible and advantageous for specific requirements.

For cooling, the rack cooler has an upper water tank and a lower water tank, which each have at least one connector for the coolant, and

-a plurality of cooling nozzles or cooling pipes arranged in the depth direction of the rack cooler; or

-at least one cooling channel extending in the depth direction of the rack cooler.

The lower water tank and the upper water tank are supplied with the coolant through the corresponding connectors or the corresponding connectors, respectively. The cooling of the lower side and the upper side of the steel strip takes place by means of cooling nozzles or cooling pipes or one or more cooling channels, respectively.

In order to mount and dismount the frame cooler, respectively, in a simple manner, it is advantageous if the frame cooler has at least two guide surfaces, wherein the guide surfaces are connected to the lower water box or the upper water box, so that the frame cooler can be integrated (e.g. push-fitted) into the roll stand or the steel strip, respectively, in the width direction of the roll stand or the steel strip, and the frame cooler is preferably supported on the guide surfaces in the mounted state.

Due to the at least two guide surfaces connected to the upper and/or lower water tank, the frame cooler can be integrated in the roll frame in a simple manner, for example on rails, in the width direction of the roll frame. After having been moved in, the roller frame may be kept on rails or, for example, supported by bending blocks. The frame cooler is preferably supported on the guide surface in the installed state.

Since the bearing blocks and the upper and lower working rolls are replaced by the stand coolers, the time period between the finish rolling, that is to say the last rolling pass in the hot-rolling mill train, and the start of the strip cooling can be considerably shortened, so that, for example, even thick hot strips can achieve the desired metallurgical properties (for example, microstructure) and can be produced with high quality. In addition, the section between the last rolling stand and the cooling section is already used for cooling.

When the stand cooler is mainly mounted or dismounted, respectively, during interruptions in the rolling operation (e.g. when changing the working rolls of other roll stands), it is advantageous if the stand cooler is embodied in one piece, wherein the lower and upper water tanks are preferably connected to each other by means of uprights. In the case of this embodiment, the rack cooler can be installed and removed as a unit.

If the stand cooler is also to be mounted or dismounted, respectively, during the rolling operation, it is advantageous if the stand cooler is embodied in at least two parts, wherein the lower water box and the upper water box each have two guide surfaces. Thereby, the upper part of the stand cooler with the upper water box can be mounted in the roll stand independently of the lower part of the stand cooler with the lower water box, thereby facilitating mounting during an uninterrupted rolling operation.

As an alternative to a two-piece embodiment, a one-piece embodiment would also be possible, such as an embodiment with a "C" shaped rack cooler.

In the case of a two-part embodiment of the frame cooler, the lower water tank can, for example, be integrated into the roller frame on a replaceable rail and then held on this rail or raised or lowered respectively by this rail, wherein the upper water tank can be supported in operation on the bending block and raised or lowered by this bending block. Thereby, in operation, the gap between the outlet opening of the water box and the steel strip can be set.

A simple guidance of the rack cooler is ensured when the lower and/or upper water tank each has two lateral support lugs, wherein each of the two support lugs has one guide surface.

Since it is often necessary to cool the peripheral area and the central area of the steel strip to different degrees when viewed in the width direction of the steel strip, it is advantageous that the lower and upper headers have at least two connectors. Thus, for example, the cooling nozzles assigned to the peripheral region can be supplied at a lower pressure than the cooling nozzles assigned to the central region.

The roll stand most typically has (at least) support rolls. In this case, the frame cooler is disposed between the support rollers of the roller frame in a state of being mounted in the roller frame.

In the normal operation of any roll stand, there are work rolls and chock for the work rolls, rather than a stand cooler. The inventive frame cooler is installed in the roll frame as an alternative to the work rolls and the chock for the work rolls. The roll stand therefore preferably additionally has the mentioned work rolls and bearing blocks for the work rolls. Here, the working rolls and the bearing housings for the working rolls are dimensioned in the same way as in the prior art in such a way that they can be installed in the roll stand by the operator-side roll stand of the roll stand after the stand cooler has been detached from the roll stand.

The aspect of the invention relating to the method for installing a stand cooler for cooling a steel strip in a roll stand of a rolling mill train is achieved as claimed in claim 9 by the following method steps:

-removing the chock and the upper and lower work rolls from the roll stand;

mounting the frame cooler in the roll frame, wherein the frame coolers in the width direction of the roll frame or the steel strip, respectively, are horizontally joined by an operator-side roll frame; and

connecting the connectors of the upper and lower waterboxes to the coolant supply, so that the upper side of the steel strip is cooled by the coolant through the cooling nozzles or cooling pipes or cooling channels of the upper waterbox and the lower side of the steel strip is cooled by the coolant through the cooling nozzles or cooling pipes or cooling channels of the lower waterbox.

The connection of the connectors can be effected, for example, by flange connections, by manually actuated lever arm connections with hose connections, or by automatic connections when the rack cooler is pushed in.

In the case of discontinuously operating rolling mills, it is advantageous to install the stand coolers to be installed during interruptions in the operation of the rolling train.

Especially in the case of continuously operating casting/rolling complex plants (for example of the Arvedi ESP type), it is advantageous to carry out the installation of the stand coolers during ongoing operation of the rolling train, especially of the finishing train.

According to one embodiment, one connector is supplied with coolant at a pressure of 2 to 5 bar.

According to a further embodiment, a connector is supplied with coolant at a pressure of 0.1 to 0.8 bar.

In the operation of the rack cooler, it is advantageous if the connector or connectors of the lower water tank, respectively, are supplied at a higher pressure than the connector or connectors, respectively, of the upper water tank. This may be done by separate pressure regulators for the upper and lower connectors. Instead of this, this can also be done by a flow regulator, so that the flow to the lower tank is higher than the flow to the upper tank (e.g. 60% of the total water amount is supplied to the lower tank and 40% to the upper tank).

The aforementioned pressure ranges are not mutually exclusive, since of the steel stripPeriphery ofThe zones may be cooled by a first connector with coolant at a pressure of 0.1 to 0.8 bar, while the central zone may be cooled by a second connector with coolant at a pressure of 2 to 5 bar.

The production of a steel strip is advantageously carried out as claimed in claim 13, wherein a first steel strip is first rolled in at least two roll stands of a hot rolling mill train, subsequently cooled in a cooling station, and thereafter the cooled first steel strip is transported away, for example as a slab or coil. Thereafter, a stand cooler (as described above) is installed in the roll stand of the rolling mill. After the stand coolers have been installed in the roll stands, a second steel strip is rolled in at least one roll stand of the rolling train, the second steel strip is cooled in at least one roll stand of the rolling train by means of the stand coolers, the second steel strip is cooled in a cooling section, and the cooled second steel strip is transported away.

In claim 14, the aspect of the invention in respect of the method relating to the dismounting of a stand cooler from a roll stand is achieved by the following method steps:

-disconnecting the connectors of the upper and lower water tanks from the coolant supply device;

-dismounting the frame cooler from the roll stand, wherein the frame cooler is horizontally extracted (e.g. pulled) from the operator side roll stand in the width direction of the roll stand; and

-mounting the chock and the upper and lower work rolls in the roll stand.

The disconnection of the connectors can again take place by means of, for example, a flange connection, a manually activated lever arm coupling with a hose connection, or by means of an automatic coupling when pushing out the rack cooler.

Depending on the type of equipment of the rolling mill or according to its operating mode (continuous or discontinuous), the disassembly of the stand coolers can be carried out during ongoing operation or during interruptions in the operation of the rolling train.

Advantageously, the cooling output of the stand cooler is set in a model-controlled manner as a function of the material (in particular the chemical composition), the rolling parameters (thickness and speed of the steel strip) and the quality to be achieved. The cooling module according to the aforementioned values delivers on-line (i.e. during the ongoing operation of the hot rolling train) a quantity of cooling water, and optionally also a distribution of cooling water for the upper and lower sides of the steel strip in relation to the width, respectively. The pressure and/or the flow of the cooling medium through the frame cooler are set in an open-loop or closed-loop controlled manner, respectively, such that the desired properties are achieved in the best possible manner when the steel strip is moved through the roll frame in which the frame cooler is installed and is cooled in the cooling section.

Drawings

Further advantages and features of the invention emerge from the description of exemplary embodiments which are not limiting. In the following schematic drawings:

FIG. 1 shows two views of a roll stand with chock mounted and work roll mounted according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows two views of a chock and a work roll according to the prior art;

FIG. 3 shows a side view of a roll stand in front of a cooling section according to the prior art;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of a finishing train with five roll stands in front of a cooling section according to the prior art;

fig. 5 shows a side view of a finishing train with five roll stands, in each of the last three roll stands a stand cooler according to the invention is installed;

FIG. 6 shows two views of a rack cooler;

FIG. 7 shows an additional view of the rack cooler from FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows two views of a roll stand with a stand cooler installed;

FIGS. 9a and 9b respectively show views of a rack cooler with cooling slots;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic illustration of hydraulic management for a roll stand with an installed stand cooler;

FIG. 11 shows a cross section in the width direction through a roll stand with a mounted stand cooler;

FIG. 12 shows a view of a rack cooler with cooling tubes instead of cooling nozzles;

FIG. 13 shows a front view of a rack cooler with installed rack coolers and baffles; and

fig. 14 shows a view of a one-piece rack cooler in a C-shape.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a side view of a roll stand 11 on the left with installed chocks 4a, 4b for the upper and lower support rolls 4 and installed chocks 5a, 5b for the upper and lower work rolls 5. The illustration on the right side of fig. 1 shows the roll stand 11 without any bearing blocks 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b in a schematic sectional view. The hot strip (not shown), here a steel strip, in the roll stand 11 is rolled by the working rolls 5, wherein the working rolls 5 are supported on the support rolls 4 located behind them. The bending block 6 makes it possible to bend the working rolls 5 and thus to readjust the profile or flatness, respectively, of the hot strip being rolled. The bearing blocks 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b and the bending blocks 6 of the so-called AGC (abbreviation for automatic gap control) cylinder 3 are mounted in two frame windows 2 of the roll frame 1. In fig. 1, only the operator-side roll stand 1 can be seen. The drive-side roll stand is shielded by the operator-side roll stand 1. The drive-side roller block 1 can only be seen in fig. 11, but no reference numerals are provided there.

The hot strip is guided on the rolling stand 10 and moved to the working rolls 5. In order to limit the temperature of the work rolls 5, at least one upper cooling head 8a (here two) and at least one lower cooling head 8b (here two) of the work roll cooling are arranged in front of and behind the work rolls 5. Further, the upper cooling head of the inter-frame cooling device 7a is installed in front of the roller frame 11, and the lower cooling head of the inter-frame cooling device 7b is installed behind the roller frame 11. Of course, an upper and a lower cooling head of the intermediate frame cooling devices 7a, 7b can also be arranged in front of and behind the roll frame 11, respectively. A pivotable looper take-up roller 9 can set the tension in the hot strip. Thus, the temperature of the hot strip before and after rolling can be varied. Since the roll stand 11 with so-called stand bearing blocks is known, a more detailed description of the prior art is omitted.

In fig. 2, the bearing blocks 5a with the upper work roll 5 and the bearing blocks 5b with the lower work roll 5 are illustrated in a side view on the left side and in a front view on the right side. The work rolls 5 are mounted so as to be displaceable in the roll stand 11 by means of bearing blocks 5a, 5 b.

Fig. 3 shows the roll stand 11 from fig. 1 in a rolling mill. A steel strip (not shown) on a roller table 12 is fed to the roller stand 11 in the transport direction TR and rolled in the nip between the two working rollers 5. After hot rolling, the rolled strip is then fed on a subsequent roller table 12 to a cooling station 45 with a plurality of cooling manifolds 13 and is cooled there with adjustable strength.

Fig. 4 illustrates a potential situation when rolling a thick hot strip in a rolling train 40 configured as a finishing train with five roll stands 11. Since this is a thick hot strip, the final rolling pass has already been carried out in the third (i.e. intermediate) roll stand 11. The thickness of the hot strip here is reduced, for example, from 45 mm to 20 mm. After rolling, the rolled finished strip leaves the central roll stand 11 at a speed of, for example, 0.4 m/s. The finished strip can be cooled in the region designated by C by the upper and lower cooling heads of the intermediate- frame cooling devices 7a, 7 b. The finished strip itself cannot be cooled in the roll stand 11. The non-cooled area is identified by NC. Since the horizontal spacing between the stand centre line of the third roll stand 11 and the start of the cooling section 45 with the cooling manifold 13 (in case of two roll stands 11 not used for rolling the strip material 50 and a typical spacing between the roll stands 11) is approximately 20 meters, the rolled hot strip according to the above example takes 50 seconds to reach the cooling section 45. This time is already so long for certain types of steel that the steel strip is no longer able to achieve the desired microstructure and phase properties, respectively. The intermediate stand cooling device (marked C in the figure) with the upper and lower cooling headers 7a, 7b (see fig. 1) has no effect in this context, because the cooling output is insufficient and the rolled hot strip is largely not cooled on its way to the cooling section 45.

Fig. 5 illustrates the situation when a thick steel strip is hot-rolled in a rolling train 40 configured as a finishing train with the first five roll stands 11. In the case of the last three roll stands, the bearing blocks 5a, 5b and the working rolls 5 are removed (see fig. 1) and instead a stand cooler 20 is installed in each roll stand 1 (details thereof in fig. 6 to 11). The last rolling pass is performed in the second roll stand 11 starting from the left; the finished strip is cooled intensively in three subsequent roll stands by a stand cooler 20. Since the steel strip is cooled by means of the stand cooler 20, the finished strip has already been cooled from the central roll stand 1. Thick strip of a particular steel grade (e.g., the required pipe grade) that cannot be produced without the stand cooler 20 can thereby be produced.

In fig. 6, two views of the rack cooler 20 are shown, in particular in a side view on the left and in a sectional view on the right. The rack cooler 20 has an upper water tank 21 and a lower water tank 21 b. Both the lower side of the upper water box 21a and the upper side of the lower water box 21B are provided with cooling nozzles 23 so that a hot strip (not shown here) can be cooled in the width direction B. To further increase the cooling output, seven cooling nozzles are arranged in series with one another in the conveying direction (see fig. 6 on the right). The water tanks 21a, 21b have lateral support lugs 25, wherein the support lugs 25 of the lower water tank 21b each have a guide surface 26. The frame cooler 20 is movable in the width direction B of the hot strip into a roll frame (not shown here) on the guide surface 26. The illustrated rack cooler 20 is embodied in one piece, wherein the upper tank 21a and the lower tank 21b are connected to each other by a pillar 27. The cooling nozzle 23 is supplied with coolant through a total of four connectors 22, wherein two connectors 22 supply the upper water tank 21a and the lower water tank 21b, respectively.

A front view of the rack cooler of fig. 6 is additionally illustrated in fig. 7. The cooling nozzles 23 are typically supplied at a positive pressure of 2 to 5 bar. The cooling intensity is a function of the pressure and can be adjusted by the positive pressure of the cooling medium.

In fig. 8, the roll stand 1 with the stand cooler 20 is illustrated in a side view on the left and in a sectional view on the right. The frame cooler 20 from fig. 6 and 7 is supported in the mounted state on the two guide faces 26 of the lower support lug 25, on the rails in the roller frame 1 or on the counter guides of the bearing blocks 4b of the lower support rollers and can be mounted and dismounted thereon. As can be seen, the rack cooler 20 is arranged between the support rollers 4 and is thus in line with the support rollers 4.

Fig. 9a and 9b show a rack cooler 20 which is an alternative to the rack cooler shown in fig. 6 and 7 and which has cooling slots 24 instead of cooling nozzles. Since the steel strip 50 is not cooled to different extents in its width direction B or in the depth direction T of the rack cooler 20, respectively, it is sufficient for the upper and lower water tanks 21a, 21B to have only one connector 22, respectively. The upright 7 and the supporting lugs 25 are embodied as in fig. 6 and 7.

In fig. 10 a plan view of water lines for supplying the roll stand 11 with the installed stand cooler 20 with coolant is illustrated. The pump 30 fed from the tank 31 represents a coolant supply device. The pressure of the cooling medium water is reduced from 13 bar to 4 bar by the pressure regulating valve 28, and is supplied to the upper water tank 21a and the lower water tank 21b through the connectors after passing through the open switching valve 29 and the flow regulating valve 32. The upper and lower sides of the hot strip (not shown here) are cooled by means of cooling nozzles 23. In the mounted state of the frame cooler 20 in the roll frame 11, the changeover valve 29 for supplying the cooling medium to the cooling head for the work roll cooling is closed. In terms of energy, it would be more advantageous if the rack cooler 20 was supplied by a separate cooling circuit without any pressure reduction by the pressure regulating valve 28, for example directly at a pressure between 0.1 and 5 bar. These are typical pressures of existing low pressure cooling systems in this context. Alternatively, it would also be possible for the stand cooler 20 to be connected directly to the existing cooling medium supply of the roll stand without any pressure reduction.

The installation of the frame cooler 20 in the roll stand 1 or the roll stand 11 is schematically illustrated in fig. 11. After the AGC cylinder 3 and the bearing housings 4a for the upper support rolls 4 have been raised, the bearing housings 5a, 5b for the working rolls 5 and the working rolls 5 are removed. Subsequently, the frame cooler 20 is horizontally push-fitted in the width direction B of the roll frame 11 by the operator-side roll frame 1 (illustrated here on the right side). The connector 22 of the rack cooler 20 is finally connected to a coolant supply device so that the upper and lower sides of the hot strip (not shown) are cooled by the cooling nozzles 23.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic cross section of a rack cooler 20 with cooling tubes 23a instead of cooling nozzles 23 (see right side of fig. 6). The cooling tubes 23a are typically operated at a positive pressure of between 0.1 bar and 1 bar, so that said cooling tubes 23a can carry out the so-called laminar cooling in a simple manner.

The disassembly of the frame cooler 20 from the roll stand 1 is not separately illustrated, since the mounting steps are simply carried out in the reverse order.

The shading of the edge region of the steel strip 50 (edge shading) is shown in fig. 13. Herein, at least one edge region (four edge regions in the drawing) of the steel strip 50 is shielded by sliding in the baffle 33 or in the passage between the cooling nozzle 23, the cooling pipe 23a (see fig. 12) or the cooling bath 24 (see fig. 9B) of the stand cooler 20 and the surface of the steel strip 50, respectively, so that the edge region is not cooled. The cooling water of the cooling nozzle 23 or the cooling pipe is discharged outward in the width direction of the steel strip 50, respectively. The position of the baffle 33 or the channel can be finely set manually or automatically (for example by means of an actuator not shown which displaces the baffle 33 in the direction of the arrow) so that excessive cooling of the edge region is reliably prevented.

A rack cooler 20 in the shape of a C is shown in fig. 14 as an alternative to the rack cooler in fig. 7. Since the C-shaped frame cooler 20 is open at one end in the width direction B, the frame cooler 20 can be mounted in the roll stand and dismounted from the roll stand again in a simple manner during ongoing operation of the rolling mill. The connectors 22, the cooling nozzles 23, and the guide surfaces 26 of the upper water tank 21a and the lower water tank 21b are the same as those in fig. 7. As an alternative to the guide surface, the frame cooler 20 may also have wheels for guiding on the rails. The uprights 27 are provided on only one end of the rack cooler, for example the operator side end.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described in more detail by means of preferred exemplary embodiments, the invention is not limited to the disclosed examples and a person skilled in the art can derive other variants therefrom without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

List of reference numerals

1 roller frame

2 frame window

3 AGC cylinder

4 support roller

4a bearing seat for upper support roller

4b bearing seat for lower supporting roller

5 working roll

5a bearing seat for upper working roll

5b bearing seat for lower working roll

6 bending block

7a upper cooling head of cooling device of intermediate frame

7b lower cooling head of cooling device of middle frame

Upper cooling head of 8a working roll cooling device

Lower cooling head of 8b working roll cooling device

9 looping take-up roller

10 rolling stand

11-roller frame

12 roller way

Cooling manifold for 13 cooling section

20 rack cooler

21a upper water tank

21b lower water tank

22 connector

23 Cooling nozzle

23a cooling pipe

24 cooling tank

25 support lug

26 guide surface

27 column

28 pressure regulating valve

29 switching valve

30 pump

31 box

32 flow control valve

33 baffle plate

40 rolling mill train

45 cooling section

50 steel strip

Width direction of B roller frame

C cooling zone

Cooling zone of LC cooling section

NC uncooled region

Depth direction of T-frame cooler

TR steel strip conveying direction