Machine for Treating Sheets of Variable Width

The present invention relates to machines for treating sheets and in particular machines for cooling sheets of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,581 by the Applicant.

Such a machine comprises a lower frame and an upper frame in which frames are mounted sets of sheet guiding and driving rollers, these rollers being surrounded by a case which defines an enclosure in which the cooling liquid flows. This case defines on each side of the sheet and around the rollers relatively narrow gaps in which the cooling liquid flows at high speeds. Such a machine is usually designed to be capable of treating sheets of great width, for example of around 4 meters, and the problem that the invention concerns resides in permitting an adaptation of the machine to the treatment of sheets of smaller width. Indeed, it is to be feared that, for a sheet of a width which is much less than the width of the machine, there will be produced preferential passages for the cooling liquid on each side of the sheet so that the cooling of the latter will be less even over the width and less effective than desired, so that the efficiency of the machine will be reduced.

In order to solve this problem, the object of the invention is to provide a special arrangement in a machine for cooling metal sheets as defined above and comprising a lower frame and an upper frame carrying sets of sheet guiding and driving rollers and a case surrounding the rollers and defining an enclosure for the cooling fluid, wherein there is provided in at least some of the zones of the case disposed between the zones extending round the rollers, baffles withdrawable in housings adapted to reduce, in some regions, the effective width of the machine and promote the flow of the cooling fluid in the central zone of the machine through which the sheet travels.

According to other features of the invention:

There are provided, on each side of the longitudinal axis of the machine, sets of a plurality of baffle elements whereby it is possible to regulate the effective width of the machine at different values.

Each set of baffle elements is carried by a single support which is detachably mounted on the corresponding frame of the machine.

The baffles are formed by sheet metal flaps having a thickness which is small enough to enable them to be withdrawn into their housing after having been accidentally deformed.

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given solely by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cooling machine in which the improvement according to the invention is incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of, in particular, the arrangement of the baffles;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale of a set of elements forming a baffle, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of a cooling machine comprising a lower frame A and an upper frame B. Each frame has lateral walls 1, 2 interconnected by metal cases 3, 4 including roughly planar portions 5 parallel to the metal sheet and curved portions 6 which extend round the rollers 7, 8. Nine pairs of gripping rollers are provided which serve to guide and drive the metal sheet travelling through this machine. The cases 3, 4 define an enclosure 9 in which the cooling fluid is made to flow, this enclosure being connected to supply and discharge pipes 10 for this fluid.

According to the invention, in the roughly planar portions 5 of the case located between adjacent rollers, there are provided sets of baffles 11 disposed on each side of the longitudinal axis of the machine adjacent the edges of the latter as shown more clearly in FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment, each set of baffles comprises four elements 12 of sheet metal which are received in housings 3 defined by longitudinal walls 13a and transverse walls 13b which are fixed to the case 3 and therefore to the upper frame. These housings communicate by way of their lower part 13c with the cooling enclosure 9. Each baffle element 12 comprises a flap 12a of thin sheet metal (for example 2 mm thick) fixed in a thicker bar 12b which is connected to the end of a piston rod 14 of a jack 15 and is guided in the housing 13. The four jacks of a given set of baffles are fixed to a single support formed by a plate 16 which is detachably fixed to the walls of the housings 13. Each baffle element 12a may be accidentally deformed by a metal sheet travelling through the machine and yet it is capable of being withdrawn after having undergone this deformation. As can be seen in FIG. 2, each gap between two adjacent rollers has a set of baffles 11 disposed on each side of the machine. However, it will be understood that such baffles constituting a barrier may be provided only at more or less regular intervals along the machine and also that the number of elements may be changed in each set. As an extreme example, only a single element may be provided.

The operation of such a device is very simple: if the machine treats metal sheets of great width, the elements 12 forming a baffle are maintained in their withdrawn position inside their housings and in no way modify the flow of the cooling fluid inside the machine.

On the other hand, if a sheet of smaller width must be treated, a suitable number of baffle elements are shifted and brought to their lower position in which they form barriers which oppose the flow of the fluid in the longitudinal direction of the machine on each side of the sheet. These barriers then produce high pressure drops in the lateral zones so that the flow of the cooling fluid on the two faces of the sheet in the central zone of the machine is facilitated. The cooling of the sheet is then optimum and the efficiency of the machine is thus improved. The fact of providing in each set a plurality of baffle elements which are separate and actuated separately, provides great flexibility and enables the machine to be adapted to sheets whose width may vary, for example, between 1.5 and 4 meters.