Bethlehem Steel Corporation

Ronald W Yerkes

Richard S Hostetter, Jr

Tom L Galanis

Joel L Hoffner

John C Clymer

Duane T Jones

Vinko Primorac

A mill for rolling round bars, having a penultimate and a last stand with mutually perpendicular roll axes, is provided with a control system for varying the roll gaps of said stands and for axially aligning the rolls in the last stand. A gauge measures the diameters of the bar about its entire periphery and supplies a computer with this data. In addition, data, indicative of lengthwise variations in predetermined diameters of the bar, are supplied to the computer. The computer uses these data to compute an optimum diameter profile of the bar. The computer then calculates adjustments to the rolls in these last two stands to obtain this optimum profile. If substantial improvement in the performance of the mill can be obtained by these adjustments, the computer actuates means for adjusting these rolls whereby this profile may be realized.

Automatic diametric dimension control for mill for rolling round bars

Computerized electro-optical system gages two orthogonal dimensions of a moving hot bar and plots cold bar profile. Dual back-lighted electronic camera heads mounted 90.degree. apart on a scanner generate separate bar shadow pulses representing othogonal bar dimensions. Each camera source of bar pulses is processed in individual camera electronics where it is presumed the bar pulse has been corrected for optical and electronic system sources of error. If each bar pulse is not corrected, it is assumed that both a bar size pulse and bar position-in-field-of-view pulse are generated by each camera electronics and fed to a digital computer. The computer is programmed to correct for optical and electronic errors, bar temperature and composition and other errors. Two corrected bar size signals, together with a scanner position signal and a bar aim size signal, are used to plot cold bar profile deviation from aim size. CRT and printing terminals readout and printout bar profile data and interact with the computer.

Bar gauge plotting and display system

Computerized electro-optical system gages two orthogonal dimensions of a moving hot bar at various peripheral positions. Dual back-light electronic camera heads mounted 90.degree. apart on a scanner generate high-speed bar shadow pulses which represent the bar dimensions. Bar pulses are processed by way of individual camera electronics and a digital computer. CRT and printing terminals, interacting with the computer, indicate and/or record each cold-size bar diameter measurement, a plot of bar profile deviation from aim gage overlaid on full- and half-commercial tolerance references with a data header, and a gaging system histogram. Each camera head electronics includes camera AGC circuit, a digital type one-axis bidirectional linear sweep, bar pulse edge-detection with an autocorrelator to remove noise and enhance the bar pulse, and a digital accumulator of digital bar size signals and digital bar position-in-field-of-view signals. The digital computer assimilates each bar size and bar position digital signal along with scanner position, bar temperature and other data signals. The computer is programmed to: (a) compensate each bar size signal for field-of-view errors and other optical and electronic nonlinearities, bar temperature and other sources of error; (b) calibrate the gage off-line and automatically recalibrate the gage on-line to correct for drift and slope errors; (c) automatically drive the scanner and implement incremental digital storage of corrected bar size signals for bar profile plotting; (d) perform gaging system histograms; and (e) communicate with the CRT and printing terminals and an exterior control system.

Growing community of inventors

Orchard Park, NY, United States of America

Ronald W Yerkes