Coiling system for metallic strands

Abstract

Apparatus for guiding and coiling one or more metallic strands that are continuously advancing along their length from a casting apparatus. A coiling apparatus has an open-top coil-collecting basket with concentric, generally cylindrical inner and outer walls. A rotating cone is disposed over the inner wall. At least one boom and a set of opposed rolls and associated fairing assemblies mounted on the boom guide the strand from the casting apparatus to the coiling apparatus. An exit end of the boom directs each strand vertically downward onto the cone of one coiler. Friction between the strand and the cone lays the strand in the basket in horizontal wraps without a reversal of the laying direction or kinks. The boom exit end mounts a straightener that includes a pair of hydraulically-actuated slide bars that are orthogonal to each other and to the strand. The slide bars produce a cyclic deflection of the strand about the center of the cone to form a uniform, non-tangled coil. The cone-straightener spacing and the cone angle are selected to produce a bend radius in the strand such that the coiled strand does not climb the inner or outer walls of the basket. The diameter of the inside wall is large enough so that the horizontal wraps collapse on one another of their own weight. The boom is hollow and has a series openings adjacent the strand to direct cooling air from the interior of the boom to the strand. In one form the boom has a generally rectangular cross section and carries strands on two vertical walls. A second exit end, positioned midway along the boom directs one strand to a second coiler.