Patent ID: 7527701
Filing Date: 2009-05-05
Classification: C21D

Abstract:
1. A method for cooling a moving metal strip, the method comprising: moving the metal strip in a continuous manner; providing the metal strip onto a main cooling roller which can be moved about the axis thereof such that the metal strip forms an arc around a portion of an outer face of the main cooling roller to form a contact zone which is suitable for discharging part of the heat of the metal strip towards an inner side of the main cooling roller, and pressing the strip against the main cooling roller by at least one support roller on an outer face of the arc formed by the metal strip, the support roller being arranged substantially parallel with the main cooling roller and so as to be movable in terms of rotation about the axis thereof, wherein the at least one support roller comprises, at least at a periphery thereof, a material which is resiliently deformable so that a module of elasticity of the material is lower than a modulus of elasticity of the metal strip, and which is thermo-capacitive so that the material is able to store, at a core thereof, a part of the thermal energy from the metal strip, wherein the heat transmitted from the metal strip to the at least one support roller is discharged by a secondary cooling unit which forms, with a portion of an outer face of the at least one support roller, a zone for transferring heat towards the secondary cooling unit from the supporting roller.