Water driven roller for hot strip mill sideguides

A roller assembly adapted to be mounted to a conveyor sideguide for use in directing a strip of steel along a conveyor. The roller assembly includes a roller member having a plurality of flutes spaced apart on outer surface of the roller. The roller assembly also includes a support assembly featuring a roller support assembly in which the roller member is rotatably supported and a mounting assembly for securing the roller member to the sideguide such that the roller extends beyond an inner surface of the conveyor sideguide facing the steel strip. The roller assembly further includes a fluid manifold which directs a source of pressurized liquid directed at the roller to sequentially impinge each of the plurality of flutes and cause the roller member to rotate with respect to the roller support assembly at a predetermined angular velocity, the angular velocity of the roller automatically adjusting to correspond to a linear velocity of the steel strip when an edge of the steel strip contacts the roller member. The roller assembly support further includes a ball bearing assembly disposed between the roller member and a stationary pin of the roller support assembly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a roller assembly for a conveyor sideguide 
in a hot strip rolling mill and, more particularly, a water driven roller 
assembly for a conveyor sideguide used to direct hot strips of steel along 
a conveyor in a hot strip rolling mill operation. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In the production of steel coils in a hot strip rolling mill, hot strips of 
steel are transported along a roller table or conveyor between processing 
stations wherein the strips are reduced to an appropriate thickness and 
ultimately coiled into a roll by a downcoiler. As the hot strip of steel 
moves along the conveyor it is crucial that the strip be properly directed 
to remain on the conveyer. To this end, sideguides are positioned along 
the conveyor edges to direct the steel strip and prevent it from running 
off the conveyor. During processing, the steel strip can travel at linear 
velocities along the conveyor of between 700 and 2700 ft/min. 
Unfortunately, it has been found that when the moving steel strip contacts 
the stationary wear plates of the sideguides, the edges of the steel strip 
can be damaged in terms of edge abrasion, deformation and rolled in 
defects in the resulting steel coil. 
What is needed is an assembly that reduces the damage to edges of steel 
strips as the strips are transported or directed along a conveyor by the 
sideguides. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, roller assembly mounted on a 
sideguide of a conveyor for directing a strip of steel is disclosed. The 
roller assembly includes a roller member, a support assembly and a 
manifold for directing a source of pressurized fluid onto the roller 
member to rotate the roller member at a desired angular velocity. The 
roller member is a rotatable cylindrical shaped member having a fluted 
outer surface. The pressurized fluid impinges on the flutes of the roller 
member to rotate the roller. 
The support assembly includes a roller support assembly for rotatably 
supporting the roller member and a pivot assembly for pivoting the roller 
member between two positions, a contacting position and a noncontacting 
position. In the contact position, at least one roller member on each side 
of the conveyor extend beyond inwardly facing surfaces of the sideguides 
and contacts the edge of the steel strip. In a noncontacting position, the 
roller members are out of contact with the steel strip. 
The manifold includes a housing defining an interior area and a nozzle 
plate having a plurality of angled openings or jets. Fluid such as water 
is injected into the housing interior and the angled openings or jets act 
as nozzles directing the water at the roller flutes to rotate the roller 
member. Advantageously, the roller support assembly includes a pair of 
ball bearing assemblies providing a low resistance to rotation of the 
roller within the roller support assembly. 
The pressure of the fluid in the manifold housing may be adjusted to attain 
a desired angular velocity of the roller member. Since the roller member 
is rotating when contacted by an edge of a steel strip, damage to the 
steel strip edge will be minimized. Further, since the drive linkage 
between the pressurized water source and the roller flutes constitute an 
indirect drive linkage, the roller member operates as a self clutching 
mechanism, that is, when the edge of the steel strip contacts the roller 
member, the roller member will change its angular velocity appropriately 
to rotate at an angular velocity that corresponds to the instantaneous 
linear velocity of the steel strip at the time of contact. Further, for so 
long as the steel strip edge remains in contact with the roller member, 
the roller member will change angular velocity to conform to any 
variations in the instantaneous linear velocity of the steel strip on the 
conveyor. 
Advantageously, the roller assembly of the present invention eliminates 
edge abrasion of the steel strip and rolled in defects because the steel 
strip edges contact respective rollers members, to the sideguide wear 
plates. Further, the roller assemblies eliminate costly sideguide wear 
plate maintenance. Additionally, the roller assembly of the present 
invention eliminates the need for a conventional gear driven system for 
the roller assembly which reduces space requirements for the roller. 
Finally, the self clutching, indirect drive feature of the roller assembly 
eliminates the need for speed control of the angular velocity of the 
roller. 
In one aspect of the invention, a roller assembly for use in directing a 
steel strip along a conveyor having a conveyor sideguide is disclosed. The 
roller assembly comprises: 
a) a roller member comprising at least one roller driving surface; 
b) a support assembly including: 
i) a roller support assembly that rotatably supports the roller member; and 
ii) mounting assembly means for securing the roller assembly with respect 
to the conveyor and for positioning the roller member such that the roller 
member can be contacted by an edge of the steel strip; and 
c) means for directing pressurized liquid at the roller member to impinge 
upon said at least one roller driving surface and cause the roller to 
rotate with respect to the roller support assembly. 
Preferably, the at least one roller driving surface includes a plurality of 
spaced apart flutes in the roller driving surface and the means for 
directing pressurized liquid at the roller member comprises a liquid 
supply conduit and a nozzle plate disposed between said supply conduit and 
said roller member, wherein said nozzle plate includes a plurality of 
openings that are configured and arranged to direct the pressurized liquid 
at said at least one roller driving surface. 
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will 
become better understood from the detailed description of the preferred 
embodiments of the invention which are described in conjunction with the 
accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
FIG. 1 shows a top plan view of a portion of a hot strip rolling mill line 
10. The line 10 includes a roller table or conveyor 12 which is traversed 
by a strip of steel 14 en route to a downcoiler (not shown) which coils 
the steel strip into a roll. The strip 14 starts as a metal slab (for 
example, a 9 inch slab) and is formed into a strip by the rolling mill 
line 10. The conveyor 12 is comprised of a plurality of power rollers 15a 
driven by motors 15b (a small portion of the conveyor 12 shown in dashed 
line in FIG. 1). To direct or guide the steel strip 14 along the conveyor 
12, a sideguide assembly 16 is provided. The sideguide assembly 16 
includes vertical sideguides 16a, 16b disposed along the outer edges of 
the conveyor 12. The sideguides 16a, 16b include friction wear plates 18a, 
18b. Four roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d of the present invention 
are mounted to the sideguides 16a, 16b. Specifically, two of the roller 
assemblies 20a, 20b are pivotally mounted to a roller guide frame 70, 
while the other two roller assemblies 20c, 20d are pivotally mounted to a 
roller guide frame 72. The roller guide frames 70, 72, in turn, are 
mounted to respective sideguides 16a, 16b. FIG. 2 shows a portion of the 
vertical sideguide 16b including wear plates 18b and the roller assemblies 
20c, 20d. FIG. 4 shows a portion of sideguide 16a including wear plates 
18a and the roller assemblies 20a, 20b. 
Different widths of steel strips 14 are processed by the line 10. In one 
exemplary embodiment of the line 10, steel strip 14 ranging in width from 
24 inches to 78 inches and in thickness from 0.070 inches to 0.625 inches 
are processed. To accommodate different widths of steel strips, the 
vertical sideguides 16a, 16b are horizontally adjustable (i.e., adjustable 
horizontally in the plane of the paper in FIG. 1) by a sideguide drive 
mechanism 90. The sideguide drive mechanism 90 includes a motor 92, a 
constant velocity universal spindle 94 and gear boxes 96, 98. The extremes 
of horizontal movement in the sideguides 16a, 16b are shown in FIG. 1. The 
solid line drawing of sideguides 16a, 16b shows the maximum width position 
of the sideguides, accommodating a 78 inch width steel strip. Shown in 
phantom in FIG. 1 is the minimum width position of the sideguides 16a, 
16b, accommodating a 24 inch width steel strip. 
When a new steel strip 14 having a different width is to be processed by 
the mill line 10, a funnel shaped portion (shown in phantom at 16c, 16d in 
FIG. 1) of the sideguides 16a, 16b roughly center the strip in the middle 
of the conveyor 12 in the parallel sideguide portion downstream of the 
funnel shaped portion. Then, the sideguide drive mechanism 90 moves the 
sideguides 16a, 16b horizontally such that the wear plates 18a, 18b are 
about 2 inches away from the respective edges 14a, 14b of the steel strip 
14. That is, the distance labeled G in FIG. 1 is approximately 2 inches. 
The roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d each include a support assembly 
21 (FIGS. 1 and 4). The support assembly 21 includes a pivot assembly 28 
permitting a respective roller member 22 of each of the roller assemblies 
20a, 20b, 20c, 20d to pivot between two positions, a noncontacting 
position and a contacting position. The noncontacting position of the 
roller members 22 is shown in solid line FIGS. 1 and 4, and in this 
position, the roller members 22 of the roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 
20d extend slightly inwardly of the sideguide wear plates 18a, 18b but do 
not contact the steel strip edges 14a, 14b (unless the strip 14 runs about 
2 inches off center). 
Once the steel strip 14 is centered on the conveyor 12 and the sideguides 
16a, 16b are properly positioned about 2 inches away from the edges 14a, 
14b, the roller members 22 of the roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d are 
pivoted into the contacting position, shown in dashed line in FIGS. 1 and 
4. In this position, the roller members 22 of each of the respective 
roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d contact the steel strip edges 14a, 
14b. As a result, in the contacting position, the sideguide wear plates 
18a, 18b are protected from contact with the steel strip edges 14a, 14b. 
As will be explained in further detail below, the roller assemblies 20a, 
20b, 20c, 20d each include a roller member 22, the support assembly 21 
(including a roller support assembly 30 and a pivot assembly 50) and a 
fluid manifold 80. For each of the roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, a 
roller member 22 is rotated by water routed through a respective manifold 
80 and directed upon the roller members 22. Thus, the roller members 22 
are rotating when pivoted into contact with the edges 14a, 14b of the 
moving steel strip 14 (the strip 14 is moving between 700 and 2700 
feet/minute along the conveyor 14 toward the downcoiler in the direction 
labeled with the arrow A in FIG. 1). 
The rotation of the roller members 22 when initially contacting the steel 
strip 14 greatly eliminates edge abrasion of the steel strip and rolled in 
defects. Further, the roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d eliminates 
costly sideguide wear plate maintenance. Additionally, the roller 
assemblies roller members 22 being rotated by water pressure eliminate the 
need for a conventional gear drive system for the roller members 22 of the 
roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d. The elimination of a gear drive 
system reduces space requirements for the roller assemblies. Finally, 
because the roller members 22 are water driven instead of gear driven, the 
roller members have a self clutching, indirect drive. This indirect drive 
of the roller members 22 means that the roller members 22 will 
automatically adjust their angular velocity of rotation, .omega., to match 
the linear speed of the steel strip 14. 
The support assembly 21 of each of the roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d 
includes the roller support assembly 30 (FIGS. 1 and 4) for rotatably 
supporting roller member 22 and the pivot assembly 50 for pivoting the 
roller member 22 between the contacting and noncontacting positions. Each 
of the roller assemblies 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d are identical in structure 
and, therefore, only roller assembly 20b and 20d will be described in 
detail, it being understood that the description applies to each of the 
other roller assemblies. 
As can be best be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the roller assembly 20b includes 
comprised of the roller support assembly 30 and the pivot assembly 28. The 
roller assembly 20b includes the cylindrical shaped roller member 22 
comprised of roller 22a and an outer sleeve 26. An upper portion of the 
roller 22a is protected by a roller shroud 34 (best seen in FIGS. 3 and 
4). Preferably, the roller 22a is comprised of 4140 alloy steel tubing 
annealed to 180-200 Brinell and the outer sleeve 26 is comprised of 4140 
alloy steel quenched and tempered to 300-350 Brinell and, after machining, 
the sleeve 26 is nitride hardened to 50-60 Rockwell. 
The roller 22a preferably has an outer diameter (OD) of 9.505 inches in the 
region where the outer sleeve 26 overlies the roller 22a and an OD of 10 
inches above the sleeve 23. The roller 22a has an overall height of 115/8 
inches. The outer sleeve 23 has an OD of 101/4 inches and a height of 
811/16 inches. An upper region 22b (best seen in FIG. 6) of the roller 22a 
includes a plurality of equally spaced apart fins or flutes 24, preferably 
twelve in an outer periphery of the roller 22a. The flutes 24 are milled 
into the outer periphery and are curved, having a teardrop shape with a 
radius of 3/8 inch in the circular portion of the flute (labeled as h in 
FIG. 6). Other dimensions in FIG. 6 include R=5.04 inches and A=2.0 
inches. The clearance C between the outer periphery of the upper section 
22b and a nozzle plate 82 of the manifold 80 is approximately 0.04 inches. 
This allows for drainage of the water impinging on the roller flutes 24. 
The water directed from the manifold 80 onto the roller flutes 24 drains 
to a sump, where it is filtered and recycled for use in the rolling mill 
operation. 
The roller member 22 is rotatably supported by the roller support assembly 
30 including a shaft 35. The roller support assembly 30 includes a lower 
end plate 41 which is bolted to the shaft 35 by a hex head cap screw 42 
(5/16-11.times.15/8" long), the hex head of the screw 42 which fits into a 
recess in the lower end plate 41. A Chicago Rawhide (CR) (Type HDS2) seal 
43 seals between the lower end plate 41 and the roller 22a. The CR seal 43 
is 71/4 inch ID.times.83/4 inch OD.times.5/8 inch wide. An upper end plate 
32 is disposed above the shaft 35. Another Chicago Rawhide (CR) (Type 
CRWHA1) seal 31 (FIG. 5) seals between the shaft 35 and the roller upper 
section 22b. The CR seal 31 is 6 inch ID.times.71/2 inch OD.times.1/2 inch 
wide. 
Positioned between the roller 22 and a stationary inner pin 25 are two 
spaced apart sets of roller bearings 36, preferably Torrington double row 
spherical roller bearings having dimensions of 4.7244 inches ID, 8.4646 
inches OD and 2.2835 inch width. A retaining ring 37 (FIG. 5) is disposed 
in an peripheral slot in an inner surface 22c of the roller 22a to hold 
the lower roller bearing set in place. An annular spacer 39 is disposed 
between the roller inner surface 22c and the inner pin 25. A pair of 
lubrication holes 38 through the inner pin 25 and the upper end plate 32 
are provided for lubrication of the sets of roller bearings 36. The 
lubrication holes 38 terminate in alemite lubrication fittings 40 disposed 
in the upper end plate 32. 
FIGS. 6 and 8-11 shows the manifold 80 and its components. The manifold 
directs a plurality of jets of fluid, preferably water, at the roller 
flutes 24 to rotate the roller member 22 at a desired angular velocity. 
The manifold 80 includes a manifold housing 81 which defines an interior 
region filled with water and an arcuate nozzle plate 82. The nozzle plate 
82 includes six 3/8 inch openings or jets 83 which direct the water at the 
roller flutes 24. The nozzle plate 82 has a thickness T of 5/8 inches, a 
radius labeled RAD of 47/8 inches in FIG. 11, and a height labeled H of 
21/2 inches in FIG. 11. To maximize the rotation of the roller 22a, the 
tear-like shape of the flutes 24 require that the apertures 83 of the 
nozzle plate 82 be angled as shown in FIG. 10. That is, for each of the 
fluid directing openings 83 of the nozzle plate 82, a longitudinal axis 
extending through the opening 83 forms an acute angle with respect to a 
radius extending from a center point (labeled CP) of a center of curvature 
of the nozzle plate to the opening 83. Suitable values for angles labeled 
A, B and C in FIG. 10 are: A=30 degrees, B=25 degrees and C=55 degrees. 
A water inlet 84 includes a 1 inch NPT water pipe half coupling. Water is 
input to the manifold housing interior region by a 3/4 inch diameter hose 
85 terminating in a fitting 86 which screws into the threaded inlet 84. 
Preferably, water in the supply line or hose 85 is kept at a pressure of 
about 150 pounds per square inch, this causes angular rotation of the 
roller member 22 at an angular velocity, .omega., of approximately 10.47 
radians per second or 100 RPM. The housing 81 includes mounting brackets 
87, 88, 89 for mounting the manifold 20 to the roller pivot arm 51 of the 
pivoting assembly 50. 
As can be seen in FIG. 4, the roller assemblies 20a, 20b include a pivoting 
assembly 50. The pivoting assembly 50 includes roller pivot arms 52 
pivotally connected to one of the roller guide frame 70, 72. The two pivot 
arms 52 associated with the roller assemblies 20a, 20b are connected to 
the roller guide frame 70 (FIG. 4) while the two pivot arms 52 associated 
with the roller assemblies 20c, 20d are connected to the roller guide 
frame 72 (FIG. 1). The pivoting assembly 50 includes a piston assembly 60. 
The roller guide frames 70, 72 are mechanically coupled to the sideguides 
16a, 16b. The piston assembly 60 includes a piston 62, preferably a 
Hydranamics brand 250 psi air service cylinder, Model No. P25 with a 12 
inch bore, a 23/8 inch stroke and a 3 inch rod diameter. The piston 62 is 
pinned to extending arm portions 54 of the pivot arms 52 of roller 
assemblies 20a, 20b by a linkage 63 including three female rod devises 64 
and a tie rod 66 as shown in FIG. 4. 
As can best be seen in FIG. 7, the roller pivot arm 52 are pivotally pinned 
to the roller guide frame 72 using a 3 inch diameter, 14 inch long pivot 
pin 48. Threaded into the top of the pivot pin 48 is a Crosby shoulder 
machinery eye bolt 46, preferably 1 inch.times.21/2 inch. The roller pivot 
arm 52 pivots on the pivot pin 48. A pair of bearings 49, preferably 
Garlock brand GAR-FIL.TM. bearings 3 inch ID.times.31/2 inch OD.times.3 
inch length, Model No. GF4856-48, are disposed between the pivot pin 48 
and a collar 56 of the roller pivot arm 54. A pair of thrust washers 44 
are disposed above and below the roller pivot arm collar 56. The piston 62 
has a short stroke moving the roller assemblies 20a, 20b between two 
positions. In the contacting or operating position (shown FIG. 4), a 
portion of the roller 22a extends through an opening 17a in the sideguide 
16a and approximately 2 inches beyond an inwardly facing surface of the 
sideguide wear plate 18a similarly the roller 22b also extends 2 inches 
beyond the inwardly facing surface of the wear plate 18a. In a second 
noncontacting or nonoperating position, the roller 22a is retracted into 
the sideguide opening 17a and extends inwardly just beyond the inwardly 
facing surface of the sideguide wear plate 18a. Since the sideguides 16a, 
16b were moved with the drive mechanism 90 to within 2 inches of the steel 
strip edges 14a, 14b, in the contacting position of the roller assemblies 
20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, the piston assembly moves the roller members 22 such 
that the roller sleeves 26 are in contact with the steel strip edges 14a, 
14b. 
As the steel strip 14 passes by the rollers 22, edges 14a, 14b of the strip 
14 contact the roller members 22. Depending on the characteristics of the 
strip 14, e.g. its width, the shape of the strip edges 14a, 14b in terms 
of waviness or oscillations, the contact between the strip edges 14a, 14b 
and the roller members 22 may be intermittent or may be constant over a 
significant length of the strip 14. The pressure of the water directed 
through the manifold 80 at the flutes 24 may advantageously be adjusted to 
cause the roller member 22 to rotate at a desired predetermined angular 
velocity, .omega. radians/sec. In the instant embodiment, the 
predetermined angular velocity is approximately .omega.=10.47 radians/sec 
or 100 RPM. Given the diameter, d=10 inches, of the roller member 22, the 
corresponding linear velocity in feet per minute, v(roller), of any given 
point on the outer surface of the roller is simply computed as: 
##EQU1## 
The pressure of the water from the supply line directed at the roller 
flutes 24 may be adjusted to attain a desired angular velocity of the 
roller member 22. Of course the size of the openings 83 of the nozzle 
plate 82 could be adjusted to facilitate change in the pressure of water 
impinging on the flutes 24 without the necessity of changing the pressure 
of the water in the supply line. 
Since the roller members 22 are rotating when contacted by the edges 14a, 
14b of the steel strip 14, damage to the edges will be minimized. Further, 
since the drive linkage between the source of fluid and the roller flutes 
32 constitute an indirect drive linkage, the roller member 22 operates as 
a self clutching mechanism, that is, when the edge 14a of the steel strip 
14 contacts the roller member 22, the roller members will change their 
respective angular velocities from the predetermined angular velocity, 
.omega.(predetermined), appropriately to rotate at an angular velocity, 
.omega.(new), that corresponds to the instantaneous linear velocity, 
v(strip), of the steel strip at the time of contact, that is 
v(roller)=v(strip) wherein v(roller)=d.times..omega.(new). Further, for so 
long as the steel strip edge 14a remains in contact with the roller member 
22, the roller member will change angular velocity, .omega.(new), to 
conform to any variations in the instantaneous linear velocity, v(strip), 
of the steel strip 14 as it traverses the conveyor 12. When the strip 14 
does not contact the roller member 22, the angular velocity of the roller 
will gradually return to the predetermined angular velocity, 
(predetermined). 
While the invention has been described herein in it currently preferred 
embodiment or embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that 
other modifications may be made without departing from the invention and 
it is intended to claim all modifications and variations as fall within 
the scope of the invention.