Source: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/9399246.html
Timestamp: 2019-10-15 03:33:06
Document Index: 331025029

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2011200884', 'Application No. 2004202789', 'Application No. 2011200884', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 04', 'Application No. 04', 'Application No. 04', 'Application No. 07', 'Application No. 07', 'Application No. 07', 'Application No. 07', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 200410078505', 'Application No. 200410078505', 'Application No. 200410078505', 'Application No. 201010145733', 'Application No. 201010145733', 'Application No. 201010145733', 'Application No. 2014202035', 'Application No. 2014202036']

Methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material - The Bradbury Company, Inc.
Methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material
United States Patent 9399246
Methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes coupling a feedback unit to a first material conditioner. The first material conditioner includes a first sensor and a second sensor, where the first and second sensors are located along a width of a first material moving through the first material conditioner, a first adjustable backup bearing and a second adjustable backup bearing. The disclosed example method also includes mapping the first sensor to the first adjustable backup bearing, where the first sensor corresponds to a first longitudinal zone located along a width of the first moving material. The disclosed example method also includes mapping the second sensor to the second adjustable backup bearing, where the second sensor corresponds to a second longitudinal zone located along the width of the first moving material, and where the feedback unit is couplable to a second material conditioner different than the first material conditioner.
Clark, John Dennis (McPherson, KS, US)
Cox III, Clarence B. (McPherson, KS, US)
14/643557
The Bradbury Company, Inc. (Moundridge, KS, US)
B21B37/28; B21B1/24; B21B37/38; B21D1/02; B21B15/00
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This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/744,080, filed Jan. 17, 2013, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/267,312, filed Nov. 7, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,375,754, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/359,025, filed on Feb. 22, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,461,529, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/662,567, filed on Sep. 15, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,519, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
1. A method, comprising: coupling a feedback unit to a first material conditioner including: a first sensor and a second sensor, the first and second sensors located along a width of a first material moving through the first material conditioner; a first adjustable backup bearing; and a second adjustable backup bearing; mapping the first sensor to the first adjustable backup bearing, the first sensor corresponding to a first longitudinal zone located along a width of the first moving material; mapping the second sensor to the second adjustable backup bearing, the second sensor corresponding to a second longitudinal zone located along the width of the first moving material; and adjusting the spacing of the first sensor and the second sensor for a second material moving through the first material conditioner.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: obtaining a reading from the first sensor; and adjusting the first adjustable backup bearing based on the reading.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first material conditioner includes a third sensor, the first sensor and second sensor separated a first distance, and the second sensor and the third sensor separated a second distance different than the first distance.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the condition of the first moving material based on a comparison of a first wave height in the first longitudinal zone and a second wave height in the second longitudinal zones.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: mapping the first sensor to a first flight of adjustable backup bearings that include the first adjustable backup bearing; and mapping the second sensor to a second flight of adjustable backup bearings that include the second adjustable backup bearing.
6. The method of claim 1, the first sensor further corresponding to a third longitudinal zone.
7. An apparatus comprising: a first sensor located along a width of a first material moving through a first material conditioner; a second sensor located along the width of the first material; a third sensor, the first sensor and second sensor separated a first distance, and the second sensor and the third sensor separated a second distance different than the first distance; a first adjustable backup bearing; a second adjustable backup bearing; and a feedback unit to: map the first sensor to the first adjustable backup bearing, the first sensor corresponding to a first longitudinal zone located along a width of the first moving material; and map the second sensor to the second adjustable backup bearing, the second sensor corresponding to a second longitudinal zone located along the width of the first material.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the feedback unit is to: obtain a reading from the first sensor; and adjust the first adjustable backup bearing based on the reading.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the feedback unit is to determine the condition of the first moving material based on a comparison of a first wave height in the first longitudinal zone and a second wave height in the second longitudinal zones.
10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the feedback unit is to: map the first sensor to a first flight of adjustable backup bearings that include the first adjustable backup bearing; and map the second sensor to a second flight of adjustable backup bearings that include the first adjustable backup bearing.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, the first sensor further corresponding to a third longitudinal zone.
12. A method, comprising: retrofitting a material conditioner with a feedback unit, the material conditioner including a first sensor, a second sensor, a first adjustable backup bearing, and a second adjustable backup bearing; monitoring a first condition of a first zone of first material moving through the material conditioner using the first sensor; monitoring a second condition of a second zone of the first material using the second sensor; and using the feedback unit to: map the first sensor to the first adjustable backup bearing; map the second sensor to the second adjustable backup bearing; generate corrective feedback information based on at least one of the first condition and the second condition; and adjust at least one of the first adjustable backup bearing or the second adjustable backup bearing to change a corresponding first condition or second condition.
13. The method as defined in claim 12, wherein the feedback is retrofittable to different types of material conditioners.
14. The method as defined in claim 12, further including adjusting the spacing of the first sensor and the second sensor for a second material moving through the material conditioner.
The present disclosure pertains to strip material processing and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material.
Many products such as construction panels, beams and garage doors are made from strip material that is pulled from a roll or coil of the strip material and processed using rollforming equipment or machines. A detailed description of a rollforming machine may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,994, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A rollforming machine typically removes strip material (e.g., a metal) from a coiled quantity of the strip material and progressively bends and forms the strip material to produce a product profile and, ultimately, a finished product.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a strip material being pulled from a coiled quantity of the strip material.
FIG. 28 is an illustration of another embodiment of a visual display that may be provided during operation of the material monitoring and conditioning feedback unit.
FIG. 29 is an illustration of another embodiment of a visual display that may be provided during operation of the material monitoring and conditioning feedback unit.
In general, the example system described herein receives encoder signals and distance sensor data in order to automatically monitor and/or condition strip material. If an undesirable material condition (e.g., crossbow, coil set, buckles or waves in one or more regions or zones of the strip material, etc.) is detected, one or more work rolls in a material conditioner (e.g., a leveler) may be adjusted to achieve a desired material condition (e.g., flatness). Alternatively or additionally, the example system described herein may automatically produce certification information for predetermined quantities (e.g., individual bundles of sheets) of the strip material.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a strip material 100 being pulled from a coiled quantity 102 of the strip material. The strip material may be a metallic substance such as, for example, steel or aluminum, or may be any other desired material. As the strip material 100 is removed from the coiled quantity 102, it assumes an uncoiled condition or state 104. Coiled strip material frequently manifests undesirable material conditions that are the result of longitudinal stretching of the strip material during coiling and as a result of remaining in a coiled condition for a period of time. In particular, the coil winding process is usually performed under high tension, which may cause a condition commonly referred to as coil set. If significant, coil set may also manifest itself as a condition commonly referred to as crossbow. Both of these undesirable conditions are manifest in the uncoiled condition or state 104.
At some point, an increase in the load or stress applied to the strip material causes the strip material properties to change so that it is no longer able to return to its original shape. When it is in this condition, the strip material is in a plastic load region. In the plastic load region, small increases in the force or load applied to the strip material cause relatively large amounts of stretching (i.e., deformation) to occur. Further, when a metallic strip material is in plastic state or condition, the amount of stretch that results is time dependent. In particular, the longer the metal is held under a given load (when plastic) the greater the amount of deformation (i.e., permanent stretch).
Although a strip material such as a metal is typically a homogenous substance, the conditioning concepts described herein may be easier to understand if the stresses are described as occurring in layers. As shown in FIG. 2, the greatest tension is in the outermost layers of the strip material 100. Unless sufficient tension is imparted to the strip material 100, the stresses will result in only elastic strain, and the strip material 100 will return to its original shape after passing over the work roll 200. However, if sufficient tension is imparted to the strip material 100, the outer surface layers are subject to sufficient stress to reach the yield strength of the strip material 100. The surface layers stretch enough to become plastic and, when the tension is removed, retain a new shape. The plastic deformation is greatest at the surface of the strip material 100 farthest from the work roll 200. The tension imparted to the strip material varies across its thickness and, in particular, diminishes toward the neutral axis 202. For the layers of the strip material 100 that are near to or on the neutral axis 202, the tension is low enough that those layers of the strip material 100 are in an elastic state and, thus, are not deformed as a result of passing over the work roll 200.
FIG. 5 illustrates the manner in which decreasing a horizontal center distance 502 between work rolls for a given work roll plunge (i.e., the vertical center separation or distance) increases the tensile stress imparted to the strip material 100. In general, for any given work roll plunge, a decreased horizontal center distance 502 increases the tensile stress imparted to the strip material 100 and, thus, the potential for plastic deformation which, when properly controlled, improves the ability to condition the strip material 100.
In a flattener, which is another type of material conditioner, the centers of all of the work rolls 200 are typically held parallel at all times. The upper work rolls 200 are plunged into the lower work rolls 200 to cause a wave-like bridle effect as the strip material 100 passes through the flattener. The shorter surface of the strip material 100 is stretched slightly down its length and uniformly across its width. Most of the work is done in the first few workroll clusters with feathering to a flat finish occurring throughout the rest of the flattener.
Flattener work rolls 200 are normally mounted in journal end bearings. Occasionally, non-adjustable center support backup bearings are added to minimize deflection of the center of the work rolls 200. The work rolls 200 used in a flattener are typically large in diameter and have widely spaced centers. Flatteners are typically used to remove undesirable strip material conditions such as coil set and crossbow. However, flatteners are not equipped with adjustable backup bearings to provide differential leveling or conditioning, which is needed to eliminate other types of material conditions, including waves and buckles that may occur along one or more longitudinal regions or zones of a strip material. On the other hand, a leveler (a type material conditioner described above) may be used to perform such differential conditioning, as well as the simple flattening operations that are performed by flatteners.
The cold reduction process may produce metallic strip material that has a non-uniform thickness across its width. If the strip material 100 having such a non-uniform thickness across its width were pulled from a coil and slit into many parallel strands down its length and flattened, the strips from the wavy or buckled areas of the strip material 100 would be longer than the strips from the flat areas of the strip material 100. FIG. 7 illustrates this by aligning one end of the strips. A material conditioner (e.g., a leveler) may be used to stretch the short lengths to approximately match the long lengths of the strip material 100, thereby substantially flattening the strip material 100. If the non-uniform thickness is the result of deflection or crown in the cold reduction rolls, the relatively thin areas of the strip material 100 will be longer (down the length of the coil) than the thick areas of the strip material 100. These thin areas result in a wave 702 if, near the edge of the strip material 100, or a buckle 704 (or multiple buckles) if captured in the center of the strip material 100.
FIG. 8 generally illustrates an example manner in which backup bearings 800 may be used to support the work rolls 200. In some material conditioners, such as a leveler, the work rolls 200 are small in diameter and must be backed up along their length to prevent unwanted deflection. As depicted in FIG. 8, top work rolls 200 are typically backed up rigidly with non-adjustable flights of bearings 800a. Bottom work rolls 200 may be supported with a series of adjustable backup bearings 800b mounted below the work rolls 200 and set on the same spacings as the upper backup bearings 800a. By adjusting the bottom backup bearings 800b differently across the width of the work rolls 200, differential conditioning across the width of the strip material 100 may be achieved. Each numbered position in FIG. 8 corresponds to a flight of backup bearings.
Still further, it should be recognized that there is not necessarily a one-to-one correspondence between the regions or zones associated with the distance sensors 1102-1108 and the adjustment zones or regions across the adjustable ones of the work rolls 100. For example, the material conditioner 1002 (FIG. 10) may have more or fewer sets of adjustable ones of the backup bearings 1006 (FIG. 10) than sensor zones. Thus, the MMCF unit 1016 may map the distance sensors 1102-1108 to adjustable ones of the backup bearings 1006 (FIG. 10) so that each of the five regions or zones defined by the distance sensors 1102-1108 corresponds to at least one adjustable set of the backup bearings 1006 (FIG. 10). In this manner, sensor zones are mapped to material conditioner control zones or regions. For example, a first adjustable flight of the backup bearings 1006 may correspond to a first sensor zone along an outer edge of the material (e.g., the zone associated with the distance sensor 1102), a second adjustable flight of the backup bearings 1006 may correspond to a second sensor zone along a first mid-edge of the strip material (e.g., the zone associated with the distance sensor 1104), a third adjustable flight of the backup bearings 1006 may correspond to a third sensor zone along a center portion of the strip material 100 (e.g., the zone associated with the distance sensor 1106), and so on. On the other hand, multiples flights of adjustable ones of the backup bearings 1006 may correspond to each of the sensor zones or regions.
As is also depicted in FIG. 11, the example system 1000 includes an encoder 1110 for the purpose of measuring an amount or length of the strip material 100 that has moved through the work rolls 1004. For example, the encoder 1110 may be implemented using a twelve inch encoder wheel that rides on the strip material 100 as the strip material 100 moves. In that case, each time the wheel of the encoder 1110 makes a complete revolution, the strip material 100 has traveled twelve inches. The encoder 1110 may be radially divided into a plurality of signal points. For example, if a twelve inch encoder is divided into twelve signal points, the encoder 1110 would produce a signal every time the strip material 100 travels one inch. In practice, the encoder 1110 may be divided into any number of signal points (e.g., 1200 per revolution).
The processor 1206 may be any type of well known processor, such as a processor from the Intel Pentium® family of microprocessors, the Intel Itanium® family of microprocessors, the Intel Centrino® family of microprocessors, and/or the Intel XScale® family of microprocessors. In addition, the processor 1206 may include any type of well known cache memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM). The main memory device 1210 may include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or any other form of random access memory. For example, the main memory device 1210 may include double data rate random access memory (DDRAM). The main memory device 1210 may also include non-volatile memory. In an example, the main memory device 1210 stores a software program which is executed by the processor 1206 in a well known manner. The flash memory device 1212 may be any type of flash memory device. The flash memory device 1212 may store firmware and/or any other data and/or instructions.
The interface circuit(s) 1214 may be implemented using any type of well known interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface and/or a Universal Ser. Bus (USB) interface. One or more input devices 1216 may be connected to the interface circuits 1214 for entering data and commands into the main processing unit 1202. For example, an input device 1216 may be a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, track pad, track ball, isopoint, and/or a voice recognition system.
The example system 1200 may also include one or more storage devices 1220. For example, the example system 1200 may include one or more hard drives, a compact disk (CD) drive, a digital versatile disk drive (DVD), and/or other computer media input/output (I/O) devices.
The example system 1200 may also exchange data with other devices 1222 via a connection to a network 1224. The network connection may be any type of network connection, such as an Ethernet connection, digital subscriber line (DSL), telephone line, coaxial cable, etc. The network 1224 may be any type of network, such as the Internet, a telephone network, a cable network, and/or a wireless network. The network devices 1222 may be any type of network devices. For example, the network device 1222 may be a client, a server, a hard drive, etc., including another system similar or identical to the example system 1200. More specifically, in a case where the MMCF unit 1016 and the conditioner control unit 1012 are implemented as separate devices coupled via the link 1018, one of the units 1012 and 1016 may correspond to the example system 1200, the other one of the units 1012 and 1016 corresponds to the network device 1222 (which may also be implemented using a system similar or identical to the system 1200), and the link 1018 corresponds to the network 1224.
Now turning in detail to FIG. 13, a flow diagram generally depicts an example manner in which the example system 1000 of FIG. 10 may be configured. Initially, the system 1000 (FIG. 10) determines if strip material is present in the material conditioner 1002 (block 1300). The presence of the strip material 100 may be detected using the sensors 1014 (e.g., the distance sensors 1102-1108 and/or the encoder 1110 shown in FIG. 11) or may be detected in some other manner via the conditioner control unit 1012. If the presence of the strip material 100 is not detected, the system 1000 remains at block 1300.
FIG. 14 is a more detailed flow diagram depicting one manner in which the monitor/condition method (depicted as block 1310 of FIG. 13) may be implemented. Upon starting the monitor/condition method (block 1310), the system 1000 reads the sensors 1014 (block 1400). In particular, distance or deviation information may be read from the distance sensors 1102-1108 (FIG. 11) at predetermined time intervals so that multiple sets of data are collected from the sensors 1102-1108 at block 1400. Likewise, linear distance or travel length information or data may be received from the encoder 1110 (FIG. 1) during each time at which distance information or data is collected from the distance sensors 1102-1108. A more detailed description of the manner in which the sensors 1014 may be read at block 1400 is provided in connection with FIG. 15 below.
If the system 1000 determines at block 1404 that the zones or regions are not at the desired target conditions, zone changes are then determined at block 1406. In general, zone changes are generated by comparing the relative material conditions (e.g., the flatness) of the zones monitored by the sensors 1014 (FIG. 10). Certain patterns of material conditions are recognized and appropriate adjustment values for use by the material conditioner 1002 are determined based on the patterns. A more detailed description of one manner in which the five distance sensors 1102-1108 shown in FIG. 11 may be used to adjust five zones or regions of the strip material 100 to achieve a desired material condition is described below in connection with FIGS. 17 and 18.
Following the conditioner adjustments at block 1408, or if at block 1404 the system 1000 determines that the zones are substantially equal to their target conditions, the system 1000 logs the zone information or data to the buffer (block 1410). After logging the data in the buffer at block 1410, the system 1000 determines if a sheet of the strip material 100 is to be cut (block 1412). A cut sheet determination may be made based on information from the conditioner control unit 1012. Regardless of where the cut sheet information or signal is generated, if a sheet is cut, the system 1000 (e.g., the MMCF unit 1016) calculates one or more quality parameters associated with that sheet (block 1414). In particular, as described in greater detail in connection with FIG. 16, the quality parameters may include, for example, one or more I-units values for the sheet. I-units are a well-known measure that represents the degree to which a material deviates from a flat condition. Of course, different or additional quality parameters may be calculated at block 1414.
At block 1504, the system 1000 (e.g., the MMCF 1016) reads the zones. In particular, the system 1000 may acquire distance or deviation information from each of the distance sensors 1102-1108 (FIG. 11) and the encoder 1110 (FIG. 11) over a predetermined number of sampling intervals. For example, each of the distance sensors 1102-1108 (FIG. 11) may be polled or read on a periodic basis (i.e., at fixed time intervals or some other predetermined times) by the MMCF unit 1016 (FIG. 11). The information received by the MMCF unit 1016 may correspond to the individual distances between the sensors 1102-1108 and the upper surface of the strip material 100 underlying the sensors 1102-1108.
At block 1604, the system 1000 (e.g., the MMCF unit 1016) determines the average of the deviation or distance values currently stored in the buffer. In the case where the MMCF unit 1016 obtains the deviation or distance information from the distance sensors 1102-1108 and the sensors 1102-1108 are calibrated so that any measured deviations (i.e., distance changes) are positive (i.e., greater than zero) with respect to a surface of the material conditioner 1002 underlying the strip material 100, then the zone averages are representative of the degree to which each zone deviates from a flat or other desired condition. In general, larger average values for a given zone are indicative of a greater deviation from a flat condition within that zone. While the examples described herein use zone averages to detect, monitor or measure the deviation of the strip material 100 from a substantially flat condition, different or additional statistical proxies could be used if desired. For example, some fraction of the average values could be used, a maximum deviation value(s) could be used, a square root of a sum of squares of deviations could be used, etc.
Furthermore, it should be recognized that, if calibrated in the above-described manner, the distance readings obtained from the sensors 1102-1108 (FIG. 11) would be offset by an amount equal to the thickness of the strip material 100. As a result, in a case where the zone averages are all substantially non-zero and equal to each other and offset from zero by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the strip material 100, those averages are, indicative of a substantially flat condition. More generally, as described in greater detail below, a substantially flat condition for the strip material corresponds to a condition in which the averages for all of the zones (e.g., all five zones for the example implementation shown in FIG. 11) are substantially equal.
After the zone averages have been determined at block 1604, the system 1000 may determine the minimum and maximum average values across all zones (block 1606). The system 1000 may then determine if the current calculation of deviations is a first pass (i.e., the first time for the strip material 100 being processed by the material conditioner 1002) (block 1608). If the system 1000 determines that the current deviation calculations are being made during a first pass at block 1608, the system 1000 performs a first pass initialization (block 1610). Such a first pass initialization may include initialization of variables that require initialization following a system power up or the like. If the current deviation calculations are not part of a first pass (block 1608), then the system 1000 may initialize system variables containing values such as the minimum and maximum deviation or distance readings for each zone, the inverse of the average length between peaks (which is similar to a frequency of the deviations) for each zone, as well as any other variables desired (block 1612).
The system 1000 may then calculate the peak value (e.g., the overall wave height) for each of the zones stored in the buffer (block 1620). For example, the peak value for each zone may be determined by multiplying the average value for the zone by two and subtracting the known thickness of the strip material 100. Of course, other methods of calculating a peak value for each zone may be used instead. The system 1000 then calculates an intermediate parameter “S” for each of the zones (i.e., the zone data stored in the buffer) as defined in Equation 1 below (block 1622).
The variable “PeakValue” is the peak value calculated at block 1620 and the variable “Span” is calculated by dividing the length value for each zone (calculated at block 1618) by the number of peaks counted for each zone (calculated at block 1616). The S parameter for each zone may then be used to calculate the I-units for each zone using the well-known equation set forth below as Equation 2 (block 1624). As is well known, the I-units for a zone are indicative of the shape or flatness of a material zone or region. In general, a lower I-units value corresponds to a higher degree of flatness.
I−units=2.47*S2*105 Equation 2
FIGS. 19-25 are more detailed flow diagrams depicting an example manner in which the adjust conditioner method (block 1408) of FIG. 14 may be implemented. In general, the example methods depicted in FIGS. 19-25 receive the zone change information from block 1406 and generate appropriate adjustment commands, instructions and/or signals that cause the material conditioner 1002 (FIG. 10) to adjust its work rolls 1004 (FIG. 10) to achieve a desired material condition, which in this is example is a substantially flat condition. In particular, zone change information includes the zone(s) to be changed and the amount of change required (e.g., the average deviation of a particular zone). The particular manner in which the zone change information is processed by the system 1000 is based on which zone(s) are to be changed. Thus, adjustments to zones 3, 1 and 4 only are carried out using the methods of FIGS. 19, 20 and 21, respectively. Simultaneous adjustments to zones 1 and 5 are carried out using the method depicted in FIG. 22. Simultaneous adjustments to zones 1 and 2 are carried out using the method depicted in FIG. 23. Simultaneous adjustments to zones 1 and 3 are carried out using the method depicted in FIG. 24, and adjustments to zone 5 are carried out using the method shown in FIG. 25.
Also, generally, the methods of FIGS. 19-25 determine the relative size of the adjustment to be made and select one of two adjustment step size sets based on the size of the adjustment to be made. The step size sets are amounts by which the adjustable backup bearings 1006 (FIG. 10) and, thus, the work rolls 1004 (FIG. 10) of the material conditioner 1002 (FIG. 10) are moved during an adjustment interval. The step size sets may be selected to optimize the ability of the system 1000 (FIG. 10) to quickly change the work roll profiles to achieve a desired material condition, without resulting in excessive overshoot, oscillation, etc. In general, larger step sizes enable a more rapid adjustment toward a desired material condition, while smaller step sizes enable more accurate control of the material condition. The methods of FIGS. 19-25 use two different sets of step sizes so that, initially, if the deviation from a desired material condition (e.g., substantial flatness) is relatively large (e.g., the average deviation value for a zone is relatively large), the set having larger step sizes is used. If the average deviation for a zone to be adjusted is initially relatively small or is reduced via prior adjustments (e.g., using a large step size adjustment), the set having the smaller step sizes may be used. In this manner, the example methods of FIGS. 19-25 provide the benefit of fast adjustment when deviations from a desired material condition are large and the benefits of greater precision as the deviations are reduced.
Now turning in detail to FIG. 19, an example manner by which a command or determination to adjust zone 3 by an amount “AVG” initializes the settings of the material conditioner 1002 (block 1900). At block 1902, the system 1000 determines if the amount zone 3 is to be adjusted (i.e., AVG) is greater than a threshold value (i.e., Limit 2) representative of a relatively large adjustment amount. If the value of AVG exceeds the threshold value (Limit 2), then zone 1 is adjusted up by a first step amount (STEP2) (block 1904), zone 2 is adjusted down by a second step (STEP1) (block 1906) and zone 5 is adjusted up by the first step (Step 2) amount (block 1908).
At block 1910, the system 1000 determines if the adjustment value AVG is greater than another limit or threshold (Limit 2) representative of a relatively smaller adjustment (i.e., in comparison to the threshold used in block 1902). If the adjustment value AVG is greater than the other threshold (Limit 1), then zone 1 is adjusted up by an amount equal to STEP1, zone 3 is adjusted down by an amount equal to STEP1/2, and zone 5 is adjusted up by an amount equal to STEP1.
The methods of FIGS. 20-25 are similar to those shown in FIG. 19 and, thus, are not described in additional detail herein. Any desired step sizes may be used with the methods of FIGS. 19-25. However, in some examples, the value of STEP2 may be double the value of STEP1, which is double the value of STEP1/2. Of course, other relative step sizes or relationships and/or more than or fewer than three step sizes may be used if desired.
At block 2604, the system 1000 (e.g., the MMCF 1016) reads the zones. In particular, the system 1000 may acquire distance or deviation information from each of the distance sensors 1102-1108 (FIG. 11) and the encoder 1110 (FIG. 11) over a predetermined number of sampling intervals. For example, each of the distance sensors 1102-1108 (FIG. 11) may be polled or read on a periodic basis (i.e., at fixed time intervals or some other predetermined times) by the MMCF unit 1016 (FIG. 11). The information received by the MMCF unit 1016 may correspond to the individual distances between the sensors 1102-1108 and the upper surface of the strip material 100 underlying the sensors 1102-1108.
The system 1000 may also include a warning device (not shown) capable of warning an operator of the determined deviation of the material condition of the strip material 100. For example, the warning device may warn the operator that the strip material 100 is approaching an “out of spec” tolerance and that the settings on the material conditioner 1002 may need to be corrected. The system 1000 may included at least one predefined set point, i.e., tolerance limit, established to trigger different levels of warning and/or alarm for the operator. The warning device may be, for instance, a light device, such as a stack of green, amber, and/or red lights, each of which could indicate a different level of warning and/or alarm, such as: (1) green, indicating that the material condition of the strip material 100 is within specification tolerance; (2) amber, indicating that the material condition of the strip material 100 is approaching the tolerance limit; and (3) red, indicating that the material condition of the strip material 100 is beyond the tolerance limit, and the production cycle has been, or should be halted. The warning device may additionally or alternatively include an audio emitter to output an audio signal representative of the material condition of the strip material 100.
After the zone data has been read at block 2604, the system 1000 (e.g., the MMCF unit 1016) determines the instantaneous and/or the average deviation or distance readings within each zone, or across multiple zones (block 2606). Additionally or alternatively, at block 2608 the system 1000 may develop a dimensional profile of the strip material 100 that has or is passing through the conditioner 1002. For example, the MMCF unit 1016 (FIG. 11) may utilize the instantaneous deviation or distance or the average deviation or distance (calculated at block 2604) to develop a dimensional profile. The dimensional profile may be a two dimensional (e.g., a cross section) or three dimensional (e.g., a topographical map) representation of the strip material at either an instantaneous moment (i.e., a snap-shot of the strip material), or over a predetermined length of time or distance (i.e., the average condition of the strip material).
Additionally, the dimensional profile may correspond to each sensor individually, or may group the readings of some of the sensors into a zone reading. For instance, in one embodiment, the dimensional profile may be a plot of the each of the sensor readings stored in the data table, in which each column (i.e. plot point) of the table uniquely corresponds to one of the sensors 1102-1108 and the encoder 1110, and each of the rows represents a sampling event or time. Alternatively, the dimensional profile may be a plot of the grouping of individual sensor readings (e.g., zone readings) into one or more zones in which each plot point corresponds to an average of a group of sensors 1102-1108. After the dimensional profile has been determined at block 2608, the system 1000 increments the buffer index (block 2610).
In some embodiments, an operator may manually control the material condition of the strip material 100, by a selecting a leveler controller button 2730, which provides to the operator, the controller display of FIG. 28. For example, selecting the leveler controller button 2730 may cause a plurality of user-selectable buttons 2802-2822 to be provided on a display 2830. In this example, each of the user selectable button 2902-2822 correspond to one of a plurality of distance sensors, in this case 11 sensors, which detect the distance to a surface of the strip material 100. For example, in this illustration, the buttons 2802 and 2804 may be associated with the first and second of a plurality of distance sensors located over the strip material, while the buttons 2820 and 2822 are second to last and last distance sensor, etc. In this example, each of the buttons 2802-2822 may include an “up arrow” symbol 2832 and/or a “down arrow” symbol 2834 for operating the material conditioner. It will be appreciated that the number of buttons, the association between the buttons and the sensors, symbols, or words located on the buttons may be any suitable design choice.
In operation, the user may “press” or select one or more of the buttons 2802-2822, and more particularly, one of the symbols 2832 or 2834 via direct “touch-screen” selection, computer mouse selection, or other suitable input device. By selecting one or more of the buttons 2802-2822, the user generates control information responsive to the displayed material condition information, to cause the system 100 to adjust a load applied to the strip material based on the control information to urge the condition of the strip material 100 toward a desired condition, as described above. For example, if the user notices that the portion of the dimensional profile in the display 2703A corresponding to the area of “zone 3” is not flat, the user may press either buttons 2810-2814, or any other desirable button, to manipulate the material conditioner to change the load on the strip material 100 and urge the strip material 100 to a flat condition. Similarly, the user may fine-tune the shape of the material by selecting multiple buttons as desired.
The display 2700 similarly may additionally and/or alternatively include a print bundle button 2740, which provides to the operator, the bundle history display of FIG. 29. For example, selecting the print bundle button 2740 may cause a bundle summary 2904 to be provided on a display 2900. In this example, the bundle summary 2904 includes a minimum, maximum, and/or average “flatness” number for each of the zones, e.g., zones 1 to 5, associated with the strip material 100 and determined at the block 2604 (FIG. 26). Additionally, the display 2906 may include a display portion 2906, for displaying, entering, or recording notes associated with the bundle, such as, for instance, material conditioner setting, or the like. Still further, the display 2900 may include a print data button 2908, which prints a bundle label, for affixing or otherwise associating the data with the bundle, and containing certification information for that bundle, as described above.
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