Patent ID: 7942029

Claim:
A method of increasing the applicability of a winder for forming and unwinder for unwinding multiturn coils of strip between a roughing train and a finishing train for the strip material in a hot-strip mill, the method comprising the steps of: to handle lighter coils in a mandrelless coil box, pressing a multiturn coil to be unwound downward in the unwinder by hold-down rollers with a hold-down force against a roller cradle; adjusting the level of hold-down force in accordance with coil roundness, coil composition, and operational method; and thereafter orienting and moving the rollers spaced apart in the strip-travel direction such that at first there is a passive transfer of the partially unwound coil downstream followed by a braking of the coil by at least one stop roller and a holding-back of the coil by insertion of a mandrel into the partially unwound coil.