Patent ID: 8256256

Claim:
A coiling furnace configured to provide heat to a hot-rolled metal strip with a strip lead, the coiling furnace comprising: a heat-insulated enclosure configured to delimit a furnace interior; an entry and exit opening in the enclosure for the hot-rolled metal strip; a metal strip coiling device comprising a coiling drum positioned in the furnace interior, a slit-shaped receiving opening in the drum for the hot-rolled strip, a controlled rotary drive operable for rotating the coiling drum so that the coiling drum performs a winding operation, the coiling drum including a winding surface configured to receive the hot-rolled metal strip; a table operable for transport of the rolled-strip; a strip deflecting device positioned between the table and the coiling drum; a passage positioned through the enclosure of the coiling furnace and configured to receive therethrough a feeding shield; the feeding shield configured to be passed through the passage; a displacement drive coupled to the feeding shield, and the displacement drive is operable to displace the feeding shield between a strip threading position and a withdrawal position, such that in the threading position, the feeding shield is passed through the passage so as to form with the strip deflecting device a feeding funnel for conducting the strip lead of the hot-rolled strip to the coiling drum, and the funnel is arranged ahead of the slit-shaped receiving opening on the coiling drum; a measuring device operable for recording times relating to the head of the strip and determining the transporting speed of the hot-rolled strip; the table and the measuring device are arranged ahead of the coiling furnace; a master control device for the measuring device, the control device being operable to determine a time of entry of the head of the strip into the receiving opening of the coiling drum, the master control device is connected to the controlled rotary drive of the coiling drum and to the displacement drive of the feeding shield and is configured to initiate the winding operation of the coiling drum and to commence displacement movement of the feeding shield from the threading position into the withdrawal position, wherein the passage for receiving the feeding shield is a passage through the enclosure of the coiling furnace different from the entry and exit opening in the enclosure for the hot-rolled metal strip.