Patent ID: 8082056

Claim:
An operating method for a looping pit by means of which a section of a strip can be buffered, comprising the steps of: supplying the strip to the looping pit at a pit entrance and emitting the strip from the looping pit at a pit exit, detecting entrance-side drag, which occurs in the strip at the pit entrance by means of an entrance-side drag measurement device, and detecting exit-side drag which occurs in the strip at the pit exit by means of an exit-side drag measurement device, supplying the entrance-side drag and the exit-side drag to a control device, comparing the entrance-side drag and the exit-side drag to calculate a drag difference between the entrance-side drag and the exit-side drag, comparing the calculated drag difference to a nominal drag difference, and determining a control signal by the control device for at least one driven roller, which is arranged between the pit entrance and the pit exit, as a function of the comparison of the calculated drag difference to the nominal drag difference, and emitting the control signal to the at least one driven roller, wherein the at least one driven roller acts on the strip which is buffered in the looping pit, corresponding to the control signal.