Patent ID: 7254977

Claim:
A system for the continuous production of shaped, metallic members, said system comprising: a payout station operable to support a coiled web of metal, and to feed out said web to the other stations of the system; a roll forming station, including a plurality of roll forming dies therein, said roll forming station being operable to receive said web, continuously, and form said web into a continuous, elongated body having a preselected cross-sectional profile; a cutting station operable to cut said continuous, elongated body into a plurality of members, each member having said preselected cross-sectional profile; a heating station operable to heat said members to a temperature sufficient to effect a change in a physical property of the metal comprising said members; a feeder associated with said heating station, said feeder being operable to receive cut members and to transfer said cut members into said healing station; a processing station operable to receive a heated member from the heating station; and a coolant fluid supply station in which a coolant fluid is delivered to said processing station from a reservoir by a supply line and circulated back to said reservoir from said processing station by a return line, said coolant fluid supply station including: a first pump for delivering said coolant fluid to said processing station, a bypass line which is in fluid communication with said first pump and with said reservoir for establishing a fluid flow therebetween, and a selector valve associated with said bypass line for selectively establishing a fluid flow between said first pump and said processing station or said first pump and said reservoir.