Patent ID: 7021103

Claim:
A method of decelerating and temporarily accumulating a hot rolled product moving longitudinally along a receiving axis at a first velocity V 1 , said method comprising: directing said product through a curved guide having an entry end aligned with said axis to receive said product, and an exit end spaced radially from said axis and oriented to deliver said product in an exit direction transverse to said axis; continuously rotating said curved guide about said axis in a direction opposite to said exit direction and at a speed at which said exit end has a velocity V 2 , thereby decelerating the product being delivered from said exit end to a reduced velocity V 3 equal to V 1 −V 2 , the curvature of said guide and the orientation of said exit end being such as to form the product delivered from said exit end into a helix; depositing and temporarily accumulating said helix on a cylindrical drum; rotating said drum in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said curved guide to thereby unwind the temporarily accumulated product from said drum; arranging a second guide to receive the product unwinding from said drum; determining the time of arrival of the front end of said product at the exit end of said curved guide; and adjusting the rotational speed of said curved guide to position said exit end for delivery of the product front end to said second guide at said time of arrival.