Patent ID: 8387430

Claim:
A system for rolling a seamless tube, comprising: a main rolling mill for rolling a semi-finished tube with a mandrel, wherein the main rolling mill includes a first plurality of rolls having adjustable radial positions; a fixed-roll extracting/reducing mill positioned downstream from the main rolling mill and in series therewith, wherein the extracting/reducing mill includes a second plurality of rolls having a fixed radial position and comprises 8-12 rolling stands and wherein the extracting/reducing mill is configured to extract the semi-finished tube from the mandrel and reduce the diameter of the semi-finished tube to a value that is proximate to a first desired final diameter of a completed version of the semi-finished tube; a sizing mill positioned downstream to the extracting/reducing mill and off-line with respect thereto, the sizing mill including a third plurality of rolls having adjustable radial positions, wherein the sizing mill comprises 2-3 rolling stands.