Steel plant for the production of long metal products and corresponding production method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10343200-B2
Application number	US-201415027220-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 3, 2014
Priority date	Oct 4, 2013
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A steel plant for the production of long metal products comprises a continuous casting machine, a rolling mill disposed downstream of the continuous casting machine, and one or more transfer paths for the semifinished cast products, configured to connect the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill. The steel plant also comprises at least one maintenance and/or heating furnace, a discharge plate for the semifinished cast products, and an aerial transfer device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Steel plant for the production of long metal products comprising:
a continuous casting machine;
a rolling mill disposed downstream of the continuous casting machine;
one or more transfer paths for the semifinished cast products, configured to connect the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill;
and further comprising:
at least one maintenance and/or heating furnace to maintain at temperature and/or to heat semifinished cast products, disposed near the transfer paths;
a discharge plate for the semifinished cast products;
an aerial transfer device configured to transfer rapidly by aerial path semifinished cast products between the one or more transfer paths, the maintenance and/or heating furnace and the discharge plate;
wherein said maintenance and/or heating furnace and said discharge plate are positioned externally to the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill, on reciprocally opposite sides with respect to a work axis defined by the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill, and in that said aerial transfer device is configured mobile transversely to the work axis, in order to serve the maintenance and/or heating furnace and the discharge plate; and
further wherein said continuous casting machine and said rolling mill comprise respectively a single casting line and a single rolling line aligned along said work axis and connected to each other by a transfer path, wherein said discharge plate is located laterally in proximity to said transfer path and said aerial transfer device is configured to slide above at least said transfer path and said discharge plate transversely to said work axis.

2. Steel plant as in claim 1 , wherein said maintenance and/or heating furnace at least partly overlaps the one or more transfer paths between the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill and said discharge plate is positioned laterally outside said continuous casting machine, and in that said aerial transfer device is configured mobile transversely so as to slide both above said continuous casting machine and also above said discharge plate.

3. Steel plant as in claim 1 , wherein said aerial transfer device is provided with gripping and support members, translatable vertically in order to grip and support semifinished cast products as it moves.

4. Steel plant for the production of long metal products comprising:
a continuous casting machine;
a rolling mill disposed downstream of the continuous casting machine;
one or more transfer paths for the semifinished cast products, configured to connect the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill;
and further comprising:
at least one maintenance and/or heating furnace to maintain at temperature and/or to heat semifinished cast products, disposed near the transfer paths;
a discharge plate for the semifinished cast products;
an aerial transfer device configured to transfer rapidly by aerial path semifinished cast products between the one or more transfer paths, the maintenance and/or heating furnace and the discharge plate;
wherein said maintenance and/or heating furnace and said discharge plate are positioned externally to the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill, on reciprocally opposite sides with respect to a work axis defined by the continuous casting machine and the rolling mill, and in that said aerial transfer device is configured mobile transversely to the work axis, in order to serve the maintenance and/or heating furnace and the discharge plate; and
further wherein said continuous casting machine and said rolling mill comprise respectively two casting lines and two rolling lines aligned with each other along at least a work direction, which defines the direction of the flow of material from the continuous casting machine to the rolling mill, and connected by two transfer paths, wherein said discharge plate is located laterally and externally in proximity to one of said transfer paths and said aerial transfer device slides above at least said transfer paths and said discharge plate.

5. Steel plant as in claim 4 , wherein said two casting lines and at least first segments of said two rolling lines are divergent with respect to each other, along respective work directions, with respect to said work axis, and in that it comprises a billet-turner device, positioned in an intermediate zone between the transfer paths and configured to align semifinished cast products and to dispose them parallel to said work axis, said aerial transfer device being configured to transfer semifinished cast products towards and from said billet-turner device.

6. Steel plant as in claim 4 , wherein said two casting lines and said two rolling lines are parallel with respect to each other and to said work axis.

7. Steel plant as in claim 4 , wherein said aerial transfer device is configured mobile along a direction orthogonal to said work axis and/or to at least one work direction.

8. Method for the production of long metal products, comprising continuous casting, rolling downstream of the continuous casting and transfer of semifinished cast products by means of one or more transfer paths from continuous casting to rolling, and further comprising:
maintaining at temperature and/or heating semifinished cast products in a maintenance and/or heating furnace at the one or more transfer paths between casting and rolling;
discharging semifinished cast products in a discharge plate;
rapid transfer by aerial path of semifinished cast products between the one or more transfer paths, the maintenance and/or heating furnace and the discharge plate;
further comprising positioning semifinished cast products in segments on the one or more transfer paths, subsequently to pick up said semifinished cast products from the one or more transfer paths, to transfer by aerial path said semifinished cast products toward the maintenance and/or heating furnace, to maintain said semifinished cast products in the maintenance and/or heating furnace, to transfer said semifinished cast products by aerial path from the maintenance and/or heating furnace toward the one or more transfer paths and to send said semifinished cast products for rolling, where they are rolled; and
further wherein, after positioning said semifinished cast products on the one or more transfer paths, and before transferring the semifinished cast products to said maintenance and/or heating furnace, the method provides to transfer by aerial path said semifinished cast products toward the discharge plate.

9. Method as in claim 8 , wherein the method provides to transfer semifinished cast products to said maintenance and/or heating furnace both when said maintenance and/or heating furnace is completely empty, and also when it is partly filled, until it is completely filled.

10. Method as in claim 8 , wherein on a daily production cycle basis, the method keeps the maintenance and/or heating furnace completely filled with semifinished cast products, and provides to discharge other semifinished cast products at the discharge plate and, at end-of-cycle, to pick up the semifinished cast products from the maintenance and/or heating furnace and from the discharge plate and to roll the respective semifinished cast products.

11. Method as in claim 8 , wherein the method provides to keep semifinished cast products inside the maintenance and/or heating furnace for at least 2 hours.

Assignees

• Danieli Off Mecc

Inventors

• Benedetti Gianpietro
• Bordignon Giuseppe
• Mulinaris Fabrizio
• Poloni Alfredo

Classifications

• B22D11/00

  Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths (metal drawing, metal extruding B21C) · CPC title

• B21B39/20

  Revolving, turning-over, or like manipulation of work, {e.g. revolving in trio stands}(guides in which work is subjected to permanent internal twisting B21B15/02) · CPC title

• B21B39/004

  Transverse moving · CPC title

• B21B13/22

  for rolling metal immediately subsequent to continuous casting, {i.e. in-line rolling of steel}(methods therefor B21B1/46; continuous casting B22D11/00, e.g. into moulds with rolls B22D11/06) · CPC title

• B21B1/463 Primary

  in a continuous process, i.e. the cast not being cut before rolling · CPC title