Abstract: The disclosure is directed to a process and a mill installation for the production of seamless tubes of high quality, in production mills having relatively modest production requirements. The mill installation comprises a cross roll piercing mill for piercing and initially elongating a solid cylindrical billet. Preferably, but not in all cases, the cross roll piercer is followed by a second cross roll "piercer" which functions purely as an elongator, and which functions to substantially elongate the pierced billet, typically in conjunction with an increase in O.D. and reduction in wall thickness. As a key feature, the pierced billet, previously processed by either one or two cross roll piercer/elongators, is thereafter further elongated by means of a Diescher-type elongator, and most particularly a novel form of such Diescher type elongator incorporating a restrained mandrel bar feature.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to apparatus for center punching a hot metal billet preparatory to a piercing operation, in the production of seamless tubing. The apparatus provides a simple, reliable, mechanical arrangement effective to automatically compensate for normal variations in the diameter of successive hot metal billets, such that the center punching operation is carried out with greater accuracy than has heretofore been attained in regular production operations. The apparatus includes means for mechanically clamping a hot metal billet preparatory to center punching, and means for axially advancing a center punching tool into the end of the clamped billet. The center punching tool itself is mounted for limited transverse movement in relation to its advancing means, and is mechanically coupled to the clamping means by a compensating mechanism.

Abstract: An improved flying saw of simplified and more economical construction is disclosed which operates smoothly with reduced vibration and which performs in an improved manner at higher operating speeds. The machine has a main crank arm with a rotary saw blade at one end and an adjustable counterweight at the opposite end, a stabilizing crank arm with a counterweight, and a connecting rod causing the arms to rotate in unison. Both arms telescope to permit simultaneous adjustments of arm radius while screw jacks adjust the height of the crank axis relative to the work. The work is supported on a wheel having a special sliding-block eccentric which moves the wheel in a vertical direction to deflect the work into the path of the rotary saw blade. A quick-drop support bracket permits lowering of the wheel and its eccentric away from the path of the work in an emergency situation so that flow from the mill need not be interrupted.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to improvement in stretch reducing mills utilized in the manufacture of seamless and welded tubing. The stretch reducing mill is well known in its generalities, and the disclosure is directed to improvements in the construction of such mills in the interest of increasing the efficiency of operation and performance of the mill. The disclosure is directed in part to the construction of a multi-stand stretch reducing mill with improved arrangements for removably securing the individual mill stands in position. This includes a heavy, massive structural beam from which all of the individual mill stands are suspended and which additionally serves, when the mill is ready for operation, as a means for holding the mill stands in position. In the latter capacity, the beam contributes both in terms of its great weight and in terms of distributing clamping forces to the individual mill stands from a limited number of clamps.

Abstract: An automatic plug changer is disclosed, particularly for a plug mill, although some features may have applicability in conjunction with related mills, such as piercing and reeling mills. A rotatable drum is mounted below the pass line of the mill and has pockets for containing a plurality of mandrel plugs. A combined plug support and discharge trough is movably positioned between the plug-containing drum and the mill rolls, and is aligned with a plug-receiving position in the drum. After a tubular shell has been driven through the mill, over a mandrel plug, the plug simply drops out of the mill, slides down the discharge trough and is received in the drum. The drum then indexes to a new position, bringing a new plug into alignment with the trough. A pusher mechanism then moves the plug out the drum and onto the discharge trough.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to method and apparatus for the operation of a plug mill, in the production of seamless tubes. Provisions are made for maintaining a circulating supply of plug and mandrel assemblies such that, after a tubular shell from a piercing mill has been given a first pass through the plug mill, the entire combination of the plug and mandrel assembly, and the just-processed shell, are transferred bodily into alignment with the axis of a second stage mill. The shell is then advanced in the same direction through a second mill stand, over a second plug, while simultaneously being stripped from the first mandrel. By enabling the shell to be passed through the second plug mill pass, without the requirement of an intermediate operation of stripping the shell from the first stage mandrel, significant time economies are realized. With conventional plug mill equipment and techniques, the plug mill represents a bottleneck in the sequence of operations involved in the production of seamless tubing.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a novel and improved arrangement of shell pusher for feeding tubular shells into a plug mill. The pusher comprises a ram carriage, which is movably positioned on an elongated carriage track on the upstream side of the plug mill. The ram stroke capacity of the carriage is designed to be relatively minimum, sufficient to advance a shell from a predetermined load position, directly in front of the mill, until the leading edge of the shell is drivingly engaged by the working rolls of the mill. Means in the form of a heavy, elongated rack and pinion arrangement are provided for pre-positioning the ram carriage in advance of each loading operation of a new shell and also in advance of the return of that shell from the downstream side to the upstream side of the mill after each pass.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to structural features of piercing and reeling mills to facilitate and expedite the changing of mill rolls, as is necessary from time to time for accommodation of new work sizes and/or for refurbishing of the rolls. The new mill construction includes a cap member which is removably secured to the upright members of the mill frame structure and forms, in effect, an integral part of the mill structure during normal operation. To effect changing of the mill rolls, provision is made for moving the cap to a laterally offset position, while still supported on the basic mill structure, to permit access to the mill rolls by means of an overhead crane. In the new mill structure, provision for releasing and lateral offset movement of the mill cap is self-contained within the mill structure, so that the plant crane is not required to be utilized in removing the mill cap, as heretofore.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to improvement in piercing and reeling mills, to facilitate the changing of mandrel plugs and mill shoes. In piercing and reeling operations, mandrel plugs are supported at the ends of elongated mandrel bars, and workpieces are driven over the mandrel plugs while being rotated, to effect piercing and enlarging, in the case of piercing mills, and to achieve roundness, in the case of reeling mills. In each case, after processing a finite length of tubing, and while the workpiece remains on the mandrel, the mandrel is retracted, first stripping off the just-used mandrel plug, and then withdrawing the mandrel from the processed workpiece. A multi-position magazine is provided for retaining a circulating supply of mandrel plugs such that, after each operation, the used mandrel plug may be returned to the magazine for cooling, and a new plug may be brought quickly into working position ready for the next operation.

Abstract: An improved flying saw of simplified and more economical construction is disclosed which operates smoothly with reduced vibration and which performs in an improved manner at higher operating speeds. The machine has a main crank arm with a rotary saw blade at one end and an adjustable counterweight at the opposite end, a stabilizing crank arm with a counterweight, and a connecting rod causing the arms to rotate in unison. Both arms telescope to permit simultaneous adjustments of arm radius while screw jacks adjust the height of the crank axis relative to the work. The work is supported on a wheel having a special sliding-block eccentric which moves the wheel in a vertical direction to deflect the work into the path of the rotary saw blade. A quickdrop support bracket permits lowering of the wheel and its eccentric away from the path of the work in an emergency situation so that flow from the mill need not be interrupted.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to a rotary saw for cutting sections of scrap pipe in a pipe forming mill. The saw includes a frame, mounted for rotation above the pass line and carrying cutting saws at each of two ends, enabling two cuts to be made for each revolution of the rotary frame. The individual saw mechanisms are mounted for rotation in the frame and are tied to the stationary frame of the apparatus in a manner to maintain the saw blades at all times in a vertical plane for cutting a horizontally moving pipe. Both of the saws are driven by a common, motor driven shaft, which is concentric with the rotary mounting shaft for the saw frame and is gear-connected to the respective saw blades. A pipe lifting cam is synchronously associated with the rotation of the saw frame, for lifting, supporting and confining the moving pipe each time a saw blade moves into cutting position.

Abstract: The disclosure generally relates to a positive drive hose reel apparatus for a cooling system mounted on the linearly movable thrust block of a piercing or reeling mill. The thrust block means is adapted to move along a path between a working position and a retracted position and includes a rotatably mounted hose reel apparatus to support a flexible hose. The hose interconnects a remote water supply with the cooling system of the thrust block. A drive cable extends between and is secured at points adjacent the working position and retracted position and is partially wrapped around the hose reel apparatus, whereby the linear movement of the thrust block will impart positive rotational movement to the hose reel apparatus and thereby coil and uncoil the hose, as needed as the thrust block moves at high speed back and forth along the path.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to improvements in flying cutters, particularly shears for severing light gage sheet or strip metal. Conventional flying shear mechanisms include a severing mechanism which is accelerated up to the speed of a moving strip or sheet material and then operated to sever the strip while moving synchronously therewith. The cutter mechanism is then returned to its starting position in readiness for a further operation. The present invention is directed to a novel and unique form of conveyor support, which is arranged in a novel manner to automatically extend or contract in accordance with movements of the shear, so that the sheet or strip material remains effectively continuously supported on both sides of the shear.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a new procedure for the stretch reducing of tubular stock, in a manner to reduce the so-called crop end loss off of specification product at the ends of a tube section. In the process of the invention, a multi-stand stretch reducing mill is provided with a plurality of speed variable mill stands, at least at the upstream or entry end of the multi-stand mill. As the head end of a finite tubing section enters the upstream end of the mill, and as the tail or trailing end of the finite section enters the mill, programmed speed variations are made in the selected mill stands, to compensate for the fact that the head end or tail end sections of a finite length of pipe are acted upon at any given instant by fewer mill stands than intermediate sections of the tube.In the process of the invention, selected mill stands are speed controlled such that certain ones thereof apply maximum pulling force to the tube end section, while certain other mill stands apply maximum retarding force.

Abstract: A flying shear is disclosed in which a shear carriage is arranged to be driven along the pass line of a moving strip, between a pair of spaced shear platens. The carriage is constructed for telescoping movement and mounts a pair of cooperating carriage plates. The platen members are stationary, but are arranged to have relative closing and opening movement, in order to telescopically compress the shear carriage at desired times, to effect a shearing operation.A novel form of support is provided for the shear carriage, enabling the carriage normally to be supported from the platen structure by means of antifriction rollers, which accommodate rapid acceleration and high speed movement of the carriage. At the instant when the shearing operation is to occur, however, the closing movement of the platens serves to effectively disable or retract the antifriction roller support for the carriage and cause the carriage to be supported by relatively broad area, elongated, sliding friction bearing surfaces.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a wedge actuating drive for reciprocating cold reducing tube mills. The wedge drive is driven in common with the main crank which reciprocates the roll carriage, so as to be synchronized therewith. Upper and lower roll positioning wedges are arranged to be cyclicly inserted in and withdrawn from roll-closing positions, by means of eccentric drive shaft means associated with each of the wedges, one above and one below the pass line for the workpieces.Indexing drive means is provided for the eccentric shaft means, whereby during continuous rotation of the main drive shaft for the system, the eccentric drive shaft means for the wedges are actuated intermittently, so that wedge actuation occurs, as desired, only during the periods when the crank-driven roll carriage nears the end extremities of its reciprocating stroke.

Abstract: An improved pipe mill is disclosed having two cooling beds and a dual conveyor for delivering cut lengths of pipe from a saw to both beds in two paths, whereby the mill can be operated at very high speeds. A unique selector unit is provided having an oscillating deflector for diverting successive cut lengths of pipe from one conveyor path to the other in timed relation to the operation of the saw and having a special cam actuating unit which can be operated in three different ways to cause delivery of pipe to either one or both of the cooling beds. The cam unit includes a rotating cam wheel having a flat flange at one side and a contoured flange at the opposite side which is engageable with a cam roller or follower to cause reciprocation of the deflector with a dwell at each of its advanced and retracted positions.