Method for the production of flat metal products, in particular coils of strip, in endless and/or semi-endless mode, in which a metal product is continuously fed to a rolling mill consisting overall of at least 4 stands. The rolling stands are, in sequence, roughing stands, and finishing stands. It is provided to perform a flying gauge change of the metal product exiting from the rolling mill.

During rolling of front sections of rolling material in a rear group of roll stands of a rolling mill, rear sections of the rolling material are rolled in the front group of roll stands. A run-out speed with which the rolling material is exiting the front group of roll stands is detected. A run-in speed with which the rolling material is entering the rear group of roll stands is detected. A rolling speed with which the rear group of roll stands is driven is controlled by a controller such that a relation of the run-in speed to the run-out speed equals a predetermined value. The predetermined value is kept constant until a time point at which a tail end of the rolling material reaches a predetermined location upstream of the front group of roll stands, and is changed according to a predetermined function after the time point.

Apparatus to control and adjust the drawing action in a rolling mill provided with rolling stands through which a product passes. A video monitoring system acquires frames of the product; a processing system that processes the frames and defines a normal rolling range within which the product being rolled must be positioned; identifies the position of the product and its geometric characteristics; and identifies a possible variation of the position of the product being rolled over time based on the analysis of the sequence of frames acquired. An automation system is associated with the rolling mill, configured to receive data relating to the position of the product to determine the continuation of the rolling if the product is correctly positioned in the range, or a variation of the rolling parameters if the position of the product being rolled is able to generate a cobble which is outside of the range.

A method for tension control in a band-shaped material between two tension points, in particular between two adjacent roll stands, wherein at least one of the tension points has a rotary drive as an actuator. In order to make known tension controls of this type more effective and faster the controller output signal is varied in connection with the conversion thereof into the actuating signal for the rotary drive, at least temporarily, in dependence on a variable representing the band-shaped material.

A method to adjust the drawing action on a bar in a rolling and/or finishing train is provided, as well as an adjustment device associated with the train to implement the method. A metal product is made using the method.

Before the rolling of a metal strip on a finishing train, the actual width and actual temperature of portions of the metal strip are respectively detected. The portions of the metal strip are tracked while they run through the finishing train. The rolling stands are respectively assigned width controlling devices which determine the setpoint width and the actual width after the rolling in the assigned rolling stand, and a downstream additional setpoint value, by which the desired tension downstream of the assigned rolling stand is corrected in order to bring the actual width closer to the setpoint width. The downstream additional setpoint value is both taken into account in the determination of the actual width and fed to a tension controller, which sets an actual tension, in the metal strip downstream of the assigned rolling stand, in accordance with the corrected setpoint tension. Determining the downstream additional setpoint value by the difference between the setpoint width and the actual width of a portion of the metal strip.

Before the rolling of a metal strip on a finishing train, the actual width and actual temperature of portions of the metal strip are respectively detected. The portions of the metal strip are tracked while they run through the finishing train. The rolling stands are respectively assigned width controlling devices which determine the setpoint width and the actual width after the rolling in the assigned rolling stand, and a downstream additional setpoint value, by which the desired tension downstream of the assigned rolling stand is corrected in order to bring the actual width closer to the setpoint width. The downstream additional setpoint value is both taken into account in the determination of the actual width and fed to a tension controller, which sets an actual tension, in the metal strip downstream of the assigned rolling stand, in accordance with the corrected setpoint tension. Determining the downstream additional setpoint value by the difference between the setpoint width and the actual width of a portion of the metal strip.

Regarding each rolling mill, a rolling torque Gi before biting into a downstream stand is stored, the peripheral velocity of a most downstream stand Rn is controlled to be Gn1=Gn1* after biting into Rn, and a rolling torque Gn** of Rn after tension is stabilized is stored. After that, the peripheral velocity of a rolling mill Ri is controlled to be Gi=Gi* toward an upstream side, and the peripheral velocity of a rolling mill Rk at a downstream side of the rolling mill Ri is controlled to keep Gk=Gk** (k=i+1 to n) so that a rolling torque of a most upstream rolling mill R1 becomes equal to a stored G1*. Stabilization of material passage and improvement in accuracy of a product dimension are enabled by controlling tension between stands with high accuracy by using a simple control system without using table values or the like by each rolling condition even under a condition where a distance between stands is short.

A metal band is first rolled in a front and then in a rear (downstream) roll stand of a multi-stand rolling train. A looper between the roll stands may detect a band tension in the metal band. The band tension is supplied to a first and a second tension controller to determine an application additional target value and a speed additional target value. The second tension controller may only determine a value less than or greater than 0, as the speed additional target value, if the band tension is above or below an upper or lower band tension limit. Otherwise, the speed additional target value may be 0. The first tension controller is also supplied with a target tension that falls between the band tension limits. The application additional target value may be used to act on the rear roll stand.

A method to adjust the drawing action on a bar in a rolling and/or finishing train is provided, as well as an adjustment device associated with the train to implement the method. A metal product is made using the method.