Wire rod cooling device and wire rod cooling method

Abstract

A wire rod cooling apparatus that cools a wire rod wound in a ring shape by a wire rod winder while transferring the wire rod on a conveyor includes: a plurality of jet nozzles that are arranged along a width direction of the conveyor and jet coolant toward the wire rod; an imaging device that is provided on a transfer-line upstream side of a jet nozzle row composed of the plurality of jet nozzles and captures an image of the wire rod being transferred; and a control unit that extracts sparseness and denseness information and temperature information of the wire rod from the captured image. The control unit is configured to control a flow rate of coolant jetted from the jet nozzles individually for each jet nozzle on the basis of the sparseness and denseness information and the temperature information of the wire rod in conformity with a timing when a specified portion corresponding to the information arrives at the jet nozzle.

1 . A wire rod cooling apparatus that cools a wire rod wound in a ring shape by a wire rod winder while transferring the wire rod on a conveyor, the wire rod cooling apparatus comprising:
 a plurality of jet nozzles that are arranged along a width direction of the conveyor and jet coolant toward the wire rod;   an imaging device that is provided on a transfer-line upstream side of a jet nozzle row composed of the plurality of jet nozzles and captures an image of the wire rod being transferred; and   a control unit that extracts sparseness and denseness information and temperature information of the wire rod from the captured image,   wherein the control unit is configured to control a flow rate of coolant jetted from the jet nozzles individually for each jet nozzle on the basis of the sparseness and denseness information and the temperature information of the wire rod in conformity with a timing when a specified portion corresponding to the information arrives at the jet nozzle.   
     
     
         2 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein pressure is applied to coolant to be jetted from the jet nozzle. 
     
     
         3 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein a shut-off valve that shuts off jetting of coolant from the jet nozzle is provided. 
     
     
         4 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein a plurality of the jet nozzle rows are provided along a transfer line. 
     
     
         5 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein
 a plurality of the imaging devices are provided along the transfer line, and   the jet nozzle row is provided between the imaging devices.   
     
     
         6 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the jet nozzles are provided so as to avoid a case where jet nozzles of the jet nozzle rows exist together on a straight line along the transfer line. 
     
     
         7 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein a slit nozzle that jets coolant toward the wire rod is provided separately from the jet nozzle. 
     
     
         8 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the conveyor is a roller conveyor,   a part of the roller conveyor is formed of a disc roller including a plurality of discs, and   the jet nozzle is provided between the discs.   
     
     
         9 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the conveyor is a roller conveyor, and   the jet nozzle row is provided between rollers of the roller conveyor.   
     
     
         10 . The wire rod cooling apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein a slit nozzle that jets coolant toward the wire rod is provided in, out of spaces between rollers of the roller conveyor, a space between rollers in which the jet nozzle row is not provided. 
     
     
         11 . A wire rod cooling method that cools a wire rod wound in a ring shape by a wire rod winder while transferring the wire rod on a conveyor, the wire rod cooling method comprising:
 using a wire rod cooling apparatus including a plurality of jet nozzles that are arranged along a width direction of the conveyor and jet coolant toward the wire rod and an imaging device that is provided on a transfer-line upstream side of a jet nozzle row composed of the plurality of jet nozzles and captures an image of the wire rod being transferred;   capturing an image of the wire rod being transferred with the imaging device;   extracting sparseness and denseness information and temperature information of the wire rod from the captured image;   controlling a flow rate of coolant jetted from the jet nozzles individually for each jet nozzle on the basis of the sparseness and denseness information and the temperature information of the wire rod in conformity with a timing when a specified portion corresponding to the information arrives at the jet nozzle; and   cooling the wire rod by jetting coolant at the controlled flow rate from each jet nozzle.   
     
     
         12 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 11 , wherein pressure is applied to coolant to be jetted from the jet nozzle. 
     
     
         13 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 12 , wherein
 a shut-off valve that shuts off jetting of coolant from the jet nozzle is provided, and   control of coolant jetted from the jet nozzle is performed by controlling opening and closing of the shut-off valve.   
     
     
         14 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 13 , wherein a plurality of the jet nozzle rows are provided along a transfer line and coolant is jetted from each jet nozzle. 
     
     
         15 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 14 , wherein
 coolant is jetted from each jet nozzle in a first jet nozzle row toward the wire rod on the basis of sparseness and denseness information and temperature information of the wire rod,   then an image of the cooled wire rod is captured again and the sparseness and denseness information and the temperature information of the wire rod are updated on the basis of the captured image, and   then a flow rate of coolant jetted from each jet nozzle in a second jet nozzle row is controlled on the basis of the updated information in conformity with a timing when a specified portion corresponding to the information arrives at the jet nozzle.   
     
     
         16 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 14 , wherein the jet nozzles are provided so as to avoid a case where jet nozzles of the jet nozzle rows exist together on a straight line along the transfer line and coolant is jetted from each jet nozzle toward the wire rod. 
     
     
         17 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 13 , wherein a slit nozzle that jets coolant toward the wire rod is provided separately from the jet nozzle and coolant is jetted from the slit nozzle toward the wire rod. 
     
     
         18 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 13 , wherein the conveyor is a roller conveyor, a part of the roller conveyor is formed of a disc roller including a plurality of discs, the jet nozzle is provided between the discs, and coolant is jetted from each jet nozzle toward the wire rod. 
     
     
         19 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 13 , wherein the conveyor is a roller conveyor, the jet nozzle row is provided between rollers of the roller conveyor, and coolant is jetted from each jet nozzle toward the wire rod. 
     
     
         20 . The wire rod cooling method according to  claim 19 , wherein a slit nozzle that jets coolant toward the wire rod is provided in, out of spaces between rollers of the roller conveyor, a space between rollers in which the jet nozzle row is not provided, and coolant is jetted from the plurality of jet nozzles and the slit nozzle toward the wire rod.