Silencing means for steel pipe production lines

Claim 2

A silencing means for use in steel pipe production line skid stations, said means comprising a plurality of skid rails for rolling a plurality of steel pipes, said rails being spaced from one another and inclined downwardly from a steel pipe feed-in end to a feed-out end, in use the steel pipes being fed to said steel pipe feed-in end one after another, said skid rails being provided with a plurality of non-magnetic regions dividing each said skid rail into a plurality of magnetic regions, magnetic bodies magnetically coupling corresponding magnetic regions of adjacent skid rails, exciting coils for providing predetermined magnetic flux extending in magnetic circuits each formed by the associated magnetic body, one of said steel pipes, and the magnetic regions of said adjacent skid rails, and means for continuously energizing said exciting coils such that said skid rails assume opposite magnetic polarities on opposite sides of each of said non-magnetic regions.

Claim 3

Silencing apparatus for use in elongated cylindrical steel member production line skid stations to reduce the noise occurring due to impact of a steel member upon another steel member on the skid and upon arrival in the region of a feed-out end of the skid station, the apparatus comprising a plurality of skid rails spaced from one another and inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane from a steel member feed-in end to the feed-out end so as to permit the elongated steel members being fed one after another to roll downwardly from the feed-in end to the feed-out end under the force of gravity, and electromagnetic force means being continuously energized for controlling the speed of travel of the elongated steel members over the path between the feed-in end to the feed-out end and for creating a repelling force between adjacent steel members for spacing the steel members from one another to reduce the impact energy of the steel members in the region of the feed-out end and thereby lessen the noise resulting from impact.

Claim 4

Silencing apparatus for use in elongated cylindrical steel member production line skid stations to reduce the noise occurring due to impact of a steel member upon another steel member on the skid and upon arrival in the region of a feed-out end of the skid station, the apparatus comprising a plurality of skid rails spaced from one another and inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane from a steel member feed-in end to the feed-out end so as to permit the elongated steel members being fed one after another to roll downwardly from the feed-in end to the feed-out end under the force of gravity, and electromagnetic force means being continuously energized for controlling the speed of travel of the elongated steel members over the path between the feed-in end to the feed-out end and for creating a repelling force between adjacent steel members for spacing the steel members from one another to reduce the impact energy of the steel members in the region of the feed-out end and thereby lessen the noise resulting from impact.

Claim 5

Silencing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said electromagnetic force means is disposed substantially in a single plane and lies below the top portion of said skid rails upon which the steel members roll.

Claim 6

Silencing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said electromagnetic force means include at least one magnetic body magnetically coupling at least one pair of adjacent ones of said skid rails, and exciting coil means for providing predetermined magnetic flux extending in a magnetic circuit formed by said magnetic body, one of said steel members and said pair of skid rails.

Claim 7

Silencing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of magnetic bodies are provided between adjacent ones of plural pairs of said skid rails.

Claim 8

Silencing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of magnetic bodies are provided between adjacent ones of all of said skid rails.

Claim 9

Silencing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of magnetic bodies are provided between at least one pair of adjacent ones of said skid rails at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of said skid rails.

Claim 10

Silencing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said means for energizing said exciting coil means energize said coil means such that the magnetically coupled adjacent skid rails assume opposite magnetic polarities.

Claim 11

Silencing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising resilient support means for supporting at least one of said skid rails for flexure in the vertical direction.

Claim 12

Silencing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said skid rails each consist of a plurality of separate sections, and further comprising resilient support means for individually supporting each of said separate sections of said skid rails for flexure in the vertical direction.

Claim 15

A method according to claim 11, the step of applying a magnetic force includes the steps of arranging at least one magnetic body for magnetically coupling at least one pair of adjacent ones of the skid rails, providing exciting coil means to provide a predetermined magnetic flux and energizing the exciting coil means to provide the predetermined magnetic flux extending in a magnetic circuit formed by the magnetic body, one of said steel members, and the pair of skid rails.

Claim 16

A method according to claim 12, including the step of energizing the exciting coil means so that the magnetically coupled skid rails assume opposite magnetic polarities.

Claim 17

A method according to claim 11, including the step of resiliently supporting at least one of the skid rails for flexure in the vertical direction.

Claim 18

In an elongated cylindrical steel member production line skid station wherein elongated cylindrical steel members are fed one after another to the skid station, the improvement comprising silencing apparatus for reducing noise occurring due to impact of the steel members upon arrival in the region of a feed-out end of the skid station, the apparatus including a plurality of skid rails spaced from one another and inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane from a steel member feed-in end to a feed-out end so as to permit the elongated steel members being fed one after another to roll downwardly from the feed-in end to the feed-out end under the force of gravity, the feed-out end of the skid station being provided with a stop member, and electromagnetic force means for controlling the speed of travel of the elongated steel members over the path between the feed-in end to the feed-out end for reducing the impact energy of the steel members on one of the stop member and another of said steel members in the region of the feed-out end so as to lessen the noise resulting from such impact, said skid rails being provided with a plurality of non-magnetic regions along the length thereof dividing each of said skid rails into a plurality of magnetic regions, said electromagnetic force means including a plurality of magnetic bodies being provided for magnetically coupling corresponding magnetic regions of adjacent skid rails, and exciting coil means providing predetermined magnetic flux extending in a magnetic circuit formed by the associated magnetic body, and onE of steel members, and the magnetic regions of said skid rails, and means for energizing said coil means such that said skid rails assume opposite magnetic polarities on opposite sides of each of said non-magnetic regions.

Claim 19

In an elongated cylindrical steel member production line skid station wherein elongated cylindrical steel members are fed one after another to the skid station, the improvement comprising silencing apparatus for reducing noise occurring due to impact of the steel members upon arrival in the region of a feed-out end of the skid station, the apparatus including a plurality of skid rails spaced from one another and inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane from a steel member feed-in end to a feed-out end so as to permit the elongated steel members being fed one after another to roll downwardly from the feed-in end to the feed-out end under the force of gravity, the feed-out end of the skid station being provided with a stop member, and electromagnetic force means for controlling the speed of travel of the elongated steel members over the path between the feed-in end to the feed-out end for reducing the impact energy of the steel members on one of the stop member and another of said steel members in the region of the feed-out end so as to lessen the noise resulting from such impact, said skid rails being provided with a plurality of non-magnetic regions along the length thereof dividing each of said skid rails into a plurality of magnetic regions, said electromagnetic force means including a plurality of magnetic bodies being provided for magnetically coupling corresponding magnetic regions of adjacent skid rails, and exciting coil means providing predetermined magnetic flux extending in a magnetic circuit formed by the associated magnetic body, and onE of steel members, and the magnetic regions of said skid rails, and means for energizing said coil means such that said skid rails assume opposite magnetic polarities on opposite sides of each of said non-magnetic regions.

Claim 20

Silencing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said energizing means continuously energizes said coil means.

Claim 21

A silencing means for use in steel pipe production line skid stations, said means comprising: at least three essentially parallel skid rails for rolling a plurality of steel pipes, said rails being spaced from one another and inclined downwardly from a steel pipe feed-in end to a feed-out end, in use the steel pipes being fed to said steel pipe feed-in end one after another; at least one magnetic body arranged at each of the spaces between said skid rails from said feed-in end to said feed-out end, every adjacent two of said skid rails being connected by at least one magnetic body; electromagnetic coils for individually magnetizing said magnetic bodies; and means for continuously energizing said electromagnetic coils so that adjacent skid rails are magnetized in opposite polarity to each other when said electromagnetic coils are energized, whereby a magnetic circuit is formed by each respective magnetic body, its adjacent pair of skid rails and one of said pipes to retard the travel of said pipe down the incline.

Claim 22

A silencing means for use in steel pipe production line skid stations, said means comprising: at least three essentially parallel skid rails for rolling a plurality of steel pipes, said rails being spaced from one another and inclined downwardly from a steel pipe feed-in end to a feed-out end, in use the steel pipes being fed to said steel pipe feed-in end one after another; at least one magnetic body arranged at each of the spaces between said skid rails from said feed-in end to said feed-out end, every adjacent two of said skid rails being connected by at least one magnetic body; electromagnetic coils for individually magnetizing said magnetic bodies; and means for continuously energizing said electromagnetic coils so that adjacent skid rails are magnetized in opposite polarity to each other when said electromagnetic coils are energized, whereby a magnetic circuit is formed by each respective magnetic body, its adjacent pair of skid rails and one of said pipes to retard the travel of said pipe down the incline.

Claim 23

A silencing means according to claim 17, wherein said feed-out end of said skid station is provided with a stop member, and the magnetic circuit which is formed serves for controlling the speed of travel of said pipes for reducing the impact energy of the pipes on one of the stop member and another of said pipes in the region of said feed-out end so as to lessen the noise resulting from such impact.

Claim 24

A silencing means according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of magnetic bodies are provided between adjacent ones of all said skid rails.

Claim 25

A silencing means according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of magnetic bodies are provided between at least one pair of adjacent ones of said skid rails at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of said skid rails.