Rolling mill spray bar

Claim 1

In a rolling mill having rolls for use in the reduction in thickness of a metal workpiece an improved device for applying liquid to a roll and/or the workpiece comprising (a) an elongated housing provided with a plurality of nozzles for spraying liquid onto a roll and/or the workpiece and having conduits disposed in open fluid communication with the nozzles for directing liquid thereto; (b) an elongated manifold rotatably mounted within the housing and having an arcuate wall which is provided with a plurality of apertures disposed in a predetermined array, said wall defining at least in part an interior chamber for containing liquid; (c) sealing means arranged between the conduits disposed in open liquid communication with the nozzles and the outer surface of the arcuate wall of the manifold and providing sealed liquid passageways to the said conduits from the interior of the manifold; (d) means for directing liquid to the interior chamber of the manifold; (e) means for effecting the controlled rotation of the manifold within the housing to selectively align certain apertures in the arcuate wall of the manifold with selected conduits in open fluid communication with the nozzles so that liquid can be sprayed from the nozzles onto the rolls and/or the workpiece in a predetermined pattern; (f) said manifold rotation means including motor means for rotating said manifold and a controlling panel element associated with said motor means and manifold, said controlling panel element being divided into a plurality of pie-shaped sectors, each of which represents a given width of liquid spray, and said sectors being further subdivided into subsections which represent particular combinations of opened and closed nozzles which provide a selected spray width pattern; and (g) means associated with said panel element and motor means for selecting a given controlling panel element sector and thereby effecting a corresponding rotation of the motor means and manifold as determined by the panel element sector selected.