What is claimed is:
1. A vacuum belt conveyor assembly for guiding a threading tail of a moving fiber material web, said assembly comprising:
at least two pulleys;
a substantially air-pervious endless conveyor belt carried by said at least two pulleys, said belt forming a loop including a conveying run and a return run; and
at least one vacuum blower disposed within said loop of said belt, said at least one vacuum blower being configured to establish a negative pressure within said loop at an inside of said conveying run of said belt.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one vacuum blower has an inflow disposed adjacent to the inside of said conveying run of said belt.
3. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising a vacuum box disposed within said loop of said belt and opening toward the inside of said conveying run of said belt, said at least one vacuum blower being disposed inside said vacuum box.
4. The assembly of claim 3, wherein said at least one vacuum blower has an inflow and is disposed adjacent to said return run of said belt, said vacuum box having a cover plate, said cover plate and said inflow of said at least one vacuum blower defining a gap therebetween.
5. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising a vacuum box having at least one exhaust opening opening toward said return run of said belt.
6. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising a driving air turbine, said at least one vacuum blower having an impeller connected to said driving air turbine.
7. The assembly of claim 6, further comprising a housing containing each of said impeller and said air turbine.
8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said impeller includes a rim of blower vanes configured for producing an air stream, said impeller also including a rim of turbine vanes configured for driving said impeller by use of a pressurized fluid, one of said rim of blower vanes and said rim of turbine vanes being wrapped around an other of said rim of blower vanes and said rim of turbine.
9. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said rim of turbine vanes is wrapped around said rim of blower vanes.
10. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said blower vanes extend in a radial direction.
11. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said turbine vanes extend in a radial direction.
12. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said housing includes an inlet channel for the pressurized fluid, said inlet channel being open towards only a sector of said rim of turbine vanes.
13. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said impeller has an axis, the air stream and the pressurized fluid being exhausted substantially parallel to said axis of said impeller and through said return run of said belt.
14. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said impeller includes a bearing, said housing including a disc-shaped inlet portion and a disc-shaped outlet portion, each of said inlet portion and said outlet portion supporting said bearing of said impeller.
15. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said impeller has an axis and an outer diameter, said vacuum blower having a length along said axis of said impeller, said length of said vacuum blower being less than said outer diameter of said impeller.
16. A vacuum belt conveyor assembly for guiding a threading tail of a moving fiber material web, said assembly comprising:
at least two pulleys;
a substantially air-pervious endless conveyor belt carried by said at least two pulleys, said belt forming a loop including a conveying run and a return run;
a negative pressure element disposed within said loop of said belt, said at least one negative pressure element being configured to establish a negative pressure within said loop at an inside of said conveying run of said belt, said negative pressure element being configured for producing at least one propulsion jet of at least one of air and liquid such that said at least one propulsion jet induces an air stream creating the negative pressure; and
a directing device configured for directing a combined flow of the at least one propulsion jet and the air stream to outside of said belt conveyor assembly.
17. The assembly of claim 16, further comprising:
a source of at least one of pressurized air and pressurized liquid having at least one nozzle orifice configured for producing said at least one propulsion jet; and
at least one blow box disposed within said belt loop, said at least one blow box being connected to said source of at least one of pressurized air and pressurized liquid.
18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein said at least one blow box extends in a direction of belt travel, the at least one propulsion jet flowing transverse to the direction of belt travel.
19. The assembly of claim 18, wherein said at least one blow box comprises two blow boxes arranged side by side in a direction transverse to the direction of belt travel.
20. The assembly of claim 19, wherein said at least one nozzle orifice comprises a plurality of nozzle orifices, said at least one propulsion jet comprising a plurality of propulsion jets flowing in at least two directions toward a middle portion of said belt conveyor assembly adjacent to said nozzle orifices, each said blow box having a rounded edge configured for deviating said propulsion jets toward said return run of said belt.
21. The assembly of claim 20, further comprising a guide element configured for directing a combined flow of the propulsion jet and air out of said belt loop in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of belt travel.
22. The assembly of claim 20, wherein said propulsion jets flow from said middle portion of said belt conveyor assembly to outside of said belt conveyor assembly.
23. The assembly of claim 16, wherein said negative pressure element comprises at least one air amplifier configured for creating a required negative pressure within said belt loop.
24. The assembly of claim 16, further comprising an air-pervious plate contacting an inner side of said conveying run of said belt.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-11. (canceled)
12. A continuously operating strip-casting and rolling system with strip tension control for a strip, comprising
a casting unit having a melt-containing feed vessel with a horizontally disposed casting trough and a discharge area configured as a casting nozzle and a primary cooling zone comprising two guide pulleys and a revolving cooled casting belt, and at least one downstream rolling unit comprising at least two drivable rollers, and
at least one driver unit comprising at least two drivable rollers arranged between the casting belt and the at least one downstream rolling unit for driving the strip, wherein the at least one driver unit mechanically decouples the casting unit and the at least one downstream rolling unit so as to minimize tension applied to the cast strip,
wherein the at least one driver unit is eccentrically mounted for rotation, wherein the at least two drivable rollers are during a casting and rolling process displaceable substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the strip in a direction identical to a casting direction or in opposition to the casting direction.
13. The device of claim 12, wherein the driver units are arranged in a frame and the individual driver units are supported against the frame by way of force measuring devices.
14. The device according to claim 12, wherein drives that drive the casting belt and drives that drive the driver unit are mechanically coupled.
15. The device of claim 14, wherein the drives that drive the casting belt and the drives that drive the driver unit are mechanically coupled by way of a superposition gear.
16. The device of claim 12, further comprising a lifting device interconnected between the at least one driver unit and the at least one downstream rolling unit, said lifting device lifting the strip for decoupling the at least one driver unit and the at least one downstream rolling unit.
17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the lifting device is constructed as a self-cushioning unit.
18. The device according to claim 7, wherein the self-cushioning unit is a pneumatic cylinder.
19. The device of claim 12, wherein the at least two drivable rollers of the rolling unit comprise shock absorbers configured to cushion a touchdown on the strip.
20. The device of claim 19, wherein the shock absorbers are adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers configured to be switched off.
21. The device of claim 14, wherein the drives that drive the casting belt and the drives that drive the driver unit comprise direct current motors.