Boltech Inc. has completed installation, start-up, and commissioning of a new coil transfer and storage system at Nucor Steel’s flat-rolling mini-mill in Berkeley County, South Carolina, USA. The system – an up-ender, two coil-transfer cars, a transfer saddle, and four storage saddles – lifts, transfers and store 80,000 lb coils (66 in. wide, 84 in. OD) between the batch annealing centre and cold-rolling mill there. Youngstown, OH-based Boltech says the configuration was chosen as the most flexible and economical solution among many designs available to Nucor for moving and storing coils. As each coil is being lifted magnetically from the annealing base, it is loaded onto the up-ender with the coil “eye to the sky”. The up-ender is an L-shaped frame with a flat loading base and vertical “V” support arms. The support arms are articulated to swing clear to allow clearance for the magnet during loading, and move back into position to support the coil as it is upended to the “eye horizontal” orientation. The arms, as well as the pivoting motion of the up-ender, are actuated by hydraulic cylinders powered from the existing cold mill hydraulic power unit.
