Claims
- 1. A method of providing an improved metallic rod product for subsequent forming into wire, comprising the steps of:
- (a) continuously casting molten metal into a cast bar,
- (b) substantially immediately hot-forming the cast bar into rod, and
- (c) forming minute channels, of at least 20 microinches roughness substantially uniformly about the circumference of the rod while in the hot-forming range, and
- (d) cooling the rod.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of cooling the textured rod comprises moving said rod through a cooling fluid at a velocity sufficient to cause turbulant fluid flow about said rod thereby providing an increase in the cooling rate of said rod as compared to the cooling rate provided by laminar fluid flow about a smooth surfaced rod.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the rod product is electrical grade copper and the minute channels are at least sufficient to give a surface roughness measurement of 1000 microinches.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming minute channels is accomplished by deforming said rod in a hotrolling mill, by roll means having a rod rolling surface which is covered with a network of substantially interconnected ridges.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said network of ridges are formed by shot-peening the rod rolling surface of an unhardened metallic roll, then hardening said roll, to provide a surface roughness measurement of between about 20 and about 1,000 micro-inches.
- 6. In the production of metallic rod for subsequent forming into wire,
- a continuous-rod method for improving lubricant adhesion to the surface of said rod during subsequent wire drawing operations, comprising the steps of:
- providing cast metallic bar at a hot-forming temperature,
- processing said cast bar to rod by hot rolling in a continuous-rod rolling mill means including performing final reducing operations to impart a selected surface texture to said rod, said final reducing operations including the steps of
- providing roll stand means with surface contact rolls of preselected embossed finishes, and
- passing the continuous rod through said roll stand means to reduce its size by up to 15% and impart a complementary pattern of surface indentations on said rod surfaces, said surface indentations including minute channels providing a textured surface for entraining lubricant fluids on that surface of the continuous rod to be subsequently exposed to wire drawing dies.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said roll stand means comprise a plurality of consecutive roll stands and the preselected finish is on the surface contact rolls in at least the last of such stands and is about 1000 microinches in roughness.
- 8. The method of claim 6 wherein said preselected finish is characterized by having a surface roughness measurement of between about 20 and about 1,000 micro-inches.
- 9. An improved method of drawing an elongate rod product into wire, said rod product having been produced by continuously casting molten metal into a cast bar and then substantially immediately hot-forming the bar into continuous rod wherein the improvement comprises the steps of:
- (a) forming minute channels substantially uniformly about and along the circumference of the rod product while in the hot-forming temperature range to provide a rough textured surface;
- (b) exposing the rough textured surface of said rod product to a lubricating fluid which is received within said channels; and then
- (c) drawing the rod product through a die to form wire.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the die of step (c) reduces the diameter of the rod by at least 10 percent.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said rough textured surface is characterized by having a surface roughness which measures between about 20 and 1,000 micro-inches.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein said rod product is hot-formed in a rolling mill having a plurality of consecutive roll stands disposed therein, and wherein said step of forming channels is performed in at least the last of said roll stands.
- 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said step of forming channels is accomplished by providing a roughened surface on the rolling surfaces of the roll stands, said roughened surfaces formed by shot-peening the rolling surfaces to about 1000 microinch, R.M.S., surface finish.
- 14. An improved metallic rod product for forming into wire of the type having an elongate peripheral surface substantially devoid of protrusions, wherein the improvement comprises means for entraining fluid hot-formed in the exterior surface of said rod product, said means for entraining fluid is a number of minute channels hot-formed on the exterior surface of said rod product and said minute channels are substantially interconnected and are dispersed substantially uniformly about and along the exterior surface of the rod.
- 15. The rod product of claim 14 wherein said channels are at least sufficient to entrain and carry a lubricating fluid through the first of a series of wire drawing dies, and said channels are insufficient to form defects on the finished wire.
- 16. The rod product of claim 15 further characterized by having a surface roughness which measures between about 20 and 1,000 micro-inches.
- 17. The rod product of claim 15 wherein said channels are spaced along the axis of the rod such that within a length numerically equal to the diameter of the rod, there are at least ten of said channels.
- 18. The rod product of claim 17 wherein said channels are at least about 0.001 inches wide and less than about 0.100 inches wide and are at least as deep as they are wide.
- 19. The rod product of claim 17 wherein the rod product is electrical grade copper and the minute channels are at least sufficient to give a surface roughness measurement of 1000 microinches.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 598,976 filed July 24, 1975 now abandoned which in turn was a division of Ser. No. 543,058 filed Jan. 22, 1975, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
543058 |
Jan 1975 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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598976 |
Jul 1975 |
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