T&H Lemont ships two seam orientation units

T&H Lemont recently shipped two seam orientation stand (SOS) units, model 280/6, to one of its longtime customers. The recent order is a follow-up to a previous order for two of the 280/6. The initial order was shipped to a tube-making facility. Later, based on the successful implementation of those SOS units, the company ordered two more for producing conduit. Model 280/6 is designed to work on tubular products in diameters from 0.750 to 3.500 in. and wall thicknesses from 0.028 to 0.250 in.

SOS units compensate for any drift in the weld seam location. To do so, the operator adjusts the unit’s two vertical rolls. The SOS then aligns the seam at the intended location on the circumference, usually top dead center. Proper weld seam positioning helps to maximize mill efficiency when using inline annealing by aligning the weld seam with the annealer’s inductors. An SOS also can be used to optimize a nondestructive testing process by aligning the weld seam with the sensors. It also assists in maintaining the tube’s straightness and in complying with any customer requests for a specific seam location.

T&H Lemont manufactures SOS units that handle tube from 0.750 to 14 inches in diameter. Basic units have two adjustments: Lateral roll position, which is necessary to accommodate a variety of tubing diameters, and tooling offset, which determines the amount of twist. More advanced units have a third adjustment, vertical roll position, which allows the unit to adapt to varying passline heights.

The units come in two styles, manually adjusted and remote-controlled. The manually adjusted type requires shutting down the mill to make changes to the settings. The remote-controlled style allows adjustments on the fly.