Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This inven-tion is directed to steeL rolling
mills, and ln particular to roll changiny apparatus for : -
use in the Ini 11 o
While automatic and ve:ry rapid work roll changiny
devices have been provided in many recent 4-high rolling
mills, many mills still employ porter bars or C~hooks to
remove and replace the work rolls. Usually the rolls
are removed one at a time, although porter bars are in : :
use -that remove and replace the rolls in pairs.
Porter bars and C-hooks require ths services of a
! mill crane which is not only very time consuming and ~ .
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prevents the crane from being used Eor other necessary :
purposes, but makes accurate guiding and positive handling
of the roll or rolls impossible. This results in not only ~ :.
substantial delay in properly positioning the rolls in the .-
mill and aligning the rolls with the couplings o~ the :.:
~, drivi.ng spindles, but permits the rolls to ~e banged about .~ -
.. Z resulting in damage to the mill parts and to the rolls
themselves including the back-up rollsO In order to
remove the rolls from the mill they are required to be : :
, lifted from the lower back-up rolls in a very limited :~.
;~ space and when replaced they have to be lowered onto the
' lower back-up rollO In the past, during this operation ..
i very frequently the upper back-up roll was forcefuily hit !'.,~ '`: .
;i ~ by the upper work roll and the lower back-up roll with .. .
i the lower work roll resulting, in many cases, in damage :~
to the rolls~ .. : :
~I Notwithstanding the disadvantages of employing ~ :
C-hooks or porter bars to change the work rolls hereto- .~ -
fore, until very recently this was the only course open .~
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~ to the industry other than the very expensive, fully ...
.~1 automatic arrangements, such as turntables and side- .
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shifters, used with push or pull work roll extractors. ~ :
In addition to the very large initial capital eY~pense
when attempts were made to adapt them to existiny mills,
the automakic arrangements re~uirPd substantial alteration
to the mill, Eor example, a redesigniny of the windows and
bearing chocks to acco~modate the extractors and the
~; inclusion of roll supporting rails. More recently, a roll
changing device has been proposed i.n which the roll
supporti.ng and carryiny element ha~ two fixed roll receiving
10 portions and which necessi.tate the use o~ rep].aceable
stools mounted between the chocks of the rolls when the
j rolls are in the mill~
The present invention provides a device for
changing one or more rolls of a rolliny mill which will . ~.
~ not require the services of a crane or alterations to
I the mill itself and which will permit accurate, positive,
.1 and relatively rapid removal and replacement of -the roll,
thereby reducing the likelihood of possible damage to
~ the adjacent parts or to the roll~
:` 20 The present inventi.on provides a guided roll
carrying car located on the operator's side of the mill -. .
I for removing and replacing a pair of rolls of the mill . : ;`
.. by engaging the ends of the rolls, the car including ~: .
:-` means for cantileverly supporting the rolls always
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parallel to one another which means can be readily and
~¦ accurately adjusted for displacement either saparately `.
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relative to one another or in unison to align with ~ :
~` varying roll centers, thereby e].iminating the stooling
operation in the milla ~ ~:
In the present invention the car is provided . .
j with a counterweight to offset the weight o~` the rolls
:~ ¦ as the rolls are adjusted for displacement and moved
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lnto and out of the Mill~ ;
Certain embodiments are described, reference
being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: :-
FIGURE 1 i5 an elevational view, partly broken
away, of a roll carrying car constructed in accordance
with the present invention arranged on the operator's
side of a rolling mill showing the car in one of its
operative positions; :
FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the car
shown in FIGURE l; and
FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the central
portion of FXGURE 2. ~:
In referring first to FIGURE 1, there is shown a
worX roll changing car 10 being supported on a pair of
spaced parallel rails 12 arranged on the operator's side -
I of a rolling mill, not shown, and which sxtends from a
¦ position remote from the window.of the mill to a position
adjacent thereto. The car engages the rails 12 by two .
pairs of wheels 14 and 16 and is driven by a rack and ~: :
pinion arrangement 18, which, in turn, is driven by a
gear drive-electric motor assembly 19. While the other
important elements of the car 10 will be described later .
in connection with FIGURES 2 and 3, sufficient at this :~
¦` point is to call attention to the roll carrying members 20 i ;~
and 21 mounted on the front of the car lOt each having ..
: an opening 22 and 23, respectively, for receiving the .. ¦
;:~ adjacent end 24 and 25 of two work rolls 26 of a rolling ~ i
~ mill for cantileverly supporting the rolls as a se-t
: ~ during exchange of the rolls to and from the millO To
~ 30 the left of the car 10, as one view FIGURE 1, only a . ;:
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small portion of the set of rolls 26 supported by a ~:
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platform 28 o~ a side-shifting device is shown, since
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such devices are familiar to the art; an example o which
is the ~ide-shiEter consisting oE two roll set supporting
platforms which are moved to either side of the mill
window during the roll changing operation as illustrated
in U. S. Patent Mo~ 3,779,061 - C. S. Shumacher - dated
December 18, 1973.
Returning now to complete the description o:E
the car 10, as more fully illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3,
and more particularly in FIGURE 3, in order to be able
~: 10 to rapidly but accurately adjust the roll carrying member
20 of the car 10, there is provided a screw 30 and nut 32
The nut 32 is securely mounted against rotation in the
member 20 and the screw 30 is driven in and through both
. the member 20 and nut 32 by a worm gear unit 34 connected ~:
;~ to an electric motor 36. As the screw 30 rotatesl it .
presses against a wear p].ate 38, loca-ted underneath the :
~ screw 30 and mounted on the top 40 oE the member 21. This
,~ pressing of the screw 30 against the wear plate 38 forces .
the member 20 to be raised a controllable distance corre- .
l 20 sponding to a desired center of an upper roll.
.l In order to assure that the member 20 will be
I held against any tendency to rotate in the horizontal :
~, plane but still free to move vertically the member 20
`~ is provided with two opposed wings 41, shown only in .~
FIGURE 2, received in complimentary slots 43 -ormed in - ~.
i a U-shaped member 44 which is part of a frame ~5O As
noted in FIGURE 3, the frame 45 has an extension 47 :- .
I that carries the geardrive 34 of the e].ectric motor 36,
.~ t~e gear unit being actually supported by a platEorm : .
47~ FIGURE 2 sh~ws that the member 21 is connected to a ~ :
'. parallel link system consisting of three links 48, 50, -
and 51. Links 48 and 50 run parallel to each other and
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connect member 21. to a counterweight 52 at the bottom, .:-
while the link 51 connects member 20 to the counterweight
52 at the top. Between links 48, 50 and 51 is another
electric motor 53 which drives, by way oE a worm year
(.not shown), a screw jack 55, which upon operation presses
-' against a wear plate at the underside por-tion of the
. link 51 to raise in parallel fashion the member 21 relative
to the rolls. (This wear plate is not shown in FIGURES
~ 1, 2, and 3.) At this point, it will be appreciated
;;, 10 that since all three links are pivotally connected at
one end to the frame 45 of the member 21 by insertion
of pins 57 and 59, and, in turn, they are pivotally -:
! connected at the other end to the counterweight 52 by ~:.
~ insertion of pins 61 and 63, that as these links are :
I displaced angularly by the operation of the screw jack , .
55, -the mer~er 21 as well as the member 20 maintains
a horizontal. position during vertical movementO
'I To the right. of the members 20 and 21, as ~ :.
l one views FIGURES 1, 2, .and 3, but best illustrated in ..
FIGURE 2, and still with reference to the construction
I of the car 10, rests the counterweight 52 located in the ~.
I plane between the two back wheels 16~ The total weicJht ~:~1 , ~. .
of a paix of work rolls of the type illustrated in these ..
FIGURES 1, 2, and 3 may be in a typical four high, hot
or cold, rolling mill of the.order of 40,000 lbs. During . :~
the lowering and/or raising of the rolls 26 and members
20 and 21, their total weight.is partially off~set by the
weight of the counterweight whi.ch is 5 to 10% greater :.;
than the set of roll assemblies. The electric motors 19,
~l 30 36, and 53 are controlled from a control box 65 located
to the right of the counterwéight and supported by the
car, as viewed in FIGURE 1.
In operation, and in referring to removing the
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worm rolls from -the mill, the car 10 is brought to a
position adjacent the mill window, by a rack and pinion
arrangement 18. In this position, the need, if any,
or exact adju~tment for alignment with the centers oE
the worn rolls can be determined and made~ AEter this,
the ends of the rolls 26 are received in the openings
22 and 23 of the members 20 and 21, respectively, by
further operation of the rack and pinion arranyernent 18,
and depending on the nature of the four high roll arrange-
ment,the top work roll may be moved vertically to permit
raising of -the lower work roll off or its back-up roll,
or both rolls ~ay be moved together in each case by
operating the motor 53. In many cases, it may not be ~
necessary to lower the upper work roll ree of the upper I ~ -
back-up roll since a spaced relationship may have been
previously assumed in preparation for the work roll
changing.
Once cantilsverly supported by the car 10, the
rolls 26 can be retracted to a position where they can
be lowered by the car onto one of the two platforms 28
in a side-shifter device. IE the bearing chocks ara not ~
nested or interfitted, stools will be inserted between -;
tha rolls, be~ore -the car releases the rolls in order
¦ to keep the top roll assembly from falling. It should
be noted that the vertical dimsnsions of tha stools are ;
such that the rolls are maintained on fixed centers ~or
I both the minimum and maximum roll sizes. After this,
the car 10 is further retracted to disengage the rolls
and allows the platform carrying tha old work rolls to
move out from in front of the mill and the platform
carrying the new stooled work rolls to rnove in front of ~` -
the mill and in front of the cac 10. This will place
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: the new set of work rolls in position to be engaged and
raised o:E~ the platform by the members 21 and 20
of the car 10, Even i:E the work rolls diE:Eer in the
location of their axes to the work roll9 just removed
rom the mill, there is no need to adjust the members 20
, and 21 since, as noted, this is taken care o~ by the
. El~ed center stools. .
Once the rolls are raised off o:E the plat:Eorrn.. ~ .
: by operating the motor 53, the stools can be removed and ~
the platform moved to the side of the mill opposite to
the side that the platform carrying the worn work roll~ .
was moved and the car 10 carrying the new work roll set in .. ~.. -
a cantilever :Eashion is advanced to a position adjacent . ~ :
, the mill window.
1 While in this raised position, the new rolls can -
l again be adjusted either simultaneously while maintaining .. ~.
:~. an equal distance between themselves and/or the me~ber
;:~ 20 can be independently adjusted so that the new rolls . :~
., will be properly aligned wi-th respect to the driving .: ::
couplings of the mill for automatic insertion of the rolls :~
~ into the couplings~ A~ter this takes place, the lower :~
¦ roll 26 can be lowered -to its proper operating position .
i~ on top of the lower back-up roll by again opera-ting the
i, motor 53.
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