Modular table roll with water bath

Modular roll apparatus particularly suitable for conveying hot material such as a sheet of steel being processed. Each roll has its own individual water bath and drive mechanism. A water trough isolates the bath from the bearings and drive mechanism for the roll and bathes the underside of the roll to cool it. The entire modular unit can be removed from its operating position and replaced by a similar such unit. A conveyor containing a multiplicity of such units is suitable for conveying hot sheet steel or other hot material in a processing mill.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a modular bathed driving roll apparatus and a 
conveyor incorporating same, especially for conveying hot material. The 
invention is useful for supporting and driving a slab or sheet of steel in 
a steel rolling mill. More specifically, the modular table roll apparatus 
comprises a roll, drive mechanism and trough for a water bath for the 
roll, in the form of a single, removable modular unit. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In a steel rolling mill, sheets (slabs, strips, etc.) of steel in various 
stages of the fabrication process are supported and moved about by rolls. 
Such rolls are power-driven and mounted parallel to each other, forming a 
support and conveyor for the steel sheets. The rolls may be air cooled or 
water sprayed. A plurality of rolls may be connected to one another via a 
suitable drive mechanism. Repairing or replacing the components of this 
conventional system is a cumbersome task. If a roll has to be replaced, 
the drive mechanism must be laboriously disassembled, rendering 
inoperative all the interconnected rolls driven by the drive assembly 
until the repair is completed. Cooling of the rolls may be haphazard and 
uneven. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Our invention is a modular roll apparatus, each individual roll having its 
own water bath and drive mechanism, positioned and operating together as a 
modular unit. A plurality of such units form a conveyor. In use, a 
conveyor comprising a plurality of such modular units can support and move 
a sheet of steel (say). Each modular table roll unit can be removed as a 
complete self-contained unit from the line of rolls and replaced quickly 
by a replacement modular unit of identical structure. Thus, if a unit or a 
component thereof requires replacement, it is a simple and quick operation 
to remove the unit and insert a new one. Repairs on the removed unit are 
facilitated by being able to move the unit to a suitable working area. 
Further, each such unit has a trough to contain its own self-contained 
water bath. This enables the conveyor as a whole to continue to function 
if one of the troughs develops a leak or its water supply fails. Further 
in contrast to conventional design, a whole bath serving a number of rolls 
need not be drained merely to replace one roll.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, modular table roll apparatus 1 has a drive 
mechanism generally indicated as 7 comprising an electric motor 2, 
transmission 4 and drive shaft 26. The shaft 26 is coupled to and drives 
table roll 8, which is supported in bearing assemblies 10 and 12. The 
drive motor 2, transmission 4, drive shaft 26 and roll 8 are linked by 
conventional coupling assemblies. The drive motor 2, transmission 4 and 
bearing assemblies 10 and 12 are affixed to an elongated base plate 14 by 
means of bolt-and-nut assemblies 9. The base plate 14 has bolt holes 24 
whereby it can be affixed to a support or receptacle within the rolling 
table of the mill. 
A watertight trough 16 surrounds a lower segment of roll 8. The trough 16 
has side walls 18, and end walls 20 and 22 located inwardly of bearing 
assemblies 10 and 12 respectively. The base 14 forms the bottom of the 
trough 16. The end walls 20, 22 isolate water within trough 16 from the 
bearings 10, 12 and from the drive mechanism 7. In use, trough 16 is 
filled with water so that most of the lower part of roll 8 is wetted with 
water and is cooled by the water as the roll is rotated in bearing 
assemblies 10 and 12 by drive motor 2. While a water-level regulator for 
the trough 16 could be devised, it is simpler to run water continuously 
into the trough 16 and to permit it to overflow via slots 19 in the upper 
side walls of the trough 16, which slots 19 are preferably conveniently 
located above a drainage sluiceway (not shown) underneath the table rolls. 
A hand valve (not shown) can be used to regulate the water flow into the 
trough 16. Normally the rolls 8 constantly rotate throughout a given cycle 
of mill operation, whether or not they are for the time being transporting 
steel strip or plate, so as to maintain constant cooling of the rolls 8 
and mechanical and thermal equilibrium throughout the conveyor. 
A suitable water supply for the trough 16 is illustrated in FIG. 6. Water 
enters the trough 16 via the open end 50 of a water supply pipe 54. The 
end 50 of the supply pipe 54 should be positioned below the surface level 
of water within the trough 16 so as to avoid unnecessary splashing and 
turbulence. A valve 56 controls the flow of water through supply pipe 54. 
A quick-disconnect coupling 52 is conveniently interposed between the area 
supply conduit 58 and supply pipe 54 to permit rapid connection and 
disconnection of the supply pipe 54 from the area supply conduit for 
purposes of convenient insertion and removal of the modular unit 1 from 
time to time as required. 
A representative use of a table roll module of the type illustrated in 
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is as part of a table roll conveyor in a steel mill. 
FIGS. 4 to 7 illustrate a representative such use. In FIG. 4, three such 
units 1 are shown in plan view in a generally horizontal array for the 
purposes of transporting steel strip or plate in a direction generally 
perpendicular to the axes of rotation of table rolls 8 of the modular 
units 1 of FIG. 4. Each modular unit 1 of FIG. 4 is essentially identical 
to the modular unit 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, although, of course, 
modifications and variants will readily occur to those skilled in the 
technology. 
The series of table rolls illustrated in FIG. 4, of course, would be a 
small fraction of the total number of table rolls required in a rolling 
mill, all of which could, if desired, conform to the modular unit 
arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. 
The configuration of FIG. 4 might, for example, appear underneath a coiler 
furnace 30, which is schematically depicted in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. Note that 
the table roll 8 is normally longer in extension than the width of steel 
strip that it conveys. That width will, of course, be narrower than the 
limiting dimension L of coiler furnace 30. This selection of dimensions 
offsets the drive unit 7 and bearings 10, 12 away from direct radiant heat 
from the coiler furnace 30. 
It can be seen from FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 that each base plate 14 rests on a 
frame support plate or track 32, in turn supported by, and affixed to, 
track beams 34. Each track beam 34 may be welded to or otherwise fixed to 
a generally horizontally extending support frame beam 36 at the point of 
surface engagement of these elements indicated as point of engagement 38 
for the left-most modular unit 1 illustrated in FIG. 5. 
Each of the base plates 14 of the modular assemblies 1 is bolted to its 
underlying support plate 32 by means of nuts and bolts 40 passing through 
bolt holes 24 in the base plates 14 and corresponding bolt holes (not 
specifically illustrated) in the support plates 32. 
If any of the modular assemblies 1 is defective and requires repair or 
replacement for any reason, or is to be removed for routine maintenance, 
it is a simple job to remove the hold-down bolts 40 and pull the entire 
modular unit 1 transversely to the left, as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 7 
shows one such assembly partly removed from its normal operating position 
(FIG. 6). A suitable quick disconnect arrangement (not shown) between the 
electric motor 2 and its power supply will facilitate ready removal and 
reinstallation. Removal is also facilitated by providing at the extremity 
of the modular unit 1, remote from the drive mechanism 7, a support wheel 
or roller 42 rotatably mounted in a mounting bracket 44 fixed to the end 
of face plate 14 remote from drive mechanism 7. Conveniently, the roller 
42 is at least as wide as track 32, and housing 44 is provided with 
depending guide tabs 45 (FIGS. 1 and 2) so that the track 32 is embraced 
by the guide tabs 45. This facilitates proper alignment of the modular 
unit 1 on the supporting track 32 when the modular unit is inserted for 
installation. For convenience of illustration, guide tabs 45 are not shown 
in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
Various modifications of the design will readily occur to a person skilled 
in the art. Such modifications are within the scope of our invention, 
which is defined in the following claims.