ROLL CHANGE ARRANGEMENT FOR BEAM MILL STAND

Abstract: A beam mill stand has lower horizontal roll chocks (16), supported by a screw-up (17) while upper horizontal roll chocks (14) suspended on hooks (26) from balance beams (25) are urged downward by screw-downs (15). Vertical roll chocks (22, 24) are supported by and moveable in transverse guide ways. In order to facilitate changing of the rolls as an interlocked stack, there are resilient support mechanisms (49-58) in the upper horizontal roll chocks which are restrained by the hooks (26) on the balance beams (25) with the mill in use and when the beams are lowered resilient support mechanism are released and extending engage the vertical roll chocks thus supporting the upper horizontal roll chocks resiliently. An interlocking mechanism (36-48) in the vertical rolls is operated by the resilient support mechanism (49-58) so that the vertical and lower horizontal roll chocks are locked against lateral movement.

Description: This invention relates to a beam mill stand and is particularly concerned with the facilitation of roll changing. In a beam mill stand, a lower horizontal roll chocks are supported by a screw-up while an upper horizontal roll chocks suspended on hooks from balance beams is urged downward by a screw-­ down. Also vertical roll chocks are supported by and moveable in transverse guide ways. Thus all four rolls are moveable, in use, to form a roll gap of desired section. It is desirable to remove or replace the four rolls and their chocks as single stack. The aim being to reduce the down time when changing sets of rolls. As mentioned in the mill stand the chocks are separately, supported, and it is not possible simply to let them all rest one on another because the upper rolls would rest on the lower roll with consequent damage to them. In order to prevent such damage to the rolls, packers have been inserted both between the lower horizontal and the vertical rolls chocks and between the vertical and the upper horizontal roll chocks. These packers have to be inserted between the chocks with the stand in the mill line. This has been a laborious, time consuming and often dangerous operation. The present invention seeks to provide an arrangement for a beam rolling mill whereby the roll assemblies may be withdrawn from the mill as a stack. According to one aspect the invention provides a beam mill stand comprising: upper and lower horizontal rolls rotatably supported in respective chocks; a pair of vertical rolls rotatably supported in respective chocks; resilient support means in the upper horizontal roll chocks, which, when the mill stand is inoperative, are capable of engaging the vertical roll chocks to resiliently support the upper horizontal roll chocks on the vertical roll chocks, with the upper and lower horizontal rolls in spaced apart relation. According to another aspect the invention also provides a method of changing rolls of a beam mill having upper and lower horizontal rolls carried in respective roll chocks, and vertical rolls carried in rolls chocks, comprising: (a) raising the lower horizontal roll chocks into supporting engagement with the vertical roll chocks, (b) resiliently supporting the upper horizontal roll chocks on the vertical roll chocks, which in turn are supported on the lower horizontal roll chocks, with the horizontal rolls in spaced apart relation to form a stack, and (c) withdrawing the roll stack from the mill stand. A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a general side view of a beam rolling mill stand showing a roll stack at a withdrawn position to one side, Figure 2 is a side view of the mill stand with the rolls in working position, partially cutaway and showing in phantom, maximum and minimum horizontal roll diameters, Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2, but in section with the roll assemblies in their roll change position, and Figure 4 is a section view on the line IV-IV of Figure 3, of part of the roll assemblies. As seen in the drawings, a beam mill stand has vertical housings 4 which define vertical housing windows 6. Integral, lateral extensions 8 on the outside of housings 4 provide horizontal housing windows. Horizontal rolls 10, 12 are rotatably supported in pairs of rolls chocks 14, 16 respectively, and these chocks 14, 16 are vertically slideable within the housing windows 6. The upper roll chocks 14 are supported from housing 4 on balance beams 25 by means of depending hooks 26, hook faces 26a of which engage hook faces 28 on upper chocks 14. A screw down 15 is arranged above each upper chock 14 with lower bearing surface 15a of screw down 15 adjacent a top bearing surface 14 of roll chock 14. Vertical rolls 18, 20 have bearings in chocks 22, 24 which are slideably located in guideways in the horizontal housing windows. This configuration of mill stand, windows and roll assemblies is well-known and quite conventional, and will not be described in detail further. Adjacent the side of the stand are rails 30 and a tractor 32 having a hook connection at 34 which can engage with the bottom chock 16, as seen in Figure 1, so that a stack of horizontal and vertical rolls in their chocks can be inserted into or withdrawn from the millstand 2, with the end of lateral housing 8 appropriately opened. Again this general configuration is well known. In the mill stand according to the embodiment of the invention, each vertical roll chock 22, 24 has a pair of bores 36 which each receive a rod 38 which has a flange 40 which is located in a counterbore 42 in the underside of chock 22. At the bottom of each counterbore 42 a cover plate 44 is screwed to the bottom face of the chock 22 and is bored to allow a lower end extension 46 of rod 38 to pass therethrough. Between the plate 44 and the flange 40 are located a number of Belleville washers 48. About the top of each bore 36 is formed raised C-shaped lug 37, which thus forms a raised arc about the upper opening of bore 36. Referring now particularly to Figure 4, each top horizontal roll chock 14 has a pair of bores 49 one at each side of the chock, which each receive a vertical rod 50. Each rod 50 has a head 52 at its upper end with lateral hook 52a, and at the lower end of each rod is fixed a crosshead 54 with central underside projection 54a. As seen in Figure 4, on either side of the vertical rod 50 is located a type of piston and cylinder unit known in the industry and referred to as a Jarrett buffer 56 which essentially uses an elastomer as resilient material. The piston rod of each buffer is secured to the crosshead 54, and the cylinder parts are located in the chock 14 against engage shoulders 58 on the chock. The procedure for roll change will now be described starting from the condition shown in Figure 2 where the mill stand is in an operative condition. The upper horizontal roll chocks 14 are held on hooks 26 by balance beams 25 against the force of screw-down 15. The lower horizontal chocks 16 are supported, and urged upwards by screw-up 17. The vertical roll chocks are similarly urged inwards by screw-­ ins, in a conventional manner. At the termination of rolling the loads on the chocks will be reduced so that they rest, generally as shown in Figure 2, spaced apart with the vertical roll chocks supported in guideways in the lateral extensions 8 of housing 4 and the upper and lower horizontal roll chocks supported, as described above, by balance beams 25 and screw-up 17, respectively. At this stage, in each vertical chock 14 each rod 38 will be supported in corresponding bore 36, by the Belleville washers 48, so that the lower end extension 46 will be withdrawn in the counterbore 42, in ambush, while the upper end of end rod 38 projects into the semicircular arc of C-shaped lug 37. Meanwhile in the upper horizontal chocks 14 each rod 50 will be withdrawn within that chock by the hook face 26b of hook 26 engaging with hook face 52a of head 52 on rod 50. At the top of range of movement of hook 26 the rod 50 is fully withdrawn (Figure 2). The Jarrett buffers 56 are at full compression. At this stage it should be noted the support of the upper horizontal roll chock 14 is through the hood face 26a engaging with hook face 28 on roll chock 14. The roll change procedure can then commence as follows. 1. The lateral positions of the vertical roll chocks are adjusted to bring the bores 36 and respective rods 38 into alignment between the lower end of the respective crosshead 54 in upper horizontal roll chocks 14 and a respective recess 47 in lower horizontal roll chocks 16. If necessary, lateral adjustment may be affected to bring the upper and lower horizontal chocks into alignment. Normally however this will not be necessary. 2. The screw-down 15 is released to allow balance beam to draw up the upper horizontal roll chock to separate the horizontal rolls a predetermined amount. 3. The lower horizontal roll chocks are then raised up by means of screw-ups 17 so that lugs 19 engage with the vertical roll chock above so that that chock is supported on the lower horizontal roll chock beneath. The vertical roll chocks are thus supported by the lower horizontal roll chocks. 4. The upper horizontal chocks 14 are then lowered on hooks 26, with screw-downs 15 inoperative. For each chock, once the surface of screw-down 15 and the upper horizontal roll chock have separated, the hook faces 26a and hook faces 28 on that chock will disengage, so that that chock will be supported on hooks 26 through hook faces 26b by the rods 50 and Jarret buffers 56. As mentioned the Jarrett buffers will be fully compressed, so that as hook 26 is lowered further the compression due to the upward force of hooks 26 will be eased and buffers expand. The result of this will be that in each chock the pair of rods 50 and crossheads 54 will move downwards relative to the chock, and the crossheads will project below the bottom the chock 14. Eventually the compression of the buffers due to upward restraint of the hooks 26 will be released and expansion of the buffers will cease, with the head 52 of rod 50 engaging ledge 60. As the hook is lowered further each chock will be being carried through the Jarret buffers which are chosen to be able to support the weight of the upper chock. 5. As the upper chocks are lowered with the crossheads 54 projecting below the chock, the projection 54a on the underside of each crosshead 54 will engage the top of rod 38 and depress that rod, compressing the Belleville washers 48. The lower end extension 46 of rod 38 will thus be pressed down into recess 47 in the lower horizontal roll chock 16. The crosshead 54 will eventually engage with lug 37 and at that stage the hook 26 will disengage from the head 54 on rod 50, leaving the upper horizontal roll chock resilient supported on the vertical roll chock by means of the Jarrett buffers 56 and the crosshead 54. 6. The upper and lower horizontal roll chocks and the vertical roll chocks are known an interlocked horizontal stack. The lower end extension 46 of each rod 38 engaging in corresponding recess 47 in the lower horizontal roll chock beneath to secure the vertical roll chocks and the lower horizontal roll chocks against lateral movement, while the same function is performed between the upper horizontal roll chocks and the vertical roll chocks by means of the crossheads 54, and in particular the underside projection 54a engaging in C-shaped lug 37. Furthermore the upper horizontal roll chocks are resilient supported, spaced apart from the vertical chocks, by the Jarrett buffers 56. That spacing apart ensures the horizontal rolls avoid contact with each other - it will be remembered that the lower horizontal roll chock, and corresponding roll, have been raised up. The resulting roll stack may be withdrawn sideways from the stand, as previously discussed, with the stack safely interlocked and rolls separated as necessary. The installation procedure is essentially the reverse of the normal precedure described. With stack inserted, the upper roll chocks are raised, resiliently supported through the Jarrett buffers 56, by hooks 26 until the co-operating surfaces of screwdowns 15 and roll chocks 14 engage, limiting further upward movement of the chocks. However upward movement of the hooks 26 continuous, compressing the Jarrett buffers until the crossheads 54 are fully withdrawn. Upward movement of the hooks 26 is limited by engagement with hooks 28 on the chocks 14. Meanwhile the rods 38 will have been urged upward by the Belleville washers 48, as the crossheads 54 are removed. The vertical and lower horizontal roll chocks are thus disengaged. The lower horizontal roll chocks can then be lowered to working position, and the upper roll chocks can then be brought down to the working pass line by the screw downs. Variations can be made to the described structure, without departing from the inventive concept, for example resilient members other than the elastomers 56 might be used, and the shape of the locating lugs 37, 19 can readily be varied.

Claims: 1. A beam mill stand comprising: upper and lower horizontal rolls (10, 12) rotatably supported in respective chocks (14, 16); a pair of vertical rolls (18, 20) rotatably supported in respective chocks (22, 24); resilient support means (49-58) in the upper horizontal roll chocks (14), which, when the mill stand is inoperative, are capable of engaging the vertical roll chocks (22, 24) to resiliently support the upper horizontal roll chocks (14) on the vertical roll chocks (22, 24), with the upper and lower horizontal rolls (10, 12) in spaced apart relation. 2. A beam mill stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is retraction means (25, 26) for withdrawing the resilient support means (49 - 58) to an inoperative position during operation of the mill stand. 3. A beam mill stand as claimed in claim 2, wherein the mill stand has a balance beam structure (25) for restraining the upper horizontal roll chock onto a screw-down (15), and part of the retraction means is constituted by the balance beam structure (25). 4. A beam mill stand as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the resilient support means (49 - 58) has an engagement member (54) urged by a resilient member (56), and an interconnecting means (50, 52, 52a) for releasably engaging the retraction means (25, 26). 5. A beam mill stand as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the vertical roll chocks (22, 24) have engagement means (37), and the resilient support means (49 - 58) engages with the engagement means (37) so as to restrain the upper horizontal and vertical roll chocks (14, 22, 24) against relative lateral movement. 6. A beam mill stand as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the vertical roll chocks (22, 24) having interlocking means (36 - 48) for interlocking the vertical roll chocks (22, 24) and adjacent lower horizontal roll chocks (16) against relative lateral movement, operable by the resilient support means (49 - 58) being brought to an operative, vertical roll engaging condition. 7. A method of changing rolls of a beam mill having upper and lower horizontal rolls carried in respective roll chocks, and vertical rolls carried in rolls chocks, comprising: (a) raising the lower horizontal roll chocks into supporting engagement with the vertical roll chocks, (b) resiliently supporting the upper horizontal roll chocks on the vertical roll chocks, which in turn are supported on the lower horizontal roll chocks, with the horizontal rolls in spaced apart relation to form a stack, and (c) withdrawing the roll stack from the mill stand.

Inventors: HAYNES, RALPH GLADWIN
Applicants: DAVY MCKEE (SHEFFIELD) LIMITED
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B21B31
IPC codes: B21B13, B21B31, B21B1