ROLLING UNIT SUPPORTED AS A CANTILEVER

Abstract: Rolling unit comprising two pairs of rolls (l2) which are supported as cantilevers and have their axis horizontal and/or vertical, such unit (l0) including a working area (l3) and at the same time an area (l4) for replacement and maintenance, such two areas being different and located diametrically opposite to each other at the two sides of an axis of rotation (26), the rolling unit (l0) being placed between the two areas (l3-l4), the axis of rotation (26) being vertical or tilted.

Description: This invention concerns a rolling stand having its rolls supported as cantilevers. To be more exact, the invention concerns a rolling stand which has its rolls supported as cantilevers and is suitable to enable maintenance or replacement of the rolls and/or equipment to be carried out in very short times during rolling operations. Rolling stands provided with rolls supported as cantilevers are known, as also are devices to replace the rolls and/or equipment on rolling stands having their rolls supported as cantilevers, such devices comprising: a frame with connection means, jaws with engagement means, and actuation means, the reciprocal positioning of the parts when engaged by such devices being substantially the same as the reciprocal positioning of such parts when fitted to a rolling unit. EP-A-0142879 in the name of the present applicant should be consulted in this connection. Such devices to replace the rolls and/or equipment enable action to be taken to reset the machine in very short times of the order of seven to ten minutes. This means that, if the personnel employed for the purpose are ready, some seven to ten minutes will go by between the time when the machine stops processing one section and the time when the machine is ready again to process the section programmed thereafter. Such time of engagement of the rolls seems in itself to be unimportant but in fact may be very irksome. Indeed, when small lots are being rolled, it is essential for economical running that the times for changing the section should be reduced, and such reduction can be obtained substantially by pre-arranging the rolling stand while the preceding section is still being processed. DE TS 338.426 and FR 1.549.753 disclose two rolling stands positioned at 90° to each other and having their axis of rotation at the point of union of the axes on which they are positioned. To replace one or the other stand by a 90° rotation, it is necessary to withdraw the adapters and reposition them. Moreover, the rolled stock passes in the neighbourhood of the stand during maintenance and re-equipment, with serious danger for the machine operators. These embodiments therefore entail long re-equipment times and danger for the machine operators. DE PS 687.920 discloses an auxiliary unit located momentarily in front of a rolling stand, this auxiliary unit serving to facilitate the withdrawal of two working rolls and their replacement with a fresh pair of rolls taken from a store. This device speeds up the replacement of the pair of rolls but leaves the position of the stand unchanged and does not permit work to be carried out on the roll housings unless the stand is halted. DE 693.225 discloses two pairs of rolls which are mutually replaceable either by being slid into position or by being rotated. The proposed embodiments always provide for the previous removal and subsequent reattachment of the adapters. Moreover, the maintenance or replacement work is performed in an area which involves danger for the machine operator. DE 875.035 discloses rapid means to adjust the rolling pressure on rolling stands. DE 1.054.409 discloses two sets of stands which are made to rotate so as to take up alternately a reciprocal working position and a maintenance and re-equipment position. The present applicant has studied and embodied this invention so as to reduce the maintenance and re-equipment times still further and, at the same time, to enable small maintenance jobs and the resetting of the machine to be carried out without halting the machine and without the machine operator being endangered and also to speed up the change of the working front. This is achieved by a rolling stand having the features disclosed in claim 1. The dependent claims describe advantageous forms of embodiment of the invention. According to the invention the rolling stand is divided into two portions, each portion being provided with a pair of rolls supported as cantilevers. A rotary support which upholds such rolling stand is positioned in cooperation with the median axis of the two portions, its axis of rotation coinciding with that median axis. The median axis is arranged to be vertical or tilted and the two pairs of rolls are respectively located as counterparts of each other in relation to the median plan of the rolling stand, which contains the axis of rotation of the rotary support. The two pairs of rolls are driven by one single motor with one single transmission shaft within the rotary support, and means to actuate one or the other of the two pairs of rolls are provided. The transmission shaft lies on the median axis or axis of rotation. The attached figures are given as a non-restrictive example and show the following:- Fig.1 shows an embodiment according to the invention as applied to a rolling stand having its rolls supported as cantilevers with a horizontal rolling axis; Fig.2 shows a variant of Fig.1; Fig.3 shows an embodiment according to the invention as applied to a rolling stand having its rolls supported as cantilevers with a vertical/vertical rolling axis; Figs.4 and 5 show two solutions in which the rolls supported as cantilevers have a horizontal/vertical rolling axis and viceversa. In the figures the same parts or parts having the same functions bear the same reference numbers. A rolling stand 10 has rolls 12 supported as cantilevers each of which has a working or rolling axis 11. Such rolling stand 10 comprises rolls 12 supported as cantilevers in a working area 13 and rolls 112 supported as cantilevers in a replacement and maintenance area 14. Each set of rolls 12-112 is driven independently and a selector switch 18 is provided. The rolling stand 10 gets its motion through a transmission shaft 15, which receives its motion from a motor 16; transmission shafts 17 with bevel gear pairs are possibly included. The motor 16 may be located above the stand 10 (as in Fig.1, for instance), or below or at the side of the stand (as in Fig.2, for example), or on the same axis as the transmission shaft 15 but below the stand 10. Such combinations may be applied to all the embodiments shown. The selector actuation switch 18 may be normally or automatically operated. Connecting-up may be performed by the machine operator or by the automatic positioning of the rolling stand 10. In a variant a transient actuation, which is actuated from the area 14, may be provided and serves to control the rotation of the rolls when they have been changed. A separator screen 21 is positioned between the replacement area 14 and the working area 13. The working area 13 is provided with a movable shield 22, which can slide or be overturned, for instance by a control jack 23. The rolling stand 10 cooperates with a drainage channel 24 in the working area 13. According to the invention a footstep bearing 19 is positioned below the rolling stand 10 and cooperates with a motor 20 that causes rotation of the stand. The axis 26 of the footstep bearing 19 passes through the median plan of the stand comprising the two pairs of rolls 12-112, which are thus located as counterparts to each other in relation to the axis 26 of the footstep bearing 19 which coincides with the axis of rotation of the rolling stand 10. The replacement and maintenance area 14 may be brought to a suitable level to enable the personnel employed to have ready access to the rolls 112 along a gangway 25. While the pair of rolls 12 supported as cantilevers is processing the rolled stock in the working area 13, the machine operator in the replacement area 14 is taking steps to replace the cantilever rolls 112 or possible equipment either manually or by means of robot equipment or is performing control operations or minor maintenance work. When the lot to be rolled has been completed and production is to be changed, action is taken on the rotation motor 20 so as to move the pair of rolls 112 into the working area 13 and the pair of rolls 12 into the replacement and maintenance area 14. When this has been done, the rolls 112 are ready to roll the successive lot whereas the rolls 14 are replaced with another pair having the required groove. The presence of the selector switch 18 ensures that the rolls 12 or 112 in the replacement area 14 are not set in motion accidentally. The rolling stand 10 according to the invention comprises within its interior a twofold set of operating members so as to provide two outputs of actuation of the pairs of rolls 12 and 112 respectively.

Claims: Rolling stand (10), comprising two pairs of rolls (12;112) supported as cantilevers and having their respective rolling axes disposed horizontally and/or vertically, said rolling stand (10) being upheld on a support which is rotatable about a vertical or inclined rotation axis (26), one pair of rolls (12) being placed aside of a median plan of said rolling stand (10) containing said rotation axis (26) in a working area, the other pair of rolls (112) being placed at the other side of said median plan containing said rotation axis (26) in replacement and maintenance area, characterised in that said rolling stand (10) comprises a single transmission shaft (15) suitable for permanently transmitting the motion imparted by a motor (16) to the pair of rolls (12) which is actually located within said working area, said transmission shaft (15) being coaxial with said rotation axis (26). Rolling stand (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that it is supported by a footstep bearing (19) having an axis which coincides with said rotation axis (26). Rolling stand (10) according to anyone of preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises a selector actuation switch which enable anyone of said pairs of rolls (12;112) to be selectively connected to said transmission shaft (15). Rolling stand (10) according to claim 3, characterised in that said selector actuation switch may be manually and/or automatically operated. Rolling stand (10) according to anyone of claims 2 to 4, characterised in that said footstep bearing (19) cooperates with a motor (20) which allows said rolling stand (10) to be rotated about said rotation axis (26). Rolling stand (10) according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises a separation screen (21) which is placed between said working area and said replacement and maintenance area. Rolling stand (10) according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises at least one movable shield (22) for protecting said working area.

Inventors: NONINI, GEREMIA, POLONI, ALFREDO
Applicants: DANIELI & C. OFFICINE MECCANICHE S.P.A.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B21B31
IPC codes: B21B31, B21B33, B21B13