Patent Number: 041529189
Section: claims

1. A vertical rolling mill, comprising: a frame having a substantially horizontal sole plate and an upright frame portion extending upwardly from said sole plate adjacent to one lateral end of said sole plate, the zone above said sole plate and located between said frame portion and the opposite lateral end of the sole plate being open at its top and being adapted to receive a roll stand, said upright frame portion having front and rear sections which extend partway toward the opposite lateral end of said sole plate, said sections having opposed upright walls which define an open-top guide compartment between said sections and opening laterally into said zone, said sections each also having a vertical guide wall facing toward said opposite lateral end of said sole plate; driving means mounted on said frame and comprising a pair of vertical driven spindles which are rotatable about vertical axes in opposite circumferential directions and which extend upwardly to the lower end of said zone;  a pair of holding members mounted in the opposed upright walls of said sections, said holding members having movable locking projections mounted thereon and adapted to be moved between an advanced position in which they project into said compartment from opposite sides thereof and a retracted position in which they are retracted from said compartment;  a roll stand positioned in said zone, said roll stand having a pair of rolls mounted thereon for rotation about vertical axes of rotation, said rolls being mounted in parallel circumferentially adjacent relation, each roll having a single circumferential groove in the periphery thereof with said circumferential grooves being positioned in vertical alignment with each other to define a caliber through which the material to be rolled can be moved, said roll stand having front and rear vertical guide surfaces for respectively vertically slidably engaging the vertical guide walls of said front and rear sections, said vertical guide surfaces of said roll stand extending parallel to the direction of movement of the material to be rolled through said caliber, said roll stand including a portion located between said front and rear guide surfaces which portion projects laterally into said compartment between said opposed upright walls of said front and rear sections, said roll stand portion having vertical grooves aligned with said movable locking projections and receiving said movable locking projections in the advanced positions thereof so that said locking projections prevent horizontal movement of said roll stand relative to said upright portions of said frame, means at the lower ends of said rolls and vertically slidable with respect to said spindles for releasably drivingly connecting said rolls to said spindles, so that said roll stand can be removed from said frame by moving said locking projections into their retracted positions and then lifting said roll stand upwardly. 2. A vertical rolling mill according to claim 1 including means for adjusting said front and rear vertical guide surfaces of said roll stand laterally relative to said sole plate for adjusting the positions of said guide surfaces and thereby adjusting the lateral position of said roll stand on said sole plate, said locking projections each having an inclined face on the side thereof remote from said zone and said grooves having correspondingly inclined faces on the remote side thereof, said remote faces of said projections and grooves being inclined inwardly and toward said zone. 3. A vertical rolling mill according to claim 2 in which said spindles each comprise a self-supporting short length universal coupling whose upper part is provided with an engaging portion for driving connection with the lower end of one of said rolls.