Patent Number: 041529189
Section: description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is one embodiment of the present invention. This vertical rolling mill 1 shown therein is, as is obvious from the drawings, composed of a frame 2 and a stand 3. The frame 2 is provided with a sole plate 4 disposed horizontally in order to mount the stand 3 thereon and an upright portion 5 extends upwardly at one side of said sole plate 4. Below the sole plate 4 are juxtaposed a pair of spindles 6 and 6' having vertical axes of rotation, and these spindles 6 and 6' consist of universal couplings. These universal couplings 6 and 6' are constructed in the same manner and of a self-standing and short length type respectively. They are each comprised of an outer cylinder 21, a cylindrical lower portion 22 accommodated within the lower part of said outer cylinder 21 and a cylindrical upper portion 23 accommodated within the upper part of the outer cylinder 21 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the lower portion 22 there is provided an opening the inner circumference of which is splined. On the other hand the upper portion 23 has an opening the cross-sectional configuration of which is non-circular as shown in FIG. 5. In the inside of the tubular cylinder 21 connecting the lower portion 22 and the upper portion 23 in axially displaceable fashion, there is provided a spring 24 which shortens the length of the coupling by narrowing the distance between the upper and lower parts thereof along the axial direction whenever the coupling is subjected to external force working along practically an axial direction. The universal couplings 6 and 6' have their lower portions 22 fixed on a pair of splines 25 and 25' extending upwardly perpendicularly from an intermeshed pair of gears 7 and 7' along the axis of rotation thereof respectively. These gears 7 and 7' constitute a member of the gear drive mechanism 9 connected to a motor 8. Accordingly, the couplings 6 and 6' are devised to rotate in opposite directionsin response to operation of the motor 8. The upper portions 23 of the couplings 6 and 6', when the couplings are fixed on the splines, 25 and 25' extend through an opening formed in the sole plate 4, and the upper extremities thereof are so disposed as to project slightly above the level of the surface of the sole plate 4 when the stand 3 is not mounted on the sole plate 4. On the upright portion 5 of the frame 2 there is provided a pair of overhung portions 10 and 10' for holding one side of the sole plate 4 therebetween. These overhung portions 10 and 10' are provided with perpendicular guide faces 11 and 11' respectively extending parallel to the direction of inserting the material-to-be-rolled between the rolling rolls. A pair of holding members 12 and 12' forming a pair of confronting are provided both on the upper part and the lower part of the overhung portions 10 and 10'. The holding members 12 and 12' face each other. The inwardly confronting fore ends of these holding members 12 and 12' are equipped with projections 13 and 13' respectively. These projections 13 and 13' are retracted in the holding members 12 and 12' respectively at the time when the holding members are not in operation, while at the time when the holding members are operated by a fluid they project from the holding members 12 and 12' respectively and toward each other between the confronting wall surfaces of the overhung portions 10 and 10'. On the stand 3 are rotatably installed the rotary shafts 14 and 14' which extend vertically and are located adjacent each other leaving a space therebetween. On the intermediate portions of these rotary shafts 14 and 14' there is installed a pair of rolling rolls 15 and 15' respectively at identical elevations. The lower ends of the rotary shafts 14 and 14' are configured such that when the stand 3 is mounted on the sole plate 4, they face the afore described opening of the sole plate 4 and fit closely in the non-circular openings formed in the upper portion 23 of the universal couplings 6 and 6' and are disposed therein, whereby the shafts 14 and 14' are interconnected so as to rotate in opposite directions with the rotation of the couplings 6 and 6'. The pair of rolling rolls 15 and 15' are made short in dimension just long enough to form a single caliber thereon, and they define a single caliber 16. On one side of the stand 3 is provided a pair of shoulders 17 and 17' at both the upper part and the lower part. The shoulders are so configured as to fit on the corners of the overhung portions 10 and 10' of the upright portion 5 of the frame 2. On these shoulders 17 and 17' are formed perpendicular guide faces 18 and 18' which are useful at the time of mounting the stand 3 on the sole plate 4 in cooperation with the guide faces 11 and 11' formed on the overhung portions 10 and 10'. The adjusting screws 19 and 19' are provided on the stand 3 for the purpose of advancing and retracting the guide faces 18 and 18' and thereby adjusting the horizontal position of the caliber 16 at the time when the stand 3 has been mounted on the sole plate 4. The shoulders 17 and 17' are further provided with perpendicularly extending grooves 20 and 20', respectively, for the purpose of accommodating the projections 13 and 13' adopted to project from the fore ends of the holding members 12 and 12' between the confronting wall surfaces of the overhung portions 10 and 10' at the time when the stand 3 has been mounted on the sole plate 4 and thereby fixing the stand 3. Next, in the following will be explained the mode of the operation of the foregoing embodiment. On the occasion of placing the stand 3 on the frame 2, the stand 3 is lifted by a machine such as crane and the like and is let down from above the sole plate 4 while making the guide faces 18 and 18' run along the guide faces 11 and 11'. By closely fitting the lower ends of the rotary shafts 14 and 14' in the openings provided in the upper portions 23 of the universal couplings 6 and 6', the stand 3 is made to stand still on the sole plate 4, and further the projections 13 and 13' are fitted in the perpendicular grooves 20 and 20' by actuating the holding members 12 and 12'. By so doing, the central position of the caliber 16 is defined by the vertical elevation above the sole plate 4 and the horizontal distance from the guide faces 11 and 11' and it is set to coincide with a prescribed pass line. When the motor 8 is driven under such conditions, the universal couplings 6 and 6' rotate in opposite directions through the gear drive mechanism 9. The rotary shafts 14 and 14' interlocked with couplings 6 and 6' rotate in concert with the couplings, whereby the rolling rolls 15 and 15' rotate in opposite directions to perform the rolling of the rod-shaped material-to-be-rolled inserted in the caliber 16. Adjustment of the horizontal position of the caliber 16 is performed by advancing or retracting the guide faces 18 and 18' through the operation of the adjusting screws 19 and 19' and thereby adjusting the distance between the caliber 16 and the guide faces 11 and 11'. On the occasion of dismounting the stand 3 from the frame 2 in order to replace it, the motor 8 is stopped, the projections 13 and 13' are disengaged from the perpendicular grooves 20 and 20' by actuating the holding members 12 and 12' in a direction opposite to the foregoing, the stand 3 is thereafter moved to another place by lifting with a machine such as crane, etc., and successively a new stand 3' is positioned on the frame 2 in the same way as described above. Inasmuch as a vertical rolling mill according to the present invention is of such a construction as described above, at the time of replacing the stand thereof, said stand can be directly lifted by a crane or the like from the prescribed position for rolling. Consequently, it does not require any conventional mechanism for the purpose of moving the stand sideways as well as up and down and the stand can be of a small size and light weight. Accordingly, it can be placed on a site of limited area with a relatively simple, ordinary foundation. A vertical rolling mill according to the present invention is also advantageous in that the rolling rolls employed therein, which are of the single-caliber type, are made shorter and lighter than rolls of the multi-caliber type. Therefore, a vertical rolling mill according to the present invention is advantageous compared with the conventional rolling mills in that the stand per se is of light weight, a machine such as crane, etc. for use in lifting the stand suffices to be of a relatively small size. As a result, the size and weight of the rolling mill as a whole can be further reduced, thereby facilitating the operation of machine such as crane, etc., and further simplifying such works as the settling of rolling mill, the replacing of stand, and so forth. Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purpose, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the above disclosed apparatus, including the arrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.