Patent Publication Number: US-7721581-B2

Title: Slide block for articulated spindles

Description:
The present invention pertains to a slide block for articulated spindles on drives of rolling mills, whereby the articulated spindle has a flat peg, whose tongue meshes with a cylindrical opening of a spindle head, which [opening] lies at right angles to the axis of rotation, between which [spindle head] and the flat peg is arranged the slide block. 
   Slide elements or slide blocks, often also called articulated blocks, are known in various embodiments. 
   Thus, slide elements, namely bearing bushes and bearing shells, consisting of a carrier material made of steel with a cast-on bearing alloy, have been described in WO 99/36210 A1. This [bearing alloy] is lead-free and is based on a copper-zinc or copper-aluminum alloy. 
   Bearing alloys that contain copper have become known from EP 1 133 588 B1. 
   Furthermore, a slide bearing has become known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,150 A, whereby the coating in this case consists of a polymer compound. 
   DE 26 56 257 A1 describes articulated blocks for articulated spindles and articulated joint coupling heads of rolling mill drives, which are composed of a plurality of partial segments, whereby these [partial segments] may be made of different materials, such as steel, nonferrous metal or plastic. 
   Finally, DE 36 23 721 A1, which discloses articulated spindles with lubricated articulated rings, may also be mentioned. 
   Such copper-containing alloys are characterized by very good sliding and lubricating properties, but have the drawback that copper is released during abrasion. However, for certain rolling processes, especially special rolling products, it is not permissible for the abraded copper particles to reach the rolling process. 
   In contrast to such bearing bushes or bearing shells that contain rotating parts, in slide blocks torques are transferred, i.e., a completely different type of load. 
   Attempts at using slide blocks made of plastic for transferring torques have failed up to now, because these materials do not have sufficient contact pressure or high-temperature strength. 
   Therefore, the basic object of the present invention is to provide a slide block that permits both a high contact pressure and has a sufficient high-temperature strength, without copper or copper alloys being released during abrasion. 
   This object is accomplished according to the present invention in a slide block for articulated spindles on drives of rolling mills, wherein the articulated spindle has a flat peg, whose tongue meshes with a cylindrical opening of the spindle head, which opening lies at right angles to the axis of rotation, between which [spindle head] and the flat peg is arranged the slide block, in that the slide block is designed as a composite construction with a metallic inner body and an outer layer of polymer fiber material surrounding this [inner body]. 
   It was surprisingly shown that such a polymer fiber material, especially a carbon fiber material, is very suitable for accommodating the high contact pressures and high-temperature strengths that occur in the transfer of torques in rolling mill drives. 
   The slide block according to the present invention can be used both on the motor side and the roller side. 
   It is especially advantageous that no additional lubrication, e.g., by means of grease, oil or oil mist, is required. Because of the material properties of this composite slide block, it is possible to omit a cooling; it [cooling] can at least be considerably reduced compared to conventional bearings. 
   The slide block may have an inner body made of steel and according to another embodiment, splitting the slide block into a plurality of segments is also possible, which are then, of course, also embodied in the composite construction. 
   As the carbon fiber material, e.g., Hycomp® may be used. 

   The present invention shall be explained below in an exemplary embodiment, wherein the bearing structure and the embodiment of the slide block are schematically shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
   The articulated spindle  1  has a flat peg  2 , whose tongue  3  meshes with a cylindrical opening of the spindle head  4 , which [opening] lies at right angles to the axis of rotation. 
   The slide block  5  is arranged between the flat peg  2  and the surrounding spindle head  4 . In the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , this [slide block] consists of two half-ring-shaped slide block segments, which are connected to one another by means of slide bolts  8 . 
   The schematic view of the cut slide block in  FIG. 2  reveals the composite construction of the slide block. 
   It is evident here that the slide block comprises of a metallic inner body  6  consisting, e.g., of steel, and a carbon fiber outer layer  7 .