Abstract:
Modular roll apparatus particularly suitable for conveying hot material such as a sheet of steel being processed. Each roll has its own individual water bath and drive mechanism. A water trough isolates the bath from the bearings and drive mechanism for the roll and bathes the underside of the roll to cool it. The entire modular unit can be removed from its operating position and replaced by a similar such unit. A conveyor containing a multiplicity of such units is suitable for conveying hot sheet steel or other hot material in a processing mill.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a modular bathed driving roll apparatus and a conveyor incorporating same, especially for conveying hot material. The invention is useful for supporting and driving a slab or sheet of steel in a steel rolling mill. More specifically, the modular table roll apparatus comprises a roll, drive mechanism and trough for a water bath for the roll, in the form of a single, removable modular unit. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In a steel rolling mill, sheets (slabs, strips, etc.) of steel in various stages of the fabrication process are supported and moved about by rolls. Such rolls are power-driven and mounted parallel to each other, forming a support and conveyor for the steel sheets. The rolls may be air cooled or water sprayed. A plurality of rolls may be connected to one another via a suitable drive mechanism. Repairing or replacing the components of this conventional system is a cumbersome task. If a roll has to be replaced, the drive mechanism must be laboriously disassembled, rendering inoperative all the interconnected rolls driven by the drive assembly until the repair is completed. Cooling of the rolls may be haphazard and uneven. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Our invention is a modular roll apparatus, each individual roll having its own water bath and drive mechanism, positioned and operating together as a modular unit. A plurality of such units form a conveyor. In use, a conveyor comprising a plurality of such modular units can support and move a sheet of steel (say). Each modular table roll unit can be removed as a complete self-contained unit from the line of rolls and replaced quickly by a replacement modular unit of identical structure. Thus, if a unit or a component thereof requires replacement, it is a simple and quick operation to remove the unit and insert a new one. Repairs on the removed unit are facilitated by being able to move the unit to a suitable working area. 
     Further, each such unit has a trough to contain its own self-contained water bath. This enables the conveyor as a whole to continue to function if one of the troughs develops a leak or its water supply fails. Further in contrast to conventional design, a whole bath serving a number of rolls need not be drained merely to replace one roll. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a modular table roll according to our invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the roll of FIG. 1, absent the lateral sides of the trough. 
     FIG. 3 is a section view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2, including the lateral sides of the trough. 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view of an array of three modular table roll assemblies, each conforming to the assembly illustrated in FIG. 1, the array of FIG. 4 forming a portion of a table roll conveyor. 
     FIG. 5 is an end elevation view partially in section along the line 5--5 of FIG. 4 illustrating an exemplary positioning of the table roll modular array of FIG. 4 in position beneath a coiler furnace shown schematically in FIG. 5. 
     FIG. 6 is a front elevation view partially in section along the line 6--6 of FIG. 4 illustrating a representative positioning of a modular table roll assembly in position beneath a coiler furnace shown schematically in section in FIG. 6. 
     FIG. 7 shows the coiler furnace and table roll modular assembly of FIG. 6 with the modular table roll assembly illustrated as being partially removed from its normal operating position beneath the coiler furnace. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, modular table roll apparatus 1 has a drive mechanism generally indicated as 7 comprising an electric motor 2, transmission 4 and drive shaft 26. The shaft 26 is coupled to and drives table roll 8, which is supported in bearing assemblies 10 and 12. The drive motor 2, transmission 4, drive shaft 26 and roll 8 are linked by conventional coupling assemblies. The drive motor 2, transmission 4 and bearing assemblies 10 and 12 are affixed to an elongated base plate 14 by means of bolt-and-nut assemblies 9. The base plate 14 has bolt holes 24 whereby it can be affixed to a support or receptacle within the rolling table of the mill. 
     A watertight trough 16 surrounds a lower segment of roll 8. The trough 16 has side walls 18, and end walls 20 and 22 located inwardly of bearing assemblies 10 and 12 respectively. The base 14 forms the bottom of the trough 16. The end walls 20, 22 isolate water within trough 16 from the bearings 10, 12 and from the drive mechanism 7. In use, trough 16 is filled with water so that most of the lower part of roll 8 is wetted with water and is cooled by the water as the roll is rotated in bearing assemblies 10 and 12 by drive motor 2. While a water-level regulator for the trough 16 could be devised, it is simpler to run water continuously into the trough 16 and to permit it to overflow via slots 19 in the upper side walls of the trough 16, which slots 19 are preferably conveniently located above a drainage sluiceway (not shown) underneath the table rolls. A hand valve (not shown) can be used to regulate the water flow into the trough 16. Normally the rolls 8 constantly rotate throughout a given cycle of mill operation, whether or not they are for the time being transporting steel strip or plate, so as to maintain constant cooling of the rolls 8 and mechanical and thermal equilibrium throughout the conveyor. 
     A suitable water supply for the trough 16 is illustrated in FIG. 6. Water enters the trough 16 via the open end 50 of a water supply pipe 54. The end 50 of the supply pipe 54 should be positioned below the surface level of water within the trough 16 so as to avoid unnecessary splashing and turbulence. A valve 56 controls the flow of water through supply pipe 54. A quick-disconnect coupling 52 is conveniently interposed between the area supply conduit 58 and supply pipe 54 to permit rapid connection and disconnection of the supply pipe 54 from the area supply conduit for purposes of convenient insertion and removal of the modular unit 1 from time to time as required. 
     A representative use of a table roll module of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is as part of a table roll conveyor in a steel mill. FIGS. 4 to 7 illustrate a representative such use. In FIG. 4, three such units 1 are shown in plan view in a generally horizontal array for the purposes of transporting steel strip or plate in a direction generally perpendicular to the axes of rotation of table rolls 8 of the modular units 1 of FIG. 4. Each modular unit 1 of FIG. 4 is essentially identical to the modular unit 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, although, of course, modifications and variants will readily occur to those skilled in the technology. 
     The series of table rolls illustrated in FIG. 4, of course, would be a small fraction of the total number of table rolls required in a rolling mill, all of which could, if desired, conform to the modular unit arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. 
     The configuration of FIG. 4 might, for example, appear underneath a coiler furnace 30, which is schematically depicted in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. Note that the table roll 8 is normally longer in extension than the width of steel strip that it conveys. That width will, of course, be narrower than the limiting dimension L of coiler furnace 30. This selection of dimensions offsets the drive unit 7 and bearings 10, 12 away from direct radiant heat from the coiler furnace 30. 
     It can be seen from FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 that each base plate 14 rests on a frame support plate or track 32, in turn supported by, and affixed to, track beams 34. Each track beam 34 may be welded to or otherwise fixed to a generally horizontally extending support frame beam 36 at the point of surface engagement of these elements indicated as point of engagement 38 for the left-most modular unit 1 illustrated in FIG. 5. 
     Each of the base plates 14 of the modular assemblies 1 is bolted to its underlying support plate 32 by means of nuts and bolts 40 passing through bolt holes 24 in the base plates 14 and corresponding bolt holes (not specifically illustrated) in the support plates 32. 
     If any of the modular assemblies 1 is defective and requires repair or replacement for any reason, or is to be removed for routine maintenance, it is a simple job to remove the hold-down bolts 40 and pull the entire modular unit 1 transversely to the left, as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 7 shows one such assembly partly removed from its normal operating position (FIG. 6). A suitable quick disconnect arrangement (not shown) between the electric motor 2 and its power supply will facilitate ready removal and reinstallation. Removal is also facilitated by providing at the extremity of the modular unit 1, remote from the drive mechanism 7, a support wheel or roller 42 rotatably mounted in a mounting bracket 44 fixed to the end of face plate 14 remote from drive mechanism 7. Conveniently, the roller 42 is at least as wide as track 32, and housing 44 is provided with depending guide tabs 45 (FIGS. 1 and 2) so that the track 32 is embraced by the guide tabs 45. This facilitates proper alignment of the modular unit 1 on the supporting track 32 when the modular unit is inserted for installation. For convenience of illustration, guide tabs 45 are not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
     Various modifications of the design will readily occur to a person skilled in the art. Such modifications are within the scope of our invention, which is defined in the following claims.