Patent ID: 8365567

Claim:
A rolling mill for flat products, the rolling mill comprising: an upper work roll and a lower work roll, the upper work roll and the lower work roll driven by electric motors, and each having an axial center; an upper backup roll and a lower backup roll, the upper backup roll contacting said upper work roll, and said lower backup roll contacting said lower work roll, said upper and lower backup rolls supporting a rolling reaction force applied to said upper and lower work rolls, the axial centers of said work rolls offset in a horizontal direction from the axial centers of said backup rolls; and devices configured to apply external forces in a substantially horizontal direction to barrels or shafts of said upper and lower work rolls, at least one device positioned at each of a work side and a drive side of the upper and lower work rolls; wherein the external forces are applied to said work rolls in the same direction as the horizontal component of the rolling reaction force applied to said work rolls due to the rolling direction offset between said work roll axial center positions and backup roll axial center positions, and the external forces applied to said work rolls are supported through work roll chocks by project blocks of the rolling mill housing or work roll chock support members connected to backup roll chocks.