Patent ID: 7086264

Claim:
A method of operating a roll stand comprising: upper and lower vertically spaced rotatable outer backing rolls; a pair of small-diameter working rolls; a pair of large-diameter working rolls, each working-roll pair being fittable between the backing rolls; a drive including a motor, upper and lower backing-roll outputs drivable by the motor, and upper and lower working-roll outputs also drivable by the motor; respective upper and lower backing-roll releasable connections between the upper and lower backing rolls and the upper and lower backing-roll outputs; and upper and lower working-roll releasable connections connected to the upper and lower working roll outputs and connectable only to the large-diameter working rolls, the method comprising the steps of alternatively: fitting only the large-diameter working rolls between the backing rolls, disconnecting the backing rolls from the drive, and connecting the large-diameter working rolls via the respective connections to the drive; and fitting the small-diameter working rolls between the backing rolls, disconnecting the small-diameter working rolls from the drive, and connecting only the backing rolls via the respective connections to the drive.