Patent ID: 7191629

Claim:
A modular rolling mill, comprising: a plurality of separate rolling units arranged along a mill pass line, each rolling unit having at least two pairs of work rolls carried on roll shafts, intermediate drive trains contained within said rolling units for mechanically coupling said roll shafts to input shafts, the input shafts of said rolling units being parallel to each other and projecting to a first side of said pass line from their respective rolling units; a line shaft parallel to and on the first side of said pass line; means for driving said line shaft; parallel output shafts mechanically coupled by bevel gear sets to said line shaft, said output shafts projecting laterally from said line shaft towards said pass line; and coupling means for connecting each of said output shafts to a respective one of said input shafts, said coupling means being separable to accommodate selective removal of said rolling units to a second side of said pass line opposite to said first side.