US1990051A - Rolling mill - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 5, 1935. 5 R 1,990,051

ROLLING MILL Filed Jan. 19, 1952 2 Sheets-She et 1 JWntM Jam/M 2 Sheets- Shet 2 ROLLING MILL Filed Jan. 19, 1952 H. 1.. SCHRECK Feb. 5, 1935.

Patented Feb. 5 1935 OFFICE I 1,990,051; ROLLING MILL f I Hans'L. Schreck, Easton, well Engineering Comp -Pa.,--assignor to Treadany, Easton, Pa., a corporation 'of Pennsylvania: Application January '19, 1932; seri l No; 587574 4'Claims. (Cl. SO-56) The-present invention relates to rolling mills and particularly to mills of the :typein which it necessary to very-accurately adjust the relative positions of adjacent rollers to-cause them to define; between them, a pass suitablefor the rolling of plates, strips, or sheets which, in finished conditiom'must conform exactly or very nearly to -predetermined specifications with respect to size, particularly with'respect to thick: ness. r r

, It is sometimes necessary to effect an exceed ingly iineadjustmentof atleast one of the rolls of a mill tosecurea pass of the desired vertical dimension, and occasionally it Qis necessary to adjust-oneend,- orboth ends; of one; Of" the -rolls u w y rde el ar y th ou ni e I e fi thousandth part f: -an inch 7 toasecure perfect parallelism of theroll; surfaces and ;a prqduet with exactly.- parallel, faces; Particularly. where sheets are to be rolled the [mill :should; have the capacity for very fineadjustrnent of the rolls; and the present; invention may therefore be; said; to be e t w r rau e u qwn dt on ;w t. he t rolling mills, vparticularly mills. for; :cold rolling.

1 Various ex d nt hav en reso ted. to he tofore by manufacturersand operators-of rolling millsfor obtaining very, fine relative adjustments of the mill; rolls, such,- for instance; asthe -provision of double worm gear-reduction- -mechanis ns between the electric motor which is usually employed to effect'the-adjustment and the threaded rod orscrew which -'s operatively connected to the roll bearing-blocks and by means of which screw movement ofthe bearingand ;rol1 is'effected; A-double-wormgear reduction mechanism, however, necessarily involves. a considerable amount of lost motion betweenthe motor and the screw 'duexto the presence of-gnumerous bearings and play or back-lash between theinter meshing teeth of. the gearingl-o In. an appliance 91 h k nd- 93? i Qt P s bl i ac r te indicate to the operator very smallangles f rotation of thesadjusting screw or screws due-to the fact that,',for ayfirie adjustmentlofthe screw, its motion is' almost imperceptible and'to .the fact. that theposition of' the motorarmatiire which drives themechanism, or theanglelthrough whichthe armature rotates ineffectingthe-ad justment, do not truly. indicate the extentof the adjustmentby'reason of the lost motion inherent in'thereductiongearingv H The operators of mills which are not-provided with mechanisms of the type just brieflydescribedsometimes attempt tosecure very fineadjustments of the rolls byrrotating thernuts havthreaded engagement with the rolladjusting screws through verysmall angles by blows of a hammer. 'or sledge. This method naturallyv is crude-and u' satis factory, being injurious to the mechanisrn andlnever very accurate. In accordance withthe presentinvention, a mechanism is provided whereby very fineadjustments ofathe relative positions of --the ro11s-may be obtained {quickly and accurately and also without the abandonment of theelectric rnotor. as a source-of power for efiecting the adjustment so that the operator-is-enabled to easily efiect any necessary adjustmentwithin a few seconds.

3 The invention contemplates the provision I in a rolling millof a sleeve to encircleor-envelop each ofthe threaded rods or screws by which roll adjustment is ordinarily secured, this sleevebeing;; interiorly: threaded so as to have threaded engagementwith the associated screw and being also ezgteriorly threaded soas to have threaded engagementwith the aperture in the frame or housing through-which both the sleeve and rod project. Theexterior and interior ithreads of the sleeve arev of thesame hand but differ slightly in -lpitch.- Thus, when the sleeve is rotated through one revolution, with the associated screw held againstrotation, the net longitudinal movement of the screw connected to the roll bearing is equal. to .the difference in pitch between the interior and exteriorthreads of the; sleeve. By properly choosing the relative pitch of the exterior and interior threads of the sleeve; the desired longitudinal movement of the screwfor each revolutionof the sleeve can be obtained. Furthermore, means is vprovided whereby either the threaded sleeve or thescrew may be rotated at the=wil1;of theoperator, the secondof'these members remaining stationary, thatis, not rotating, during rotation of the first. This permits the operator to hold the sleeve stationaryand vrotate the screw'if a fast movement or adjustment of theassociated rollis desired.- A very fast movement of-theroll may be obtained by rotatin gv both-sleeve and screw at thesame time,but such procedure is generally unnecessary. a

y In adaptin-g' the invention-to rollingmills which vary type, functions-and details ,ofconstruction, the invention may be considerably modified in the design and arrangement of its com-. ponent parts. In the accompanying drawings; one ernbodimentis disclosed, but it will be appreciated byJt QSe skilled in the art that .this v is set forth by: wayof example only.

In the drawingsi- 'r'i ure 1 is topplan viewer arolling mill to o which the invention has been applied, one housing plate having been removed; and

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

A portion of the housing of the mill is indicated at and the neck of the upper roll at 11, this roll neck being rotatably supported in a suitable bearing block assembly generally indicated at 12, which block is vertically movable in the guideway formed by the mutually facing, parallel, vertical surfaces 13 of the housing. It will be understood that the upper roll of the mill is supported at both ends in bearing blocks such as that illustrated and that roll adjusting mechanish shown in Figure 2 is duplicatedat-the opposite end of the roll. 7

On its upper surface, the bearing block 12 is provided, and at a point directly above the axis of the roll 11, with a cylindrical recess within which the lower end 14 of a vertically disposed screw 14 is positioned. A collar 15, the downwardly and inwardlyturned ends of which engage recesses formed in the bearing block, is provided with a central cylindrical aperture through which screw 14 extends, the rod being'here reduced in diameter. The lower end portion 14 of the screw has an upwardly-directed annular surface which engages the lower surface of member 15 so that this collar serves to transfer the weight of one half of the roll 11 and the entire weight of the associated bearing block to the rod 14.

Immediately above the yoke 15, the rod 14 is provided with threads 16, which threads are in engagement with correspondingly formed threads on the interior of a sleeve member 17 which is concentric with and envelopsthe rod. Sleeve 17 in turn has threads upon its exterior surface which engage correspondingly formed threads in an outer sleeve 18 rigidly secured to the frame or housing in any suitable manner, as for instance by means of bolts 19 and washers20. If desired, the outer sleeve 18 may be; dispensed with and the threads formed on the interior of a' cylindrical opening in the horizontal upper cross piece of the housing. It is preferred, however, to employ an outer sleeve, such as 18, not only by reason of the fact that the interior of such a sleeve can be more conveniently threaded and the assembly of the various parts more easily accomplished but also because it can be formed of material more suitable for a threaded member than that used in the fabrication of the frame or housing 10.

The sleeve 17 and screw 14 project vertically upwardly for a considerable distance above the top of the housing 10, and splined upon each is a worm wheel, the worm wheel splined to the outer surface of the sleeve being indicated at 21 and that splined to the screw 14 being indicated at 22. Meshing with the teeth of worm wheel 21 are the teeth of a worm 23 fixed on a shaft 24, and meshing with the teeth of worm wheel 22 are the teeth of a worm 25 fixed on ashaft 26. Obviously rotation of shaft 23 will effect rotation 'of worm wheel 21 and rotation of sleeve 17, the sleeve being free to rise or fall while rotating by reason of the splined connection between the worm wheel and-sleeve surface. In a similar manner, rotation of shaft 26 will cause vertical movement of screw 14.

The rotation of these two shafts 24 and 26 may be brought about by various means, but I prefer to employ electric motors. Thus, a motor is indicated at M which is connected lay-reduction gearing, including pinion 2'1 and gear 28, to shaft 26, and when this motor M is energized, the

shaft will rotate, thus effecting rotation of the screw 14. The motor is made reversible so the shaft may be rotated in either direction. Shaft 26 extends in both directions from gear 28, and a second worm is mounted on this shaft (illustrated in dotted lines), the teeth of which mesh with those of a worm wheel mounted upon shaft 14? so that screws l4 and1l4 are simultaneously revolved upon energization of the-motor M.

The sleeve 17 illustrated in Figure 2, and like- 'Wise a second and similar sleeve associated with screw 14 (but which is not illustrated) may also be rotated through suitable gearing from the motor N, suitably mounted upon the top of the housing. The shaft 24 is connected to this motor by-means of gear30, pinion 31, and a magnetic clutch 32, anda second shaft 24', similar to shaft 24, is also connected to the motor shaft through gear '33, pinion 34, and magnetic clutch 35, the shafts 24 and 24 being in alignment but not connected' with each other otherwise thanthrough the motor. With both magnetic clutches 32 and 35 engaged, therefore, the motor N may be caused to rotate both sleeve 17} and the sleeveassociated with the screw 14 the sleeves moving in the same direction of rotation. By disengaging either of the magnetic clutches, either sleeve may be rotated independently of the other and in the desired direction, the motor N being reversible.

In the construction just described, therefore, the motor M may be energized to effect simultaneous-rotation of the screws' 14 and 14 the sleeves associated with these screws being maintainedlocked against"rotatory movement by reason of the fact that the driving gearings for such sleeves are irreversible. As a result, a quick raising or lowering of the roll 11 occurs. By energizing the motor- N with clutches 32 and 35 engaged andmaintaining" the motor -M inactive, the sleeves-aloneare rotated, and the resulting movement of the" roll 11 is-slow. Thus, in the event that the pitch of the exterior teeth of the sleeve 17 "is 1.5 inches and the'pitch of the interior thr ad is 1.45 inches, the vertical movement of the screw 14 during a-single'revolution of the sleeve will be only .05 inch or the difference between the pitches'of the outer and inner threads of the sleeve. If the sleeve is given only a partial rotation, the travel of the associated screw is, of course, reduced, andby the mechanism just described it isquite possible to raise or lower either screw the desired fraction of an inch, however small, without difficulty, or to give both screws a simultaneous vertical adjustment. A suitable device for indicating either the rotation of the sleeve or the extent of vertical movement of the screws maybe utilized if'desired.

It will'be' apparentto'b'ne skilled in the art that the design and arrangement of the sleeve and'associated 'parts-may be considerably varied without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention Having; thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent iszir 1. In a rollingrnill, in combination, a frame, a roll mounted'insaiid frame, and mechanism for raising and lowering the roll; said mechanism includinga pair of sleeves having threaded engagement with the frameand a pair of screw shafts each having one end operatively connected respectively with one endof the roll, and having threaded engagement" with said sleeves, the threaded connections of said sleeves with the frame-and screw respectively being of the same hand but differing in pitch, means for rotating said screw shafts and said sleeves, comprising a worm wheel splined to each of said screw shafts and to each of said sleeves, a worm arranged for meshing engagement with each of said worm wheels, a source of power operatively connected to the Worms associated with said screw shafts, and means for alternatively or simultaneously connecting a source of power with the two worms associated with said sleeves, whereby fine adjustments of the roll may be effected at either or both ends thereof.

2. In a rolling mill, in combination, a frame, a roll mounted in said frame, a mechanism for raising and lowering the roll, said mechanism including a member having threaded engagement with the frame, a screw having one end operatively connected to the roll and having threaded engagement with said member, the threaded connections of said member with said frame and screw, respectively, being of the same hand but differing in pitch, a worm wheel splined to the screw, a second worm wheel splined to said member, worms meshing with said worm wheels respectively, and a power source connected to each of said worms whereby either may be actuated at the will of the operator.

3. In a rolling mill, in combination, a frame, a roll bearing block slidably mounted in the frame, and means for adjusting the position of said block including a rotatable screw having one end attached to the block in such manner that the block may be raised or lowered as desired upon rotation of the screw, a rotatable sleeve concentric with and enveloping the screw, said sleeve having threaded engagement interiorly with the screw and exteriorly with the frame, the threads of the sleeve being of the same hand respectively but differing in pitch, and means to independently rotate the screw and sleeve as desired, whereby adjustments of varying degree of fineness may be attained.

4. In a rolling mill, in combination, a frame, a roll bearing block slidably mounted in the frame, a threaded screw having one end attached to the block in such manner that the block may be raised or lowered as desired upon rotation of said screw, means for rotating said screw, said means including an irreversible gearing whereby said screw is locked against rotation when said means is inactive, a sleeve concentric with and enveloping said screw and having threads formed thereon engaging with the threads of the screw, said sleeve also having threads which engage the frame for positively raising and lowering the sleeve upon rotation thereof, and means for rotating said sleeve, said last mentioned means including an irreversible gearing, whereby said block may be raised or lowered by the rotation of either saidscrew or said sleeve or by simultaneously rotating both screw and sleeve, whereby said roll may be positively positioned and maintained in desired position.

HANS L. SCHRECK.

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