CN112091097B - Four-rod type carrier roller device for stretching straightener - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a four-rod type carrier roller device for a stretching straightener, wherein the stretching straightener comprises a frame arranged on a horizontal plane, the four-rod type carrier roller device comprises a plurality of carrier roller units which are arranged on the frame at intervals, and each carrier roller unit comprises: a hinged four-bar mechanism mounted to the frame in a hinged manner and having a link portion; and a rectangular support frame, a first side of which is used for supporting the straightened product, and the other opposite second side of which is fixedly connected to the connecting rod part of the four-bar hinge mechanism, wherein the rectangular support frame rotates under the guidance of the four-bar hinge mechanism along with the rotation of the connecting rod part of the four-bar hinge mechanism so as to be lifted or lowered. The invention can change the motion track of the carrier roller from a circular arc to a curve with small horizontal spacing and large vertical spacing, so that compared with the swing arm type structure in the prior art, the invention shortens the distance between the carrier roller devices under the same condition, reduces the downwarping degree of the straightened product and improves the straightening quality of the product.

Description

Four-rod type carrier roller device for stretching straightener

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field, in particular to a four-rod carrier roller device for a stretching straightener.

Background

Generally, a stretch leveler can achieve straightening by applying a tensile force in the longitudinal direction of an extruded product to cause a stress generated inside the extruded product to exceed the yield limit of the material of the extruded product, thereby causing plastic elongation of the extruded product by an external force. The stretch leveler can hold both ends of the product by a clamp and stretch the product in the longitudinal direction of the product to straighten the product.

Figure 1 shows a prior art stretch leveler 1. As shown in fig. 1, the stretch leveler 1 may include a frame 2, an idler roller device 3, a conveyor belt 4, a stretch collet 5, a moving collet 6, a clamp, etc., wherein the idler roller device 3 includes a plurality of idler rollers 8 and a plurality of idler arms 7, wherein each idler arm 7 has one end detachably mounted to a corresponding idler roller 8 and the other end for supporting a product being straightened, such that when all or part of these idler rollers 8 rotate, the corresponding idler arm 7 also rotates about the respective idler roller 8 to be raised or lowered. A plurality of conveyor belts 4 may be arranged along the length of the product for loading and unloading the product and conveying the product to the straightening horizontal center of the stretch leveler 1. In the middle of the conveyor belt 4, in the direction of extension of the product, a number of idler devices 3 can be arranged for lifting the product from the conveyor belt 4 to the vertical centre of the stretch-leveler 1 and after the straightening has been completed, receiving the product and placing it on the conveyor belt 4, where the product is then removed by the conveyor belt 4. When the lengths of the straightened products are different, the movable clamp 6 of the stretching straightener 1 can be required to move back and forth to different positions to clamp one end of the products for straightening, and at the moment, the carrier roller device 3 positioned below the movable clamp 6 is required to be positioned below the lowest point of the movable clamp 6 to avoid collision. To sum up, the idler completing function of the idler device at least needs to meet three position requirements: (1) when the products are loaded and unloaded below the conveying belt, the carrier roller is positioned below the conveying belt; (2) the carrier roller can lift the product to the center of the stretching chuck and the movable chuck; (3) when the movable chuck moves, the roller device is positioned below the lowest end of the movable chuck so as to avoid collision.

The above-mentioned conventional idler device 3 often adopts a swing arm type structure in which the track of the idler is circular arc. In order to meet the requirement of no mutual interference between the carrier rollers, the distance between the two carrier roller devices 3 is required to meet the requirement that the two carrier rollers do not collide at any position, and therefore the distance between the carrier rollers is at least the radius of an arc, namely the radius of the carrier roller arm 7 determines the distance between the carrier rollers. On a large straightener, the radius of a swing arm of the carrier roller device 3 is correspondingly increased due to the large size of the movable chuck 6, so that the distance between the carrier rollers is large. When the idler device 3 lifts the product, the product may be deflected or warped downwards due to the too large distance between the support points, thereby affecting the straightening effect of the product.

Fig. 2 exemplarily shows a circular arc trajectory of the idler arm 7 around the idler shaft 8 in fig. 1, wherein reference numeral 71 denotes a lowest position when the idler arm 7 does not support the straightened product, reference numeral 72 denotes a position where the idler arm 7 supports and moves the straightened product to reach below the stretching jaw 5 and the moving jaw 6 for stretching the straightened product, and reference numeral 73 denotes a position where the idler arm 7 moves the straightened product to a straightening horizontal center of the stretching jaw 5 and the moving jaw 6. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the idler arm 7 or the idler at the end of the idler arm 7 has a circular arc shape with a radius R, wherein the radius R is slightly smaller than the distance between the centre of the idler shaft 8 and the support means of the conveyor belt 4. It can be seen from the figure that the swing arm radius R of the idler arms 7 is relatively large, so that the distance between the idler devices 3 and the distance between the idlers are also relatively large, thus leading to a relatively heavy stretch straightener.

Thus, the prior art structure shown in fig. 1 and 2 may suffer from the following drawbacks: the structure size is large, and the occupied area is large; the moment arm of the carrier roller is large, so that the moment is large, larger thrust is needed, the diameter of the swing arm is increased, and the whole weight is increased; the distance of the carrier roller is long, and the downwarping degree of the straightened product after being placed on the carrier roller is large, so that the straightening effect is directly influenced.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a four bar idler apparatus for a stretch leveler that eliminates or at least alleviates some or all of the above-discussed deficiencies in the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above technical problems in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a four-bar idler device for a stretch straightening machine, which can change the motion trajectory of an idler from a circular arc to a curve with a small horizontal distance and a large vertical distance, so that compared with a swing arm type structure in the prior art, the distance between idler devices is shortened, the downwarping degree of a straightened product is reduced, and the straightening quality of the product is improved under the same condition.

It is emphasized that, unless otherwise indicated, the terms used herein correspond to the ordinary meanings of the various technical and scientific terms in the art, and the meanings of the technical terms defined in the various technical dictionaries, textbooks, etc.

To this end, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a four-bar idler device for a stretch leveler, wherein the stretch leveler includes a frame installed on a horizontal plane, wherein the four-bar idler device includes a plurality of idler units installed on the frame at intervals, wherein each of the idler units includes:

a hinged four-bar mechanism mounted to the frame in a hinged manner and having a link portion;

a rectangular support frame, a first side of which is used for supporting the straightened product and a second opposite side of which is fixedly connected to the link part of the four-bar linkage, wherein the rectangular support frame rotates under the guidance of the four-bar linkage along with the rotation of the link part of the four-bar linkage so as to be lifted or lowered.

Further, in one embodiment, the articulated four-bar mechanism may be a double rocker mechanism.

Further, in an embodiment, the articulated four-bar mechanism may include:

a first longitudinal pivot shaft hingeably mounted to the frame;

two first cross bars parallel to and spaced apart from each other, each of which may have a first frame end perpendicularly and fixedly fitted to the first longitudinal rotating shaft, and a first link end opposite to the first frame end;

a second longitudinal rotation shaft disposed parallel to the first longitudinal rotation shaft, which may be hingedly mounted to the frame, may be disposed obliquely below a position adjacent to the first longitudinal rotation shaft, and does not interfere with the first longitudinal rotation shaft;

two second cross bars parallel to and spaced apart from each other, each of which may have a second frame end perpendicularly and fixedly fitted to the second longitudinal rotating shaft and a second link end opposite to the second frame end, wherein the two second cross bars may be disposed inside the two first cross bars, respectively;

a third longitudinal rotating shaft arranged in parallel with the first longitudinal rotating shaft, wherein the end parts of the second connecting rods of the two second cross rods can be respectively connected to the two ends of the third longitudinal rotating shaft in a hinged manner, so that the second longitudinal rotating shaft, the two second cross rods and the third longitudinal rotating shaft can form a rectangular structure capable of rotating around the second longitudinal rotating shaft together;

a fourth longitudinal rotating shaft arranged in parallel with the first longitudinal rotating shaft and capable of being mounted to the two second cross rods in a hinged manner and adjacent to the corresponding second connecting rod end portions, wherein the first connecting rod end portions of the two first cross rods can be respectively and fixedly connected to two ends of the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft, so that the first longitudinal rotating shaft, the two first cross rods and the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft can together form a rectangular structure capable of rotating around the first longitudinal rotating shaft;

the distance between the first rotating shafts between the third longitudinal rotating shaft and the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft is smaller than the distance between the second rotating shafts between the first longitudinal rotating shaft and the second longitudinal rotating shaft, the length of the first cross rod is smaller than that of the second cross rod, and the parts, between the third longitudinal rotating shaft and the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft, of the two second cross rods form two connecting rod parts of the hinge four-bar mechanism.

Further, in one embodiment, the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft may extend through the two second cross bars and the two first cross bars, respectively.

Further, in an embodiment, the rectangular support frame may further include two transverse rods parallel to and spaced apart from each other, wherein the two transverse rods may extend between the first side and the second side of the rectangular support frame and each may include opposite first and second ends, wherein the first ends of each of the two transverse rods may be fixedly connected to the first side of the rectangular support frame and the second ends may be hinged to the second link ends of the two second crossbars of the four-bar hinge mechanism, respectively.

Further, in an embodiment, the second ends of the two transverse rods may be hinged to the upper surface of the end of the corresponding second connecting rod, respectively, and the two transverse rods may be located at positions partially overlapping the corresponding first cross rods, respectively, so that when the two first cross rods rotate together, the two first cross rods may abut against the corresponding transverse rods, respectively, to guide the rectangular supporting frame to rotate, so that the rectangular supporting frame is raised or lowered.

Further, in one embodiment, the rectangular support frame may be in a state folded over the articulated four-bar mechanism when the four-bar idler unit is in the lowermost position.

Further, in an embodiment, each idler unit may further include a push rod fixedly mounted to the first longitudinal rotating shaft for pushing the first longitudinal rotating shaft to rotate.

Further, in an embodiment, at least one first lateral support bar may be disposed between the two second crossbars.

Further, in an embodiment, at least one second lateral support bar may be arranged between two lateral bars of the rectangular support frame.

The improved four-rod type carrier roller device for the stretching straightener provided by the embodiment of the invention has the following beneficial effects:

the invention can change the motion track of the carrier roller from the circular arc in the prior art into a curve with small horizontal distance and large vertical distance, so that compared with the swing arm type structure in the prior art, the invention shortens the distance between the carrier roller devices under the same condition, reduces the downwarping degree of a straightened product and improves the straightening quality of the product; moreover, the invention has simple and compact structure and better practicability.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a prior art tension leveler;

fig. 2 illustrates by way of example a circular arc shaped path of rotation of the idler arm of fig. 1 about the idler shaft;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a schematic perspective view of a stretch leveler that includes a four bar idler apparatus for the stretch leveler according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 schematically shows a perspective view of an idler unit in the four-bar idler device for the stretch leveler of fig. 3;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates the four-bar mechanism principle utilized in the four-bar idler apparatus for the stretch leveler of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates three positions of idler arms in the four bar idler arrangement for the stretch leveler of FIG. 3;

fig. 7 schematically shows a movement locus diagram of an idler arm in the four-bar type idler device for the stretch leveler of fig. 3.

Description of the element reference numerals

1: a stretching straightener; 2: a frame; 3: a carrier roller device; 4: a conveyor belt; 5: stretching the chuck; 6: moving the chuck; 7: a idler arm; 71: a location; 72: a location; 73: a location; 8: a carrier roller shaft; r: a radius;

100: a four-bar carrier roller device; 110: a carrier roller unit; 120: a hinged four-bar mechanism; 121: a push rod; 1210: a first longitudinal axis of rotation; 1220: a first cross bar; 1221: a first frame end; 1222: a first link end; 1230: a second longitudinal rotating shaft; 1240: a second cross bar; 1241: a second frame end; 1242: a second link end; 1250: a third longitudinal rotation shaft; 1260: a fourth longitudinal rotation shaft; 130: a rectangular support frame; 200: a stretching straightener; 210: a frame; a: an axis; b: an axis; c: an axis; d: an axis; r1: a horizontal projection length; r2: a radius of rotation; r3: a radius of rotation; r4: a maximum horizontal projection length; r5: a radius of rotation; r6: a radius of rotation; r7: maximum horizontal projection length.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the specific embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely a few embodiments of the invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 3 to 7, there is shown a four-bar type idler device 100 for a stretch leveler according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the stretch leveler 200 includes a frame 210 installed on a horizontal plane, wherein the four-bar type idler device 100 includes a plurality of idler units 110 installed on the frame 210 at intervals from each other, wherein each idler unit 110 includes:

a four-bar mechanism 120 hingedly mounted to the frame 210 and having a link portion;

a rectangular support frame 130 having a first side for supporting the article being straightened and an opposite second side fixedly connected to the link portion of the four-bar mechanism 120, wherein the rectangular support frame 130 is rotated to be raised or lowered under the guidance of the four-bar mechanism 120 in accordance with the rotation of the link portion of the four-bar mechanism 120.

As shown in fig. 4, a first side of the rectangular support frame 130 may be attached to an idler for supporting the article being straightened.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates the four-bar idler apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the four-bar idler apparatus 100 is at a lowermost position at which the rectangular support frame 130 is in a state of being folded on the articulated four-bar mechanism 120. Fig. 5 exemplarily shows the four-bar idler device 100 in an upper position in which the rectangular support frame 130 is in a state of being unfolded from the articulated four-bar mechanism 120.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the articulated four-bar mechanism 120 may be a double rocker mechanism.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the articulated four-bar mechanism 120 may include:

a first longitudinal hinge 1210, which may be hingedly mounted to the frame 210;

two first cross bars 1220 parallel to and spaced apart from each other, each of which may have a first frame end 1221 vertically and fixedly fitted to the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210, and a first link end 1222 opposite to the first frame end 1221;

a second longitudinal rotation shaft 1230 provided in parallel with the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210, which may be hingedly mounted to the frame 210, and may be provided obliquely downward adjacent to the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210 without interfering with the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210;

two second crossbars 1240 parallel to and spaced apart from each other, each of which may have a second frame end 1241 perpendicularly and fixedly sleeved to the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230, and a second link end 1242 opposite to the second frame end 1241, wherein the two second crossbars 1240 may be respectively disposed inside the two first crossbars 1220;

a third longitudinal rotating shaft 1250 disposed parallel to the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210, wherein the second link ends 1242 of the two second crossbars 1240 can be respectively connected to two ends of the third longitudinal rotating shaft 1250 in a hinged manner, so that the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230, the two second crossbars 1240 and the third longitudinal rotating shaft 1250 together form a rectangular structure capable of rotating around the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230;

a fourth longitudinal rotation shaft 1260 disposed parallel to the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210 and hingedly mounted to the two second cross bars 1240 and adjacent to the corresponding second link ends 1242, wherein the first link ends 1222 of the two first cross bars 1220 are fixedly connected to both ends of the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft 1260, respectively, so that the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210, the two first cross bars 1220 and the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft 1260 together form a rectangular structure capable of rotating around the first longitudinal rotation shaft 1210;

a first inter-rotation-axis distance between the third longitudinal rotation axis 1250 and the fourth longitudinal rotation axis 1260 is smaller than a second inter-rotation-axis distance between the first longitudinal rotation axis 1210 and the second longitudinal rotation axis 1230, and is smaller than a length of the first cross bar 1220 and is smaller than a length of the second cross bar 1240, so that respective portions of the two second cross bars 1240 between the third longitudinal rotation axis 1250 and the fourth longitudinal rotation axis 1260 can constitute two link portions of the four-bar hinge mechanism 120.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft 1260 may extend through the two second crossbars 1240 and the two first crossbars 1220, respectively. Typically, the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft 1260 may be a shaft to extend through the two second rails 1240 and the two first rails 1220, respectively. In other embodiments, the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft 1260 may include two shafts located on a straight line, which respectively connect the two first crossbars 1220 to the corresponding second crossbars 1240.

In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the rectangular support frame 130 may further include two transverse rods parallel to and spaced apart from each other, wherein the two transverse rods may extend between a first side and a second side of the rectangular support frame 130 and may each include opposite first and second ends, wherein the first ends of the two transverse rods may each be fixedly connected to the first side of the rectangular support frame 130 and the second ends may be respectively hinged to the second link ends 1242 of the two second crossbars 1240 of the four-bar hinge mechanism 120.

Further, in an embodiment, the second ends of the two transverse rods may be hinged to the upper surface of the corresponding second link end 1242 respectively, and may be located at positions partially overlapping the corresponding first cross bars 1220 respectively, so that when the two first cross bars 1220 rotate together, the two first cross bars 1220 may abut against the corresponding transverse rods respectively to guide the rectangular support frame 130 to rotate, so that the rectangular support frame 130 may be lifted or lowered.

As shown in fig. 5, reference symbol a may denote the axial center of the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230, reference symbol B may denote the axial center of the third longitudinal rotating shaft 1250, reference symbol C may denote the axial center of the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft 1260, and reference symbol D may denote the axial center of the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210. Since the first inter-rotation-axis distance BC between the third longitudinal rotation axis 1250 and the fourth longitudinal rotation axis 1260 is smaller than the second inter-rotation-axis distance AD between the first longitudinal rotation axis 1210 and the second longitudinal rotation axis 1230, and is smaller than the length CD of the first cross bar 1220, and is smaller than the length AB of the second cross bar 1240, the four-bar hinge mechanism 120 is a double rocker mechanism in which the first cross bar 1220 and the second cross bar 1240 function as two rockers of the four-bar hinge mechanism 120, a portion BC between reference B and reference C functions as a link of the four-bar hinge mechanism 120, and a transverse bar hinged to the second link end 1242 of the second cross bar 1240 around the outer circumference of the third longitudinal rotation axis 1250 may coincide with the movement of the portion BC.

In an embodiment, each idler unit 110 may further include a push rod 121 fixedly mounted to the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210 for pushing the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210 to rotate.

In one embodiment, at least one first lateral support bar is disposed between two second crossbars 1240.

In one embodiment, at least one second lateral support bar is disposed between two lateral bars of the rectangular support frame 130.

Fig. 6 schematically shows three positions of the idler arms in the four-bar type idler device for the stretch leveler of fig. 4, and fig. 7 schematically shows a movement locus diagram of the idler arms in the four-bar type idler device for the stretch leveler of fig. 4.

The operation of the four-bar idler device 100 for a stretch leveler will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to fig. 3 and 4, when the push rod 121 is pushed counterclockwise to actuate the hinged four-bar mechanism 120 to lift, the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210, the two first cross bars 1220 fixedly sleeved on the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210, the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft 1260 fixedly connected with the two first cross bars 1220, the two second cross bars 1240 hingedly connected with the fourth longitudinal rotating shaft 1260, the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230 fixedly connected with the two second cross bars 1240, and the third longitudinal rotating shaft 1250 hingedly connected with the two second cross bars 1240 rotate counterclockwise together, thereby driving the rectangular support frame 130 to rotate and unfold clockwise from the folded state, as shown in fig. 7. During the rotation of the rectangular support frame 130, the two cross bars of the rectangular support frame 130 support and abut on the two first cross bars 1220, respectively, to rotate upward under the guidance of the first cross bars 1220, wherein the rotation locus of the rectangular support frame 130 is consistent with the movement locus of the portion BC functioning as the link portion of the four-bar linkage 120 shown in fig. 5.

As shown in fig. 6, when the rectangular support frame 130 is located at the lowest position of the folded state, for the idler unit 110, the rotation radius of the four-bar linkage 12 around the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210 is the first cross bar 1220, the rotation radius of the four-bar linkage 12 around the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230 is the second cross bar 1240, and the rotation radius of the rectangular support frame 130 is the transverse bar, and the horizontal projection length of the transverse bar is R1, as shown in fig. 6, the horizontal projection length R1 is greater than both the horizontal projection length of the first cross bar 1220 and the horizontal projection length of the second cross bar 1240, so that in the folded state, the maximum horizontal projection length of the idler unit 110 is the horizontal projection length R1, wherein the horizontal projection length R1 is less than or equal to the bar length of the transverse bar. In this state, when the transverse bar member is parallel to the horizontal plane, the horizontally projected length R1 is equal to the bar length of the transverse bar member; the horizontally projected length R1 is smaller than the rod length of the crossbar member when the crossbar member is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane.

As shown in fig. 3 and 6, when the idler unit 110 of the present invention raises the product to a position below the stretching collet 230 and the moving collet 240, the rotation radius of the idler unit 110 about the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210 is R3, i.e., the distance between the first longitudinal rotating shaft 1210 and the support means of the conveyor belt 220, and the rotation radius of the idler unit 110 about the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230 is R2, i.e., the distance between the second longitudinal rotating shaft 1230 and the support means of the conveyor belt 220, wherein the rotation radius R3 corresponds to the radius of the circular arc R described in the background section. Thus, as can be seen from fig. 6, in this state, the vertically projected lengths of the turning radius R2 and the turning radius R3 are substantially equivalent to the vertically projected length of the circular arc radius R in the related art described in the background section. On the other hand, however, as shown in fig. 6, in this state, the maximum horizontal projection length of the rotation of the idler unit 110 about the first and second longitudinal rotary shafts 1210 and 1230 is R4, which is smaller than the radius R1 and therefore also smaller than the rod length of the transverse rod member, and even smaller than the radius of rotation R3 or the radius R of the circular arc in the prior art. In other words, the horizontal spacing between idler units 110 of the present invention can be significantly reduced relative to the horizontal spacing between idler units 3 of the prior art described in the background section.

As shown in fig. 3 and 6, when the idler unit 110 of the present invention raises the product to the uppermost position of the straightened horizontal center of the draw collet 230 and the traveling collet 240, the idler unit 110 has a radius of rotation about the first longitudinal axis of rotation 1210 of R5 and the idler unit 110 has a radius of rotation about the second longitudinal axis of rotation 1230 of R6, wherein the radii of rotation R5 and R6 are both greater than the radius of the arc R described in the background section. Thus, it can be seen from fig. 6 that in this state, the vertically projected lengths of the turning radii R5 and R6 are both larger than the circular arc radius R in the prior art described in the background section. On the other hand, however, as shown in fig. 6, in this state, the maximum horizontal projection length of the rotation of the idler unit 110 about the first and second longitudinal rotary shafts 1210 and 1230 is R7, which is smaller than the radius R1 and therefore also smaller than the rod length of the transverse rod member, and even smaller than the radius of rotation R3 or the radius R of the circular arc in the prior art. In other words, the horizontal spacing between idler units of the present invention is also significantly reduced relative to the horizontal spacing between idler units 3 of the prior art described in the background section.

Thus, it can be seen from fig. 6 and 7 that the movement path of the idlers of the rectangular support frame 130 is not a circular arc-shaped path as described in the background section, but is a curved line in which the horizontal spacing is relatively small and the vertical spacing is relatively large.

In summary, compared with the prior art described in the background section, the carrier roller device of the invention can adopt a four-bar structure to replace a swing arm type structure, so that the motion track of the carrier roller is changed from an arc to a curve with small horizontal distance and large vertical distance, thereby shortening the distance between the carrier roller devices, reducing the downwarping degree of a straightened product and improving the straightening quality of the product under the same condition. Moreover, the invention has simple and compact structure and better practicability.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only for illustrating the technical solutions of the present invention, and not for limiting the same; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A four-bar idler device (100) for a stretch leveler, the stretch leveler (200) including a frame (210) mounted on a horizontal surface, the four-bar idler device (100) including a plurality of idler units (110) mounted on the frame (210) in spaced relation to one another, each idler unit (110) comprising: a hinged four-bar mechanism (120) which is mounted to the frame (210) in a hinged manner and has a link portion; a rectangular support frame (130) with a first side for supporting the article being straightened and an opposite second side fixedly connected to the link portion of the four-bar linkage (120), the rectangular support frame (130) being guided by the four-bar linkage (120) to rotate with the rotation of the link portion of the four-bar linkage (120) to be raised or lowered,

it is characterized in that the four-bar mechanism (120) is a double-rocker mechanism and comprises:

a first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210) mounted to the frame (210) in an articulated manner;

two first transverse bars (1220) parallel to and spaced apart from each other, each having a first frame end (1221) vertically and fixedly nested to the first longitudinal rotation axis (1210), and a first link end (1222) opposite to the first frame end (1221);

a second longitudinal rotation shaft (1230) disposed in parallel with the first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210), hingedly mounted to the frame (210), disposed obliquely below adjacent to the first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210), and not interfering with the first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210);

two second crossbars (1240) parallel to and spaced apart from each other, each having a second frame end (1241) perpendicularly and fixedly journalled to the second longitudinal axis of rotation (1230), and a second link end (1242) opposite the second frame end (1241), wherein the two second crossbars (1240) are respectively arranged inside the two first crossbars (1220);

a third longitudinal rotating shaft (1250) arranged in parallel to the first longitudinal rotating shaft (1210), wherein the second link ends (1242) of the two second crossbars (1240) are respectively connected to the two ends of the third longitudinal rotating shaft (1250) in a hinged manner, so that the second longitudinal rotating shaft (1230), the two second crossbars (1240) and the third longitudinal rotating shaft (1250) together form a rectangular structure capable of rotating around the second longitudinal rotating shaft (1230);

a fourth longitudinal rotation shaft (1260) arranged parallel to the first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210) and hingedly mounted to the two second cross bars (1240) adjacent to the respective second link ends (1242), wherein the respective first link ends (1222) of the two first cross bars (1220) are fixedly connected to both ends of the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft (1260) respectively, such that the first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210), the two first cross bars (1220) and the fourth longitudinal rotation shaft (1260) together constitute a rectangular structure rotatable about the first longitudinal rotation shaft (1210);

the first inter-rotation-axis distance between the third longitudinal rotation axis (1250) and the fourth longitudinal rotation axis (1260) is smaller than the second inter-rotation-axis distance between the first longitudinal rotation axis (1210) and the second longitudinal rotation axis (1230), and is smaller than the length of the first cross bar (1220), and is smaller than the length of the second cross bar (1240), so that the respective portions of the two second cross bars (1240) between the third longitudinal rotation axis (1250) and the fourth longitudinal rotation axis (1260) form two link portions of the hinge four-bar mechanism (120).

2. A four bar idler unit (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fourth longitudinal axle (1260) extends through both the second cross bars (1240) and both the first cross bars (1220) respectively.

3. A four-bar idler device (100) as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rectangular support frame (130) further includes two transverse bars parallel to and spaced from each other, wherein the two transverse bars extend between first and second sides of the rectangular support frame (130) and each include opposite first and second ends, wherein the first ends of the two transverse bars are each fixedly connected to the first side of the rectangular support frame (130) and the second ends are each hinged to the second link ends (1242) of the two second cross bars (1240) of the articulated four-bar mechanism (120).

4. A four-bar idler device (100) as claimed in claim 3 wherein the second ends of each of the two cross bars are hinged to the upper surface of the respective second link ends (1242) and are located in a position partially overlapping the respective first cross bars (1220) such that when the two first cross bars (1220) are rotated together, the two first cross bars (1220) abut the respective cross bars to guide the rotation of the rectangular support frame (130) such that the rectangular support frame (130) is raised or lowered.

5. The four-bar idler set (100) according to claim 1 wherein the rectangular support frame (130) is in a state folded over the four-bar linkage (120) when the four-bar idler set (100) is in the lowermost position.

6. The four-bar idler device (100) according to claim 1 wherein each idler unit (110) further includes a push rod (121) fixedly mounted to the first longitudinal rotary shaft (1210) for urging the first longitudinal rotary shaft (1210) to rotate.

7. The four-bar idler unit (100) of claim 1 wherein at least one first transverse support bar is disposed between two second cross bars (1240).

8. The four-bar idler unit (100) of claim 4 wherein at least one second transverse support bar is disposed between two transverse bars of the rectangular support frame (130).

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