US3498098A - Apparatus for varying the forces exerted on work roll chocks in multiroll rolling mills - Google Patents

Description

rim Api-i1 v24. 1967 `3,498,098 APPARATUS FOR VARYINGv THE FORCES EXERTBDON 'CRX ROLL cnocxs In uuxrrr'nom.A nnmu HILLS March 3, 1970 L. R. BouRNEz ET AL 3,498,098

l APPARATUS FOR VARYING THE FORCES EXERTED ON4 WORK ROLL vCI'IOCKS IN MULTIROLL ROLLING MILLS VFiled Apri124, 1967 s sheets-sheet s INVENTORS LUCIEN BOURNEZ ROBERT FABRE l mom United States Patent O- 58,57 Int. Cl. B211 31/32 U.S. Cl. 72-237 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Multiroll rolling mill, in which pivoting levers, activated by jacks and placed in the window on either side of each work roll chock, condition the vertical movements, in both directions, of the said roll chocks.

Background of the invention Users of at rolled products are becoming more and more exacting as regards quality, surface states, cold hardening, regularity and dimensional precision; the rolling mill firms in their turn are trying to obtain better output from their machines.

Rolling mill constructors are thus made to seek all possible methods and apparatus for satisfying the user and the client. To this end, they have designed various systems whereby the forces exerted on the chocks of the backing-up or work rolls can be varied.

The apparatus used up to the present day provides hydraulic jacks which are incorporated or fixed in or on the work or backing-up roll chocks; these jacks are connected by flexible pipes to the pressure uid supply connections.

Each time rolls are changed, these flexible, pipes have to be disconnected and this operation has various disadvantages, including the following:

(a) loss of time involved in the disconnecting operation,

(b) escape of fluid over the rolling parts, resulting in the need for considerable cleaning to be carried out so as not stain the rolled products, which entails an additional considerable loss of time, and

(c) the need to have air inclusions in the hydraulic circuits vented-out through a long procedure at reconnection, since even if the greatest precautions are taken air is inevitably taken in by the hydraulic system at the time of disconnection.

Brief description of the invention The object of the present invention is to obtain a variation in the direction and intensity of the forces exerted on the Work roll chocks of a four-high rolling mill, while eliminating the disadvantages inherent in known arrangements mentioned hereinbefore.

The invention relates to an apparatus whereby the forces exerted on the work roll chocks in multiroll rolling mills can be varied, and provided in the said apparatus, more particularly at each side of a work roll chock in the window of the corresponding housing, there is a iixed block supporting the pivot pin of a rocking lever, one end of this lever being engaged in a longitudinal groove of the chock so as to be capable of sliding therein if appropriate, the lever being subjected to the action of jacks for causing its lifting or lowering by pivoting.

Other features characteristic of the invention will appear during the course of the following detailed description which relates in a non-limitative manner to a four- 3,498,098 Patented Mar. 3, 1970 ICC high rolling mill with preloading means, and refers to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation with parts in section of the rolling mill taken along line I-I of FIGURE 2, this rolling mill being equipped with an apparatus according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURES 3 and 4 correspond respectively to FIG- URES l and 2 providing another embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention; FIGURE 3 is a section taken along line III-III of FIGURE 4, while FIG- URE 4 is a section taken along line IV-IV of FIGURE 3,.

Detailed description of the invention According to FIGURE l, within the window formed by the upright 1 of the housing there are mounted chocks 2 and 3 of the backing-up rolls and chocks 4 and 5 of the work rolls, At the sides of the windows there are iixed the blocks 6-6a and 7-7a on which the levers 8-8a and 9-9a can rock about pivot pins 10-10a and 11-11a. One of the ends of each lever bears in a longitudinal groove or housing provided for this purpose at each respective side on the work roll chocks. The other end of each lever bears on the piston of one of the hydraulic jacks 12-12a and 13-13a located in a well in one of the xed blocks. The central part of the lever, between the pivot pin and the end bearing on the chocks, is in contact with the piston of one of the second group of jacks 14-14a and 15-15a.

Accommodated in the blocks 6-6a and 7-711 are the preloading jacks 17-17a, `18-13a and 19-19a, acting on the backing-up roll chocks. The upper chock 2 abuts on the cross-member of the upright 1. The lower chock 3 bears on the piston of the clamping jack 16.

To vary, during rolling, the value and the direction of the forces applied at each side of the chocks of the work rolls, use is made of the levers 8-811 and 9-911 which are acted upon at each side of the pivot pins 1010a and 11-11a by the pistons of the hydraulic jacks 12-12a, 13-13a, 14-14a and 15-15a. The forces transmitted by these jacks can be transmitted very rapidly or on the contrary very gradually, according to need.

In the apparatus which has just been described, all the hydraulic jacks are lodged in wells in the blocks 6-611 and 7-7a, so that no flexible supply pipe terminates at the jacks. Consequently, during the changing of the rolls and particularly the work rolls, there is no longer any disconnection of flexible pipes to be effected, nor any venting to be carried out subsequentlyl The hydraulic circuit is always protected from inopportune air intakes, hence there is no need for the circuits to be disturbed and vented.

The changing of the work rolls is carried out very rapidly, since the ends of the levers 8-8a and 9-9a bearing on the chocks of the work rolls are situated in longitudinal grooves or housings, which permit the chock-roll assembly to be displaced rapidly for removal in the longitudinal direction in the appropriate sense both at disconnection and also at reconnection by merely sliding the chocks out.

FIGURES 3 and 4 sho-w a variant of the apparatus in accordance with the invention for varying the forces exerted on the chocks of the work rolls in a four-high rolling mill with preloading means.

At each side of the rolling mill in the window of the housing there are accommodated the chocks of the work rolls 2 and 3, on which the preloading jacks 17-1'7a and 18-18a bear. Also accommodated in the two blocks 20-20a, fixed at each side of the window, are the preloading jacks 17-17a and 18'-18a; only the jacks 17'-17'a are not visible in the drawings. Levers 21-21a and 23-23a can rock about the pivot pins 22-22a and 24-2411.

On each lever, the end opposite to the pivot pin bears in a groove or housing provided on the side of the work roll chocks 4 and 5 by means of collars 29-29a and 30-30a. The pistons 25-25a, 26-2611, 2'7-27a and 28-28a of jacks provided in wells in the blocks 20-20a bear on the levers 21-21a and 23-23a, between the pivot pins 22-22a and 24-24a and the collars 29-29a and Sil-30a, accommodated in the chocks, by means of collars 31-31a, E12-32a, .S3-33a and 34-34cz.

These jacks are supplied through the orifices .3S-35a, 36-36a and 37-37a. To vary the forces acting by means of the levers on the sides of the work roll chocks and also the direction of such forces, it is sufficient to admit the fluid under pressure into some jacks and to prevent entry of fluid into others. For example, by admitting the fiuid into the orifices 36 and 36a, the forces exerted by the jacks on the work roll chocks tend to move them away from one another and to increase the contact forces between the backing-up rolls and work rolls; on the contrary, by admitting the fluid into the orifices 35-35a and 37-37a, the forces exterted by the jacks tend to make the two work roll chocks approach one another, thus reducing the contact forces between the work and backing-up rolls.

This variant offers the same additional advantage as those mentioned for the apparatus shown in FIGURES l and 2, such as elimination of need for disconnection of hydraulic lines for removal of rolls and ease of removal of such rolls providing for a considerable saving of time for this operation.

We have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with the present invention. It is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art and we, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein, but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1 Apparatus for varying the forces exerted on the work roll chocks in multi-roll rolling mills comprising at least one pair of work rolls and chocks supporting said work rolls in proximity to each other and having longitudinal grooves in opposite sides thereof extending in the axial direction of said rolls,

a rolling mill housing means including a window for accommodating said chocks and a plurality of fixed blocks extending into said window, and

adjustable support means mounted on each of said fixed blocks and extending into a respective longitudinal groove in a given chock for adjustably supporting said chocks on said housing means for raising and lowering thereof while permitting the removal thereof by longitudinal sliding,

said adjustable support means including a rocking lever pivotally mounted on each of said fixed blocks and having one end riding in a longitudinal groove of a given chock, and hydraulic jack means in contact with said rocking levers for effecting controlled movement thereof to raise or lower said chocks.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said rocking levers are pivotally mounted at the central portion thereof to the respective fixed Ablocks and said jack means including at least two hydraulic jacks in contact with each lever on respective sides of the pivot providing a force in the same sense.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said rocking levers are pivotally mounted at the end thereof opposite to said one end to the respective fixed blocks and said jacks means including at least two hydraulic jacks in contact with each lever on opposite sides thereof providing opposed action on each lever.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said hydraulic jack means is accommodated in wells in the respective fixed blocks.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further including at least one pair of backing-up rolls and chocks supporting said backing-up rolls disposed on either side of said pair of working roll chocks in said window, said fixed blocks being positioned between a respective rocking lever and one of said backing-up roll chocks.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the fixed blocks on each side of said work roll chocks form a single support element through which extends a well within which is located the two pairs of hydraulic jacks associated with the rocking levers on that side and the supply orifices therefor.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 further including a plurality of preloading hydraulic jacks positioned between the backing-up roll chocks and the adjacent fixed blocks.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein each backing-up roll chock is spaced from the opposite window ends to accommodate the corresponding blocks, jacks and levers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,898,007 2/1933 Ewart 72-243 1,935,091 ll/l933 Iversen 72-245 FOREIGN PATENTS 194,574 2/1965 Sweden.

644,874 9/ 1962 Italy.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner B. I. MUSTAIKIS, Assistant Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 72-245

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