EP0414853B1 - Device for receiving and unwinding coils - Google Patents

Abstract

A receiving device (2) consists of a base element (7) and a reinforcing arrangement (4). It is designed to receive a coil (1) and serves both for storage and to facilitate manipulation when a coil (1) is being unwound. The base element (7) is provided with openings (8, 8a) through which supporting elements (11, 16) can be inserted in order to raise the coil, for example during unwinding, from the base element (7) of the receiving device (2). The supporting elements may be rollers (11) or a central mandrel (16), which are arranged on a handling station (9).

Description

The invention relates to a device for receiving and unrolling rolls made of strip-shaped or wire-shaped material (coil) according to the preamble of claim 1.

Cassettes and manipulators for rolls made of strip-shaped or wire-shaped material (coil) are known and used in a wide variety of embodiments. Known coil cassettes are mostly designed for "just-in-time" production, i.e. a coil is stored in the cassette, on a processing machine, e.g. promoted a press; there part of the wound tape or wire is drawn off; then the cassette with the partially used or unwound coil is brought back into a storage rack. Such coils and storage methods for coils are e.g. known from the following publications: DE-AS 2842448, DE-OS-3435215, 3417130, 2639427 and EP-A1-267357.

Since the known cassettes with unwinding and storage devices, e.g. are designed for vertical storage and also for pulling off the strip material, they must be of stable construction in accordance with the task. The space required for such cassettes is correspondingly large, the cassettes are complex and expensive to manufacture. In addition, the cassettes mostly follow the outer configuration of the coil, i.e. they are round and therefore difficult to manipulate and store.

The invention has for its object to improve the previous disadvantages, in particular to create an inexpensive, simple system that improves the storage and handling options of coils, and above all automation of storage and handling easier. According to the invention, this is achieved by a device with the features described in the characterizing part of claim 1.

Advantageous developments of the invention are described in the characteristics of the dependent claims.

Various surprising advantages can be achieved in combination by using a trough-like bottom element that is open at the top to hold the coil: on the one hand, the coil can simply be stored in the trough or removed from the trough. In addition, the coil can be raised in the tub for rolling and stored on a separate roller or storage arrangement while the strip material is being pulled off the coil, without the coil having to be removed from the base element.

Sufficient static strength can be achieved in a simple manner by a stiffening arrangement in the edge region of the floor element. This makes it possible, for example, for the receiving device to be pushed onto a rail-like support which engages on the stiffening arrangement on both sides. This can save space, e.g. be stored on a shelf with support rails arranged vertically one above the other.

If this stiffening arrangement is designed as a frame, tie straps can be attached to it, preferably diagonally and on the surface of the frame, which serve to hold the coil. This ensures an extremely low weight with sufficient stability for the cassette. In order for the coil to lie flat on the slightly sagging drawstrings and to ensure that the coil weight is applied to the drawstrings as evenly as possible, support elements should preferably be provided. That comes on their flat surface Coil itself or an intermediate coil support disc to lie, while the underside of these support elements, which are designed in particular in the form of a U-profile, is adapted to the sag of the drawstrings. This can also be achieved by suitably shaped insert wedges that fit into the U-profile of the support elements.

In particular, this latter embodiment has the great advantage that the pick-up device can be used in the same way for coils with different bandwidths.

It is expedient if a centering device for the coil is provided in the base element. Here, e.g. the centering device can be designed such that it contributes to stiffening the base element. This is particularly simple if the centering device is designed, for example, as a raised edge or as a bead.

If the coil lies on a coil support disc, the centering device is provided in the middle thereof, preferably having a raised, bead-shaped edge with which it engages in the inside diameter of the coil, and - for rolling the coil - the centering insertion of a thorn.

The centering device can, however, not only be provided on the receiving device itself, but can also be introduced into it, for example for unrolling, through an opening in the floor or from above such that the coil is supported in the center when unrolling. In this way it can be achieved that the receiving device itself is not stressed by the tensile forces occurring when the strip-like material is unrolled or pulled off. For this purpose, an opening is provided in a simple manner in the base element or in the center of the tension bands and the support elements, through which an opening The mandrel can be inserted in such a way that the mandrel lies in the center of the coil and supports it when pulling off or unrolling, which is of particular interest when the coil is unwinding vertically.

The centering device for the coil is thus conceivable in different ways, be it as a mandrel, bead, bead or socket in the base element or the coil support disc, or as a mandrel engaging therein or simply in a central opening, or as a combination of two or more of the above.

A particularly high stiffness of the floor element - and this in a simple manner - is achieved by designing the stiffening arrangement as a laterally raised edge of the floor element and / or as a stiffening of the beads in the floor area.

The bottom element can be relieved of all tensile and bearing forces in an advantageously simple manner if openings are provided in it, through which suitable elements for lifting the coil act when inserting, removing or rolling off the coil or on its support plate. This can be implemented particularly expediently if the openings are three or four radially running slots through which rollers or rollers can be introduced from below. In the variant with the drawstrings attached to the frame, this penetration of rollers or rollers is even easier, namely in the free spaces between the drawstrings.

As stated above, a mandrel can also be provided as the holding element, which passes through an opening in the middle of the base element, possibly spreads in the inside diameter of the coil, and thereby raises the coil and rotatably supports it.

So that the mandrel can be inserted into the center of the centering device as easily as possible, this centering device is advantageously to be provided in a radially displaceable manner, this displaceability being given relative to the base element of the cassette or the coil support disk.

If the stiffening arrangement is designed as a laterally raised edge, a slot or, in order to remain independent of the bandwidth of the coil, an upwardly open gap is advantageously provided in the side wall of the base element for the passage of the band-shaped or wire-shaped material.

If, on the other hand, the coil with its coil support disc lies on support elements placed over the drawstrings, a securing bracket should be attached, which is preferably arranged around the outside diameter of the coil, in order to prevent the generally relatively rigid coil strips from springing open and in turn has a slot or open gap for the passage of the coil strip.

But also in the case of a coil located in the trough-shaped base element without a support disc, securing clips are advantageous which prevent the coil band from jamming between the openings of the base element and the rollers or rollers.

So that the respective strip start of a coil is available in a defined length and position, a strip clamping device should be provided. For this purpose, the band is clamped between two clamping jaws, which are moved relative to one another via a toggle lever system, which is preferably articulated on the stiffening arrangement. When lifting the coil, in order to avoid deformation of the coil band, this band clamping device must also be lifted. This is easily possible if it is attached to the stiffening arrangement. It can then be lifted together with the coil using specially provided brackets.

Rolls or rollers can be used to lift and unroll the coil, as shown above. In the simplest case, these will be designed as cylindrical rollers, but with the disadvantage that the rotation speeds, which are very different, especially with large coil diameters, cannot be met. Instead of this, conically shaped rollers could be provided, which, however, are to be stored on the fly, or rather individual, independently movable, disc-shaped rollers on a common axis.

Although the receiving device according to the invention is particularly advantageously suitable for horizontal storage and manipulation, applications are also conceivable in which the receiving device is erected vertically together with the coil and pushed onto a horizontal winding mandrel. A controlled hold-down device can be used to support the coil during erection, manipulation and processing.

According to the invention, the entire storage and manipulation process is thus improved in an optimally simple manner and, at the same time, the design effort for the receiving device is drastically reduced. The floor element used can be rationally manufactured from metal using the bending, drawing-welding technique or in a combined manufacturing process; it can also be made of plastic, e.g. using injection molding technology.

Fig.1

Eine schematische Darstellung einer erfindungsgemässen Aufnahme- und Abroll-Vorrichtung mit einem Coil über einer Handling-Station;

Fig.2

eine Draufsicht auf die Vorrichtung gemäss Fig.1;

Fig.3

die Vorrichtung gemäss Fig.1 in abgesenktem Zustand auf der Handling-Station;

Fig.4a,4b,4c und 4d

eine Explosionsdarstellung einer Variante der erfindungsgemässen Vorrichtung mit Zugbändern, Auflageelementen, Coil-Auflage-Scheibe und Bandklemmvorrichtung;

Fig.5

eine Variante einer Aufnahme-Vorrichtung und einer Handling-Station;

Fig.6

eine andere Variante einer Aufnahme-Vorrichtung mit mit einer integrierten Zentriereinrichtung;

Fig.7

eine Handling-Station zum vertikalen Lagern eines Coil;

Fig.8

ein Detail der in den Fig. 4a bis 4c dargestellten Variante;

Fig.9

einen Detailschnitt gemäss der Variante der Fig.4a bis 4c mit einem Sicherungsbügel;

Fig.10a, 10b und 10c

eine Bandklemmvorrichtung;

Fig.11a und 11b

Varianten einer radial verschiebbaren Zentriereinrichtung;

Fig.12

einen angehobenen Coil in einer Handling-Station und

Fig.13

ein Lagergestell für Coil-Kassetten.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

A schematic representation of a pick-up and unrolling device according to the invention with a coil above a handling station;

Fig. 2

a plan view of the device according to Figure 1;

Fig. 3

the device according to Figure 1 in the lowered state on the handling station;

Fig.4a, 4b, 4c and 4d

an exploded view of a variant of the device according to the invention with tension bands, support elements, coil support disc and band clamping device;

Fig. 5

a variant of a recording device and a handling station;

Fig. 6

another variant of a recording device with an integrated centering device;

Fig. 7

a handling station for the vertical storage of a coil;

Fig. 8

a detail of the variant shown in Figures 4a to 4c.

Fig. 9

a detailed section according to the variant of Figures 4a to 4c with a safety bracket;

Fig.10a, 10b and 10c

a band clamp;

Fig.11a and 11b

Variants of a radially displaceable centering device;

Fig. 12

a raised coil in a handling station and

Fig. 13

a storage rack for coil cassettes.

According to FIGS. 1 and 2, a coil 1 is mounted in a receiving and unrolling device 2, which is provided in the center with a raised centering mandrel 3 and on its outer edge with a stiffening arrangement 4. The receiving device 2 is deep-drawn, so that the stiffening arrangement 4 is formed as a raised edge 5 produced in the deep-drawing process. As shown schematically in FIG. 1, the receiving device 2 can be held and manipulated laterally by a carrying device, for example a gripper with rails 6. This is possible without a manipulator acting directly on the coil 1 and thereby damaging it. In addition, the rectangular construction of the receiving device 2 ensures that the device 2 is placed on parallel rails or supports of a shelf or can be moved. The coil 1 lies on the bottom element 7, which is made in one piece with the edge 5. In the bottom element 7 there are openings 8 which extend radially outward from the mandrel 3. 1 to 3, the interaction of the receiving device 2 with a handling station 9 is shown. The handling station 9 has a table 10 on which rollers 11 are attached by means of bearing brackets 12 projecting upwards. The rollers 11 and the openings 8 are designed such that when the receiving device 2 is lowered, the rollers 11 and the stirrups 12 penetrate through the openings in the base element 7 and thereby raise the coil 1, as shown in FIG .

Of course, the "depositing" of the coil on the rollers 11 can be achieved both by lowering the receiving device 2 above the table 10 by means of rails 6 and by a corresponding lifting of the table 10 relative to the base element 7. Such adjustments are such known and familiar to the expert.

The coil 1 can be raised by the rollers 11 as far as is shown in FIG. The coil can then be e.g. discharge via conveyor rollers 13 or a new coil can be introduced into an empty holding device 2 via the conveyor rollers 13.

On the other hand, the coil 1 can also be raised only slightly in the receiving device 2 until it rests on the rollers 11 and can be rotated thereon without grinding on the base element 7. The steel strip 1 a can be pulled out of the coil 1 through support rollers 14 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 and discharged through a slot 15 in the edge 5.

1 and 2, a bracket 31 is attached in the area of each corner of the floor element 7. The bracket 31 support that Coil 1 from the outside and prevent the steel strip 1a from sliding laterally behind the rollers 11 and jamming there. In addition, the stirrups 31 stiffen the overall arrangement by connecting them to the base and the edge 5 of the base element 7.

Figures 4a to 4d show a receiving device 2a, which is characterized by particularly low weight with great rigidity and stability. For this purpose, the base element provided for receiving the coil is reduced to tension bands 28, which are fastened to a frame 27, which is preferably bent and welded from a square tube profile into a square shape. These tension bands 28, which are in particular thin metal bands and are attached for reasons of stability in the area of the corners of the frame 27, preferably on the surface thereof, take the coil 1 (not shown here) via U-shaped support elements 29 and a coil support disc 26 on. The support elements 29 (FIG. 4b) enable the coil 1 to be supported evenly on the slightly sagging drawstrings 28 due to their flat surface 36 and the underside 37 formed between the legs of the U-profile and corresponding to the sag of the drawstrings 28 (dashed lines in FIG .4b). In this way, the support elements 29 placed over the drawstrings 28 also ensure a uniform distribution of the coil weight.

The coil 1 comes to rest on the support elements 29 via a coil support disc 26 (FIG. 4c). This coil receiving disk 26 is preferably a thin sheet metal disk, which has a round shaped piece in its center as the centering device 3a. This shaped part 3a engages with its bead-shaped edge above the disk 26 in the inner diameter of the coil 1; underneath the pane it is used with a - here through corresponding openings 39 and 40 in drawstrings 28 and Support elements 29 reaching - socket 38 for receiving a mandrel 41, which is provided in the handling station 9 for centering the coil 1, for example during the rolling process (see FIG. 12).

4d shows a band clamping device 32 in a perspective view. It sits on the frame 27 with a rail 43 and is articulated on the frame with two levers 42.

5 shows a handling station 9a with a central mandrel 16 which can be passed through an opening 8a in the middle of the base element 7. The mandrel 16 is provided with a shoulder which lifts a coil support disc 26a on which the coil 1 is mounted. As shown schematically, the mandrel 16 can be driven by a motor 18, with the aid of which, depending on the application, the removal of the steel strip 1a from the coil 1 can be accelerated or - by driving in the opposite direction - braked. As shown schematically in FIG. 5, the support disc 26a or the coil 1 on the station 9a is only lifted from the base element 7 to such an extent that there is no longer any ground contact when the steel strip 1a is removed. As a result, the receiving device 26 is relieved of all forces that can occur when the steel strip 1a is rolled or pulled off. In order to also relieve the edge 5 of lateral support forces, a schematically indicated pair of rollers 19 is provided at the station 9a, through which the steel strip 1a is guided.

The mandrel 16 can be raised by a lifting device, not shown, in the manner shown in FIG. 5 in order to enable the rolling process. By lowering the mandrel 16, it can be pulled completely out of the opening 8a in the base element 7, the disc 26a and coil 1 being placed on the base element 7 again.

5, the edge 5 is welded to the base element 7. A circumferential tubular profile is welded to the edge 5 as a stiffening order 4. The holding device 2c is supported laterally on the edge by a holding arrangement 20 during rolling.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment in which a deep-drawn centering ring 3b is provided for the centered storage and holding of the coil 1 in the center of the base element 7. The centering ring 3b is surrounded by a bearing 3c, on which a ring part 3d is attached. The ring part 3d engages in the opening of the coil 1 and centers it via a centering mandrel of the handling station (not shown) while the steel strip 1a is rolling.

7 shows an embodiment with a handling station 9b with a horizontal mandrel 16a. A stop 21 is provided at the handling station 9b. In addition, the mandrel 16a carries a disk-shaped stop 22 which is fastened to a bearing 23 in a freely movable manner relative to the mandrel 16a.

In FIG. 7, the receiving device 2c has been pushed into the handling station 9b until the base element 7 bears against the stops 21 and 22. The mandrel 16a penetrates the opening 8a in the base element 7 and takes up the coil 1 with its front conical section. 5, the bottom element 7 is completely relieved of the weight of the coil 1, which is attached to the mandrel 16a ready for unrolling. Here, however, the coil 1 does not have to be removed or lifted from the holding device 2c by any auxiliary devices. The coil 1 is transferred or taken over simply by moving the mandrel 16a into the opening 8a in the base element 7. In the same way, by withdrawing the mandrel 16a, the coil 1 can be “handed over” again to the receiving device 2c. To prevent a partially used coil from falling 1, suitable centering devices can be provided in the receiving device 2c, which need not be shown here.

FIG. 8 shows a detail of the variant of a pick-up and roll-off device 2a shown in FIGS. 4a to 4c with drawstrings 28, support elements 29 and coil-receiving disk 26 with centering device 3a. The support elements 29, which are put over the drawstrings 28, intersect in the middle, an opening 40 (see FIG. 4b) being left open. In order to form a flat support surface for the support disk 26, four inserts 35 are provided here, which are fitted on the one hand between the U-profile of the support elements 29 and on the other hand are adapted with their underside 37a to the sag of the drawstrings 28 (see also FIG. 9 ). Instead of four identical insert parts 35, as already indicated above, the support elements 29 themselves can be shaped in this way.

FIG. 9 shows a securing bracket 31a, which is attached to bent lugs 44 of the support elements 29. This securing bracket 31a is of particular interest in the variant of the receiving and unwinding device 2a shown, in order to prevent coils, which tend to open due to their material properties, with their outer band turns beyond the coil support disk 26 fall out between disc 26 and cassette frame 27. For reasons of stability, this securing bracket 31a is bent in the form of a U-profile in the manner shown, but a simply kinked configuration is also possible. Alternatively, the securing bracket 31a can be attached to the cassette frame 27.

In FIG. 9, the coil support disk 26 extends somewhat below the bent-back securing bracket 31a, with a distance x between the disk 26 and the securing bracket 31a. This distance x thus defines the maximum possible lifting height for the Coil. In order to unroll the coil band, the width of which is not restricted by any component dimensions, a slot or an open gap for pulling the band through must be provided in this securing bracket 31a.

10a to 10c show the mode of operation of a tape clamping device 32, which is arranged according to FIG. 4d on the cassette frame 27 or, in another embodiment variant, on the stiffening arrangement 4 (for example FIG. 5). A U-shaped rail 43 is slidably seated on the frame 27. The profile of the rail 43 is determined by the frame 27 or the stiffening arrangement 4, since the rail 43 is intended to slide thereon. On one side of the rail 43, levers 42 are articulated at one end by a recess 45 in the rail 43 on the frame 27. With their other end they are mounted in the fulcrum 46 of a toggle lever 47. If the two levers 42 (only a single lever 42 could also be provided) are lowered against the frame 27, the band clamping device 32 is displaced on the frame 27 by a distance determined by the recess 45 and, on the other hand, a clamping jaw 48a is made via the toggle lever 47 against a second jaw 48b seated on the rail 43. The coil band 1a is thus held in the overstretched position of the toggle lever 47 by the tension of an elastomer spring assembly 49 with sufficient force.

The recess 45 has a widening on one side, so that when the band clamp 32 is closed and the band 1a is clamped in, for example brackets 50 acting from below, the movement of which is correlated with the lifting of the coil, also cause the band clamp 32 on the frame 27 to be raised. These brackets 50 are expediently connected to the support rails 6a for the frame (see FIG. 12).

11a and 11b show two possibilities for a radially displaceable centering device. So that will be problem-free insertion of a mandrel 41 or 16 makes it possible in the event that the coil or the coil support disk 26 are not exactly centered. 11a, the bush 38a, which is provided for receiving the mandrel 16 (or 41), is provided with an annular flange 51 which is held in a radially movable manner in a gap between the coil receiving disk 26 and the bead-shaped edge piece of the centering device 3a becomes. For this reason, the inner diameter of the coil support disk 26 is somewhat larger than the outer diameter of the bush 38a and thus determines the scope that is possible for the insertion of the mandrel 16 or 41. At the same time, the openings 40 and 39 in the support element 29 and the drawstring 28 must of course also be correspondingly large.

Another possibility is shown in FIG. 11b, in which the bush 38b carries against the coil to two disks 53, between which the coil support disk 26 lies. A screw 54 connects these components to one another in such a way that when a mandrel 41 is slightly off-centered, a bushing 38b is radially movable within the clearance determined by the inner diameter of the coil support disk 26 and the openings 40 and 39 is.

12 shows only the principle of a coil 1 raised by rollers 11a on its support disc 26 with a mandrel 41 inserted into the bushing 38 of the centering device 3a. For this purpose, rails 6a and 6b which are adjustable in height with or in their holder were used in the same way, a table 10a with its rollers 11a and its mandrel 41 is lifted through the openings provided in the base element 7 (which is not shown here in any of its possible embodiments) and the frame 27 is also lifted off. The brackets 50 shown in FIG. 10c for lifting the band clamping device 32 would then have to be attached to the rail 6a. The rollers 11a are, in contrast to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, not cylindrical rollers, but individual ones, in order to have a common one Axis 55 disc rollers 30 which can be rotated independently. This makes it possible to roll the coil evenly in accordance with the different rotational speeds. As already mentioned, conical rollers would also be possible instead of this solution with independently movable disc rollers 30, but this would be a more complicated solution due to the necessary flying support.

13 shows a storage rack 24 with a frame 25 and rails 26. A receiving device 2 can be placed on each pair of rails 26. Due to its rectangular shape, the receiving device 2 can be inserted like a drawer into the storage rack 24 or pulled out of the storage rack 24. However, the receiving device 2 can also advantageously be manipulated in that e.g. by means of a support arm, the receiving device 2 in the storage rack 24 is first raised slightly and then lifted out practically without friction. Due to the advantageous shape of the receiving device 2, a large number of coils can be stored in a space-saving and manipulation-friendly manner, wherein a large spectrum of coil diameters and bandwidths can be covered with a standardized size of the storage rack or the receiving device.

Claims (11)

1. Apparatus for holding and for unwinding a coil (1) of tape-like or wire-like material (1a), which apparatus is open at the top in the manner of a trough and has a base element (7; 28) for holding the coil and has a stiffening arrangement (4; 27) and preferably at least one centring means (3; 16; 38; 41) for the coil (1), characterized in that the base element (7; 28) and the stiffening arrangement (4; 27) provided at least in the edge region of the base element (7; 28) are connected to one another, and that, for unwinding and raising the coil (1), openings (8) - in particular at least three radial, slot-like openings (8) - are provided in the base element (7; 28) for the introduction of rollers or rolls (11).
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the base element (7) consists of at least one tension band (28) fastened at both ends to a frame-like stiffening arrangement (27), in particular at its upper end - in particular of two diagonally arranged tension bands (28), an opening (39) optionally being provided in the one or more tension bands (28) for entry of a spindle - in particular a rotatable spindle - into the centring means (3) or into the coil (1).
3. Apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that one or two support element(s) (29) flat on its (their) upper surface is (are) arranged on each tension band (28) - in particular having a U-profile which is inverted over the tension band (28) with its base at the top - and whose lower surface - or the lower surface of an insert wedge (35) - is adapted to the sag of the tension band (28), an opening (40) optionally being provided in the support element (29) or two support elements (29) arranged on a tension band (28) being a distance apart.
4. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that a coil support disc (26) resting on the base element (7; 28) or on the support element (29) is provided for supporting the coil (1) and optionally has an opening - in particular surrounded by a raised edge - for centring the coil (1).
5. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the rolls or rollers (11; 11a) are conical or consist of separate discs movable independently of one another.
6. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the centring means (3a; 38a) is displaceable in the radial direction relative to the base element (7; 28) or to a coil support disc (26) and/or has a rotatably mounted part (3d; 16) for holding the coil (1).
7. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the stiffening arrangement (4) is formed as a laterally raised edge (5), preferably having a slot (15) for lateral removal of the coil tape (1a).
8. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that at least one securing bracket (31; 31a) - preferably a circumferential securing bracket (31; 31a) provided with a slot - and/or at least one tape clamping means (32) are arranged on the outer circumference of support elements (29) or of a coil support disc (26) or on the stiffening arrangement (4; 27).
9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterized in that the tape clamping means (32) - which in particular is adjustable in height - has clamping jaws (48a, 48b) which can be moved towards one another and clamped, preferably by means of a toggle lever system (42, 46, 47) hinged to the stiffening arrangement (4).
10. Apparatus according to Claim 9, characterized in that a first clamping jaw (48b) is connected to a guide rail (43) which is formed as a profile encompassing the stiffening arrangement (4; 27), and a second clamping jaw (48a) rests on the stiffening arrangement (4; 27) and is displaceable by a distance determined by a recess (45) provided in the rail (43).
11. Apparatus according to either of Claims 8 and 9, characterized in that brackets (50) whose movement is correlated with the raising of the coil (1) are provided, thus raising the tape clamp (32) on the stiffening arrangement (27).

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