Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21B—ROLLING OF METAL
  • B21B1/00—Metal-rolling methods or mills for making semi-finished products of solid or profiled cross-section; Sequence of operations in milling trains; Layout of rolling-mill plant, e.g. grouping of stands; Succession of passes or of sectional pass alternations
  • B21B1/16—Metal-rolling methods or mills for making semi-finished products of solid or profiled cross-section; Sequence of operations in milling trains; Layout of rolling-mill plant, e.g. grouping of stands; Succession of passes or of sectional pass alternations for rolling wire rods, bars, merchant bars, rounds wire or material of like small cross-section
  • B21B1/18—Metal-rolling methods or mills for making semi-finished products of solid or profiled cross-section; Sequence of operations in milling trains; Layout of rolling-mill plant, e.g. grouping of stands; Succession of passes or of sectional pass alternations for rolling wire rods, bars, merchant bars, rounds wire or material of like small cross-section in a continuous process
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21B—ROLLING OF METAL
  • B21B35/00—Drives for metal-rolling mills, e.g. hydraulic drives
  • B21B35/02—Drives for metal-rolling mills, e.g. hydraulic drives for continuously-operating mills

Definitions

• This invention relates generally to rolling mills, and is concerned in particular with the provision of an improved modular finishing mill for rolling long products such as rods, bars and the like.
• a known modular finishing mill of the type described in U.S. Patent No. 5,595,083 to Shore comprises a plurality of rolling units R1-R5 arranged sequentially on a mill pass line P along which products are rolled in a rolling direction indicated by arrow 10.
• Gear units A 1 -A 4 are arranged along line L parallel to the mill pass line.
• the gear units are driven individually by motors M1-M4 and are offset with respect to the rolling units in the rolling direction.
• a continuous drive train is provided by connecting each gear unit to two successive rolling units.
• all rolling units R1-R5 are employed, at finishing speeds of up to 120 m/s and at tonnage rates of 70- 90 tons/hr.
• the mill benefits from the power provided by all of the motors M1-M4 acting through the continuous drive train provided by the coupling of each gear unit to two successive rolling units.
• one or more of the rolling units at the exit end of the mill are typically removed from the pass line. If two rolling units are removed, as shown in Fig.
• the last motor M4 is in effect decoupled from the continuous drive train, thus reducing the power available to drive the mill at a time with the demand for power has increased as a result of the higher tonnage rates being produced.
• the mills are equipped with larger motors, which disadvantageously increases the overall cost of the mill.
• the rolling units R1-R5 each comprise two oppositely inclined roll pairs. This design is unique to the modular mill concept, and is not readily adaptable for use at other mill locations, for example in post finishing mills of the type described in U.S. Patent No. 5,325,697 to Shore et al.
• aspects of the present invention relate to the provision of a modular finishing mill driven by multiple motors, with a continuous drive train that employs the total power of all motors, irrespective of the number of rolling units in service at any given time.
• aspects of the present invention also relate to the provision of a modular rolling mill in which identical rolling units have single pairs of work rolls on inclined axes, and in which the rolling units may be driven from opposite sides to thereby accommodate an alternating reverse orientation of the rolling units accompanied by an alternating opposite inclination of their work rolls along the mill pass line.
• a modular rolling mill in accordance with aspects of the present invention comprises a plurality of first gear units arranged along a first line parallel to the mill pass line.
• Each first gear reduction unit can be driven separately by a motor and has a pair of mechanically interconnected first shafts.
• Second gear units are arranged along a second line between and parallel to both the first line and the mill pass line.
• the second gear units are offset with respect to the first gear units in the direction of rolling, and each second gear unit has a pair of mechanically interconnected second shafts.
• a continuous drive train is provided by coupling the first shafts of each successive first gear unit to the second shafts of two successive second gear units.
• Rolling units are arranged in succession along the pass line.
• the rolling units are interchangeable one for the other at successive locations along the pass line.
• Each rolling unit has a pair of work rolls carried on mechanically interconnected inclined roll shafts driven by an input shaft.
• the second shafts of the second gear units are detachably coupled to the input shafts of successive rolling units.
• the coupling of the first shafts of the first gear units to the second shafts of the second gear units is advantageously achieved by employing both conventional couplings and strategically positional clutches that are disengageable to interrupt the drive connection to selected second gear units when their respective rolling units are removed from the pass line to accommodate different pass designs and rolling schedules.
• the first and second shafts of the respective first and second gear units are advantageously driven at progressively higher rotational speeds, and the input shafts of the rolling units are connected to the respective pairs of rolls shafts by gears sized to effect a percentage speed increase which is the same for each rolling unit.
• the input shafts of the rolling units project from opposite sides to thereby accommodate an alternating reverse orientation of the rolling units and an alternating opposite inclination of their roll shafts along the mill pass line.
• Fig. 1 is a plan view of a modular finishing mill in accordance with the present invention
• Figs. 2A and 2B are end views showing reverse orientations of the rolling units
• Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the mill drive train
• Fig. 4 is an enlarged diagrammatic illustration of the internal drive of a typical rolling unit
• Figs. 5A and 5B are diagrammatic illustrations of a prior art modular finishing mill
• Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration of the modular finishing mill of the present invention with selected rolling units removed from the mill pass line;
• Fig. 7 is another diagrammatic illustration with rolling units removed from the rolling line to provide a different mill configuration.
• a modular rolling mill in accordance with the present invention is shown at 12.
• the rolling mill 12 is designed to roll long products such as bars, rods and the like along a mill pass line "P" in a rolling direction indicated diagrammatically by arrow 14.
• the mill includes first gear units A1-A4 arranged along a first line Li parallel to the mill pass line P.
• the first gear units are driven respectively by motors M1-M4 mechanically connected to pairs of first shafts 16 by internal gear sets 18.
• Second gear units B1-B5 are arranged along a second line L 2 between and parallel to both the first line Li and the mill pass line P. Each second gear unit has a pair of second shafts 20 mechanically interconnected by a gear set 22. When viewed in the rolling direction, the second gear units B1-B5 are offset with respect to the first gear units A 1 -A 4 .
• First couplings 24 and 25 serve to connect the first shafts 16 of each first gear unit A 1 -A 4 to the second shafts 20 of two successive second gear units B1-B5.
• the couplings 24 are of the type that provide an uninterrupted connection, whereas the couplings 25 comprise clutches that may be disengaged to interrupt the drive connection between their respective first and second shafts 16, 20.
• Rolling units C1-C10 are arranged in succession along the mill pass line P.
• the rolling units are interchangeable one for the other.
• each rolling unit has a shaft 26 connected via bevel gear 28a, 28b and a gear set 30 to roll shafts 32 carrying work rolls 34.
• the roll shafts 32 can be inclined at a 45° angle, and the shafts 26 have ends 26' and 26" projecting from opposite sides of the rolling unit housings.
• Second couplings 36 serve to connect the shafts 20 of the second gear units B1-B5 to the shafts 26 of two successive rolling units C.
• the orientation of the rolling units C may be alternately reversed along the mill pass line P as depicted in Figs. 2 A and 2B to accommodate an alternating opposite inclination of the roll shafts required for twist free rolling of products and to accommodate the need for right-hand and left-hand mills.
• the gear sets 18 of the first rolling units A1-A4 are sized to drive the shafts 16 at progressively higher rotational speeds.
• the gear sets 22 of the second gear units B1-B5 are sized to drive the shafts 18 at progressively higher rotational speeds.
• the bevel gears 28a, 28b of the rolling units C1-C10 are sized to provide a percentage speed increase which is the same for each rolling unit. This, when coupled with the reversibility of the rolling units as depicted in Figs. 2A and 2B, makes the rolling units interchangeable one for the other at any location along the mill pass line P, which in turn makes it possible to operate the mill with a minimum number of spare rolling units.
• Cooling units may be positioned in the spaces along the pass line vacated by the removed rolling units (C 3 and C4 or C 7 and Cs) when performing lower temperature thermomechanical rolling.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Metal Rolling (AREA)

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• 2013
  • 2013-04-26 EP EP13720733.8A patent/EP2846939A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-04-26 IN IN7709DEN2014 patent/IN2014DN07709A/en unknown
  • 2013-04-26 CN CN201380024225.4A patent/CN104284740B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2013-04-26 RU RU2014149213A patent/RU2639198C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2013-04-26 BR BR112014027498A patent/BR112014027498A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2013-04-26 KR KR1020147030964A patent/KR20150013153A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-04-26 WO PCT/US2013/038419 patent/WO2013169500A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2013-04-26 JP JP2015511504A patent/JP6250038B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2013-05-06 TW TW102116013A patent/TWI610729B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation

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