GB2054758A

GB2054758A - Improvements in or relating to a roll mounting

Info

Publication number: GB2054758A
Application number: GB8006583A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Eduard Kuesters Maschinenfabrik GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Eduard Kuesters Maschinenfabrik GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1979-07-24
Filing date: 1980-02-27
Publication date: 1981-02-18
Also published as: DE2929942B2; ATA322280A; JPS5754650B2; SE8004471L; GB2054758B; FI68107C; SU967283A3; SE443202B; BR8004255A; DE2929942A1; CH647848A5; DD151793A5; IT1132517B; FI68107B; CA1126557A; JPS5620824A; AT380908B; DE2929942C3; IT8023285A0; FI801953A

Abstract

A roll mounting (10) comprising a bearing member (15) for rotatably receiving a roll journal, said bearing member being movably guided in a bearing housing (1) and being driven in the direction of motion defined by the bearing housing by driving means, said driving means comprising pistons extending in the direction of motion (13, 14) located on both sides of and firmly secured to, the bearing member, (15) said pistons engaging in cylinders (11, 12) disposed in the bearing housing to constitute a piston and cylinder unit acting between the bearing housing and the bearing member. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to a roll mounting The invention relates to a roll mounting, and more particularly to a roll mounting in which a bearing member supporting the roll is adapted to be driven by a piston and cylinder unit.

A mounting of this kind is described in French Patent Specification No. 22 26 508. In this prior mounting a bearing housing which comprises a rectangular frame carries a bearing member which comprises a rectangular component having an aperture for receiving the bearing for the roll journal, the component being mounted in the rectangular frame and having two opposite rectangular sides guided parallel to and adjacent the corresponding rectangular sides of the frame.

The piston/cylinder unit is located at one of the transverse sides of the frame, the piston pressing directly against the bearing member.

The mounting disclosed in the said French Patent Specification No. 22 26 508 is for a calender. The bearing housing is screwed to the side of the calender frame, so that the bearing member is vertically movable in the housing.

Normally the piston/cylinder units are under pressure and are thus prepared for action as described below, but are not otherwise active.

They are thus not adapted to influence the line pressure (i.e. the pressure at the line of the nip).

The line pressure is determined by the bottom roll.

The piston/cylinder units come into action only in emergency, e.g. in the case of a web break, when the calender has to be opened rapidly. The bottom roll is then quickly lowered and the piston/cylinder units catch the subsequent or top rolls during their downward motion and push the bearing member into the bearing housing, thus softening the impact.

It has also long been known (German Patent Specification 91 573) to use hydraulic piston/cylinder units to adjust the line pressure at the roller nip. Such units are also conventional for calenders (German Offenlegungsschrift 20 10 322, U.S.A. Patent Specification 3,451,332).

However, the known embodiments comprising hydraulic or pneumatic adjustment of the line pressure have a common feature in that the rolls are guidable in some manner on a stand in the screwdown direction, and the devices for exerting pressure are separate units, which bring about motion in the guide. In German OS 20 10 332, the calender rolls are mounted in bearing plates movable in vertical sliding guides at the calender frame, whereas in U.S.A. Patent 3,451,332, the rolls are mounted by means of a rocker arm.

As a result of the separate nature of the guide and pressure means, the known constructions are very complicated, particularly when the individual line pressure in a calender stack have to be controlled separately (U.S.A. Patent Specification No. 3,158,088).

An object of this invention is to simplify the construction of roll devices operating with an adjustable line pressure.

According to this invention there is provided a roll mounting comprising a bearing member for rotatably receiving a roll journal, said bearing member being movably guided in a bearing housing and being driven in the direction of motion defined by the bearing housing by driving means, said driving means comprising pistons extending in the direction of motion located on both sides of and firmly secured to, the bearing member, said pistons engaging in cylinders disposed in the bearing housing to constitute a piston and cylinder unit acting between the bearing housing and the bearing member.

The pistons connected to the bearing member not only apply screwdown forces to produce line pressures but also guide the bearing member, so that no separate guiding structure is needed. The guiding system is particularly efficient, because the pistons may have a relatively large diameter and are disposed on opposite sides of the bearing member or roll journal. The entire bearing system can be made very compact, because the individual pistons do not take up as much space as will be necessary in a cylindrical guide. The latter, in general, must have a guide length at least equal to its diameter. This requirement no longer applies, because the oppositely-disposed pistons of the bearing member co-operate in guiding. The guide length of the piston is therefore substantially only equal to the required stroke of the bearing member inside the bearing house.

The resulting structural unit can be made so small that it does not project beyond the roll periphery, or not sufficiently to cause an obstruction. Thus, the structure does not hinder or limit the motion of devices co-operating with the roll. It is to be appreciated that such devices would otherwise be hindered by the guide and pressure components.

Theoretically, it is not necessary for the two pistons to be in line at the bearing member or to be disposed in the screwdown direction, but it is preferred that the cylinders are disposed coaxially in a plane extending through the roll axis and that the cylinders are disposed so their axes extend in the screwdown direction of the roll.

The bearing member is designed to be guided exclusively by the pistons. Usually, the roll journals are mounted in the bearing member so that the roll axis can sag somewhat under the line pressure, without tilting in the bearing.

Consequently, swivelable bearings of olive configuration are used and the outer bearing surface is mounted on a corresponding partlyspherical surface. Whilst the swivelable bearing is provided so that the roll journal can bend relative to the bearing member in the screwdown direction, the bearing member of course will be able to rotate relative to the roll axis in a plane perpendicular thereto.

Since this is undesirable, it is advisable to use a rotation-preventing means. Thus preferably a rotation preventing means is provided to prevent the bearing member from rotating around the axis of the pistons but which allows the bearing member and the pistons to move in the axial direction thereof.

Conveniently the bearing housing has a rectangular exterior and has a surface parallel to the piston axis or at right angles to the piston axis and adapted to be connected to a machine frame.

This facilitates the construction of the bearing housing by a unit-construction method, which greatly simplifies assembly.

Preferably the bearing housing has a substantially U-shaped part comprising two parallel arms and a base, one cylinder is disposed in the base of the U-shaped part and is open towards the interior of the U-shaped part between said arms, a transverse member is provided and connects the free ends of the arms of the U shaped member and the other cylinder is disposed in said transverse member and is open towards the interior of the U-shaped part between the arms, and the bearing member is disposed between the arms, the base and the said transverse member.

The invention includes not only the mounting itself but also a device comprising rolls mounted by mountings in accordance with the invention. In such a device it is preferred that the bearing housing is dimensioned so that it can receive both the weight of the rolls and also the forces produced by the line pressure, and the roll is connected to the device exclusively by securing members engaging the bearing housing.

Consequently a material-processing device comprising a number of rolls can be constructed in units, using mountings according to the invention, without the need for a separate machine frame containing and guiding all the rolls. Accordingly, the devices can be made much lighter and less expensive without losing stability or accuracy.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and so that further features thereof may be appreciated the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a mounting according to the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of Figure 1; and Figures 3 to 5 are side views of various roll systems equipped with mountings according to the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 show a mounting denoted by the general reference 10. It comprises a U-shaped frame 1 having two limbs 2, 3 and a base 4. The free ends of limbs 2, 3 are interconnected by a transverse member 5 which is centred by means of a projection 6 and secured by screws 7 to the end face of limbs 2 and 3, thus producing a stable, substantially rectangular frame. The outer surfaces 8, 8 and 9, 9 of the frame are parallel to one another and surfaces 8 and 9 are perpendicular to one another, thus producing a box-like structure having precisely located outer surfaces 8, 9.

Cylindrical recesses 11, 12 aligned with one another are formed in the base 4 and crossmember 5; the open ends of the recesses face one another and the closed ends are assocated with connections for hydraulic oil under pressure.

Pistons 1 3, 14 are disposed in the recesses 11, 12 and are firmly secured to a bearing member 1 5. It will be appreciated that the two pistons extend in opposite directions from two opposite sides of the bearing member 15. The member 15 can, of course, be made integrally with the pistons 13,14.

The bearing member 15 has a bearing eye in which a bearing 1 6 is located. The bearing 1 6 has the form of an olive, so that the bearing can swivel in the member 1 5. The bearing 1 6 has a through bore 1 7 for receiving a roll journal.

In the described embodiment, pistons 13, 14 are disposed along a common axis which, in the case of a mounting 10 in a roll system, extends in the screwdown direction and intersects the roll axis. Owing to the fact that the bearing 1 6 is an olive the bearing member 1 5 may rotate around axis 1 8. To prevent this, a rotation-preventing means is provided in the form of a pin 1 9 extending through limb 2, the pin engaging in a groove 20 formed in bearing member 15 and extending parallel to axis 1 8.

Spaces 21,22 are left between bearing member 1 5 and the facing surfaces adjacent the mounting of the recesses 11 and 12, corresponding to the desired overall stroke of bearing member 1 5 relative to housing 1. The member 1 5 and consequently the rolls can thus move relative to the housing by corresponding amounts in the direction of axis 1 8, in order to carry out a screwdown motion, to produce a desired line pressure, to compensate for changes in the diameter of the rolls after turning, to ventilate the rolls, etc.

The housing 1 is very stable, so that the forces transmitted by the rolls are dissipated by securing means engaging the bearing housing 1, e.g.

screws engaging in bores 23.

Figure 3 shows a three-roll calender (general reference 30) in which a mounting according to the invention is used to bear the bottom roll 24. A desired line pressure (i.e. pressure at the nip) can be produced by actuating the bottom piston/cylinder unit 11, 1 3. Alternatively, rapid opening can be brought about by removing pressure from the bottom piston/cylinder unit 11, 13 and applying it to the top piston/cylinder unit 12, 14 in which case the central roll 15 falls away from the top roll 26 until journal 29 rests on the end slot 28 in bearing arm 27.

Owing to the presence of mounting 10, no projecting, complicated guide and pressure applying means are needed for the bottom roll 24.

Figure 4 shows a three-roll system 40 in which two rolls 33, 34 with mountings 10 in accordance with the invention are mounted at the sides of the bearing housing 31 of the central roll 32. There is no need for a large machine frame extending up to the side rolls 33 and 34. Instead, the frame is replaced by the self-supporting mountings 10.

Similarly as shown in Figure 5 a calender 50 can be constructed by disposing a top roll 42 on the bottom roll 41, using mountings 10 in accordance with the invention. As shown by broken lines above, calender 50 can be made up to a multiple-roll system by adding further rolls 43, 44 with mountings 10' in accordance with the invention which are directly connected by pins. As before, there is no need for a large machine frame.

Claims

1. A roll mounting comprising a bearing member for rotatably receiving a roll journal, said bearing member being movably guided in a bearing housing and being driven in the direction of motion defined by the bearing housing by driving means, said driving means comprising pistons extending in the direction of motion, located on both sides of and firmly secured to, the bearing member, said pistons engaging in cylinders disposed in the bearing housing to constitute a piston and cylinder unit acting between the bearing housing and the bearing member.

2. A mounting according to claim 1, wherein the cylinders are disposed coaxially in a plane extending through the roll axis.

3. A mounting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cylinders are disposed so their axes extend in the screwdown direction of the roll.

4. A mounting according to claim 2, wherein a rotation-preventing means is provided to prevent the bearing member from rotating around the axis of the pistons but which allows the bearing member and the pistons to move in the axial direction thereof.

5. A mounting according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bearing housing has a rectangular exterior and has a surface parallel to the piston axis or at right angles to the piston axis and adapted to be connected to a machine frame.

6. A mounting according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the bearing housing has a substantially U-shaped part comprising two parallel arms and a base, one cylinder is disposed in the base of the Ushaped part and is open towards the interior of the U-shaped part between said arms, a transverse member is provided and connects the free ends of the arms of the U-shaped member and the other cylinder is disposed in said transverse member and is open towards the interior of the U-shaped part between the arms and the bearing member is disposed between the arms, the base and the said transverse member.

7. A device for processing webs of material and comprising at least one roll, characterised in that the roll has mountings according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein the bearing housing is dimensioned so that it can receive both the weight of the rolls and also the forces produced by the line pressure, and the roll is connected to the device exclusively by securing members engaging the bearing housing.

9. A roll mounting substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A device for processing webs of material substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A device for processing webs of material substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A device for processing webs of material substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

13. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.