JP2015531686A - Rolling machine laying head - Google Patents

Abstract

A laying head that forms an axially moving hot-rolled product into a series of helical rings has a quill that is rotatable about an axis and the tubular body is rotatably supported between axially spaced bearings. And the protrusion (36) protrudes axially and forwardly from the tubular body. The product guide is supported by a quill. The product guide is configured to form the product into a series of helical rings. The guide trough (50) provides a helical extension of the product guide. The main part of the product guide and the guide trough are supported on a continuous helical support (42) of the projection of the quill. The guide trough is channel-shaped and has a continuous bottom that forms the edge of the spiral support and a segmented removable side wall.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is filed in US Provisional Application No. 61 / 707,510 filed on September 28, 2012 and US Patent Application No. 13 / 614,145 filed on September 13, 2012. Of the United States Code, Volume 35, Section 119 (e), and is incorporated herein by reference for their content and gist.

Background 1. Field Aspects of the present invention relate to high speed bar mills, and more particularly to improvements in laying heads used in such mills to form hot rolled products into a series of helical rings.

2. Description of Related Art Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional laying head 10 includes a housing including a hollow quill 12 that is rotatably driven. The quill is divided into a tubular body 12a that is rotatably supported between axially spaced bearings 14 and 16, and a protrusion 18 that is detachably fixed to the tubular body 12a by a mounting flange 20. The projecting portion projects from the tubular body in a cantilevered manner in the axial direction and the forward direction.

  The quill 12 is provided with a product guide in the form of a laying pipe 22 which is usually curved three-dimensionally. The laying pipe includes an inlet end 22a that is aligned with the rotational axis “X” of the quill 12 and a curved intermediate portion 12b that leads to a delivery end 12c that is radially spaced from the axis X.

  The hot-rolled steel bar is fed along the axis X into the inlet end 22a of the laying pipe 22 and exits from the delivery end 12c as a spiral ring (not shown). Upon exiting the delivery end 12c of the laying pipe 22, the ring is additionally restrained by a helical guide trough 24 surrounded by the cylindrical side plate 26 and moved forward. The guide trough 24 is configured and dimensioned to cooperate with the side plate 26 to provide an axially and radially constrained helical extension of the guide passage formed by the laying pipe 22.

  This extended restraint has been found to be very beneficial in preventing the rear end of the product from deforming and kinking as the product exits the laying head 10, but supports the guide trough 24. It has been found that the manner of doing and the design of the guide trough 24 has created several problems, which are at the expense of high speed operation of the laying head.

  For example, the curved intermediate portion 12b of the laying pipe 22 is supported by the projecting portion 18 by a strut 28 projecting in the radial direction, and the guide trough 24 is detachably attached to the end portion of the cantilever projecting portion 18. The disc-shaped trough support portion 30 is supported separately.

  With further reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the disc-shaped trough support 30 includes a hub 32 in the center of a helical plate 34 to which is attached a channel-shaped trough segment, generally designated 24 ', at the outer edge. I understand.

  Typically, the helical plate 34 is welded to the hub 32, and the resulting structure of the trough support 30 is robust and thus heavy so that it can withstand the stresses caused by the high speed operation of the laying head. . In addition, several problems are caused in accurately aligning the trough support 30 with respect to the rotational axis X of the laying head. Even a slight deviation can cause destructive vibrations at high speeds.

  Another drawback relates to the conventional trough segment 24 ', which usually comprises an integral expensive investment casting. Conventional casting materials have been found to lack sufficient resistance to friction caused by frictional contact with hot rolled products. Attempts to address this problem include increasing the thickness of the trough segment sidewalls, but it has been found that the resulting increase in weight further promotes instability of the laying head.

SUMMARY In general, aspects of the present invention form a product guide, which can include a laying pipe, and a guide trough as an integral component of a protrusion that projects axially and forwardly from the tubular body of the quill. Including supporting at a continuous helical support.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the guide trough segment is divided into a continuous bottom, the continuous bottom comprising the outer edge of the helical support, the side walls are segmented, and the trough bottom is It is detachably fixed and can be easily replaced when worn.

  These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1 is a side view of a conventional laying head, some of which are shown in cross section. FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the protrusion and guide trough assembly of the conventional laying head shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the conventional guide trough assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of a protrusion of a laying head quill according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in which a laying pipe and a guide trough are supported on a continuous helical support with integral components of the protrusion. is there. FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the protrusion shown in FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows the one side of the protrusion part shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the other side of the protrusion part shown by FIG. FIG. 8 is an enlarged scale cross-sectional view showing details of a trough segment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention along line 8-8 of FIG. 9A and 9B are perspective and side views, respectively, of a guide trough sidewall segment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with the present invention, the conventional assembly of protrusion 18 and separate disc-shaped trough support 30 shown in FIG. 1 has been replaced with an integral protrusion 36, which is an exemplary implementation thereof. The form is shown in FIG. The integral protrusion 36 includes a central tubular body 38. At one end of the central tubular body 38 is provided a mounting flange 40 configured to be connected to the tubular body 12a of the conventional laying head quill 12 shown in FIGS. A helical support, which may comprise a continuous helical plate 42 configured as an unwinding helical spiral, is joined to the central body 38 so that it cannot be removed.

  As best understood by further reference to FIGS. 5-7, the helical plate 42 extends continuously from the mounting flange 40 toward the distal end of the central body 38. A portion of the plate 42 supports a bracket 44 at its edge. As best seen in FIG. 4, the bracket 44 cooperates with the clamp 46 to secure the laying pipe 22 in its operating position. The remaining edge of the helical plate 42 is formed by a continuous collar that functions as the bottom 48 of the channel guide trough 50.

  By supporting the laying pipe 22 and the guide trough 50 on a continuous helical plate 42 formed as an integral component of the cantilevered projection 36, stress concentration is greatly reduced. This in turn makes it possible to reduce the weight of the projection 36, so that the center of gravity of the rotating assembly of the laying head is advantageously moved rearward and closer to the bearings 14, 16. As a result, the overall stiffness and resistance to vibration is advantageously improved.

  Referring to FIGS. 8, 9A and 9B, the side surface 52 of the guide trough 50 is segmented and removably secured to the bottom 48 by a conventional fastener that may include a bolt 54 and a nut 56. Yes. An exemplary embodiment of trough sidewall segment 52 is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B.

  If the individual side wall segments 52 are subject to accelerated wear, they can be easily replaced without replacing other less worn segments.

  Preferably, the side wall segments 52 are the same. The side wall segments may be cast or manufactured from a lightweight wear resistant material, and examples include aluminum, aluminum alloys, carbon fibers, thermoplastic resins, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the inner surface 52 'of the sidewall segment 52 may include or be coated with an abrasion resistant material, such as nanometal.

  The above description and drawings are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting. Various modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. It is understood that all such changes and modifications are included within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (20)

A laying head that forms a hot rolled product moving in an axial direction into a series of spiral rings,
A quill rotatable about an axis, having a tubular body rotatably supported between a plurality of axially spaced bearings, and a protrusion projecting axially and forwardly from the body;
An inlet end aligned with the axis and arranged to receive the product; and a delivery from the inlet end radially spaced from the axis and discharging the product as the series of helical rings A product guide supported by the quill having an intermediate bend leading to an end;
A guide trough providing a helical extension of the product guide, wherein the intermediate bend and delivery end of the product guide and the guide trough are on a continuous helical support of the protrusion of the quill A supported guide trough,
A laying head comprising:   The laying head according to claim 1, wherein the projecting portion of the quill includes an integral structure having the spiral support portion.   The laying head according to claim 2, wherein the spiral support part includes a spiral plate configured as a spiral spiral part protruding in a radial direction from the protrusion part.   The laying head according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is detachably fixed to the tubular body.   The laying head according to claim 2, wherein the spiral support portion is a manufactured part integrally joined to the protruding portion.   The laying head according to claim 1, wherein the product guide comprises a pipe.   The laying head according to claim 6, wherein the pipe is detachably fixed to the spiral support portion.   The laying head according to claim 1, wherein the guide trough includes a bottom portion formed by an outer edge of the spiral support portion, and a detachable side wall protrudes radially outward from the bottom portion.   The laying head according to claim 8, wherein the detachable side wall is divided into a plurality of segments.   The laying head according to claim 9, wherein the side wall segments are substantially identical.   The laying head according to claim 9, wherein the side wall segment is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.   The laying head according to claim 9, wherein the side wall segment is made of carbon fiber.   The laying head according to claim 9, wherein the side wall segment is made of a thermoplastic resin.   The laying head according to claim 9, wherein the side wall segment is coated with a wear resistant material.   The laying head according to claim 14, wherein the wear-resistant material includes nanometal. A laying head that forms a hot rolled product moving in an axial direction into a series of spiral rings,
A quill rotatable about an axis, having a tubular body rotatably supported between a plurality of axially spaced bearings, and a protrusion projecting axially and forwardly from the body;
An inlet end aligned with the axis and arranged to receive the product; and a delivery from the inlet end radially spaced from the axis and discharging the product as the series of helical rings A product guide supported by the quill having an intermediate bend leading to an end;
A channel-shaped guide trough providing a helical extension of the product guide having a continuous bottom and segmented removable side walls;
A laying head comprising:   17. The laying according to claim 16, wherein the intermediate curved portion and the delivery end portion of the product guide and the guide trough are supported by a continuous spiral support configured as an integral component of the protrusion. head.   The laying head according to claim 17, wherein the bottom portion of the guide trough comprises an outer edge of the helical support portion.   The laying head according to claim 16, wherein the protrusion is detachably fixed to the tubular body.   The laying head according to claim 17, wherein the product guide includes a pipe that is detachably fixed to an outer edge of the spiral support portion.

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