KR20070017130A - Changeover system and changeover for a metal forming mill - Google Patents

Abstract

The diverting system 1 for the metal forming mill, in particular the tube forming mill, comprises at least a pair of work modules 10, 11, which work modules are pivoted into or out of the line of work stations of the mill (P1). P2) is adapted. Each work module 10, 11 has its own drive or drives. Within a pair of work modules, the two work modules 10, 11 have a second work out of the line when one work module 10; 11 is arranged in the line of work stations. Arranged to be arranged.

Pivot, Workstation, Tube Mill, Tooling, Overhead Crane

Description

Changeover system and changeover method for a metal forming mill

The invention deals with a conversion system for a metal forming mill according to the independent claim.

During the manufacture of many metal products, for example during the production of profiled metal parts or tubes, the metal is formed into the desired shape. In particular, in tube mills for making seam-welded tubes, a continuous metal strip proceeds through several workstations forming a line of work stations. . At these workstations, the strip is formed to exhibit a tube shape with an open longitudinally extending seam formed by adjacent edges of the strip being formed. Subsequently, when the shim is welded and unwanted beads are formed, a scarfing treatment may be applied to remove the beads. Obviously, during the production of tubes other than seam welded tubes, the welding step and the subsequent scarfing step can be omitted.

This type of mill includes a number of large precision machines that represent a significant technical and financial cost, so that tubes of various dimensions and / or different cross sections are produced in the same mill. In order to produce tubes with different dimensions and / or different cross sections, different tooling is required in the line of workstations. On the other hand, since the same mill is used, replacement or modification of the tooling of at least one workstation is required to enable production conversion from one type of tube to another type of tube. Sometimes, replacement or modification of the tooling of one or more workstations is required.

In the past, in order to carry out the changes or modifications described above, one of several methods is to close the production line, remove and replace each possible tooling or modify the mounted tooling. After that, new or modified tooling must be set appropriately and adjusted in line before production resumes. The overall conversion scheme consumes significant time periods, resulting in significant costs both timely and economically. As a result, contrary to the current trend of periodically changing from one product production to another and maintaining a minimum inventory, it is necessary to maintain excessive inventory of the final products.

An alternative method was to mount the tooling for the next product to be produced "off the line" so that production continued until the tooling for the next product was mounted and replaced. US 5,887,472 shows an example showing the transition from the production of a first product to the production of a second product of different diameter or shape. In this embodiment, the drives of the various workstations along the line are always appropriate. When the conversion is carried out, the production line is stopped, removable cassettes carrying the tooling are disconnected from their drives, the cassettes are removed (guided by rails in the floor), and new Alternative cassettes that deliver the tooling required to produce the product are moved to their place in the production line. Subsequently, new cassettes are connected to the drives and production of a new product can begin.

This way of performing the conversion represents an important process for efficiency, but still has some disadvantages.

Mechanical and electrical disconnection and reconnection of cassettes is relatively complex and time consuming. In the embodiment described in US 5,887,472 described above, cassettes are removed with the aid of wheels provided on the support of the cassettes and rails provided on the floor, the wheels being machine hall transverse along the production line. Through the rails to engage the cassettes. The rail system that enables this movement is very space consuming, and the movement of cassettes through the machine hole from or into the production line is time consuming. In addition, the movement of the cassettes from or to the production line generally takes place on the production operator side and hinders the continuity of the production process while preparing for conversion.

Although not disclosed in US 5,887,472, overhead (travelling) instead of rails / wheels for removing cassettes to be replaced from the production line and moving new cassettes to be properly connected to the production line Cranes are used. In general, overhead cranes also represent a significant cost and are often used for different purposes in machine holes or factories, making them unavailable when the switching of cassettes is necessary. Sometimes, overhead cranes are not available at all. However, more importantly, only the overhead crane allows one cassette to be delivered from or to the production line in time, so that only the cassettes can be replaced one after the other. Thus, replacing cassettes using an overhead crane is rather time consuming.

In view of these drawbacks, it is an object of the present invention to propose an improved switching system.

This object is achieved by a switching system according to the invention, which is characterized by the features of the independent claims. Embodiments of the switching system according to the invention can be obtained from the features of the dependent claims.

In particular, the novel switching system for metal forming mills, in particular tubular mills, according to the invention comprises at least a pair of work modules adapted to be pivoted into or out of the line of work stations of the mill. Each work module has its own drive or drives to drive the components of each work module. Two work modules are arranged within a pair of work modules such that when one work module is placed in a line of workstations, the other work module is placed outside of the line.

Pivoting the work module into or out of the line of workstations (performing some tooling among others) is very simple, fast, reliable and especially for performing the conversion, especially when compared to existing solutions. , In a sophisticated way. Pivoting the work module into or out of the line of workstations may be performed with or without a drive. This does not require any large space consuming rail system and does not require an overhead crane to perform the changeover, thus saving considerable cost and time. Since each work module is provided with its own drive or drives, there is a need for electrical and mechanical disconnection and reconnection to or from the drives of the line of workstations (production line). Connections in the module can be maintained when the work module is pivoted into or out of the line of work modules. In addition, space consumption is minimal. Once the module is pivoted out of the line of workstations (production line), the tooling of the modules can be replaced with a preparation for producing a new product or the tooling can be left intact to prepare for the production of the product produced before the conversion. . In addition, a pivot is performed into or out of the line of the workstation so that the production operator is not disturbed. In contrast to known conversion systems, the replacement and maintenance of all components (drives, gear boxes, couplings, tooling) of an "off-line" module is carried out without disturbing the running production process. Can be. In addition, on average, drive components are only using about 50% of production uptime (one module is always off at the production line), thereby reducing the aging of drive components.

In an embodiment of the switching system according to the invention, the work modules of the pair or pairs of work modules are provided with wheels for engaging the floor to simplify the pivotal movement of the work modules into or out of the line of work stations. .

In another embodiment of the switching system according to the invention, the system comprises rails arranged on the floor in the area in which the pair or pairs of work modules are arranged. The wheels of the work modules engage the rails to enable guided pivot movement of the work modules into or out of the line of workstations. The rails are arranged only in the area in which the pair or pairs of work modules are arranged, thereby lowering the overall cost and space consumption. On the other hand, this solution simplifies pivot movement.

The invention is not limited to tube forming mills, but is particularly suitable for such mills. Thus, in one embodiment of the divert system according to the invention, the work modules comprise rollers for forming a tube or an open profile. Accordingly, metal forming mills, in particular tube forming mills, comprising a line of work stations and a switching system, as described above, are the subject of the present invention. Also, the corresponding switching method is another subject of the present invention.

Further embodiments of the present invention and the advantages obtained therefrom will be understood from the detailed description of embodiments of the present invention together with the drawings.

1 shows an embodiment of a switching system according to the invention in a state before switching;

2 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1 after switching;

1 shows an embodiment of a switching system 1 according to the invention. As mentioned above, the conversion system 1 is suitable for use in metal forming mills, in particular in tube forming mills. The flow of the material to be formed, for example the metal strip, is indicated by arrows F. FIG.

As can be appreciated in FIG. 1, the switching system 1 comprises at least one pair of work modules, each pair of work modules comprising two work modules 10, 11. As detailed below, two work modules 10, 11 (eg, passes, stands) are adapted to pivot into or out of the line of work stations of the mill. For example, the work modules 10, 11 are pivotally attached at opposite ends relative to the line of work stations. The work module 10 is located in the line of work stations of the grinder, and at the same time the work module 11 is located outside the line. Two operators, the production operator PO as well as the conversion operator CO, are schematically illustrated in FIG. 1.

According to FIG. 1, the production of the first product A is in operation. The conversion operator CO prepares the work module 11 for conversion so that the line can produce the product B. FIG. The preparation of the work module 11 is performed by the switching operator CO, and the production of the product A continues to run. The switching operator performs preparation of the work module 11 on the side opposite to the side where the production operator PO is located. Thus, preparation of the work module 11 does not interfere with the production process of the product A.

By way of example, since the embodiment of the diverting system 1 is a system that can be used in a tube forming mill, the work modules 10, 11 comprise rollers 100, 110 for forming a metal strip material. Each work module 10, 11 also includes its own drive or drives, which may include motors M and gears G for driving the rollers 100, 110.

Assume that the work module 11 is ready and ready to switch. For the conversion from the production of product A to the production of product B, the production process at the line of workstations is stopped. In a first step, the work module 10 is pivoted out of the line of workstations, which is indicated by arrow P1 in FIG. 2. This pivot movement preferably takes place completely automatically and simultaneously, but may also be performed manually by the operator. Subsequently, in the second step, the work module 11 is pivoted into a line of workstations, which is indicated by arrow P2 in FIG. 2. Again, this pivot movement preferably takes place completely automatically and simultaneously, but may also be performed manually by the operator. The line of workstations (production line) then prepares to produce product B.

In order to simplify the pivot movement of the work modules 10, 11, rails (not shown) may be provided on the floor in the area of the switching system 1, and the work modules 10, 11 may be provided with these rails. Wheels that engage the wheels may be provided.

In the state shown in FIG. 2, the production of the product B is started. While the production operator PO controls the production of the product B, the switching operator CO pivots the work module 10 into the line of workstations (after pivoting the work module 11 out of the line of workstations). Thereby, tooling suitable for the production of the product C can be started to be mounted in the work module 10 to prepare the work module 10 for the production of the product C. Alternatively, the conversion operator CO can review the tooling mounted on the work module 10 and, if necessary, (workpiece 11 into the line of workstations after pivoting the work module 11 out of the line of workstations). Maintenance operations can be carried out in order to prepare the work module 10 again for the production of product A).

While the above-described embodiment includes a pair of work modules, it will be appreciated that the present invention may also include a switching system comprising one or more pairs of work modules, such as at least two pairs of work modules. In this case, the system may be adapted to switch work modules among pairs of work modules simultaneously and fully automatically, whereas in a conventional system, modules may only be switched after one operation has ended. Thus, the involvement of the production operator in the conversion process is limited to initiating the automated conversion process, for example by pressing a knob. While the conversion process is fully automatic, the production operator is free to perform other tasks along the production line during the conversion.

Claims (8)

As a switching system 1 for a metal forming mill, in particular a tube forming mill, The diverting system 1 comprises at least a pair of work modules 10, 11, the at least one pair of work modules 10, 11 into and into the line of the work station of the mill. Adapted to pivot (P1, P2) out, each work module 10, 11 has its own drive or drives, and within the pair of work modules, the two work modules 10, 11 Is arranged such that when one work module (10; 11) is arranged in the line of workstations, the other (11; 10) is arranged outside the line. The method of claim 1, In the work modules 10, 11 of the pair or pairs of work modules 10, 11, the pivot movement of the work modules 10, 11 into and out of the line of the workstations is simplified. A transition system, in which wheels are provided for engaging the floor. The method of claim 2, Further comprising rails disposed on the floor in an area in which the pair or pairs of work modules 10, 11 are disposed, the wheels of the work modules meshing with the rails, the line of work stations Switching system which enables guided pivot movement of the work modules into and out of the line. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The work modules (10,11) comprise rollers (100,110) for forming a tube or an open profile. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, At least two pairs of work modules 10, 11, wherein the system simultaneously works into and out of the line of work stations 10 of the at least two pairs of work modules 10, 11. 11) switching system, which is adapted to switch. Metal forming mill comprising a switching system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims and a line of workstations. 7. The metal forming mill of claim 6, wherein the mill is a tube forming mill. In a metal forming mill comprising a switching system 1 according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and a line of work stations, as a process for switching from the formation of the first metal product to the formation of the second metal product. , Stopping formation of the first metal product, Pivoting out of the line of workstations a work module 10; 11 of a pair of workstations 10, 11 arranged in the line of workstations, Pivoting another work module (11; 10) of the same pair of workstations (10, 11) arranged in the line of workstations into the line of workstations, and Initiating the formation of the second metal product.

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