NZ577162A

NZ577162A - An anti-bending profiling head and a profiling machine fitted with such heads

Info

Publication number: NZ577162A
Application number: NZ577162A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Francis Miniscloux
Original assignee: Francis Miniscloux
Priority date: 2006-11-24
Filing date: 2007-11-07
Publication date: 2011-08-26
Also published as: BRPI0719145A2; EP1925376A1; CA2670441A1; ATE550115T1; AU2007330632A1; WO2008068404A3; EP1925376B1; JP2010510072A; WO2008068404A2; US20100018274A1

Abstract

A profiling head (1) comprising at least one wheeled forming cassette (2) comprising a set of two parallel shafts (20, 30) having wheels (201 to 217; 301 to 310) separated by spacers (200; 300) mounted thereon to form a rolling tooling, and a frame comprising uprights (41, 51) for supporting the shafts (20, 30) and a base (60) to which the uprights are fastened, which uprights are provided with vertical adjustment means (44 to 46; 54 to 56) for vertically adjusting the shafts (20, 30). The profiling head also comprises elements (61, 71) for adjusting the alignment of the tooling, the elements being mounted laterally on each shaft (20, 30) in connection with at least one upright (51). The profiling head comprises at least one anti-bending adjustment element (90, 91) mounted substantially in a central position of a shaft (20, 30) with a connection (4, 5) to the base (60) and/or an adjustment beam (80), wherein in the event of such an adjustment beam being mounted on the uprights (41, 51) of the frame parallel to the shafts (20, 30), the lateral adjustment and anti-bending elements (61, 71; 90, 91), mounted on bearings, then adapt automatically to the vertical adjustment means (44 to 46; 54 to 56).

Description

Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011 ANTIFLEXION PROFILING HEAD AND PROFILING MACHINE EQUIPPED WITH THE SAME The invention relates to a profiling head fitted with anti-bending means for the purpose of using rolling 5 to form plates of sheet metal or the equivalent so that they present a certain profile, e.g. of U- or V- or other shape. The invention also relates to machines fitted with such profiling heads.

In a profiling line of a profiling machine, the 10 sheet metal is formed progressively by passing through profiling heads fitted with rolling cassettes. Profiling machines include one or more profiling lines in order to reach the desired profile. For each line, the sheet metal is unreeled from a reel, is formed by passing 15 through the rolling cassettes of the profiling heads, and is then retrieved on an outlet conveyor fitted with shears for cutting the sheet into plates, and is finally stacked. At the outlet, bending machines may be provided for bending the profiled sheet-metal plates. Electronic 20 control equipment can also be provided for controlling the profiling lines.

Each rolling cassette of the profiling heads includes a set of two parallel shafts having wheels and spacers mounted thereon. The sheet metal is formed by 25 being passed between said rolling means that present respective complementary profiles, the distance between two shafts being adjusted on uprights as a function of the thicknesses of the sheet metal. A shaft support frame comprising the uprights and a base is provided. 30 In order to reduce the cost and the weight of profiling heads, the present trend is to reduce significantly the diameter of the mounting shafts and of the wheels. However, the use of such shafts gives rise to problems of bending and of the shafts coming out of 35 adjustment because of the way they deform in response to the dynamic stresses generated by the weight of the sheet metal and by the sheet metal advancing along the profiling lines. Adjustment can then only be performed by clamping bearing rings of the wheels, which leads over Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011 time to an effect of the rings being hollowed out by the work of the shaft.

In addition, shafts are never exactly cylindrical and in rotation their out-of-roundness can cause them to 5 be ejected.

To remedy those problems, the invention provides for uniting the adjustment of the set of shafts and the adjustment of the forming means, and for providing means for adapting in bending, or at least provides the public 10 with a useful alternative.

In a first aspect, the invention provides a profiling head comprising at least one wheeled forming cassette comprising a set of two parallel shafts having wheels separated by spacers mounted thereon to form 15 rolling tooling, and a frame comprising uprights for supporting the shafts and a base to which the uprights are fastened, which uprights are provided with vertical adjustment means for vertically adjusting the shafts, wherein the profiling head also comprises elements for 20 adjusting the alignment of the tooling, the elements being mounted laterally on each shaft in connection with at least one upright, and wherein at least one anti-bending adjustment element is mounted substantially in a central position of a shaft with a connection to the base 25 and/or an adjustment beam, wherein in the event of such an adjustment beam being mounted on the uprights of the frame parallel to the shafts, the lateral adjustment and anti-bending elements, mounted on bearings, then adapt automatically to the vertical adjustment means. 30 Thus, no readjustment of the lateral or anti-bending adjustment means is required, since this adjustment takes place automatically: no loss of adjustment can occur since the means for transmitting the vertical adjustment, the beam and/or the base, remain in pressure. The beam 35 can also serve to counter bending. The term "vertical" 3 is used to mean perpendicular to the shafts in the plane formed by the axes of the shafts.

In particular advantageous embodiments: • the beam may be mounted, relative to the forming 5 cassette (s) either on the side opposite from the base or on the side opposite from the base and on the same side as the base; • the connection between the shafts and the base and/or the beam being made by means of rods, at least one of the rods being of adjustable height; • the lateral adjustment of the alignment of the tooling is performed by centering means, in particular threaded screws, in connection with the uprights, which connection may be provided by cheekplates disposed on either side of the upright; • at least one anti-bending adjustment element may include, in the context of lateral adjustment of the alignment of the tooling, a conical split ring that is of sufficient thickness to act as a spacer; the ring has a bearing mounted thereon with an inner shell that presents the same cone angle as the ring; the relative position of the bearing that can advance over the ring is adjusted laterally by relative movement of the conical shell along the conical ring under drive from suitable adjustment 25 means, in particular a nut in connection with a threaded portion of the split ring, a wheel, or a spacer; such movement causes the ring to be tightened or loosened correspondingly; • at least one adjustment element possesses an outer 30 shell that is partial, being constituted by a section of a cylinder, and that has the rod connecting with the base or the beam fastened thereto; this disposition makes it possible to reduce costs by making use of a small quantity of material, with only a portion of the outer 35 shell being of use for adjustment purposes; Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011 the height of the rod is adjusted by clamping means mounted on an end of the rod that is inserted in an orifice of an endpiece.

In a second aspect the invention provides a 5 profiling machine comprising a sheet metal storage reel, a plurality of progressive profiling heads according to the first aspect of the invention, an outlet conveyor fitted with shears for cutting the profiled sheet metal into plates, a vessel in which the plates are stacked, 10 and electronic equipment for controlling profiling lines formed by each profiling head.

At the outlet, benders may be provided for bending the profiled sheet metal plates.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, 15 throughout the description and claims the terms "comprise", "comprising" and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense. That is, in the sense of "including, but not limited to".

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear on reading the following description of a non-limiting embodiment described with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: • Figure 1 is a main section view of an example of a 25 profiling head of the invention; • Figure 2a is a side view of Figure 1 showing the lateral adjustment means more precisely; • Figures 2b and 2c are sections of Figure 2a on planes B-B and C-C; • Figures 3a and 3b are two views of Figure 1 showing respectively an anti-bending adjustment element provided with an adjustment nut, and an anti-bending adjustment element having a bearing that advances with an adjacent wheel; and 35 • Figure 4 is a cross-section on a discontinuous plane A-A of Figure 1, showing the two anti-bending adjustment elements of Figures 3a and 3b.

Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011 4a With reference to Figure 1, the profiling head 1 seen in main section is fitted with a rolling cassette 2 including a set of two parallel shafts 20 and 30.

Wheels 201 to 217 are mounted on the shaft 20 and wheels 301 to 310 are mounted on the shaft 30. Most of these wheels are mounted on bearings 3. Spacers 200 and 300 are mounted directly on the shafts 20 and 30 so as hold the wheels of one shaft in register with the corresponding wheels of the other shaft. The wheels and the spacers form the rolling tooling.

The sheet for shaping is inserted between the wheels 5 positioned facing one another in this way and respectively presenting complementary profiles. The two shafts are adjusted at a distance apart on lateral uprights 41 and 51 as a function of the spacing desired between the facing wheels of the shafts for a given 10 thickness of sheet to be formed.

A shaft support frame includes the uprights 41, 51 and a base 60 on which the uprights are fastened with the help of vice-forming parts 42 & 43 and 52 & 53. The shafts 20 and 30 are mounted in parallel on the uprights 15 41 and 51 with the help of lateral adjustment elements, given respective references 61 and 71, that are mounted on the shafts with the help of bearings 3 and that are fastened to the uprights.

The uprights 41 and 51 are provided with stops 44 20 and 54 for adjusting the shafts vertically, the positions of the stops being locked by means of nuts 45 & 46 and 55 & 56.

The mounting shafts and the wheels are of diameters that are smaller than those used conventionally. In the 25 embodiment described, the shafts are of a diameter of 60 millimeters (mm), whereas a conventional diameter is 100 mm.

The lateral adjustment elements 71 fastened to the upright 51 include means for aligning the tooling by 30 centering, as described in detail below, while the adjustment elements 61 mounted on the other upright 41 to do not include a centering system.

In the embodiment described, an adjustment beam 80 is mounted on the vertical uprights, with the help of 35 couplings 81 and adjustment nuts 82 extending parallel to the mounting shafts 20 and 30. Anti-bending adjustment elements 90 and 91 are mounted substantially in a central 6 position on each shaft, respectively in connection with the base 60 and with the adjustment beam 80 via rods 4 and 5. The rod 4 is of a height that is adjustable by a nut and lock-nut assembly 6 mounted on a threaded end 4a 5 of the rod 4. The rod is inserted in a non-threaded orifice 7a of an endpiece 7. The other rod 5 is mounted in a fixed position on the adjustment beam 80 using means known to the person skilled in the art.

The lateral adjustment elements 61, 71 and the anti-10 bending elements 90, 91 are mounted on bearings 3 and 3a and they adapt automatically to the vertical adjustment applied to the stops 44 and 54.

In more detail concerning the lateral alignment adjustment, Figures 2a, 2b, and 2c are respectively a 15 side view and section views of Figure 1 concentrating on a tooling alignment adjustment element 71. Such an element includes two screw-threaded centering bolts 72 and 73. The bolts are mounted on two cheekplates 7 4 and 75 that are placed outside two walls 57 and 58 of the 20 upright 51, and they pass through the walls 57 and 58.

In the context of laterally adjusting the alignment of the tooling, an anti-bending adjustment element is shown in Figure 3a. Such an element 90 includes a conical ring 92a that is split longitudinally along the 25 axis X'X of the shaft 20. The ring presents thickness that is sufficient to act as a spacer. The ring 92a has mounted thereon a bearing 3a having an inner shell 30 presenting the same cone angle as the ring 92a. The relative position of the bearing 3a on the ring is 30 adjusted laterally by relative movement (arrow F) of the bearing along the conical ring 92a under drive from a nut 32 meshing with a threaded portion 93 of the split ring. This movement simultaneously tightens or loosens the ring correspondingly.

Another anti-bending element 91 is shown in Figure 3b. This element comprises a split ring 92b of the same type as the ring 92a and a bearing 3a with a 7 conical inner shell 30 identical to the bearing connected with the ring 92a. Lateral movement causes the bearing 3a to slide on the ring 92b presenting a diameter that remains constant by increasing or decreasing the size of 5 the split in the ring. This movement is driven by the wheel 305 that bears against the bearing 3a.

Figure 4 is a cross-section on a discontinuous plane A-A of Figure 1, showing the two anti-bending adjustment elements 90 and 91 of Figures 3a and 3b. This figure 10 shows the use of partial outer shells 94a and 94b, each formed by a section of a cylinder placed facing the rod 4 connected to the base 60 or the rod 5 connected to the beam 80. The ends of the rods 4 and 5 are secured respectively to the partial shells 94a and 94b. This 15 reduction in the length of the shell, which is advantageous in terms of cost, is justified by the fact that only a portion of the outer shell is useful for adjustment purposes. The inner shells 30 remain entire.

The invention is not limited to the example and 20 shown. In other embodiments of the invention: • lateral centering elements 71 may be mounted on both uprights 41 and 51; • a plurality of cassettes may be mounted between the base and the adjustment beam; and • other types of means can be implemented for clamping the rings of the rods or the stops, e.g. making use of blades or clip-fasteners.

Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011

Claims

1. A profiling head comprising at least one wheeled forming cassette comprising a set of two parallel shafts having wheels separated by spacers mounted thereon to 5 form rolling tooling, and a frame comprising uprights for supporting the shafts and a base to which the uprights are fastened, which uprights are provided with vertical adjustment means for vertically adjusting the shafts, wherein the head also comprises elements for adjusting 10 the alignment of the tooling, the elements being mounted laterally on each shaft in connection with at least one upright, and wherein at least one anti-bending adjustment element is mounted substantially in a central position of a shaft with a connection to the base and/or an 15 adjustment beam, wherein in the event of such an adjustment beam being mounted on the uprights of the frame parallel to the shafts, the lateral adjustment and anti-bending elements, mounted on bearings, then adapt automatically to the vertical adjustment means. 20

2. A profiling head according to claim 1, wherein the beam can be mounted relative to the forming cassette(s) either on the side opposite from the base, or on the side opposite from the base and on the same side as the base. 25

3. A profiling head according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the connection between the shafts and the base and/or the beam is made by means of rods, at least one of the rods being of adjustable height. 30

4. A profiling head according to the preceding claim, wherein the height of the rod is made adjustable by clamping means mounted on an end of said rod that is inserted in an orifice of an endpiece. 35

5. A profiling head according to any preceding claim, wherein the lateral adjustment of the alignment of the tooling is performed by centering means in connection with the upright. Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011 9

6. A profiling head according to the preceding claim, wherein the connection between the centering means and the upright takes place via cheekplates disposed on 5 either side of the upright.

7. A profiling head according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the centering means comprise threaded-shank bolts. 10

8. A profiling head according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one anti-bending adjustment element comprises a split conical ring of sufficient thickness to act as a spacer, and a bearing having an inner shell 15 presenting the same cone angle as the ring, the inner shell being mounted on the ring.

9. A profiling head according to the preceding claim, wherein the relative position of the bearing on the ring 20 is adjusted laterally by relative movement of the conical shell along the conical ring driven by adjustment means.

10. A profiling head according to the preceding claim, wherein the adjustment means comprise a nut in connection 25 with a threaded portion of the split ring.

11. A profiling head according to claim 9, wherein the adjustment means are formed by a wheel bearing against the ring. 30

12. A profiling head according to claim 9, wherein the adjustment means are formed by a spacer bearing against the ring. 35 13. A profiling head according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein at least one anti-bending adjustment element possesses a partial outer shell formed by a section of a cylinder, to which the rod connecting to the base or to the beam is fastened.

Received at IPONZ on 22 July 2011 10

14. A profiling machine comprising a sheet metal storage reel, a plurality of progressive profiling heads, an outer conveyor fitted with shears for cutting the 5 profiled sheet into plates, a vessel in which the plates are stacked, and electronic equipment for controlling the profiling lines formed by each profiling head, wherein the profiling heads are defined in accordance with any preceding claim. 10

15. A profiling machine according to the preceding claim, also comprising a bender for bending the profiled sheet metal plates. 15

16. A profiling head substantially as herein described with reference to any embodiment shown in any one or more of Figures 1-4.

17. A profiling machine substantially as herein described 20 with reference to any embodiment shown in any one or more of Figures 1-4.

18. A profiling head according to claim 1 substantially as herein described. 25

19. A profiling machine according to claim 14 substantially as herein described.