US1447274A - Manipulator for rolling mills - Google Patents

Description

Mar. 6; 1923. 1,447,274

C. W. BENJAMIN MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed A 1?, 1918 4 sheets-sheet 1 s Q3 O "a v L1 a I: canton Mar. 6, 1923.

C. W. BENJAMIN MANIPULATO R FOR ROLLING MILLS 4 sheets-sheet 2 Mar. 6, 1923.

C. W. BENJAMIN MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 17, 1918 4 sheets-sheet \EQ M1 D E E E: Q p I FI Mar. 6, 19-23. 1,447,274

C. W. BENJAMIN MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 1'7, 1918 4 sheets-sheet 4 ,Izwerzfw? Patented Mar. 6, 1923.

UNITED s'rarss PATENT OFFEQE.

CHESTER W. BENJAMIN, 0F LAKEWOOD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WELLMAN-SEAVER- MORGAN COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLING MILLS.

Application filed August 17, 1918. Serial No. 250,377.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, CHESTER W. BENJA- MIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lakewood, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Manipulators for Rolling Mills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a manipulator for rolling mills and has for its chief object to provide a manipulator including side guards which are designed to be moved laterally over the feed table, together with turning bars which move with one of the guards and are designed to turn the work on the rolls of the table, the whole being so constructed and arranged that the parts are readily accessible for repairs or replacement and are practically free from the effects of falling scale.

The further object is to so design the parts of the manipulator that the guards can be moved laterally over the rolls and the turning bars or fingers actuated to turn the work without requiring that a heavy complicated mechanism be moved.

The still further object is to provide a manipulator with turning bars so supported and operated that they are more effective than the prior devices for turning the work on the rolls.

Still further, the invention aims to provide in connection with the feed table of a rolling mill, a manipulator which is eflicient and durable as well as economical in design as far as materials and parts are concerned, and readily and easily controlled so that movements of desired extent and direction can be imparted.

The invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain noveldetails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims. Y

In the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein I have shown the preferred embodiment of my invention, Fig. l is a. top plan view of a portion of the rolling mill showing the table at one side of the reducing rolls and the manipulator associated with the table and embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view; Fig. '3 is 'a view substantially along the line 55 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 6 is a detail View partly in section and partly in elevation showing particularly the turning bars, the latter being shown by full lines in the lowermost position and by dotted lines in an elevated position to which they are moved in turningthe work.

The rolling mill includes the usual reducingrolls, on each side of which is a feed table composed of a series of rolls 10 supported in the side frames 11 of the table and operated preferably by bevel gearing 12 in the customary manner. Only one of the two feed tables is shown, it being understood that the. table on the opposite side of the rolls will be like that here illustrated.

Arranged to move laterally over the rolls 10 of the feed table, at right angles to the axes of the rolls are two side guards 13 and 14, the chief function of which is to shift the work laterally on the feed rolls so as to position the work for the desired pass of the reducing rolls. These side guards are preferably made heavy and rigid enough that they can be utilized to straighten the work should it be curved or bent by passing through the reducing rolls.

Each of the two guards is supported and actuated by two horizontal arms or beams 15 serving as guides, which extend laterally outward from the corresponding side guard. The rear end of each of these guard-supporting arms 15 has rollers 16 which engage flanges of a track beam here shown in the form of a casting 17 which is at the side of the table and extends laterally outward therefrom at right angles to the table. The forward portion of each guard-supporting arm 15 carries a roller 18 (see Fig. 2), which travels over a track 19 formed at the top, a spacer 20 extending between the side frames 11 of the feed table, two of such tracks .and spacers beingutilized. j

The guard-supporting arms 15 are moved back and forth so as to shift the guards laterally over the rolls of the table by motor actuated rack and pinion mechanism, including pinions 21 engaging rack teeth 22 on the lower faces of the guard-supporting arms 15. The pinions at each side of the table are fixed to a shaft 23, suitably journaled in bearings supported by the castings 1.7 (see Figs. 1 and 2). In this instance each shaft 2 is rotated through reducing gearing 24- by a counter-shaft 25, which through reducing gearing 26 is driven by a stationary motor 27, which is preferably an electric motor, although a motor of any other suitable type may be employed, and in fact, other means of rotating the shafts 23' may be utilized.

Each side guard is actuated in precisely the same manner and by the mechanism described, the same reference characters being utilized and the same description applying to similar and corresponding parts on both sides of the table it being understood also that the two guards of the table are similarly supported as well as actuated.

it was heretofore stated that a table simi lar to that shown would be provided at the opposite side of the reducing rolls 10, which table will be provided with side guards similar to the guards 13 and 14c. In practice it is desirable that the guard at one side of one table and the corresponding guard at the side of the opposite table be maintained in alignment and actuated in unison through the same motor. To that end each shaft 23 is-connected to a similar shaft extending along the table on the opposite side of the reducing rolls. The manner in which this is preferably done is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, which show the shaft 23 connected by a pair of pinions 28 to a lower shaft 29 (see also Fig. 1), which will be connected by pinions similar to 28 to a shaft similar to and in alignment with shaft 23 and designed to be provided with pinions to operate the guard in alignment with the. guard 13 or 14:, as the case may be.

Thus it will be understood that by operating the motors 27 either singly or in unison the two guards of each table will be moved back and forth over the rolls to position the worlv. for the desired pass of the rolls and to straighten the work if it becomes necessary.

In ad .ition to shifting the worl: .aterallv on the rolls by the guards above described it is customary to provide one of the guards of a table at one side of the reducing rolls (or one of the guards of each of the tables if it is desired to turn the work at each side of the reducin rolls) with turning bars or equivalent devices for turning the work through an arc of 90. The mechanism which I provide for this purpose andwhich is here shovvn, -associated iifi j the gll-t 14 constitutes an important part of the present invention it being understood that work turning means such as here shown, may be provided on one or both sides of the reducing rolls as circun'istances require.

To turn the work on the rolls of the table I provide a series of turning bars 30 which are designed to be moved in vertical planes in grooves on the front face of guard 1 1- and each of which is provided with a shoulder 3O which is normally beneath the top line of the rolls 01' the feed table, these bars being designed to be elevated so that the shoulders will engage beneath the work in the manner as shown in 2, and turn it as illustrated in that figure. the turning bars being shown in Fig. 2 in about their middle position.

The manner in which these turning bars are mounted and actuated is of considerable importance these bars in accordance with my invention, being supported or suspended by a series of upper arms 31 pivotally connected to the upper ends of the turning bars and by a series of lower arms 53 pivoted to the lower ends of the turning bars. The outer ends of the series of upper arms 31 are separately pivotea at 33 to brackets or the like mounted on a cross arm 3 f extending between and secured to the two arms 15 which support the guard A this cross arm 34 being parallel to and at the rear of the guard 1e and, of course. moving inwardly and outwardly with the guard. The outer ends of the series of lower arms are separately pivoted at 35 to the lower side of this cross arm 34.

The turning bars 30 are raised and lowered by a horizontal bar 36 which is just beneath the upper series of arms 31 and is designed to be raised and lowered so as to lift the arms 31 or lower them and when raised and lowered moving in parallelism. For this purpose the ends of the bar 36 are pivotally connected to arms 37 secured to the forward or inner ends of two rock-sha ts 38 and 519 which are parallel to and direc l .v above the arms 15 which support the side 5. "rd 1 t. These rock-shafts 38 and 39 are iourn....ed in bearings 40 carried by these n'uard supporting arms 15 and more inwardly and outwardly with the latter. and their rear (lids 38 and 39 which are squared a e slidiog'ly supported by stationary bcariu in" min Ported at the outer ends o the r'ls or ast-- ings 17.

The rock-shafts and R9 a e ruched to gether so as to swinethe aver: 37 to raise or lower the bar 36. as the case may be. through mechanism includioa' a s ationary motor tl connected by reducing u 9 to a shaft 43 (see Figs. 1 and 3) which i is mounted on a cross beam 454;. extendii i between the. outer ends of the castings or beds 1". over which travel the arms 15 supporting the guard 14. This shaft has a crank which is connected by a rod 46 to the lower part 47 of a double armed crank whose hub or middle portion receives with a sliding fit, the outer squared part 38 of the rockshaft 38, this double armed lever being held from movement longitudinally with the rock-shaft 38 but rocking or rotating the same as will be subsequently explained.

The upper part 48 of the double armed lever is connected by a diagonally extending rod 49 to an arm or lever 50 similar to and parallel with the lower arm or part 47 of the double armed lever. This arm or lever 50 has a hub with a squared opening which receives with a sliding fit the outer squared end 39 of the rock-shaft 39..

Thus both rock-shafts 38 and 39 will travel with the side guard 14: and arms which support and actuate the same, and in so doing are guided through the double armed lever 47, 48 and the lever 50, but when it is desired to turn the work on the feed table through the motor 40 and the described mechanism the two rock-shafts will be turned simultaneously in opposite directions and equal amounts, elevating the arms 37 at the forward ends to these rock-shafts and lifting the bar 36 whose ends have a pin and slot connection with the said arms 37 so that when the arms 37 are elevated the bar 36 will move upwardly freely. The continuous rotation of the crank results in the lowering of the bar 36 following the elevating of the same. When the bar 36 is elevated in the manner described, it engages and lifts the upper series of arms 31 connected to the upper ends of the turning bars 30, in conse quence of which the turning bars 30 are swung upwardly and inwardly slightly. This inward movement of the turning bars combined with the upward movement, is of considerable importance, for it prevents the turning bars sliding off the lower corner of the work while in the act of turning it. Similarly, when the turning bars are lowered by the mechanism described. they swing downwardly and outwardly to the full line position shown in Fig. 6. When in this position, the shoulders 30 are above the top of the feed rollers and the upper reduced portions of the turning bars are back of the front face of the guard 14.

As here shown, the lower series of arms 32 are of approximately the same length as the upper series of arms 31, so that a figure formed by the pivotal points of the arms 31 and 32 forms an approximate parallelogram, though this is not necessary to the operation of the mechanism.

Not only are the turning bars given a movement which is admirably adapted to turn the work on the feed table, for the reason explained, but that part of the mechanism which actuates the turning bars and whichmoves forwardly and rearwardly with the guard, is much lighter in weight though none the less efi'ective than the major portion of the manipulators in use at the present time, and in this respect also, my improved manipulator has an important advantage over prior mechanism. Additionally the parts are so located that they are not affected by falling scale and can be readily reached and repaired or replaced with other parts, if necessary.

I do not desire to be confined to the exact details shown, but aim in my claims to. cover all modifications coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a manipulator including a side guard adapted to be moved laterally over the feed table, a plurality of turning bars for turning the work on the feed table, said turning bars being mounted for endwise movement in vertical planes, and means for imparting to the upper and lower portions of each of the turning bars a positive upward and inward movement and a positive outward movement when lowering.

2. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the feed table, a plurality of turning bars adapted toturn the work on the table, and two sets of swinging arms supporting each of said turningbars.

3. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a plurality of turning bars adapted to turn the work on the table, two sets of swinging arms supporting each of said turning bars, and means for swinging said arms toimpart to the turning bars an upward and inward movement in turning the work, and a downward and outward movement to normal position.

4. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, turning bars for turning the work on the table, and means for supporting said turning bars comprising upper and lower sets of swinging arms connected respectively to the upper and lower portions of each of the turning bars.

5. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, turning bars for turning the work on the table, means for supporting said turning bars comprising upper and lower sets of swinging arms connected respectively to the upper and lower portions of each of the turning bars, and means for actuating the upper set of arms to elevate the turning bars.

6. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the feed table, supporting guides for the guard extending laterally outward from the feed table, turning bars movable laterally with the guard and adapted to be elevated to turn the work on the table, means: mounted on the guides at the rear of of the guard for supporting the turning bars, and means for actuating the turning bars.

7. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the feed table, supporting guides for the guard extending laterally outward from the feed table, turning bars movable laterally with the guard and adapted to be ele vated to turn the work on the table, means mounted on the guides at the rear of the guard and independently thereof for supporting the turning bars, and devices movable with the guides for actuating the turning bars.

8. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill having laterally movable guards. guides extending laterally outward from the table and supporting the guards, turning bars movable with one of the guards, an upper set and a lower set of arms pivot-- ally supported by the guides and connected respectively to the upper and lower portions of each of the turning bars and means for positively turning one set of the arms.

9. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill having laterally movable guards, guides extending laterally outward from the table and supporting the guards, turning bars movable with one of the guards, an upper set and a lower set of arms pivotally supported by the guides and connected respectively to the upper and lower portions of each of the turning bars, and means movable with the guides of said guard and independent of the latter for actuating the lifting bars.

10. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the table, guides supporting the guard and extending laterally outward from the table, turning bars for turning the work on the table movable laterally with the guard, and means for elevating the turning bars comprising a rock-shaft at right angles to the guard and operatively connected with the turning bars.

11. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the table, guides supporting the guard and extending laterally outward from the table, turning bars for turning the work on the table movable laterally with the guard, and means for elevating the turning bars comprising a rock-shaft associated with one of the guides and extending longitudinally thereof, said rock-shaft being operatively connected with the turning bars to elevate or lower the same.

12. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterall over the table, guides supporting the guard and extending laterally outward from the table, turning bars for turning the worlr on the table movable laterally with the'guard,

means for elevating the turning bars comprising a rock-shaft movable with one of the guides and extending longitudinally thereof, said rock-shaft being operatively connected with the turning bars to elevate or lower the same, and means having a sliding connection with the rear portion of the rockshaft for rocking the same.

13. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the table, guides projecting laterally outward from the table, turning bars movable with the guard and supported for movement in vertical planes at the front thereof to turn the work, and means for elevating and lowering the turning bars comprising a pair of rock-shafts extending longitudinally of the guides and movable therewith, said rock-shafts being operatively connected with the turning bars to shift the same.

14. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the table, guides projecting laterally outward from the table, turning bars movable with the guard and supported for movement in vertical planes at the front thereof to turn the work, means for elevating and lowering the turning bars comprising a pair of rock-shafts extending longitudinally of the guides and movable therewith, said rock-shafts being operatively with the turning bars to shift the same, and a motor connected to the rock-shafts to simultaneously rock the same.

15. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the table, guides for said guard projecting laterally outward from the table, turning movable with the guard and supported for movement in vertical planes at the front thereof to turn the work means for elevating and lowering the turning bars comprising a pair of rock-shafts extending longitudinally of the guides and movable therewith, said rock-shafts being operatively connected with the turning bars to shift the same, and a stationary motor having operative connections with both rock-shafts, said connections being slidingly related to the rack-shafts so that the latter may move forwardly and rearwardly with respect thereto.

1.6. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the feed table, guides projecting laterally outward from the guard and supporting the same, turning bars movable laterally with the guard and adapted to be elevated at the front of said guard, arms pivotally connected to the turning bars and pivotally supported at the rear of the guard, a bar extending beneath said arms for raising and lowering the same, and means for moving said bar vertically.

17. In combination with the feed tableof a rollingwill, a guard movable laterally connected over the feed table, guides projecting laterally outward from the guard and supporting the same, turning bars movable laterally with the guard and adapted to be elevated at the front of said guard, arms pivotally connected to the turning bars and pivotally supported at the rear of the guard, a bar extending beneath said arms for raising and lowering the same, and means connected to the ends of said bar for raising and lowering it.

18. In combination with the feed table of a rolling mill, a guard movable laterally over the feed table, guides projecting laterally outward from the guard and support ing the same, turning bars movable laterally with the guard and adapted to be elevated at the front of said guard, arms pivotally connected with the turning bars and pivotally supported by the guides at-therear of the guard, a bar extending beneath said arms for raising and lowering the same, a pair of rock-shafts extending parallel to the guides and connected to the ends of said bar to raise and lower it, and means for rocking the rock-shafts.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afliX my signature.

CHESTER W. BENJAinN.

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