US2085083A - Automatic catcher for rolling mills - Google Patents

Description

A.G.DELANY AUTOMATIC CATCHER FOR ROLLING MILLS June 29, 1937.

5 Sheet 1 File Aug ATTORNEY:

June 29, 1937. A. G. DELANY AUTOMATIC CATCHER FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 17, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS June 29, 1937. A. G. DELANY 2,085,083

AUTOMATIC CATCHER FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR I i I 5 Patented June 29, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,085,083 AUTOMATIC CATCHER FOR ROLLING MILLS Albanus G. Delany, Alabama City, Ala., assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 17, 1934, Serial No. 740,235

17 Claims.

5 or into the upper pass of a three-high mill.

Mechanical catchers have been in use for many years with rolling millsand have been made entirely automatic in their functioning, but these catchers have not been designed particularly with 0 the idea of enabling them to accomplish the reversal of the rolled stock and its return to the mill with the least possible delay and without relative disarrangement of sheets or other stock that is being rolled in pairs or in multiple.

My present invention has for one of its objects to improve the mechanical catcher forming the subject matter of my prior application, Serial No. 566,230, wherein the catcher is adapted to rock about a fixed fulcrum responsive to a fluid pressure motor that is under control of a flag switch which responds to the passage thereover in both directions of the stock, the catcher being adapted to receive and grip the stock between upper and lower sets of conveyor chains which are reversely and reversibly driven and act to hold the stock elements in relative position while in the catcher.

My present invention contemplates an improved manner of mounting the catcher so that it has a 0 four point suspension, its'outer end being supported by links and its inner end by crank pins on driving pulleys which impart an elliptic movement to the catcher nose that enables it to be set very closely to the vertical center line of the mill and at the same time as it is raised and lowered to swing clear of the mill rolls.

A further feature of my invention is associating such a catcher with stripper guides for the lower rolls which are mounted independently of O the catcher so that they remain always in correct operating position to strip the stock from the rolls of the lower pass regardless of the position of the catcher. This is important because, where the strippers are carried by the catcher, if it is 5 attempted to move the latter rapidly from upper to its lower position, I have found that the stripper guides will not always be set in correct position to catch the stock as it emerges from the pass and direct it properly into the catcher. In

other Words, it isdiflicult to manipulate rapidly ated with which the rolling operation is con ducted.

A further object of my invention is to provide the swinging catcher with a novel counterweight means acting on its driving pulleys in such manner as to assist and accelerate the starting of the catchers motion to lift it and to check the descent of the catcher when lowered, thus enabling a much more rapid manipulation of the catcher to be attained and yet its control mechanism is adapted to bring the swiftly moving mechanism to rest easily and without jar or noise.

My invention further contemplates improvements in the mechanical details of the catcher such as to the design of the guides to carry at each side a multiple series of stock gripping chains; the shortening of the presser element for the chains and its location at the receiving end only of the catcher; and in the mounting of the gripping chain drive on the floating catcher while the latters raising and lowering movements are accomplished by a separate motor drive direct to its actuating pulleys.

My invention further comprises the novel details of construction and arrangements of parts which in their preferred embodiment only are hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved catcher associated with rolls of a three-high mill shown in vertical cross section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1 omitting the rolls and showing the mill housing fragmentally in section.

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross sectional view aken on the line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the counterweight means for the catcher supporting and driving pulleys,

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustratlngthe catcher motion responsive to its counterweight and motor drive mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a detail side view of the guides for the front endof the conveyor chains and the leaf springs to cause the chains to grip the stock.

- Fig. '7 is an enlarged detail cross sectional view of one set of carrier chains and their guide plate.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the outer end. of the catcher frames showing how they are assembled.

Similar reference numerals refer to s m lar parts throughout the drawings.

I have shown my invention associa three-high mill, but it will be undersis suitable for use in any standard type of rolling mill.

The mill pinch I have illustrated comprises the housings l5 set on suitable foundations H] with a lower roll l2, a middle roll l3 and an upper roll 84 mounted therein and suitably driven, the middle roll having floating housings I5 which are vertically movable in the mill housings.

On the catcher side of the -alll housing is a stand l6 carrying a rocker shaft l'l upon which is pivotally mounted an angled plate is to the free'end of which the lower stripper guide l9 (Fig. 2) is attached and adapted to rest on the lower roll l2 always in position to strip the rolled stock therefrom and direct it into the oscillating catcher.

The middle -roll housings l5 have pivotally mounted therein the upper stripper guide 29 which is fast on a shaft 20 and is yieldingly held against the middle roll by the action of a spring 2| on a crank arm 22 fast on an outer end of the shaft. The guides l9 and 26, associated with the lower pass of the mill are thusmounted on fixed bearings independently of the catcher, which is my preferred arrangement, though for certain purposes it may be desirable for the catcher to carry one or both guides.

The catcher comprises a swin ing frame having a four point floating suspension comprising fulcrum supports at its outer end on a cross shaft 25 journalled in the upper ends of the swinging links 26 which are pivoted at their lower ends to suitable bearing blocks 2'! that are mounted for vertical adjustment between guides 23 by means of wedge supports 29. This permits the fulcrum for the catcher to be set so as to present its inner 'end or nose in correct position relative to the Each pulley 32 is mounted on the overhung end of its respective shaft 33 that is journalled in spaced bearings at the upper end of the housing members 34 and 35 fast on a suitable base plate 36 which isanchored tothe foundation. The

* pulley axis is preferably disposed nearly on a level with the axis of the middle roll and in each housing I mount a pulley driving train of gears comprising an upper gear 31, fast on the shaft 33, meshing an intermediate gear 38 in turn meshing a lower gear 39 driven by a small gear d0 mounted on a cross shaft El. At one side of the catcher this shaft 4i carries a gear 42 meshing a small driving gear 53 on the drive shaft 45 of a reversible electric motor 45. The shaft 44 has suitable bearings 46 and the shaft H extends transversely across under the catcher and is mounted in the housings 34, 35 on each side of the catcher. The motor is provided with a suitable reversing control switch t! automatically actuated by the trip mechanism indicated at 48 which may be of any suitable character adapted to produce an automatic reversal of the motor after it has made the predetermined number of rotations required to operate the catcher driving pulleys 32.

Each pulley 32 is peripherally grooved to receive a cable or chain 58 which, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 5, passes upwardly over the pulley aosaosa from the mill side and is made fast by suitable attachments near the lower outer side of the pulley as it standswhen the catcher is in lowered position (Fig. 1). Each cable passes downwardly from its respective pulley on the catcher under a grooved idler pulley 52 mounted in bearings 53 and continues along under the catcher and over an idler 55. mounted in suitable bearings 55 on supports 56 which span a well 5! for the pulley counterweights. Each cable at its free end is connected to a small slack-preventing counterweight 58 by means of a rod or bar 59 which is free to slide loosely through suitable guides 60 provided at the ends of the main hollow counterweight 6! which is open overhead so it can be filled with any loose material and which during the operation of the catcher rests either on the counterweights 58 or on a block 62 (see Fig. 4)

set between the counterweights 58.

When the driving pulleys stand in the position shown in Fig. 1, in. which they hold the catcher in position to receive stock from the lower mill pass, the counterweight 6i will be supported by the counterweights 58 and the full counterweight load will be imposed through the cables on the pulleys 32 to turn them counter-clockwise.

When the gear trains which drive the pulleys 32 start to rotate them counter-clockwise to lift the catcher, see Fig. 5, the counterweight will coact with the motor drive and assist in imparting a quick start to the catcher, until at a selected intermediate point in its descent, the main counterweight 6| will engage and come to rest on the block 62 while the smallercounterweights 58 will continue to drop on down to their extreme lowered position shown in dotted lines 64 so as to maintain the tension on the cables 50. By this means the main counterweight load is used to assist in driving the pulleys through the first half of the catchers lifting movement; On the reverse or table lowering movement the counterweight 6! is brought back into service to oppose the drive of the pulleys when they have completed approximately half of their movement to lower the catcher. Thus the main counterweigh acts to assist the motor 45 throughout the first portion of its movement when it is working against gravity to swing the catcher rearwardly and upwardly, thereby accelerating the lifting motion for the catcher. Conversely, the counter weight comes into play as a brake to oppose the motor drive in the latter half of the lowering motion for the catcher, leaving it free to start down quickly and yet causing it to come to rest easily and smoothly at the bottom of its lowering travel.

The upper frame 99 is detachably mounted by taperpins I85 (Fig. 8) in taper bearings I01 on the lower frame. Its weight holds it in place and the four taper bearings center it accurately on the lower frame.

As is shown in Fig 5, the nose or mill end of the floating catcher will follow a curvilinear path 'of travel determined by the radius of travel of of travel of the stock whereby it can start its catcher.

aosaoss out immediate danger of bending or warping \the stock. This permits a very rapid operation of the catcher.

The catcher mechanism proper as shown com prises a lower frame having longitudinal angles 65 cross braced by a plurality of I-beam's 66 on the top of which is mounted a plate 61 that protects the sheets below from heat loss while in the Mounted upon the plate 61 is a pair of parallel upturned channels 68 each in line with one of a pair of idler sprocket wheels 69 mounted in a bearing resting on one of the angles 65. The plate 61 is notched at its mill end to clear the sprockets 69 that project above its level with their upper peripheries each in line with the guide bars 10 in a channel 68 forming tracks on which the sprocket chains travel, there being preferably three of these chains to each set and three tracks 10 therefor which are preferably mounted in a bar H secured in the channel 68.

Each set of sprocket chains 12 travels about its respective pulley 69 and thence passes downwardly under the table and under a tension idler 13 and returns over a driving sprocket l4 mounted at the rear end of the table fast on the shaft 15 which is journalled near the outer end of the table in bearings 16 attached at their lower ends to angles 65 and beyond which the shaft overhangs at one end to receive a fast pinion l1 and at the other end to receive a fast sprocket I8 driven by a chain 19 from a sprocket 89 fast on the shaft 25. This shaft 25 is driven by a motor 8| through a gear 82 meshing gear 83 fast on shaft 84 which is journalled in suitable bearings 85 and carries at its inner end a sprocket 86 which by means of a sprocket chain 8'! drives a sprocket 88 fast onthe shaft 25. In this manner the motor 8| through the transmission described will drive the countershaft 15. v

The upper table frame comprises light sidemembers 90 connected at one end to the upper end of the bearings 16 and at the front end to bearings 9| for an upper pair of idler sprockets 69', corresponding to 69, and in vertical alignment therewith, these sprockets being mounted on-an upper shaft 92 which connects the forward end of the frame members 90. 'The upper sprocket chains 12' eachpass about a forward idler 69', and over an upper tension take-up idler 93 to a rear driving sprocket 14', corresponding to 14 and mounted on a shaft 15' which is journaled above shaft I5 in bearings 16' and carries at one end a pinion 11 meshing the pinion TI and driven thereby from the motor 8| so that the upper and lower sets of chains are synchronously but reversely driven which causes their opposed flights that grip the stock between them to-travel in the same direction.

The upper chains as they pass under the forward idlers 69' and travel away from the mill should preferably be engaged by suitable springpressed hold-down members which will cause the stock to be gripped positively between the moving sets of upper and lower chains, thereby permitting a quick stop and rapid reverse of the stock without relative displacement of the superimposed stock elements or any slippage thereof relative to the catcher. I have found'it necessary only to press the chains together near the receiving end of the catcher and therefore have shortened the length of the upper set of guides between which the sets of chains work. These upper short guides comprise channels 68', guide bars 10 forming upper chain tracks and blocks H in which the bars are mounted. The long bottom guides 68 run the full length of the table.

The upper guides are pressed downwardly by means of transverse leaf springs 94 suitably mounted on cross braces 95 for the upper frame.

These cross braces 95 also carry a three-way flag switch box 96 having a dependent trip arm 91 arranged near the receiving end of the frame and disposed in the path of the rolled stock so that when actuated and released by the passage of the stock in either direction it will, by suitable automatic control mechanism (not shown), effect a reversal in the position of the table for the requisite number of rolling passes and finally will release the stock to pass rearwardly from the table to a suitable piler, not shown.

The idlers 93 are mounted on a shaft I which turns in bearings |0| on the swinging arms I92 that are pivoted at their-outer ends on a cross shaft I03 and adjustably supported at their inner ends on nuts threaded on vertical screws I94 that are made fast at their lower ends in the adjacent bearing arm 95. The shaft 103 is mounted in bearings I secured to the top plate61. 1

The operation of the catcher is as follows. Assuming the mill rolls turning and the catcher in lowered position opposite the lower mill pass, the motor 8| will be turning in a direction to cause the chains 12 and 12' to travel so that their coacting faces move away from the mill. The stock emerging from the lower pass will be directed by the stripper guides l9 and 20 into the catcher where it will be gripped firmly between the sets of chains, the upper chains being held yieldingly downward by the spring pressure on their upper guides 68. When the stock enters the catcher itthrows the flag switch 91 idly to the right (Fig. 1) and holds it in this position until the stock clears the switch arm, thereupon the switch resumes initial position and in doing so causes the motor 45 to rotate in a direction that will turn the pulleys 32 counterclockwise from their position shown in Fig. 5.

Through the gear transmission described, the motor 45, with the active assistance of the counterweight 6|, will start to swing the table upwardly rapidly with its nose following the arcuate dotted line of travel in Fig. 5, and when the table is about half way through its upward travel the heavy counterweight 6| will come to rest on block 62 and thereafter the motor 45, with but negligible assistance from the light counterweights 58, will drive the pulleys and complete the uptravel of the table into position opposite the upper pass of the mill.

The same operation of the flag switch 96 which started up the motor 45 to raise the table will also reverse the drive of the chains 12, 12, thus quickly stopping the rolled product and starting it back toward the mill. In this movement it will throw the fiag switch arm 91 idly to the left and will hold it in this Position until the 'stock in its return to the mill clears said switch down drive of the table, so that it will start down easily and move rapidly with its nose following the dotted line of travel (Fig. 5) until the rising counterweights 58 engage the main counterweight 6| whereupon the latter will exert its influence as a check or brake to stop with ease the down swing of the table.

The position of the motor 8| and its supporting and drive elements beyond the floating links 26 upon which the table is fulcrumed, will make use of their weight in counterbalancing the overhung forward end of the table so as to lighten its load on the supporting cranks 3|. 1

By reference to Fig. 5 it will be noted that the table comes to rest in each operating position with a gradually diminishing movement vertically. Hence, it is not likely to come to rest materially out of line with the upper pass or the stock guides for the lower pass.

The switch mechanism 4l,'which is not shown in detail as it may be of any standard construction, acts each time to cause the motor 45 to turn a predetermined number of revolutions and then to cut itself out, the revolutions being such as to give the pulleys 32 the arcuate travel indicated in Fig. 5 by the change from full line to dotted line position of the crank pin 3|.

The master switch 96 acts simply to reverse the circuits to the motor 8| and will do this responsive to the movement of the stock past it in each direction until the stock has completed a predetermined number of passes, whereupon the master switch will not reverse the motor 8| but will leave it runningin a direction to discharge the stock from the catcher, the stock as it is discharged acting to reset the master switch for a repetition of the cycle of operation already described. It will be understood that a manual or any automatic circuit control, such as shown and described in my application aforesaid, can be used to control the motors 45 and 8| and that any suitable power means may be substituted for the electric motors and their transmission shown.

Notwithstanding that the table is of rugged and heavy construction, the manner of its counterbalanced floating support and the action of its short radius powerful crank drive is such that it I moves with surprising rapidity which enables it to rise into position to deliver the stock to'the mill before the stock gripping chains can be reversed and commence the" discharge of the stock from the catcher. 1

The chains, due to their positive gripping action on the stock, can be reversed suddenly without relative disarrangement of the stock elements gripped between them or permitting any slippage thereof, and as a result my improved catcher is adapted to catch and restore the stock to the mill so quickly that the number of passes that can be made without reheating, either for rough-.

ing or finishing, can be materially increased, thus expanding the range of reduction of stock without any increased cost for mill or heating furnace equipment.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious'to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed there upon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:-

1. In a catcher for a three-high rolling mill, a table having a four point floating suspension comprising cranks supporting the table near its inner end, the point of support for the outer table end lying substantially in a plane with the axis of the cranks and the axis of the middle mill roll, and means to oscillate said cranks to manipulate the table.

2. In a catcher for rolling mills, a table having a floating suspension comprising cranks connected to it near its inner end, a reversible motor drive to oscillate the cranks and swing the table through its vertical adjustments, and a counter weight means coacting with the motor drive for the table and comprising a main counterweight, a stop therefor, and lost-motion connections from the main-counterweight to the cranks adapted to render the counterweight effective during part only of each motor driven movement of the cranks.

3. In a catcher for rolling mills, a table having a floating suspension comprising cranks connected to it near its inner end, a reversible motor drive to oscillate thacranks and swing the table through its vertical adjustments, and a counterweight means coacting with the motor drive for the table and comprising a main counterweight, a stop therefor, and lost-motion connections from the main counterweight to the cranks adapted to render the counterweight effective during part only of each motor driven movement of the cranks and adapted to assist in starting the up swing of the table andin braking the table near the end of its down swing.

4. In a catcher for rolling mills, a table having outer adjustable supports, pulley actuators having cranks connected to, and acting to support the table near, its inner end, a motor drive to oscillate said actuators, a counterweight and flexible connections therefrom to said pulleys arranged to cause the counterweight to coact with the motor drive to swing the table upwardly, and a stop to arrest the counterweight before the table completes its up swing responsive to the motor drive alone.

5. In a catcher forrolling mills, a table carrying conveyor elements and having near its outer fulcrum supports, and a pair of spaced reversibly driven cranks connected to the table to support on each side its inner end and adapted to swing the latter through an arcuate path about its outer floating fulcrum to clear the rolls, said cranks having their common axis lying between the upper and lower positions of said conveyor elements.

6. In a catcher for rolling mills, a pair of spaced upright housings each carrying a gear train, a common reversible drive for said trains, a pair of cranks mounted in the housings and driven by said gear trains, a floating table carrying conveyor elements and having its inner end operably connected to. and supported by said cranks in position for said end to be swung vertically, a shifting fulcrum support for the outer end of the table, pulleys connected to said cranks, and a counterweight having flexible connections to both pulleys arranged to exert an upward thrust to the table.

7. In a catcher for rolling mills, a table mounted for vertical adjustment relative to the mill and comprising upper and lower sets of conveyor chains, guides for said chains which are relatively movable and which extend only part way of the opposed flight of the chains, and spring means to yieldingly press said guides together and cause the chains between them to grip the rolled stock at the inner end of the catcher, in combination with reversible means to drive the chains,

means to oscillate the table.

8. A catcher for rolling .mills, comprising a table adapted to oscillate vertically and means to oscillate it, upper and lower frames on the table, idlers, pulleys and driving sprockets on each frame, a common reversible drive to such sprockets, a plurality of sets of chains mounted on each frame, each set comprising a plurality of individual chains, the corresponding sets of chains on the frames being superimposed, means to press adjacent flights of the chains yieldingly together at their mill end only, and means to oscillate the table.

9. A catcher for rolling mills, comprising a floating table suspended by cranks near its forward end and having shiftable fulcrums near its outer end, means to oscillate the table vertically, upper and lower sets of coacting conveyor chains mounted on said table having means to reversibly and reversely drive them, guides to press the upper chains against the lower chains at their stock receiving end, and transverse elliptic springs mounted on the upper table and bearing on the guides at their front and rear ends to cause the interposed chains positively to grip and hold the stock between them.

10. In a catcher for rolling mills, a floating table having suitable inner and outer supports comprising crank elements to support and oscillate its inner end, and pivoted links forming a floating fulcrum for the outer end of the table, stationary supports in which the cranks are mounted, a motor drive to the table through said cranks to oscillate its inner end, reversibly rotatable conveyor elements on the table, and a driving motor for said conveyor elements mounted on the outer end of the table beyond said links in position partly to counterbalance the inner oscillatory end of the table.

11. A catcher for rolling mills, comprising a table mounted to float and oscillate vertically about a floating fulcrum near its outer end, drive means connected to the table near its inner end to support it and effect its vertical oscillation, stock conveyor means on the table, and a drive' motor for said conveyor means mounted on the outer end of the table beyond its fulcrum for counterbalancing effect on the mill end of the table.

12. A catcher for rolling mills, comprising a table mounted to swing vertically and havinga and crank drive to actuate it, a main counterweight,

flexible connections carrying light counterweights disposed with the main counterweight in their path of movement, elements movable with the cranks to which said connections are secured inposition for all the counterweights when engaged to exert a force tending to raise the table, and a stop to arrest the main counterweight at an intermediate point in its descent.

13. A catcher according to claim 12, in which the main counterweight has guides through which the flexible connections pass to engage their respective light counterweights.

14. A catcher for rolling mills, comprising a table having means to swing it vertically comprising crank bearing driving pulleys connected thereto near the inner end of the table, a counterweight well provided near the outer end of the table, a main counterweight having a raised seat in said well, a flexible connection from each pulley having suitable guides, and a tension maintaining counterweight hanging in said well in position to lift and support the main counterweight as the table approaches its lowered position.

15. In a catcher for rolling mills, a table comprising driven elements to grip the stock between them, and a floating suspension for the table comprising a shifting fulcrum for its outer end and cranks set with their axes between the upper and the lower working positions of the inner end of the table and directly connected thereto, and means to drive the crank to impart initialvrapid concurrent motion of the table along with the stock as it is shifted from lower to upper position.

16.'A catcher table according to claim 15, in combination with counterweight means comprising pulleys connected to the cranks and weights flexibly connected thereto so as to cooperate in the lifting movement of the table responsive to the crank drive and to resist its down travel.

17. In a catcher for three high rolling mills, upper and lower strippers having fixed bearings which coact with the rolls of the pass delivering .to the table, a floating mounting for the table comprising a floating fulcrum for its-outer end and cranks connected to the inner end of the table with their axes above the path of the stock entering the table in. its stock receiving position, and a reversible motor drive for said cranks which rock the mill end of the table through a path to clear both strippers.

ALBANU S G. DELANY.

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