US2145606A

US2145606A - Sheet catcher and piler

Info

Publication number: US2145606A
Application number: US169756A
Authority: US
Inventors: Megela George
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1937-10-19
Filing date: 1937-10-19
Publication date: 1939-01-31
Anticipated expiration: 1956-01-31

Description

Jam. 23L WW. G. MEGELA SHEET CATCHER AND .PILER Filed Oct. 19, 1937 BY M/MM A TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

The invention relates to the working of metal, particularly to the rolling of ingots and billets of steel into sheets.

In a well-known and common practice ingots 5 or billets of steel, preheated to proper temperature, are reduced to sheet form between the rolls of a rolling mill. The body of metal being worked is passed time and again between the rolls of the mill, and is attenuated and flattened in the successive passes until a sheet of desired thickness is obtained. Usually, two attendants operate the millone attendant (known as the roller) is stationed on the work-introducing side of the mill, and the other (known as the catcher) stands on the delivery side of the mill. The roller feeds the work into the mill, and the catcher, with the aid of tongs, receives the work and swings it to position above the upper roll of the mill. The roller grabs the work with tongs and reintroduces to the mill. When the metal has been repeatedly passed through the mill and worked to given specifications, either the catcher (or another attendant, known as the piler) takes the sheet coming from the mill and piles it in a stack with other sheets that have been finished.

Having the above-described practice in mind, the invention consists in improved and simplified apparatus for receiving the work on the delivery side of a rolling mill, and automatically returning it to position where it is accessible to the roller. The apparatus is also adapted to pile or stack the finished sheets, or to deliver the finished sheets to instrumentalities which will do the piling or stacking. The apparatus includes a system of endless conveyors that receive the work moving from the mill and return it to the roller. Means are embodied in the apparatus for interrupting the normal course of the work through the system of conveyors, and delivering it (in finished sheet form) to the topof a stack, or to a stacker or other apparatus.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic illustration of apparatus embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the numerals l and 2 indicate the rolls of a two-high rolling mill, and in known way the rolls are powerfully rotated in the direction of the arrows. The reference character W indicates a body of metal in course of advance through the mill. On the work-delivering side of the mill, a system of endless conveyors is organized-in this case three endless conveyors 3, 4 and 5. Three conveyors, of the structure and organization presently to be described, provide particularly effective means to ends in view.

Each of the conveyors consists in an endless metal band of chain or link construction of known sort, mounted on spaced-apart rollers 6 and I for rapid and continuous travel. The particular organization of the conveyors is important. The roller 6 of conveyor 3 is arranged adjacent to the exit of the pass between rolls l and 2, and from such roller the conveyor extends upward at a substantial angle to the horizontal. The two conveyors 4 and 5 extend in substantially horizontal planes above the conveyor 3; as viewed in plan the conveyors 4 and 5 are longitudinally aligned, with the supporting roller 6 of conveyor 5 spaced horizontally from and at higher elevation than the roller 1 of conveyor 5. The supporting rollers 6 and l of conveyors i and 5, and the supporting roller 6 of conveyor 3, are trunnioned in a suitable frame, which for the sake of simplicity has been omitted from the drawing, and the roller I of conveyor 3 is trunnioned in the distal end of a frame 6 that is pivotally secured at its proximal end upon the axle of roller 6. The distal end of frame 8 is pivotally secured to the upper end of a rack 9 which is held in mesh with a pinion ill on the shaft of a reversible electric motor II. In normal operation of the mill, the positions of the parts are as shown in full lines in the drawing, it 30 being noted that the frame 8 supports the roller 1 of conveyor 3 in the interval between the rollers I and 6 of conveyors 4 and 5, respectively.

An electric motor may in known way be arranged to drive each conveyor, or one motor may be arranged to drive allthree conveyors. In this case a motor 12 is mounted on the side of frame 8, and by means of a chain-belt I3 is adapted to drive a gear 3|] secured on the axle of roller 1 of conveyor 3. Gears 4,0 and 50 are severally secured to the axles of rollers l and 6 of conveyors 4 and 5, respectively, and with such gears the driven gear 30 meshes. Thus, when the motor i2 is energized the three conveyors travel in the directions indicated by arrows, it being noted that the upper reaches of conveyors 4 and 5 travel in left-to-right direction, while the upper reach of conveyor 3 travels in opposite direction.

When the work W moves through the mill (I, 2) it is received upon the upper reach of conveyor 3 and rapidly carried or shot upward between the adjacent ends of conveyors t and 5, whereupon it falls to position on conveyor 5. (The dotted lines W and arrow indicate the movement.) Upon falling to positionon the upper reach of conveyor 4, the right-to-left movement of the sheet is arrested and immediately movement in left-to-right direction ensues. The work, advancing in left-to-right course, is engaged by the conveyor 5 rounding roller 6; the work is lifted and drawn to position on the conveyor 5, and then conducted to position W over the upper roll I of the mill. The roller grabs the work in tongs and reintroduces it to the mill in the manner already described. This cycle of the work is repeated time and again, until the metal being worked is reduced to a sheet of given specifications.

Beneath the conveyors 3, 4, 5 in the apparatus described there is provided a station S for the reception of the finished sheets, and in this workreceiving station the sheets may be stacked, or placed on a conveyor and conducted to stacking instrumentalities (or other apparatus) situated more or less remote from the rolling mill. In any case the apparatus of the invention includes means which are adapted, at the will of the attendant, to interrupt the above-described advance of the work through thesystem of conveyors and to discharge it into station S. For present purposes, the stacking or piling of the sheets is efiected in the work-receiving station, and in exemplary way the sheets are stacked upon a floor 16.

When the sheet is introduced between the rolls I, 2 for the final pass, the roller energizes the motor H, with the consequence and efiect that the rack 9 is shifted downward and the conveyor 3 moved counter-clockwise into the position indicated in broken lines 300. This disengages the driven gear 30 from the

gears

40 and 50 and conveyors 4 and 5 may come temporarily to rest. The finished sheet, upon leaving the mill, is delivered, by the downwardly adjusted conveyor 3, to the receiving station S. A declining brow l1 and a vertical back-stop l8 serve respectively to guide and arrest the sheet moving from the conveyor, in such. manner that the sheets delivered from time to time to the station S arrange themselves in a stack or pack P upon the floor "5.

Each time that a sheet is finished, and delivered to station S, the roller (by effecting reverse operation of the motor H) restores the conveyor 3 to its full-line position. Thus, the sheet-ejecting operation requires only a moments time, and the apparatus is quickly restored to condition for normal operation. Manifestly, by regulating the speeds of the motors H and I2 the speed of operation may be adjusted to suit the roller,

Manifestly, switches and rheostats (not shown) for controlling the energizing and speed of the motors H and I2 may be arranged in a place of convenience for the roller on the workintroducing side of the mill. The wiring and installation of such controls may be effected in any one of several known Waysit is a matter for the electrician, and this specification need dwell no further upon it.

It is contemplated that the apparatus of the invention may be entirely housed, or substantially so, and that the temperature within the housing may be kept at elevated value, in order that the work will not unduly cool or chill while it is in course of movement between successive passes through the mill l, 2.

Of the particular organization of conveyors 3, 4 and 5, it remains to be said that the position of the upper end of conveyor 3, relatively to the right-hand end of conveyor 4, is such that the sheet propelled upward (in right-to-left direc-- tion) on conveyor 3 does not drag on its under face against the conveyor 4, traveling in left-toright direction and rounding the roller 1. As already mentioned, the travel of the conveyor 3 is rapid, so that the sheet is shot to a position above the conveyor 4 (cf. sheet in position W without touching or scraping against the conveyor 4 as it rounds its supporting roller 1. The effect is as though the sheet were manually tossed and allowed to fall fiat upon the upper reach of the traveling conveyor. In such way the scratching and marring of the surface of the work is reduced to a minimum. If necessary a stop l9 may be provided at the left-hand end of the conveyor 4, to prevent the sheets overshooting the conveyor.

The apparatus described may be modified, elaborated and refined within the skill of the engineer and mechanic without avoiding the essence of the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a rolling mill, an automatic work-catcher, including a pair of endless conveyors arranged end to end and with an interval between, and a third endless conveyor extending outward from the work-delivering pass of said mill to the interval between the conveyors first named, means for driving said conveyors, the conveyors of the pair in a common direction of travel opposite to the direction of travel of the third conveyor, the upper reach of said third conveyor being adapted to receive the work delivered by said mill, and deliver it through the interval between said pair of conveyors to position on the upper reach of one conveyor of said pair, and a receiving stage for the finished work, said third conveyor being mounted to swing about the end thereof which is adjacent to said work-delivering pass of the mill for moving the opposite end of such conveyor from its normal position adjacent to the interval between said pair of conveyors to a position adjacent to said receiving stage,

2. The structure of claim 1, in which each of said conveyors is trained over rollers, one of the rollers of each conveyor being arranged at the end of the conveyor that lies adjacent to the interval between the pair of conveyors first named, and each of said last-mentioned rollers being equipped with gears, together with a centralized driving mechanism arranged adjacent to such interval and connected to the gear-bearing rollers of the three conveyors.

3. In combination with a rolling mill, an automatic work-catcher including a pair of endless conveyors arranged end to end with an interval between, and a third endless conveyor extending outward from the work-delivering pass of said mill to the interval between the conveyors first named, means for normally driving the three conveyors continuously, the conveyors of the pair in a common direction of travel opposite to the direction of travel of the third conveyor, the lower reach of one conveyor of said pair extending above and cooperating with the upper reach of the third conveyor in providing a pass through which work delivered by the mill to said third conveyor is advanced to position on the upper reach of the other conveyor of said pair, a re ceiving stage for finished work, said third conveyor being mounted to swing about the end thereof which is adjacent to said work-delivering pass of the mill for moving the opposite end of suchconveyor from its normal position adjacent to the interval between the first two conveyors to a position adjacent to said stage.

4. The structure of claim 1, together with means for powerfully swinging said third conveyor, said means including a rack connected to the conveyor structure, a pinion in mesh with said rack, and a reversible electric motor for driving said pinion in alternate directions.

5. The structure of claim 3, together with means for powerfully swinging said third conveyor, said means including a rack connected to the conveyor structure, a pinion in mesh with said rack and a reversible electric motor for driving said pinion in alternate directions.

GEORGE