US2164371A - Piling mechanism for plate mills - Google Patents

Description

July 4, 1939. M. J. AJELLo FILING HECHANIS FOR PLATE HILLS Filed Nov. 5. 1938 NNW .mtmlhw Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to piling mechanism for plate mills, and its principal object is to provide a mechanism whereby the individual plates or sheets, as they issue from the rolls are au- 5 tomatically received and arranged in-an orderly pile suitable for transportation from the mill.

Another object of my said invention is to provide a mechanism of the character referred to which is capable of handling even very thin sheets of iron or steel without damage or buckling which are of frequent occurrence when the sheets are handled and piled by hand labor as is customary at the present time.

With these and other objects in view, I will 16 now describe a preferred embodiment of my invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating an ordinary pair of rolls having my im- 20 proved piling mechanism arranged in cooperative relation therewith.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section of the same taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is an end view of the device shown in Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows 4 in the latter mentioned figure.

Like characters designate corresponding -parts throughout the several views.

In the drawing, I designates `a housing of conventional construction having the upper and lower rolls 2, 3, respectively, while I I indicates any ordinary form of screw down mechanism for regulating the thickness of the plates which the rolls are desired to produce. In front of the rolls are a pair of tables 4, arranged in opposed relation as shown more particularly in Figure 2 of the drawing, and having aseries of gaps or openings 4I which extend to their front or opposed edges. Upon the upper surface of the table 4 are provided castors 5 of well known construction which are rotatably mounted upon the several sections of the table and carry wheels or rollers 5I, the upper peripheries .of which are arranged at such a height as to conveniently' receive a plate such as designated P inFigure 1 as it issues from the rolls 2, 3, and intermediate the said rolls are a pair of freely rotatable rollers 3| arranged at the same height as the rollers 5I. The size of the table 4 and the number of castors mounted thereupon are arranged to suit the maximum and minimum sizes of plates or, sheets which it is desired to produce in this particular pair of rolls. Beneath the table 4 are two sets of freely rotatable rollers 6 supported upon pairs of girders 6I, the inner or adjacent girders of each pair being arranged in spaced relation so as to provide a gap or passage-way 5 62 therebetween for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. The girders 6I are mounted upon piston rods 62 upon the lower ends of which are pistons, not shown, adapted to be moved up and down within the cylinders 63, the move- 10 ment being effected by any ordinary fluid pressure means, preferably hydraulic, and controlled by appropriate valves and valve operating mechanism which it is not deemed necessary here to describe or illustrate. The tables 4 are supl5 ported upon a series of carriages 42, the lower ends of which are provided with truck wheels 43 adapted to travel upon channel-shaped trackways 44 so that they may be moved back and forth towards and away from one another 2o by means of fluid pressure cylinders 45 having therein pistons which are connected by rods 46 .to the carriages, as shown in Figure 3.

Within each of the gaps 4I in the tables 4 is a vertical channel-shaped member 41 which 25 projects upwards above the table 4 and'serves `to maintain the successive plates issuing -from' the rolls in proper lateral alignment, and in` order to adjust these members to suit the particular width of plate to be rolled, the said members 3o are provided with dove-tailed bases 48 which slide in complementary dove-tailed trackways 49 mounted yupon the oor surface, and in threaded relation with the bases 48 are right and left hand threaded screw shafts 50 which 35 extend from side to side of the machine, being supported in bearings? 5II and are connected by bevel gears 52 and gears 53 to a longitudinal shaft 54 mountedin bearings 55 and provided with the hand wheel 56 by the rotation of which 40 the opposed pairs of members 41 are moved towards and away from each other simultaney ously.

Above lthe tables 4 is a rod 1 suspended .by links 1I from any form' of overhead support 12', 45 and upon this rod is slidably mounted a downwardly projecting arm 12 which is secured in different positions along the rod as by the set screw 13. lZlhe arm 12 is positioned in the path of the plate P as it `issues from the rolls 2, 3 50 so that when the plate in its outward movement reaches a certain position, the rod' 1 will be pushed in an outward direction, causing the links 1I to be moved about their pivotal points and thereby operate a switch arm 12 which forms 55 a part of one of the links. In the relative positions of the parts shown in Figure 1, the plate P has just reached the end of its stroke and the switch arm 12' has been moved in position to close a circuit C and energize a solenoid C', causing the plunger C2 to open a valve C3, thereby allowing iluid pressure from a convenient source to pass in the direction of the arrow :c

through the valve C3 and out in the direction of the arrow y to the cylinders 45, causing the tables 4 to be moved in a direction away from one another, and when these tables have reached the limit of their outward movement, the plate P will be then unsupported by the tables and lby means of the guide members 41, and in this o manner the sheets fall successively upon the pile in an orderly manner so far as their lateral position is concerned, and in order that they may be similarly disposed in a lengthwise direction, there is provided a vertical arm 8 adjustably mounted upon a bar 8i as by the set screw 82, and as the tables move inwards after discharging the plate P the bar 8i is moved in the direction of the arrow w by means of the cam-like member 84 which is carried upon one of the tables 4 and acts upon the roller 85 which is rotatably mounted upon the bar 8| so that as the 'tables move inwards the bar 8| is moved as before stated in the direction of the arrow w, so as to bring the newly deposited plate into longitudinal alignment with the plates already in position upon the rollers 6. It will be observed that as the tables move outwards to release another plate, the bar 8l is moved away from the rolls by means of the helical spring 86 which surrounds the reduced portion 81 abutting against the shoulder 88 and reacting against one of the bearings 89 by which.the bar is slidably supported. Further, it will be noted that in order to obtain greater precision in controlling the endwise travel oi! the plate P, one of the links 'Il is provided with a stop 14 which limits its movement. Arm 8 is pivoted at 80 so as to fold downwards as at in Fig. 1, allowing plates to pass on to conveyor 6I l.

It will be observed from the foregoing description and by reference to the drawing that I have provided a simple and effective mechanism for the purpose above recited, and while I have herein described and shown a preferred embodiment of my invention it will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the same relates that various changes indetail may be made to suit any particular or peculiar requirement without departing from the spirit o! my invention as dened in the appended claims. For example, instead of employing iluid pressure means for movement of the various instrumentalities, as herein shown and described, other means such as electric motors may be employed to produce the various movements. It is believed that the valves and other details necessary for actuating the various moving parts in properly timed relation are so well understood that n further description of them is deemed necessary.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a mechanism of the character described. the combination, with a pair of rolls, of a pair of horizontally movable tables disposed in equally spaced relation with the vertical center line of said rolls, said tables having a plurality otlateral gaps in their opposed edges; a plurality of castors upon said tables adapted to receive a plate issuing from said rolls; a plurality of pairs oi' vertical guide members projecting upwardly through said gaps; means for simultaneously adjusting the distance between the respective pairs of guide members to correspond to the width of the plate to be rolled; and means actuated by said issuing plate for moving said tables apart to discharge the same and for returning them to normal position subsequent to such discharge.

2. In a mechanism of the character described. the combination, with a pair oi rolls, of a pair of horizontally movable tables disposed in equally spaced relation with the vertical center linel of said rolls, said tables having a plurality of lateral gaps in their opposed edges; a plurality of castors upon. said tables adapted to receive a plate issuing from said rolls; a plurality of pairs of vertical guide members projecting upwardly through said gaps; means for simultaneously adjusting the distance between the respective pairs of guide membersl to correspond to the width of the plate to be rolled; a series of conveyor rollers beneath said tables; and means actuated by said issuing plate for moving said tables apart to discharge the same upon said rollers and for returning them to normal position subsequent to such discharge.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination, with a pair of rollsl of a pair oi horizontally movable tables disposed in equally spaced relation with the' vertical center line of said rolls, said tables having aplurality of lateral gaps in their opposed edges; a plurality ofcastors upon said tables adapted to receive a plate issuing from said rolls; a plurality ci pairs of vertical guide members projecting upwardy through said gaps; means for simultaneously adjusting the distance between the respective pairs of guide members to correspond to the width of the plate to be rolled; a series of conveyor rollers beneath said tables; means actuated by said issuing plate for moving said tables apart to discharge the same upon said rollers and for returning them to normal position subsequent to such discharge; and means for aligning the plates endwise after each discharge.

4. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination, with a pair of rolls, of a pair of horizontally .movable tables disposed in equally spaced relation with the vertical center line of said rolls, said tables having a plurality of lateral gaps in their opposed edges; a plurality of castors upon said tables adapted to receive a. plate issuing from said rolls; a plurality of pairs of vertlcal guide members projecting upwardly through said gaps; means for simultaneously adjusting the distance between the respective pairs of guide members to correspond to the width of the plate to be rolled; a series oi' conveyor rollers beneath saidtables; means actuated by said issuing plate for moving said tables apart to discharge the same upon said rollers and for returning them to normal position subsequent to such discharge; and means for aligning the plate endwise after each discharge, said last-named means comprising a member movable longitudinally beneath said rollers and having an arm extending upwardly above the pile of plates, and cam means upon one of said tables for actuating said member.

5. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination, with a pair of rolls. of a pair of horizontally movable tables disposed in equally spaced relation with the vertical center line of l said rolls, said tables having a plurality of lateral gaps in their opposed edges; a plurality of castors upon said tables adapted to receive a plate issuing from said rolls; a plurality of pairs of vertical guide members projecting upwardly through said gaps; means for simuitane` ously adjusting the distance between the respective pairs of guide members to correspond to the width of the plate to berolled; a series of conveyor rollers beneath said tables; means actuated by said issuing plate for moving said tables apart to discharge the same upon said rollers and' for returning them to normal position subsequentl to such discharge; means for elevating said rollers in timed relation with the outward movement of said tables to receive said plate and for lowering them after such receipt; and

means for aligning the plates endwise after eachA

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