US2491286A

US2491286A - Vertical rolling mill

Info

Publication number: US2491286A
Application number: US597770A
Authority: US
Inventors: John W Sheperdson; Joseph M O'malley
Original assignee: Morgan Construction Co
Current assignee: Siemens Industry Inc
Priority date: 1945-06-06
Filing date: 1945-06-06
Publication date: 1949-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 1966-12-13
Also published as: US2603990A

Description

Dec. 13, 1949 J. w. SHEPERDS ON ETAL 2,491,286

VERTICAL ROLLING MILL Filed June 6, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 'I-HHZ HH nn INVENTORS JOHN w. SHEPERDSON JOSEPH M- 'MALLEY awn/11% ATTORNEY J. w. SHEPERDSON ETAL 2,491,286

VERTICAL ROLLING MILL Dec. 13, 1949 a Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1945 INVE. N TOR-S JOHN w. SHEPERI': SON JOSEPH M. Q'MALLEY B @NEY ATTO Dec. 13,1949 J. w. SHEPERDSON ETAL 2,

VERTICAL ROLLING MILL Filed June 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 JOHN. w. SHEPERD SON JOSEPH M. O'MALL-EY A'TT ORNEY H 5 mVENToRs Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITED T 2,491,286

vitamin. ROLLifiG MILL John w. shepe'rds'on and Intern DMaHey, Worcester, .Marsi; assigiio'r s re Moi-gen Con struction Comp-any; Worcester; Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application Jane 6, 1945, Serial 5974776 -1 Claim.

This invention relates'to mills for rolling metal bars, and more particularly to mills of the type having a pair of vertical rolls whichare driven by suitable power-actuated mechanism con nected to the lower ends of the rolls.

It is one object of the invention to provide a vertical rolling mill which is so constructed as to facilitate the changing of the rolls.

t is 'a further object of the inventionto pro vide vertical rolling mill having simple and e'f-' fective means for protecting the driving mechanism from scale and water.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claim appended hereto.

Referringto the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts;

Fig. l is a vertical section through a rolling mill; taken on the line l l of Fig. 2; N

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rolling mill;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line -3--3 of Fig.1; 7 v p r Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l, with a certain shield removed for clearness of illustration; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the rolling mill showing the roll housing being removed therefrom.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a roll housing H] having upper and lower windows H in which are slidably mounted the roll neck bearings l2 of two vertical rolls I l. The housing It! is releasably secured to a base in known manner by means of slotted studs H, caps l8 and wedges 19. The base [5 is carried by a foundation shaped to provide a pit 22 within which is located a pinion housing 23 enclosing two roll pinions 25. These pinions are connected by couplings 26 to upright spindles 27 which in turn are connected by couplings 29 to the lower ends of the rolls. These

couplings

26 and 29, and the parts which they connect, are formed with loosely interfitting multiple splines to permit telescopic assembly and to transmit a driving torque despite misalignment resulting from roll adjustment. The spindles 21 and the associated couplings may be described as coupling spindles.

Means is provided to support the roll neck 2 I manual-1y adjustable horizontal screws 30 mounted in the housing It and provided with suitable locknuts 3-]. The bearings l2 for the other roll M are engaged. by two horizohta'l screws 33n-iounted in the housing ill and arranged to be rotated by a suitable power actuated mechanism 34. This mechanism comprises apa-ir of worm gears 35 rotatably mounted one above the other in a casing 31, with their axes in horizontal alignmentv'vitll the screws 33. Both of these gears mesh with a horizontal worm 33 located between thefii and airaii-ged to be driven by an electric motor 39 (Fig. 2). Horizontal shafts 4| 'eiit'end ext-any through the gears Gland suitable clutches 42 "are provided to connect these shafts with the corresponding gears. The ends of the shafts 41 adjacentthe screws -33 are relasably connected th etc by any suitable means; such as the slidable sleeves '34. These sleeves, as well as the adjacent portionsof the shafts and screws, may be of square or otherwise non circu-lar cross secuon. Pins 45 may be used to secure the sleeves to the ends of the screws. Upon withdrawal of these pins, the sleeves may bereaved along'the'shafts' M to disconnectthese shat-ts from the screws 33,'

as shown in Fig. 5. This will make it possible to lift the housing In without disturbing the power actuated mechanism 34.

It is important to retain the spindles 21 and the couplings 29 in their proper positions by supporting them laterally when the rolls M are withdrawn from the couplings by lifting the housing It]. For this purpose suitable retaining devices 47 are adjustably mounted on the base I5 for engagement with the couplings. As best shown in Fig. 4, these retainers 41 are forked to straddle the couplings 29, there being two oppositely disposed retainers for each coupling. The retainers 41 are pivotally and slidably mounted on two parallel horizontal rods 48 located at opposite sides of the couplings and carried by brackets 49 secured to the base i5. These parts are so constructed and arranged that the retainers 41 may be swung upwardly and outwardly to the positions indicated by the broken lines in Figs. 3 and 4, so that they will not interfere with the couplings when the mill is in operation.

Means is provided to prevent water and scale from entering the pit 22. For this purpose the base [5 is shaped to provide a trough having a bottom wall 5| which preferably slopes to one side in order that water may be discharged therefrom to a suitable drain (not shown). This wall 5| is provided with a laterally elongated opening ,52 through which the spindles 21 extend, this opening being of sufficient size to permit removal of the spindles 21 and the lower couplings 26 upwardly therethrough. The opening 52 is surrounded by an upstanding flange 53. A rib or baflie 54 is provided on the upper surface of the wall and spaced upstream from the opening 52, this rib being of arcuate shape in plan (as shown in Fig. 4) with its concave side toward the opening, in order to deflect the water stream laterally toward opposite sides of the opening and prevent direct impingement of water on the flange 53. The opening 52 is covered by a plate or shield 56 having a depending marginal flange 51 which overhangs the outer surfaces of the flange 53 and rib 54. This plate 56 has two circular holes 58 therein through which the spindles 21 extend. Each hole 58 is surrounded by an upstanding flange 60 which is surrounded by a depending flange or skirt 6| formed on the coupling 29 thereabove. This provides a very effective seal to prevent water and scale from reaching the holes 58.

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the above disclosure. The rolls 14 will be driven from a suitable source of power through the pinions 25, couplings 26, spindles 21, and couplings 29, the retainers 4'! resting in their outer positions as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 4. The roll adjusting screws 33 may be actuated by the motor 39 through the worm 38, gears 35, clutches 42, shafts 4| and sleeves 44. To adjust one of the screws 33 independently of the other, it is merely necessary to disengage one of the clutches 42. Any water from the rolling operation will fall into the trough 5| and flow laterally to a drain, the plate 56 and the associated overlapping flange construction preventing the water from reaching the opening 52. When it becomes necessary to change rolls, the operator will swing the forked retainers 41 inwardly to engage the upper couplings 29, as shown in Fig. 4, first moving the retainers along the rods 48 if necessary. The pins 45 will be withdrawn from the screws 33, and the sleeves 44 moved along the shafts 4| out of engagement with these screws.

The wedges I9 and caps I 8 will then be removed from the studs [1, whereupon the housing ID and rolls [4 may be lifted from the base l5 by means of a suitable crane sling 63, as shown in Fig. 5. Another housing, with a different set of rolls, may then be lowered into place. During this changing of housings, the retainers 41 will hold the spindle couplings 29 and the spindles 21 in their proper positions. The power actuated roll adjusting mechanism 34 does not need to be disturbed at all. The roll change can therefore be completed very rapidly, and the mill need be shut down only for a comparatively short time.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A rolling mill comprising a, supporting base, a roll housing mounted on the base and releasably secured thereto, a pair of vertical rolls mounted in the housing, a pair of roll pinions beneath the base, upright coupling spindles connecting the pinions with the rolls thereabove to drive the same, fork-shaped retaining devices located at opposite sides of the coupling spindles, and means secured to the base to support the said devices for pivotal movement about parallel horizontal axes at opposite sides of the coupling spindles, the said devices being arranged to be swung inwardly about their axes to positions in which they straddle the upper portions of the coupling spindles to support the same laterally when the housing and rolls are lifted from the base.

JOHN W. SHEPERDSON. JOSEPH M. OMALLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,490,439 Swarthout Apr. 15, 1924 1,543,649 Bode June 23, 1925 2,083,100 Sheperdson et al. June 8, 1937 2,236,464 Burns Mar. 25, 1941