US2973914A

US2973914A - Roll stand

Info

Publication number: US2973914A
Application number: US565907A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert L Beninger; Paul W Jacobsen
Original assignee: HG Weber and Co Inc
Current assignee: HG Weber and Co Inc
Priority date: 1956-02-16
Filing date: 1956-02-16
Publication date: 1961-03-07
Anticipated expiration: 1978-03-07

Description

March 7, 1961 R. BENINGER EI'AL ,9

ROLLASTAND Filed Feb. 16. 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Roberz L. Bezu'izger 1% 93 Q Paul W r/Zzcobsen M r 19 R. 1.. BENINGER ETAL 2,973,914

ROLL STAND 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 MW; Emm Y wn 5 5 n z hm m E Filed Feb. 16, 1956 March 1961 R. L. BENINGER EI'AL 2,973,914

[ROLL STAND Filed Feb. 16. 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Li zflg a I 555?:2 Q 1; 5 3 EW a FJ J'Jllk m f 2 m W n m w WU] A March 7, 1961 R. L. BENINGER EIAL 2,973,914

7 ROLLSTAND Filed Feb. 16, 1956 I s Sheets-Sheet 4 7*: air is Pazz/ W c/aaobsezz March 1951 R. L. BENINGER ETAL 2,973,914

ROLL STAND 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 16, 1956 LIZ/E ZZTD 7-5 Faber! L. Bezu'zzgez Pa W. dizwbsezz ROLL STAND Robert L. Beninger, Sheboygan, and Paul W. Jacobsen, Kiel, Wis, assignors to H. G. Weber and Company, Inc., Kiel, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Feb. 16, 1956, Ser. No. 565,907 I Claims. (Cl. 24258) The present invention relates to a roll stand, and more particularly relates to a material handling mechanism and system for lifting and supporting a roll of web material whereby mechanism utilizing the material may pull the web from the roll thereby unwinding the roll.

While it will be appreciated that mechanisms embodying the principles of the present invention are of general utility, an embodiment thereof exemplifying the invention. has been described hereinbelow in detail by way of example only and without any intention of limiting the scope of the invention in any way. The particular embodiment to the invention described in detail hereinbelow is itself of fairly general utility but e11- joys particular utility in the handling of sheet-width web rolls as distinct from rolls of strip material etc.

While there are known in the art many structures operative to support a roll of web material for unwinding the same, many of these have not enjoyed the desired success since they had incorporated therein numerous structural details which were thought necessary but nevertheless created many inconveniences and expenses. For example, most heretofore known roll stands utilize a center shaft to support a roll by passing the shaft through the hollow roll core. The utilization of this type of equipment, which was the most common type, was necessarily cumbersome, inconvenient, and expensive inasmuch as it required relatively long set up time.

Another inconvenience sulfered by many heretofore known roll stands resulted from their cumbersome and ineificient manners for shifting the roll axially thereof in order to align the edge of the web with the equipment pulling the web from the roll, such equipment being any desired equipment utilizing the material of the rolls such as bag making machinery etc. Other difficulties with heretofore known types of equipment were present in the roll gripping techniques utilized as well as the roll lifting techniques utilized and such other items as the facility with which the roll stand mechanism might be variously controlled to perform its functions.

All of the foregoing as well as numerous other difficulties and lack of economies in the utilizations of roll stands are overcome by the present invention and it is, therefore, an important object, feature and advantage of the present invention to provide a new and improved roll stand which is easily and conveniently operated, has a relatively short set up time, and is easily and conveniently controlled.

A roll stand embodying the principles of this invention will have a support structure on which there are mounted a pair of parallel coextensive arms which are controllably movable together angularly, toward and away from each other, and simultaneously movable laterally without varying spacing therebetweenj On these arms there may be roll gripping chucks so, that a roll may be gripped simply by moving the arms toward the roll until the chucks grip into the core of the roll whereupon the arms may be moved angul-arly to lift the roll and thereby permit unwinding thereof. The capacity te States arm able axially of the shaft but of the machine to easily move the arms simultaneously laterally thereof without varying the spacing therebetween permits easy and convenient edge alignment of the edge of the web of the roll with the equipment utilizing the roll and pulling the web from the roll.

Additionally, the mechanism may be conveniently controlled by a fluid power system such as a hydraulic system or may be controlled by electrical and mechanical systems, although a hydraulic system is described hereinbelow in detail as an exemplification of the control system incorporating the principles of this invention.

The control system may also have electrically operating characteristics to control braking and loading of the roll and unloading of the roll as the roll unwinds and further control loading and unloading braking power against the roll sensitive toacceleration and deceleration of the roll. Since the loading and unloading braking controls as well as the specific structure of the chucks are known in the art, they will not be specifically described in detail herein.

From the foregoing it will be observed that it is an important object, feature and advantage of the present invention to provide a new and improved roll stand wherein a support structure carries a pair of arms which are" and for simultaneous lateral movement Without varying the spacing therebetween.

Still another important object and feature 'of the present invention is to provide a new and improved roll stand as described wherein the arms are carried on bearing assemblies assembled about a splined shaft journalled in the base structure and with the bearing structures having rollers therein engageable in the g'ro'dves of the splined shaft whereby the arms are rollingly movprevented from angular movement with respect to the shaft.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved shaft and bearing housing arrangement wherein'the shaft is splined and the bearing housing carries a plurality of sets of adjustable rollers whereby the bearing housing are movable axially of' the shift but fixedfor co-rotationwith the shaft.

Still another object of the present invention is to 7 provide a new .and improved actuating mechanism for controlling the movement of these arms including an actuator such as an hydraulic double acting piston and cylinder arrangement interconnecting the two traversing bearing assemblies carrying the arms for powera'bly driv mg the arms toward and away from each other anclja second actuator which also may be a double acting'pis'to'n 1 and cylinder hydraulic actuator connected at one end thereof to the shaft and at the other end thereof to one of 'the two traversing bearing assemblies to move the two arms simultaneously in either desired lateral dire' c f; g tion for edge alignment of the web being pulledfrom the roll carried by the arms.

the arms to raise and lower a roll thereon.

Yet another object of the present invention is to pr I system 'fofco vide a new and improved fluidcontrbl trolling the actuators on the roll stand.

Still another object of the present invention is", to 1 7 i vide a-new and improved two pressure fluid central em for the actuators whereby expensive high newts fluid units are utilized to only'a-.-minimumextent afidflw pressure fluid control units maybe utilized throughout the remainder of the fluid system whereby great economies are effected.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention and an embodiment thereof, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings in which each and every de- -tail shown and illustrated is fully and completely disof Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmental side view of the roll stand of Figure 1 shown partly in section and viewed as taken along the line IV-T-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a traverse bearing roller assembly viewed as taken substantially along the 1 line V--V of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the roller assembly of Figure 5 viewed as taken substantially along the line VI--VI of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a schematic and diagrammatic illustration 'of the control system for this roll stand embodying the principles of this invention.

Thus, the figures of drawing incorporated herein fully illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a roll stand ini corporating the principles, features and advantages of this invention. The roll stand is illustrated as an entire assembly in Figures 1, 2 and 3 and indicated generally at 10. This base and support structure 10 has a pair of end supports 11 and 12 which are fixed in a spaced apart relation by a tie rod 13 secured thereto by having nuts 14 threaded onto the threaded ends of the tie rod, which threaded ends extend through appropriate apertures in the end supports 11 and 12 and clamp the end supports between the nuts and shoulders on the tie rod.

Each of the end supports 11 and 12 is more or less L-shaped with a relatively heavy short leg, 15 and 16 respectively, acting as the base footing and a longer .upstanding arm or leg, 17 and 18 respectively, which legs :on each end support may be integrally cast or otherwise formed of a strong structural material such as cast-iron or steel or the like, and are tied together and supported by reinforcing sections 19 and20 respectively.

At the upper end and toward the rear of each of the upstanding arms 17 and 18 of the end structures 11 and 12, the arms carry bearings or shaft bushings 21 and 22 which are secured in appropriate apertures there- .in and are axially aligned to support a shaft 23 which is journalled therein. The shaft 23 is a splined shaft herein illustrated as having four elongated rectangular grooves or splines 2424 therein (note Fig. 4) and is of such length that it extends not only for the entire distance between the two shaft hearings or bushings 21 and 22 .but also therebeyond on the outer ends of each thereof.

Between the end supports 11 and 12, the shaft 23 carries a pair of traversing

bearing assemblies

25 and 26 having elements therein cooperating with the splines 24 on the shaft 23 in quadrature in such a manner that the traversing bearing

assemblies

25 and 26 are co-rotatable with the shaft 23 and movable axially therealong.

Each of the traversing bearing assemblies has secured thereto an arm structure 27 and 28 respectively extending forwardly therefrom. These arms 27 and 28 .are symmetrical in structure, parallel, and coextensive whereby they terminate at equal distances from the shaft .23. At their ends, the

chuck bearings

29 and 30 are .secured thereto and rotatably support coaxial expansion chucks 31 and 32 which face inwardly towards the center of the machine, toward each other.

varying the spacing therebetween.

These

chucks

31 and 32 are of a type that may be inserted into the ends of a roll core and expand into gripping relation with the inner surface of the roll core when the ends of the roll core are abutted by flanges 33 and 34 on the chucks and the chucks are further forced toward the interior of the roll core. These chucks are also operative to release the roll core by simple movement of pulling the chucks axially outward from the roll core whereby the chucks contract and are removable. The detail of the structure of the chucks will not be described here inasmuch as the chucks per se are independent of this invention and have already been described in the art.

Additional items associated with the chucks which have already been described in the art and therefore will not be described in detail here include the

brake assemblies

35 and 36, which are mounted on the outer ends of the

chuck bearings

29 and 30 respectively, which are secured to the

chucks

31 and 32 respectively, and which electromagnetically control the tension on the web of the roll as the web is pulled and the roll is unwound. Still another item of this character is the brake unloading control, operating through a control system to vary the loading of the

brakes

35 and 36 as the roll unwinds and shown at 37 coupled to the brake 36 through a chain and sprocket arrangement 38. Yet another item of this same character is an acceleration detection control 39 mounted on the outer end of the chuck shaft for the chuck 31 and coupled into the electrical control system for this roll stand to control loading and unloading of the

brakes

35 and 36 during acceleration conditions such as starting and deceleration conditions such as stopping of the roll unwinding.

The actuator for powerably driving the arm carrying traverse bearing

assemblies

25 and 26 or moving the

chucks

31 and 32 into and out of gripping relation with the core of a roll to be unwound from the roll stand, is best illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and is indicated generally at it This actuator 40, in this embodiment of the invention, is a double acting piston-cylinder assembly having a cylinder 41 containing a piston connected to a piston rod 42. The cap end 43 of the cylinder 41 is connected through a pivot bracket 44 to the upper surface of the bearing assembly 26 by being pinned, as at 45 to the bracket 44, and the bracket 44 being secured to the bearing assembly 26 by a threaded lock pin and nut arrangement 46.

The piston rod 42 is pivotally connected througha pivot bracket 47 to the upper surface of the traverse bearing assembly 25 by being pinned to a rod extension sleeve 48 which is in turn pivotally coupled through pivots 49 to the pivot bracket 47 that is secured to the traverse bearing assembly 25 by a threaded lock pin and nut arrangement 50.

With this actuator arrangement and interconnection between the traverse bearing assemblies, admitting pressure fluid into the cylinder at the rod end 51 thereof will cause such movement of the traverse bearing assemblies as to draw the same closer together whereby the

chucks

31 and 32 may be moved into engaging arrangement with the core of a roll. Conversely, admitting pressure fluid into the cap end of the piston cylinder assembly 40 will drive the two traverse bearing assemblies axially apart whereby the roll core may be released from the chucks. This movement also jointly requires simultaneous slower movement of an actuator 52.

Like the actuator 40, the actuator 52 is mounted on universal mechanical couplings, but the actuator 52 is arranged for moving the two arm carrying traverse hearing assemblies simultaneously laterally and axially of the shaft 23 in the same direction at the same time without It will be noted that the actuator 40, when hydraulically locked, acts on the bearing assembly 26 to assist in achieving this result.

Thus, the actuator 52, which is best illustrated in Figure 2,

spasms E29 may be jointly with the locked actuator 49 utilized for edge alignment of the web of the roll with the equipment utilizing the material and pulling the web from the roll.

The actuator 52 is like the actuator 40 in that it is a double acting piston-cylinder assembly having a cylinder 53 carrying an axially slidable piston therein which is connected to a piston rod 54 extending through the rod end 55 of the cylinder 53. The cap end 56 of the cylinder is pivotally connected as by a pin 57 to a pivot bracket 58 pivotally secured in a mounting block 59 therefor. The mounting block 59 is secured in an appropriate recess 66 to the under side of the shaft 23 by machine screws or the like 61. The piston rod 54 has a rod extension sleeve 62 secured thereto at the end thereof which is in turn pivotally connected as by a pin 63 to a pivot bracket 64 but is in turn pivotally connected to the under side of the traverse bearing assembly 25.

Thus, with this second actuator arrangement, when the actuators 4t} and 52 have been supplied with pressurized fluid in a manner to bring the chucks 3E and 32 into gripping relation with a roll core and then lock the

traverse bearing assemblies

25 and 26 in a fixed spaced relation to each other, the supplying of further pressurized fluid to the actuator 52 will cause movement of the entire traverse bearing, arm, chuck and roll arrangement to move it either to the right or to the left as desired for proper edge ali nment of the web of the roll with the equipment pulling the web from the roll.

By admitting pressurized fluid into the cylinder between the cap end thereof and the piston therein, the piston and piston rod will be forced to the left as the mechanism is viewed in Figure 2 thereby moving the entire traversing arrangement to the left. Conversely, the admission of pressurized fluid into the rod end of the cylinder be tween the rod end and the piston within the cylinder will cause movement of the piston and the piston rod to the right thereby moving the entire mechanism to the right as viewed in Figure 2. 7

Control for these actau-tors is effected by the control system illustrated in Figure 7 as coordinated with either manual controls in an electrical system or automatic controls of an electrical system. While it should be clearly understood that many forms of electrical automatic controls are available, and that mechanisms embodying the principles of this invention may utilize the same without detracting from the invention, there is illustrated in Figure l a simple operator control panel shown at 65 having a plurality of electrical push button controls thereon. The eight push button controls shown on the operator control panel at the operator station may so operate the control system as to cause the following operations respectively: a, edge align toward the operator; b, edge align away from the operator; c, move chuck 32 into engagement with a roll; d, move chuck 32 back toward the operator or out of engagement with a roll; e, move chuck 31 toward the operator or into engagement with a roll; 1, move chuck 31 away from the operator or out of engagement with a roll; g, raise the arms to thereby lift the chucks and the roll held thereby; and 11, lower the arms to lower any roll held thereby or place the same in position to grip a new roll.

The details of the operation of the control system of Figure 7 will be described hereinbelow following comple' tion of the description of the mechanical arrangement and assembly of this device. The foregoing has been included here to provide better understanding of the operation of the portion of the mechanism thus far described.

The last two operations described above, that may be controlled from the control panel 65, are the raising and lowering of the arms .27 and 28. The mechanicalarrangement for effecting the raisingand lowering operation includes a pair of relatively large structurally strong crank shaped lift arms 66 and-o7 that are keyed or otherwise fixed onto the exposed ends of the splined shaft 23 outwardly of the arms 17 and 18 of the end supports 11 and 12, respectively. These lift 66 and 67" are so fixed onto the shaft 23 that rocking or angular movement the lift arms will result in angular movement of the shaft 23. Angular movement of the lift arms 66 and 67 may be effected by power actuators 6S and 69, respectively, these actuators herein also taking the form of hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies including cylinders 70 and 71 respectively containing pistons connected to piston rods 7 72 and 73, respectively.

The cap ends 74 and 75 of the cylinders 70 and 71 are pivotally connected to pivot mountings 76 and 77 on the bases 15 and 16 of the end supports as by pins 78 and 79. The exposed ends of the piston rods 72 and 73 are pivotally connected by pins 80 and 81 to the free ends 82 and 83 of the crank levers 66 and 67 fixed on the outer ends of the shaft 23.

By this arrangement pressurized iluid admission into the cap ends 74 and 75 of the cylinders 70 and 71 between the capends and pistons within the cylinders results in the expansion of the piston-cylinder assembly to rock the cranks 66 and 67 in a clockwise direction &S

the assembled machine 10 is viewed in Figure 3 thereby rocking the shaft 23 therewith and carrying the arms 27 and 28 angularly therewith as these arms are fixed on the

traverse bearing housings

25 and 26 carried on the shaft for co-rocking therewith. Such angular displacement of the shaft and the arms etc. when effected after the chucks have been engaged in a roll core results in lifting of the roll from the floor or stand upon which it had been resting. By bleeding off the pressurized fluid from the cap ends of the cylinders 70 and 71 gravitational forces will cause the arms to be lowered.

The bearing

assemblies

25 and 26 are mounted on the splined shaft 23 by having rollers engaging the grooves in the shaft thereby permitting axial movement of the bearing assemblies on the shaft but preventing. relative rotation movement between the bearing assemblies and the shaft. This structure is best illustrated in Figure 4 which includes a sectional view of the bearing assembly 26 and its, cooperativeassociation with the shaft 23. Therein it is illustrated that the bearing assembly 26 includes a housing 84 with an axial aperture 85 therethrough to receive the shaft 23. This bearing assembly has four'sets of aligned radial apertures 86 disposed in quadrature therein and so placed thereon as to be aligned with the grooves or slots 24 in the splined shaft. Each of these apertures 86 is interfitted with a roller shaft 87 journalled therein, which roller shaft is'best illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Figure 4 illustrates, however, that these shafts are mounted on a roller support plate 88 83, one for each set of rollers, and are secured in place by nuts 8989 threaded onto the outer stem of the shaft to lock the shaft onto theplate between the nut and a shoulder on the shaft. By loosening the nuts each shaft may be rotated within the radial aperture 86 in which it is disposed for adjusting the position of the roller 90 I In Figure 4,;

the four rollers shown are numbered 90,. 91, 92 and 93 V with each one representing 'a longitudinally aligned set-- journalled on a pin carried in the shaft.

thereof. By adjusting the rollers as shown so that rollers 9i and 93 lie against relatively adjacent sides of the grooves in which they are fitted and so that the rollers $1 and 92 lie against the adjacent sides in the grooves in which they are fitted, the bearing assembly 26 including the housing 84 thereof may be fixed on the shaft 23 against any possible relative rotation thereof. By caus ing these rollers 9t) through 93 to be adjustable, they are also provided with the advantage of permitting long.

for wear thereon life through adjustability to take up and on the splined shaft. r I

Adjustability of the rollers is facilitatedby the co struction of the shaft 87 carrying the same as {illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 wherein'it is shown that the shaft- 87. has a recess therein which'receives a pin 95 upon-which the rollers, individually, areljournalled. I liis 'bOr'eFOr 7 recess and pin 95 are eccentric with respect to the annular outside cylindrical configuration of the shaft 87 so that rotation of the shaft 87 (note Figure 4 again) will cause adjustable movement of the roller toward or away also shown in Figure 4 wherein it is illustrated that the bearing housing 84 has a tongue receiving slide bar groove 96 therein to receive a tongued slide bar 97 on the foot end of the arm 28. Additionally, the foot end 98 of the arm 28 is apertured for alignment selectively with a plurality of sets of threaded recesses in the bearing housing to receive cap screws 99 which further secure the arm onto the bearing housing in any selected position therealong.

This structural arrangement thus positively locks the arms onto the bearing housings of the traverse bearing assemblies and positively locks the traverse bearing assemblies on the shaft for co-rotation of the arms and the shaft and for movement of the arms axially along the shaft.

The hydraulic control system for controlling and providing pressurized fluid to the actuators described hereinabove is illustrated in detail in Figure 7. In accordance with this invention, this system is a two-pressure hydrualic system having a low pressure fluid system such a 400 p.s.i. pressure system and a high pressure fluid system such as a 5,000 p.s.i. fluid pressure system. The two systems are combined into a single coordinated hydraulic system in accordance with this invention in order to minimize the necessity for the utilization of highpressure hydraulic accessories yet leave available high pressure fluid for admission to the

actuators

63 and 69 for raising a full roll when gripped by the chucks at the ends of the arms. The particular pressures referred to hereinabove are, of course, purely exemplary and have been specified merely by way of an example of fluid pressures that may be utilized in a particular size roll stand for handling a given variety of sizes and weights of rolls.

Thus, for high pressure actuation of the

actuators

63 and 69 through this fluid system, hydraulic fluid is drawn from a reservoir 100 by a high pressure hydraulic jack or pump 101 and thence supplied through a line 102 having a check valve 103 and a needle type flow regulator valve 104 therein, to the cap ends of the cylinders '70 and 71 of the

actuators

68 and 69 to thereby raise the arms and the roll carried thereby. When the roll has been unwound but the core remains on the chucks, the arms are easily lowered by opening a normally closed high pressure by-pass valve 105, which is connected across a check valve 144, and to one side of a low pressure three-way valve 110 whereby fluid will drain from the

actuators

68 and 69 through the needle valve 104 thence through the

valves

105 and 110 from which the fluid will flow through

return lines

106 and 107 back to the reservoir 100. In the event of the use of a lightweight roll held on the chucks, the low pressure fluid system may be utilized for the

actuators

68 and 69 by drawing fluid from the reservoir through a pump 108 which will supply fluid over a line 109 leading to another side of the valve 110 which is in series with the check valve 144.

Low pressure fluid from the pump 108 also operates the remainder of the hydraulic system for gripping the roll, releasing the roll, and edge aligning to either lateral direction of the roll stand. Thus, to move the left chuck out, pressure fluid from the pump 108 flows through the line 111 through the left side 112 of a four-way valve 113, here illustrated as being solenoid actuated, and thence through the line 114 and a valve 41a to the cap end of cylinder 41 of actuator 40. At the same time the rodirend of the actuator 40 is drained through line 115 leading to the right side 125 of the four-way valve 113 which is then in communication with a return line 116 that leads to the return line 107 to the pump reservoir 100.

To move only the left chuck out, not only must the actuator 40 be actuated, but the aligning actuator 52 must also be actuated and for this purpose by-pass valve 117 is opened as is the left side 118 of a second four way valve 119 also shown as being solenoid actuated. The fluid flows from the pump 103 through line 120, through the left side 1113 of valve 119 thence through a line 121, flow regulators 122 and 123 and line 124 to the cap end of the aligning actuator 52. The rod end thereof is drained through the valve 117 through the line 127 leading via the valve 119 to the return lines 107a and 107 to reservoir 100.

To move the right chuck out requires only opening of the left side 112 of valve 113 since the aligning actuator will then hold the left chuck in place.

To move the left chuck in to grip a roll core, fluid is supplied through the pump 108 and its outlet line 111 to the right side 125 of the four-way valve 113 and flows therethrough and through the line to the rod end of the actuator 40. At the same time the cap end thereof is drained through the line 114, through the left side 112 of the valve 113, and thence through the return lines 116 and 107 back to the reservoir. Also at the same time, the right side 126 of four-way valve 119 is opened for supplying pressurized fluid from the pump 108 through the line 120, through the right side 126 of the four-way valve 119 thence through the line 127 leading therefrom through regulators 128 and 129 to the rod end of the aligning actuator 52. During this operation valve 130 is opened for the flow of fluid from the cap end of the actuator 52 through the valve 130 leading to the return lines 131 and 107 to the reservoir 100, via the valve 119.

Moving the right chuck in requires only opening of the right side of the four-way valve 113 to supply fluid therethrough and through the line 115 to the rod end of the actuator 40. The aligning chuck will, of course, hold the left chuck steady under such circumstances, and fluid is returned from the cap end of the actuator 40 via the

lines

114, 116, and 107.

The mode of operation of the fluid system for utilizing either high pressure or low pressure of fluid to raise the arms and the roll and supply fluid to the

actuators

68 and 69 has been described hereinabove. The mode of operation of the system will now be described by which the two chucks are moved simultaneously to either the right or the left for purposes of edge aligning the web to either the right or the left for proper alignment thereof with the equipment pulling the web from the roll supported at the ends of the arms on the chucks. For edge aligning toward the right, only the right side 126 of the four-way valve 119 is opened to supply fluid from the pump 108 via line 120 and via the right side 126 of the valve 119, thence through line 127, regulators 128 and 129 to the rod end of the aligning actuator 52. It is an inherent property of flow regulator valves, such as 123 and 129, to allow free flow in the direction of the arrow and to control or regulate the rate of flow in the opposite direction. Thus the valves 117 and may be left in closed position. The actuator 40 will maintain the two chucks in their proper spaced relation for proper continuous gripping of the roll while the actuator 52 then moves the entire traverse assembly to the right. Moving the entire traverse assembly to the left requires merely opening the left side 118 of the four-way valve 119 whereby fluid flows therethrough from pump 108 to line 121, regulators 122 and 123, and line 124 to the cap end of the actuator 52. The rod end is of course drained during this operation as described hereinabove and the entire traverse assembly will move to the left for proper edge 9 alignment of the web. Thus valvelll may be left in closed position. I

The electrical system for controlling this entire operation may take any desired known form. For example, there are known in the art electrical edge alignment systems which are operative to provide electrical signals effective to control and energize solenoid actuated fourway valves such as the

valves

113 and 119. Similarly, various other electrical systems are available for manual or automatic controlled operation of the various other valves included in this hydraulic system. In Figure 7, the control panel 65 is shown connected to the various valves by an electrical cable assembly 65a represented by a broken line to avoid confusion with the various fluid lines. Also, there maybe provided throughout the hydraulic system various forms of fluid pressure actuated safety switch mechanisms and accumulators etc., such as the differential pressure switch 140, the hydraulic relief valve 141, the hydraulic accumulator 142, and the pressure switch 145. Drain lines, omitted from the drawing to avoid confustion, may also be provided where the components require it to return internal leakage flow to the reservoir.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the system described herein is exemplary of the present invention and is effective to accomplish the purposes and objectives described therefor. The particular system includes actuators which are simultaneously or individually actuat-able to provide any, of several complex power driven movements of the mechanism. It will also be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts and principles of this invention.' We, therefore, intend to cover all such modifications and variations which fall in the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts and principles of this invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a roll stand having a rock-shaft, a pair of substantially parallel roll-supporting arms corotatably carried on the rock shaft and slidable therealong axially, a support structure rotatably supporting the rock shaft, and means acting between the supporting structure and the shaft for rotatably positioning the shaft, the improvement in combination therewith of: means precluding axial displacement of the shaft with respect to the support structure; a pair of hydraulic actuators for jointly effecting roll edge alignment and for jointly effecting oppositely directed movements of the arms longitudinally of the rock shaft, the first of said actuators being operatively connected for acting between one of the arms and the shaft, and the second of said actuators being operatively connected for acting between the arms; whereby furthermore when said first actuator is hydraulically locked, said second actuator may be operated to move only the other of the arms with respect to the shaft; and whereby furthermore when said actuators are simultaneously operated at the same rate, only said one of the arms is moved with respect to the shaft.

2. In a roll stand having a rock-shaft, a pair of substantially parallel roll-supporting arms corotatably carried on the rock shaft and slidable there along axially, a support structure rotatably supporting the rock-shaft, and means acting between the support structure and the shaft for rotatably positioning the shaft, the improvement in combination therewith of: means precluding axial displacement of the shaft with respect to the support structure; a pair of hydraulic actuators for jointly effecting roll edge alignment and for jointly effecting oppositely directed movements of the arms longitudinally of the rock shaft, the first of said actuators being connected between one of the arms and the shaft and the second of said actuators being connected between the arms; whereby furthermore when said first actuator is hydraulically locked, said second actuator may be operated to move only the other of the arms with respect to the shaft; and

arms is'moved with respect" to theshaft.

3. In a hydrauliccontrol system for a roll stand having a rock-shaft, a pair of substantially parallelrollsupporting arms corotatablycarried, on the rock-shaft, and

at least one of which arms is slidable therealong axially, and a support structure rotatably supporting the rockshaft, the improvement comprising: at least one hydraulic actuator operatively connected between the support structure and the rock-shaft for rotatably positioning the shaft; a pair of hydraulic pumps, each having an output communicating with said actuator for raising the roll-supporting arms, a first of said pumps having an output-pressure capacity more than double that of the second; a pair of check valves operatively intermediate said pumps and said actuator respectively, each disposed to pass fluid from the associated pump to said actuator and to block outlet fluid flow between said pumps; a by-pass valve across one of said check valves; and a selector valve intermediate one of said pumps and said one check and by-pass valves and operative to transmit fluid flow from said one pump to said one check valve, to receive fluid flow from said actuator via said by-pass valve and divert it, and to block fluid flow.

4. In a hydraulic control system for a roll stand having a rock-shaft, a pair of substantially parallel rollsupporting arms corotatably carried on the rock-shaft and at leastone of which arms is slidable therealong axially, and a support structure rotatably supporting the rock-shaft, the improvement comprising: at least one hydraulic actuator operatively connected between the support structure and the rock-shaft for rotatably positioning the shaft; a pair of hydraulic pumps, each having an output communicating with said actuator for raising the roll-supporting arms, a first of said pumps having an output-pressure capacity more than double that of the second; a pair of check valves operatively intermediate said pumps and said actuator respectively, each disposed to pass fluid from the associated pump, to said actuator and to block outlet fluid flow between said pumps; a bypass valve-across that one of said check valves which is operatively associated with said second pump; and a selector valve intermediate said second pumpand said one check and by-pass valves and operative to transmit fluid flow from said second pump to said one check valve, to receive fluid flow from said actuator. via said by-pass valve and divert it, and to block fluid flow.

w 5. In a hydraulic control system for a roll stand having a rock-shaft, a pair of substantially parallel rollsupporting arms corotatably carried on the rock-shaft and at least one of which arms is'slidable therealong axially, and a support structure rotatably supporting'the rock-shaft, the improvement comprising: a pair of singleacting hydraulic actuators operatively connected between the support structure and opposite ends of therock- .shaft for rotatably positioning the shaft; a pair of'hyi draulic pumps, each having an output communicating with both of said actuators for raising the roll'supporting arms, a first of said pumps having an output-pressure capacity more than double that of the second; a pair of check valves each operatively intermediate one of said pumps and both of said actuators respectively for passing fluid from the associated pump to said actuators and to block fluid flow between said pumps; a flow regulating valve intermediate said check valves and said actuators and operative to limit flow rate in bo-thdirec tions; a by-pass valve across that one of said check valves which is operatively associated with said second pump; and a selector valve intermediate said second pump and said one check and by-pass valves and operative to trans mit fluid flow from said second pump to said one check valve, to receive fluid flow from said actuators via said ,by-pass valve and divert it, and to block fluid flow.

' References Cited in the fileo'f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Vickers Dec. 4, 1934 Behrens Aug. 13, 1946