US3455435A

US3455435A - Roller beds for conveying billets

Info

Publication number: US3455435A
Application number: US716839A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ernst Theodor Sack; Georg Konig
Original assignee: Maschinenfabrik Sack GmbH
Current assignee: Maschinenfabrik Sack GmbH
Priority date: 1967-03-29
Filing date: 1968-03-28
Publication date: 1969-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1986-07-15
Also published as: DE1602106B2; FR1555313A; DE1602106A1; BE711416A; GB1197121A

Description

July 15, 1969 Filed March 28, 1968 E. T. SACK ET AL ROLLER BEDS FOR CONVEYING BILLETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 United States Patent ()1 ice 3,455,435 Patented July 15, 1969 Int.Cl. B65g 47/24 US. Cl. 198-33 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A roller bed for conveying heavy rolling mill billets such as ingots or heavy blooms has twoside guides disposed one on each side of a train of rollers for shifting the billet transversely on the rollers and, to enable a rectangular billet on the rollers to be tipped over on its side, one side guide has a device for lifting the billet from underneath to tip it over and the other side guide has a guide plate to form a support for the tipped over billet and lower it gently onto the rollers. The guide plate is fixed rigidly to the other side guide and the other side guide itself with the plate has a driving mechanism for tilting it about a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the direction of conveyance of the roller train so that the corner of the tipped billet can slide gently down the plate. The guide plate has parts which extend downwards far enough in between the rollers of the train to ensure that the lower edge of the plate projects downwards between the rollers whatever the angular position of the other side guide so that the billet is supported by the fplate until it has slipped down right on to the rollers.

In rolling mills, ingots, heavy blooms and other heavy billets to be rolled are conveyed to the roll stands by roller beds. One kind of roller bed has two side guides disposed one on each side of a train of rollers. These side guides are capable of traversing to shift the billet to be rolled sideways. For various reasons the billet sometimes has to be turned over on its side before entering the roll stand, that is to say the billet is rotated through 90. For this purpose one of the side guides is equipped with a device for lifting one edge of the billet from underneath, to tip the billet over. This device serves well enough in handling comparatively light billets, because a light billet can be allowed to topple over under the action of gravity on to the rollers. However, a heavy billet cannot be allowed to fall freely on to the rollers in this way because it would damage them.

To prevent damage by a freely falling heavy billet the second side guide has been provided with means for receiving the tilted billet, so as to let it down fairly gently on to the train of rollers. In existing roller beds these means consist of guide levers attached to the second side guide. The guide levers extend horizontally in a direction parallel to the axes of the train of rollers, and they are equipped with curved guide surfaces which extend downwards far enough to ensure that in all positions their lower edges are situated between the rollers of the roller train.

However, when it comes to handling particularly heavy billets, these means mounted on the second side guide for guiding the billet when it is being turned over are too weak to withstand the considerable vertical and horizontal forces applied by the billet.

The object of the present invention is to provide a roller bed of the'kind described which is capable of overcoming these difiiculties.

To this end, according to this invention, in a roller bed of the kind described, in which one side guide has a device for lifting the billet from underneath to tip it over and the other side guide has a device for receiving the tipped billet and letting it down gently on to the rollers, the device on the other side guide comprises an inwardly facing guide plate fixed rigidly to the guide which is tiltable by a driving mechanism about a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the direction of conveyance of the roller train, the guide plate having parts extending downwards far enough to ensure that its lower edge projects down between the rollers whatever the angular position of the other side guide. The invention is based on the idea that the forces applied by the billet when it is being turned over should not be taken by separate levers or arms but should be taken directly by the second side guide. This structural member, that is to say the second side guide, is already a particularly rigid structure because it has to be able to shift the slab sideways across the roller train.

The second side guide is generally a rigid beam and by providing it with a guide plate as described above and making it tiltable it is quite strong enough to receive the billet and let it down gently.

The mechanism for tilting the second side guide is preferably a hydraulic ram. However in order to relieve this hydraulic vain of the heaviest loads, in the preferred form of the invention the second side guide is provided with a locking device by which it can be locked in at least two angular positions.

By this means, the forces applied to the second side guide by the billet in these two or more positions do not need to be taken by the hydraulic ram.

An example of a roller bed constructed in accordance with the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section on the line A-A in FIG- URE 1, showing the two side guides in their initial positions; and

FIGURES 3 and 4 are views similar to FIGURE 2, but showing the side guides in other operating positions.

On one side of a train of rollers 1 there is a side guide 2, and on the other side a second side guide 3. The two side guides are very rigid box structures. One of the functions of the two side guides is to shift a billet B transversely over the surface of the rollers 1, in the usual way, For this purpose the side guides are mounted on transverse beams 4 and 5 capable of travelling sideways by rolling transversely on longitudinally extending rollers 6. The driving mechanisms for bringing about this movement are not shown in the drawings.

Considering firstly the right-hand side guide 2, at the side nearest to the train of rollers there are manipulator arms 8 capable of moving vertically in vertical grooves 7. Each manipulator arm 8 is equipped at its lower end with a manipulator hook 9, situated between two of the rollers 1. In the initial position shown in FIG. 2, the manipulator hook 9 is situated below the plane 10 of the roller train 1. The manipulator arms 8 are actuated by bellcrank levers 12 which pivot on a bearing 11 mounted on the side guide 2. The pivoting movement is effected by means of a hydraulic ram (not shown) acting through a pull-rod 13. When the manipulator arms are lifted into the position shown in FIGURE 3 by pulling on the pull-rod 13, the hooks 9 project above the plane 10 of the roller train. All this is customary practice.

On the other hand, the left-hand side guide 3 is capable not only of traversing in the usual way, but also of turning about a longitudinal axis X as shown in FIGURES 2 to 4. For this purpose the side guide 3 has transversely projecting plates 14 which run in a bearing 15 mounted on the transverse beam 5, so that the side guide 3 can tilt about the longitudinal axis X. Further plates 16 are connected to the pistons of hydraulic rams 17, which are also mounted on the transverse beam 5. The side guide 3 is also equipped with locking arms 19 which pivot on bearings 18 and have notches 20 capable of engaging with projections 21 on the upper edge of the transverse beam 5. This is a locking arrangement to take the load off the hydraulic rams 17. The side guide 3 can be locked in this way alternatively either in the position shown in FIG- URE 2 or in the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The locking arms 19 are lifted into a released position by hydraulic rams 22. The released position is shown in FIGURE 2 in chain-dotted lines.

At the face of the side guide 3 adjacent the roller train 1, the guide 3 has a guide plate 23 made up of several sections and somewhat curved near its top and bottom edges. In the initial position shown in FIGURE 2 the lower edges of the sections of the guide plate 23 project downwards between the rollers 1 far enough to ensure that when the guide plate is in the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, that is to say when the side guide 3 is fully tilted, the lowest edges of the sections of the guide plate 23 are still below the plane of the train of rollers 1.

The operation of the arrangement will now be described, assuming that initially the billet B is standing on edge on the roller train as shown in FIGURE 2. The intention is to tip the slab over, that is to say in this case to lie it on its face. In the first phase of the operation the left-hand side guide 3 is first of all released, by means of the hydraulic rams 2. The side guide 3 is then rotated from the position shown in FIGURE 2 into the position shown in FIGURE 3, and is then locked again by lowering the locking arms 19. The side guide 3, which is now in the tilted position, is then traversed, by movement of the transverse beam 5, inwards towards the billet B until the lower parts of the sections of the guide plate 23 just touch the lower left-hand edge of the billet B. The righthand side guide 2 is then traversed inwards towards the billet, into the position shown in FIGURE 3, whereupon the manipulator arms 8 are lifted and the manipulator hooks 9 tip the slab over, as shown in FIGURE 3, so that it now lies against the guide plate 23. This movement produces practically no impact, because the slab is tilted, about its lower left-hand edge, to only just beyond its position of equilibrium. In other words the slab just topples over and gently comes to rest against the guide plate 23. From the position shown in FIGURE 3, the two

side guides

2 and 3 are traversed outwards by movement of their supporting transverse beams 4 and 5. During this movement the billet B slides downwards with its upper left-hand edge sliding downwards over the surface of the guide plate 23.

The'lower left-hand edge of the billet slides axially along the rollers 1, and its right-hand lower edge slides upwards along the inner vertical surfaces 24 of the right-hand side guide 2. Towards the end of this movement the billet is gently deposited on to the surface of the roller train. FIG- URE 4 shows the slab in an intermediate position.

The sequence of movement can if desired be different; what matters in each case is that the considerable forces applied by the billet are taken directly by the rotatable side guide 3, that is to say without the aid of mobile intermediate mechanical parts.

We claim:

1. In a roller bed for conveying ingots, heavy blooms or other heavy rolling mill billets, said bed including a train of parallel rollers, means rotatably supporting said rollers to form said train, side guides disposed one on each side of said train of rollers and means for moving said guide means for shifting said billet transversely of said rollers, one of said guide means including means for lifting said billet from underneath to tip said billet and the other of said guide means including means for receiving said tipped billet and lowering it gently onto said rollers, the improvement wherein said means for receiving said tipped billet and lowering it gently onto said rollers comprises an inwardly facing guide plate, means rigidly fixing said guide plate to said other guide means, means tiltably mounting said other guide means and a driving mechanism for tilting said other guide means about a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the direction of conveyance of said roller train, said guide plate including parts extending downwards between said rollers, said downwardly extending parts having their lower edges below the plane of conveyance of said roller train in all tilted angular positions of said other guide means.

2. A roller bed as claimed in claim 1, wherein said other side guide includes locking means for locking said other side guide means in at least two positions into which said other guide means is movable by said driving mechanrsm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 742,314 10/1903 Hampton et al. 2141 899,832 9/1908 Mekeel l98-33 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner FRANK E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2l41