U.S. patent application number 12/925780 was filed with the patent office on 2012-05-03 for preloaded triple roller entry guide.
Invention is credited to Mario Fabris.
Application Number | 20120104068 12/925780 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45995536 |
Filed Date | 2012-05-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120104068 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fabris; Mario |
May 3, 2012 |
Preloaded triple roller entry guide
Abstract
A triple roll entry guide where the guide has two sets of
operation, a first which operates as a standard triple roller entry
guide. Here the guide functions as a standard guide wherein three
levers are pivoted about a work product axis to guide the work
product into the reduction rolls of the mill. The guide will accept
a predetermined size range of work products. In this instance the
rollers of the guide overcome the force holding the levers in their
usual working position and force the levers to assume a new
position which the work product is accepted in the guide. This is
the second method of operation, and in it the levers of the guide
are "preloaded" so that the guide functions as a standard guide
under prescribed conditions. Under conditions which lead to the
acceptance of a work product of a larger diameter in the
predetermined size range the levers of the guide overcome the force
which limits the maximum position of the levers of the guide and
the work product is accepted by the guide.
Inventors: |
Fabris; Mario; (Grimsby,
CA) |
Family ID: |
45995536 |
Appl. No.: |
12/925780 |
Filed: |
November 1, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
226/196.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21F 23/00 20130101;
B21B 39/165 20130101; B21F 23/002 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
226/196.1 |
International
Class: |
B65H 23/04 20060101
B65H023/04 |
Claims
1. A roller entry guide for guiding a work product a longitudinal
axis comprising: a hollow housing having multiple pivots
incorporated therein, said pivots being located in a plane lying
orthogonal to said longitudinal axis, pivotably mounting at least
three roller assemblies at equally spaced angles about said
longitudinal axis, said roller assemblies comprising a lever having
a first end and a second end and a pivot point located between said
ends, said first ends of said lever assemblies having a shaped
wheel mounted for rotation thereon, for engaging said work product
so that an opening for said work product is formed by said wheels,
said second ends of said lever assemblies bearing against a common
member mounted on said housing and so that the second ends exert a
first force on said common member when a work product of a first
diameter passes through said opening, the second ends of said lever
assemblies exerting a second force on said common member when a
second work product of a larger diameter passes through said
opening, said second force being greater said first force, said
common member moving against a second resilient member to establish
a reaction force when said second force exceeds a predetermined
value.
2. A roller entry guide as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and
second forces are applied evenly to said common member by said
lever assemblies.
3. A roller entry guide having a body on which a plurality of
identical levers are pivotably mounted thereon so as to pivot in
planes which are equally angularly spaced about an axis where a
steel strand is being rolled, said levers each having a roller
mounted for rotation at the first end of said lever, said rollers
contacting said steel strand, and guiding it into work reducing
rolls of a steel mill, said rollers being adjustable to roll steel
strands of various sizes, said levers transferring the force
created by said rollers contacting said strand to the remote end of
each lever, the second end of each lever contacting a common
member, said common member being positioned so that any force
exerted on said common member by the second ends tends to move said
common member laterally, said common member resisting the force
exerted by said second ends of said levers until said force exceeds
a predetermined value, at which time said common member moves
laterally and permits said levers to move.
4. A roller entry guide having at least three rollers for guiding a
work product to the reducing rolls of a reducing mill, said rollers
being mounted at the ends of at least three levers so as to form a
first opening formed by said wheels for the passage of a work
product of a first diameter there between along an axis through
said entry guide, said opening in said guide being adjustable to
resistably open beyond the limit set by said first opening so as to
accept a pre-determined range of work product of slightly greater
diameter than said first diameter, said levers being pivoted on a
set of pivots which are equally spaced about said axis and lie in
the same plane on said entry guide, orthogonal to said axis, said
pivots on said levers lying between the ends of said levers, such
that the ends of said levers remote from said rollers rest upon a
common conically shaped surface of a spring loaded circular member,
said ends of said levers pushing said common member sidewise
against said spring loaded circular member when a work product of
slightly greater diameter than said first diameter passes through
said opening formed by said wheels, said levers being forced to
return by said common member to form said first opening when said
work product diameter decreases to its first diameter.
5. A roller entry guide as claimed in claim 4 wherein the levers
are substantially the same.
6. A roller entry guide as claimed in claim 5 wherein the wheels
all have the same shape.
7. A roller entry guide as claimed as claimed in claim 6 wherein
said common member slides on a circular cylindrical surface formed
on said guide to adjust said opening.
8. A roller entry guide as claimed in claim 7 where the position of
said spring loaded member is adjustable laterally by a screw
threaded ring.
Description
[0001] The subject matter of this patent application is closely
related to that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,689 which issued Aug.
17.sup.th, 1999.
[0002] The following description of this invention will describe an
apparatus and method of rolling steel with a triple roller entry
guide. It will be noted that the entry guide of this invention is
used only when bar is being produced in the rolling process, not
when the desired end product is in the form of sheet.
[0003] The entry guide of this invention is of the triple roller
type, as opposed to the double roller entry guide which was used
almost exclusively before the triple roller entry guide was
introduced. The triple roller guide is a good deal more robust,
wears significantly longer and thus does not lose accuracy due to
wear, and because of its longevity in the workplace, it has almost
won universal acceptance in the rolling field for rolling steel
bar.
[0004] The triple jaw guide of the prior art is preset to some
certain maximum previously predetermined dimension and all attempts
to feed work material which is to be reduced into the guide, which
has a diameter of which is slightly greater than this preset
dimension at which the guide is set will be resisted by the guide.
Although this is fine in theory, it can lead to stoppage in the
rolling process when the guide refuses to feed material to the
reducing rollers. Furthermore the guide has to be reset for each
individual size in the range of bar diameters, resulting in mill
down time.
[0005] In order to deal with a predetermined size range of bar
diameters without resetting the guide it is proposed to make the
jaws of the guide more flexible in adjustment so that during a
standard run the jaws of the guide function as in prior art guides,
that is the three jaws work in the range set for the guide, so that
the guides the work product to the reducing rolls of the mill in a
normal fashion.
[0006] As long as the diameters of the work product stay within a
preset value, the rolling process continues and the work product is
reduced by the reducing rolls. The jaws of the guide are permitted
to open slightly wider than do the jaws of prior art guides,
permitting the work product to pass through the guide and be
reduced by the reducing rolls of the mill. This saves the time
required to change the set-up of the guide and the guide so
equipped can now be operated in the previous range (smaller
diameter) without any delay in setting the guide to the smaller
diameter work product. This saves time when a rolling process is
involved. Time, like everything else, counts when a steel mill is
down and the management is judged by the number of hours that are
lost due to malfunctions of the mill.
[0007] It is to deal with such situations such as these that the
present invention evolved. The triple guides of the prior art had
little tolerance for the acceptance of work product whose diameter
was slightly greater than a certain preset value of the guide.
[0008] The present invention utilizes a guide which has a funnel
shaped opening, has three jaws carrying rollers which are set to
guide material of a preset diameter. If, however, the material
being fed to the guiding device is of a larger size, such that the
diameter of the work product is slightly greater than said preset
diameter, the guide will accept the slightly oversized work product
and feed it to the reducing rollers anyway. This is made possible
by the construction of applicant's device in which the jaws will
resistibly open against a certain "preload" force to accommodate
the larger diameter in the range of sizes of work product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The guide of this invention follows the construction of the
prior art invention except that a certain "pre load" has been built
into the device. The guide of the present invention resistibly
accepts material that would not be accepted by the prior art guide
device, and the guiding process is allowed to continue even in the
presence of larger diameter material in a pre-specified size range
to the guide.
[0010] The guide of this invention has a funnel shaped admission
device which leads the hot work product to a triple jawed guiding
device. Here the opening of the jaws of the improved device are set
and calibrated as in guides of the prior art, but the jaws may be
resistibly "opened" past this position further to accept a work
product of a larger size. This is accomplished by the use of a "Pre
set spring loaded" member which "kicks in" and allows the jaws of
the improved guide to move outwardly and temporarily accept the
oversized work product.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional drawing of a guide of the
Prior Art;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective sectional drawing of the guide of
this Invention.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a representative drawing of part of the guide of
this invention, showing an enlarged section where the "pre load"
occurs.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of part of the guide of
this invention, showing how the adjustment of the opening of the
jaws occurs.
[0015] FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 show how the "pre load" is adjusted
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] The principal of the standard triple jaw guide as shown in
FIG. 1 is briefly described in the following passage. Reference may
be had to applicant's prior patent referred to above for a complete
explanation of the operation of the triple jaw guide. The triple
jaw guide 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is shown having a work piece 12
passing there through from right to left. The work piece 12 must
pass through a funnel shaped member 14 which is held in place by an
intermediate member 16, which is part of stationary ring 18 on
which jaws 20 are mounted.
[0017] Jaws 20 (of which two are shown) are mounted on pivots 22
which are permanently located in ring 18. Springs 24 assure that
jaws 20 always present an opening which is a maximum for the
passage of work product there through.
[0018] The adjustment of the opening of guide 10 is accomplished by
the lateral movement of ring 26 which is mounted on the member 16
and moves to the left or right as determined by the direction of
twist of the ring 26. A sloping face 28 on the ring 26 contacts
each lock screw 30 of the jaws 20 to adjust the jaws 20 to a
selected opening. The original work piece opening may require
individual adjustment of the levers or jaws 20 in order to centre
the work 12 in the guide 10. This is done by suitably adjusting the
lock screws 30 against the sloping face 28 of ring 26. When the
jaws 20 of the guide 10 are individually set so that the work piece
is centred in guide 10 the guide may be opened or closed by
twisting ring 26 until the desired setting of the opening for guide
10 is achieved. It must be remembered that once the jaws of the
guide are set, the setting is rigid. This setting remains in the
guide until the guide is altered.
[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the applicant's improved
guide 100 is shown in a partial sectional view. Here guide 100 is
provided with three levers or jaws 110 (two of which are shown).
Guide 100 is shown having a funnel shaped member 102 for guiding
the hot work product 104 there through from right to left. Mounted
on funnel shaped member 102 is a body 106 which surrounds the
funnel shaped member 102 and is extended to form a ring 108.
Pivoted levers or jaws 110 of the guide 100 are mounted for
rotation about pivots 112 which are journalled in body 100. One end
of the pivoting jaws has roller 114 mounted therein. Roller 114 is
the equivalent of roller 18 of the prior art guide and serves to
contact the hot work product and direct it to the reducing rolls
(not shown).
[0020] A set of springs 116 are mounted in the guide 100 urge the
jaws 110 apart to open the jaws 110 to the "maximum" opening
permitted by the setting of the guide. Here a set of lock screws
118 are shown contacting ring 120 of guide 100. It is also in this
position that the jaws 110 may be adjusted to centre the work
product 104 passing through guide 100 by adjustment of lock screws
118.
[0021] Ring 120 is made to have a sloping surface 122 for the ends
of lock screws 118 to slide upon. Ring 120 is mounted to slidingly
fit on surface 124 where ring 120 contacts and surrounds member 102
of the guide 100. Member 106 serves to present a smooth cylindrical
outer surface 124 for the lateral motion of ring 120 thereon.
[0022] The ring 120 is now set so as to guide the centred work
product between rollers 114 and any movement (laterally) of ring
120 will open or close the opening presented by rollers 114 to the
work product 104. Rollers 114 will lead the work product 104
directly to the reducing rolls of the mill (not shown).
[0023] FIG. 3 shows is a partial sectional view of the guide 100
with components of the "pre load" portion in enlarged format. Here
it will be seen that a bolt 126 passes through clearance hole 132
of ring member 134 and threadedly engages ring 120 at threaded hole
128. A spring 130 surrounds bolt 126 and spring 130 which serves to
"pre load" the jaws 110 of the guide 100. Ring 134 (which is
threaded on to member 106) controls the lateral position of ring
120. It is seen that ring 134 is movable laterally by turning ring
134 on boss 106, of course ring 120 must turn with it. This adjusts
the opening of the jaws 110 but does not altar the "pre load" built
into the guide 100. FIG. 4 shows the position of the various parts
of the guide 100 for a setting of the jaws 110 which permits jaws
110 to accept a work product which is of substantially larger
diameter than previously. Note that the "pre load" does not change
when the jaws 110 are individually adjusted as previously
described.
[0024] FIG. 4 shows how to increase the "opening" of jaws 110. Ring
134 is twisted on the threads 138 of member 106 to move ring 120 to
the right. As previously, the twisting of ring 134 merely moves
ring 120 to the right to provide the necessary adjustment of the
opening provided by rollers 114, without changing the "preload" of
the device 100.
[0025] The method of adding or reducing the "pre loads" to ring 120
is shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. The balance of the construction of
the device remains the same except for the addition of the "pre
loads". Ring 134 is threaded on to boss 106 at threads 138, as
previously and ring 134 continues to urge the sloped surface 122
against the ends of jaws 110 via lock screws 118. Using the method
shown here it is possible to add the preloads in a predictable
manner.
[0026] For instance, it is possible to double the "pre load"
supplied by the guide 100 as in FIG. 5 in a known fashion. Suppose
that the "pre load" existing at guide 100 is set to some value "x"
by the setting presently set in guide 100 (see FIG. 5). To increase
the "pre load" to a value of 2.times. the number of "presets" now
is doubled on the device 100. This is shown by the number of
"presets" 128 and 130 embodied in FIG. 6.
[0027] This invention solves the problem of using expensive "down
time" for an operating steel mill to adjust guide openings which
must be adjusted to accommodate a work product where the diameter
temporarily exceeds the opening in the guide. Previously this
situation would have entailed shutting down the operation of the
mill and adjusting the guide opening. This requires time. It is by
the use of this invention that this situation is avoided.
[0028] Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention
will come to mind of one skilled in the art, having the benefit of
the teachings presented in the foregoing description and the
associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the
invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments
disclosed, and that the modifications and embodiments are intended
to be included within the scope of the dependent claims.
* * * * *