U.S. patent number 3,802,238 [Application Number 05/229,682] was granted by the patent office on 1974-04-09 for extrusion presses.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fielding Plant Design Limited. Invention is credited to Gerald William Grant.
United States Patent |
3,802,238 |
Grant |
April 9, 1974 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
EXTRUSION PRESSES
Abstract
An extrusion press in which the prime movers for a rotatable die
carrier and/or container carrier are arranged upstream of the
billet lubrication equipment and preferably upstream of the main
cylinder crosshead.
Inventors: |
Grant; Gerald William (Poole,
EN) |
Assignee: |
Fielding Plant Design Limited
(Bournemouth, Hampshire, EN)
|
Family
ID: |
22862264 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/229,682 |
Filed: |
February 28, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
72/43;
72/263 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21C
23/212 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B21C
23/21 (20060101); B21C 23/00 (20060101); B21c
023/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;72/43,263 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lanham; Charles W.
Assistant Examiner: Rogers; Robert M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brisebois & Kruger
Claims
I claim:
1. An extrusion press including a die assembly carrier, a container
assembly carrier and billet lubrication means arranged adjacent to
the latter, drive means being provided for rotating one of the said
carriers to bring an assembly into the centreline of the press and
including a drive shaft one end of which is operatively connectible
to said one carrier and the other end of which is connectible to a
prime mover, said prime mover being arranged upstream, relative to
the direction of extrusion, of said lubrication means and spaced
sufficiently therefrom substantially to reduce, in use,
contamination thereof by lubricating material.
2. An extrusion press as claimed in claim 1, in which said prime
mover is arranged upstream, relative to the direction of extrusion,
of the main cylinder crosshead of the press.
3. An extrusion press as claimed in claim 1, in which the
downstream end, relative to the direction of extrusion, of said
shaft is operatively connected by spur and pinion gearing to said
one carrier.
4. An extrusion press as claimed in claim 1, in which further drive
means are provided for rotating the other carrier to bring an
assembly into the centreline of the press, said further drive means
including a drive shaft one end of which is operatively connectible
to said other carrier and the other end of which is connectible to
a prime mover, said prime mover being arranged upstream, relative
to the direction of extrusion, of the lubrication means and spaced
sufficiently therefrom substantially to reduce, in use,
contamination thereof by lubricating material.
Description
This invention relates to an extrusion press for metals including
drive means for a rotatable die or container carrier and suitable
for the production of rods, sections or tubes.
In such presses, a billet is placed in a container or pressure
chamber and a pressing stem acting under the influence of external
means, commonly an hydraulic ram, forces the billet material
through a die, placed at the end of the container bore. The die is
mounted in a die carrier which may be arranged to either slide or
rotate transversely to the axis of extrusion. Furthermore, the
container is also mounted in a container holder, and in certain
instances, particularly in the case of high production presses, it
is convenient to incorporate two or more containers within the
press design, mounted in a holder arranged to rotate about a
convenient point thus bringing each container to the press
centreline as required by the demands of the press cycle. The die
and container carriers may also be designed to permit axial
movement, if required.
It is known to have drive arrangements for the rotatable die and
container carriers in extrusion presses in which the gear box and
drive motor are disposed in close proximity to the respective
carriers. Because the drive arrangements are arranged in this
position, they are also close to the billet loading and lubrication
equipment which can lead to contamination problems. This is
particularly true in steel extrusion presses where lubricating
material such as glass powder is used which can pass into the drive
arrangements and thereby cause defective operation.
Furthermore, the size of these known drive arrangements are such
that they occupy a considerable amount of space in areas where ease
of access to other components of the press is important for
maintenance purposes.
It is an object of this invention to overcome these problems, and
according to the present invention there is provided an extrusion
press including a die assembly carrier, a container assembly
carrier and billet lubrication means arranged adjacent to the
latter, drive means being provided for rotating one of the carriers
to bring an assembly into the centerline of the press and including
a drive shaft one end of which is operatively connectible to the
rotatable carrier and the other end of which is connectible to a
prime mover, the latter being arranged upstream of the lubrication
means and spaced sufficiently therefrom substantially to reduce, in
use, contamination thereof by lubricating material.
Preferably, the prime mover is arranged upstream of the main
cylinder crosshead of the press.
The downstream end of the drive shaft may be operatively connected
by spur and pinion gearing to the rotating carrier.
Drive means may also be provided for rotating the other carrier to
bring an assembly into the centreline of the press, the features of
the said one carrier and its associated drive as itemised above
being equally applicable to the other carrier and its drive
means.
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of
example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing of
which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, part-sectional, plan view of part of a
steel extrusion press taken on the line I--I of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line II--II of FIG. 1.
Referring to the drawing, the press includes a main crosshead 1,
supporting a hydraulic cylinder 2, and a platen 3 joined to the
crosshead 1 by four columns 4. A two-station rotatable container
carrier 5 incorporating containers 5' and 5" and a three-station
rotatable die carrier 6 are positioned adjacent to the platen 3 and
are securely supported on respective sleeves 7 and 8. As shown in
the drawings, the carriers are formed separately from their
respective sleeves but they could be formed integrally therewith.
The sleeves are rotatably supported by bearings on the columns and
are also capable of limited axial movement along the columns. Axial
movement of the sleeves 7 and 8 is facilitated by respective pairs
of shift cylinders 9 and 10 mounted on the main crosshead 1. The
piston rods 11, 12, of these cylinders are secured to and effect
axial movement of crossheads 13, 14, respectively, the sleeves 7
and 8 being freely rotatable but axially fixed relative to the
crossheads 13, 14. A cylinder/ram assembly 15 for billet loading
and a lubrication assembly including a table 16 are also provided.
In use, a layer of glass powder is sprinkled onto the table 16 and
a billet is then rolled across the latter to pick up a coating of
the powder. The cylinder/ram assembly 15 is then actuated to move
the billet into the container 5". The lubrication assembly is the
main source of contamination and of necessity it is positioned in
close proximity to the carriers.
The sleeve 7 is operatively connected by spur and pinion gearing 17
to one end of a shaft 18, the other end of the shaft being
connected to an electric motor 19 via a gear box 20. Similarly, the
sleeve 8 is operatively connected by spur and pinion gearing 21 to
one end of a shaft 22, the other end of the shaft being connected
to an electric motor 23 via a gear box 24. Both sets of gear boxes
and motors are mounted behind the main cylinder crosshead assembly,
clear of the central working area and of the centre of the
press.
It will be understood that whilst reference has been made in the
above description to extrusion presses incorporating rotating
carriers for both containers and die assemblies, the invention is
not so limited but is applicable to presses including a single
rotating carrier for either the container assemblies or the die
assemblies.
Furthermore, whilst reference has been made to a steel extrusion
press where lubrication problems are particularly prevalent, it
will be appreciated that the invention covers extrusion presses
generally.
It will be appreciated that the arrangement described above not
only reduces contamination of the drive motors by lubrication
material but also considerably improves access to the press working
area for maintenance and tool changing purposes, etc. These
advantages would not be obtained simply by shielding the known
drive arrangements, in which the drive motors are arranged close to
the rotatable carriers, in a protective casing. Thus, firstly, such
a casing would necessarily reduce access to the press working area
still further and it is not, in any case, as effective for
preventing ingress of lubricating material to the drive motors.
Moreover, these advantages would not be gained by arranging the
drive motors behind the main platen of the press because they would
then interfere with the run-out system and would prevent, or make
difficult, access to the back of the platen for inspection or other
purposes.
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