Incremental rotary rolling mill and method

A rolling mill system for incremental rotary shaping of an elongated workpiece having first and second ends and having a longitudinal axis extending therebetween, the system comprising:

• a) a first workpiece holder configured to secure the first end of a workpiece thereto;
• b) a second workpiece holder configured to secure the second end of the workpiece thereto so that the longitudinal axis of the workpiece extends between the first and second workpiece holders;
• c) a support frame having an input end and an output end and supporting a track, the first and second workpiece holders being movably associated with the track;
• d) a first motor mounted to the support frame and operatively connected to one of the first and second workpiece holders for moving the first and second workpiece holders and an associated workpiece in unison along the track between the input end and the output end of the support frame;
• e) a chuck mounted to the frame having a plurality of jaws movable radially inward and outward relative to the longitudinal axis of the workpiece, each jaw having a tool mounted thereto rotatable about an axis of rotation, the axis of rotation of each tool being oriented at a skew angle relative to the longitudinal axis of a workpiece mounted between the first and second workpiece holders;
• f) a second motor associated with the chuck and operatively connected to the jaws for simultaneously moving the jaws toward or away from the longitudinal axis of a workpiece;
• g) a third motor operatively connected to each tool for simultaneously rotating each tool relative to its associated jaw;
• h) a source of electric current and an electrically conductive flow path connected to each of the tools and the first workpiece holder for flowing electrical current through a workpiece mounted between the first and second workpiece holders;
• and
• i) a controller configured to control the operation of each of the first motor, second motor and third motor, and to control the flow of current flowing through the tools to a workpiece;
• and
• wherein the third motor is operatively connected to each of the tools by a slewing ring rotatably mounted in a housing secured to the support frame, the slewing ring having gear teeth and the motor having a shaft with a pinion gear mounted thereto in engagement with the teeth of the slewing ring for rotation of the slewing ring, a rotatable stub shaft associated for each tool mounted in the housing, each stub shaft having a pinion gear mounted thereto engaging the gear teeth of the slewing ring, and a drive shaft extending between each tool and one of the stub shafts.