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US 2023/0131792 A1Published application
System and method for improving roll roundness
OwnerKarl Bagdalinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus, computer program product, and method provide for increased economy in maintaining working and backup rollers that are used to producing sheet metal of uniform thickness. Left and right necks of the roller are supported and rotated. A radial measurement is made of left and right necks to calculate a center of rotation of each neck. Radial positions of reference spheres centered at each end that define a gage reference line (GRL) are measured. Material is removed from the necks to not only increase roundness but also to move the center of rotation of each neck toward the GRL, enabling grinding/machining of a body portion of the roller to restore roundness with reduced waste of material.
Claims5
A measure-then-machine (MTM) system comprising:
- a machine frame having:
- (i) a first pair of powered support rolls that receives a first roll neck;
- and (ii) a second pair of powered support rolls that receives a second roll neck of a roll used as one of a backup roll and a work roll for sheet metal forming, a longitudinal axis of the roll generally aligned with a longitudinal X-axis of the machine frame;
- a roll measuring subsystem comprising:
- a measurement linear slide to a first side of the roll;
- one or more radial probes received for respective radial movement in parallel to a Y-axis of the machine frame that is orthogonal to the X-axis;
- one or more laser interferometer systems aligned to measure distance along the Y-axis for a corresponding one of the one or more radial probes that are positioned to extend respectively to:
- (i) a first reference sphere coupled to and generally centered on a first longitudinal end of the roll on a gage reference line (GRL);
- (ii) the first roll neck;
- (iii) the roll body;
- (iv) the second roll neck;
- and the second reference sphere coupled to and generally centered on a second longitudinal end of the roll on the GRL;
- one or more first electrical motors coupled to move along the Y-axis respectively a corresponding one of the one or more radial probes;
- a straight-edge that is positionable at an origin line that is parallel to the X-axis and is in front of the one or more radial probes in a retracted position to obtain a null measurement;
- and
- a rotary encoder that senses a rotation position of the roll;
- a roll machining subsystem comprising:
- a machining linear slide to a second side of the roll, the second side being opposite to the first side;
- a metal removing device received for horizontal movement by the machining linear slide;
- and
- a second electrical motor coupled to move the metal removing device on the machining linear slide;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the powered support rolls, the roll measuring subsystem and the roll machining subsystem, and which:
- nulls the one or more radial probes against the straight-edge that is positioned at the origin line;
- measures a respective origin distance for each of the one or more radial probes using a corresponding laser interferometer system;
- monitors the rotary encoder for a rotation position of the roll;
- moves the one or more radial probes into a null position against a respective surface of the roll using a corresponding one of the first electrical motors;
- rotates the roll using the powered support rolls;
- measures a respective radial distance at a particular rotation angle of the roll for each one of the one or more radial probes using the corresponding laser interferometer system;
- determines an amount of machining required for each portion of the roll based on the respective radial distance from the GRL;
- machines the roll using the metal removing device by removing metal at rate related to the respective radial distance from the GRL for each particular portion of the roll.
28 more elements
A method comprising:
- determining a rotation position of a roll received on a machine of a measure-then-machine (MTM) system, the machine frame having:
- (i) a first pair of powered support rolls that receives a first roll neck;
- and (ii) a second pair of powered support rolls that receives a second roll neck of a roll used as one of a backup roll and a work roll for sheet metal forming, a longitudinal axis of the roll generally aligned with a longitudinal X-axis of the machine frame;
- nulling one or more radial probes against a straight-edge that is positioned at an origin line, the one or more radial probes received for respective radial movement in parallel to a Y-axis of the machine frame that is orthogonal to the X-axis;
- measuring a respective origin distance for each of the one or more radial probes using a corresponding laser interferometer system;
- monitoring a rotary encoder for a rotation position of the roll;
- moving the one or more radial probes into a null position against a respective surface of the roll using a corresponding first electrical motor;
- rotating the roll using the powered support rolls;
- measuring a respective radial distance at a particular rotation angle of the roll for each one of the one or more radial probes using the corresponding laser interferometer system;
- determining an amount of machining required for each portion of the roll based on the respective radial distance from the GRL;
- and
- machining the roll using the metal removing device by removing metal at rate related to the respective radial distance from the GRL for each particular portion of the roll.
9 more elements
A computer program product comprising:
- a computer readable storage device;
- and
- program code on the computer readable storage device that when executed by a processor associated with an electronic device, the program code enables the electronic device to provide functionality of:
- determining a rotation position of a roll received on a machine of a measure-then-machine (MTM) system, the machine frame having:
- (i) a first pair of powered support rolls that receives a first roll neck;
- and (ii) a second pair of powered support rolls that receives a second roll neck of a roll used as one of a backup roll and a work roll for sheet metal forming, a longitudinal axis of the roll generally aligned with a longitudinal X-axis of the machine frame;
- nulling one or more radial probes against a straight-edge that is positioned at an origin line, the one or more radial probes received for respective radial movement in parallel to a Y-axis of the machine frame that is orthogonal to the X-axis;
- measuring a respective origin distance for each of the one or more radial probes using a corresponding laser interferometer system;
- monitoring a rotary encoder for a rotation position of the roll;
- moving the one or more radial probes into a null position against a respective surface of the roll using a corresponding first electrical motor;
- rotating the roll using the powered support rolls;
- measuring a respective radial distance at a particular rotation angle of the roll for each one of the one or more radial probes using the corresponding laser interferometer system;
- determining an amount of machining required for each portion of the roll based on the respective radial distance from the GRL;
- and
- machining the roll using the metal removing device by removing metal at rate related to the respective radial distance from the GRL for each particular portion of the roll.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.