Roller leveler and method of operating same
AssigneePaxson Machine Company
InventorJohn R. Buta
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A roller leveler is provided with mechanisms to continuously sense and to measure roller deflection and to automatically correct the deflection based on the degree of deflection sensed. The sensing mechanisms are mounted on a structure which is isolated from the forces of deflection acting on the rollers and may comprise mechanical, electromechanical, electronic, sonar, optic, fiber optic, fluid, or laser devices. Novel back-up rolls are also provided to correct the deflection.
Claims55
In a roller leveler including a frame and a plurality of rollers journaled in said frame having preset gaps between pairs of opposed rollers, said opposed rollers and said frame being subject to distortion due to the forces of separation developed by a work product passing between said pairs of rollers, and means to correct the distortion of at least one of said rollers, the improvement comprising:
- roller distortion sensing and measuring means;
- and means to actuate said roller distortion correction means responsive to the sensed and measured distortion of at least one of said rollers.
In a roller leveler including a frame and a plurality of rollers journaled in said frame having preset gaps between pairs of opposed rollers, said rollers and said frame being subject to distortion due to the forces of separation developed by a work product passing between said pairs of opposed rollers, and means to correct the distortion of at least one of said rollers, the improvement comprising:
- roller distortion sensing and measuring means isolated from the distortion of said frame and said rollers, and means to actuate said roller distortion correction means responsive to the sensed and measured distortion of at least one of said rollers.
In a roller leveler including a frame;
- a first bank of rollers journaled in said frame having an entrance roller, an exit roller, and intermediate rollers therebetween;
- a second bank of rollers journaled in said frame having an entrance roller, an exit roller, and intermediate rollers therebetween, said first bank of rollers being parallel to and above said second bank of rollers;
- means to position one of said bank of rollers relative to the other bank of rollers to provide a predeterminable gap therebetween;
- said rollers being subject to distortion due to the forces of separation on said rollers caused by a work product being processed through said predetermined gap;
- and means to correct the distortion of said rollers to maintain said predetermined gap, the improvement comprising:
- means positioned across the width of said frame to measure the varying amounts of distortion of said entrance rollers at various positions along the longitudinal axes of said entrance rollers;
- means positioned across the width of said frame to measure the varying amounts of distortion of said exit rollers at various positions along the longitudinal axes of said exit rollers;
- means responsive to said measurements to actuate said distortion correction means to correct said roller distortions by returning said rollers to their respective predetermined gap positions.
In a roller leveler including a frame, a first bank of rollers journaled in said frame having outboard rollers and intermediate rollers therebetween;
- a first bank of back-up rolls mounted on a plurality of back-up roll beams extending from front to rear and spaced apart from side to side of said frame;
- a second bank of rollers journaled in said frame having outboard and intermediate rollers therebetween;
- a second bank of back-up rolls mounted on a plurality of back-up roll beams extending from front to rear and spaced apart from side to side of said frame;
- said first bank of rollers being parallel to and above said second bank of rollers;
- means to position one of said bank of rollers relative to the other of said bank of rollers to provide a predeterminable gap therebetween;
- said rollers being subject to bending deflection due to the forces of separation on said rollers caused by a work product being processed through said predeterminable gap;
- and means to compensate for said bending deflection, the improvement comprising:
- automatic means to selectively shift each of said back-up roll beams indpendent of any other back-up roll beams adjacent one of said banks of rollers to exert selective pressure against said one of said banks of rollers during levelling of a work product passing through the roller gap;
- first means to automatically detect bending deflection of said one of said outboard rollers of said one of said banks of rollers;
- and first means responsive to said first detection means to automatically actuate said means to shift a selected back-up roll beam until said roller bending deflection of said one of said banks of rollers has been corrected during levelling of a work product passing through the roller gap.
In a roller leveler mechanism including a frame;
- a plurality of rollers subject to bending and forces of deflection mounted in said frame;
- a plurality of back-up rolls mounted in said frame to support said rollers, and roller bending adjustment means, the improvement in said roller bending adjustment means comprising:
- (a) a sensor mounting structure positioned on the frame so as to be isolated from the forces of deflection acting on said rollers;
- (b) roller bending sensing means mounted on said sensor mounting structure, and
- (c) means mounted on said frame to actuate said roller bending adjustment means responsive to the amount of bending sensed by said sensing means.
In a roller leveler having upper work rollers;
- flights of upper back-up rolls;
- lower work rollers;
- and flights of lower back-up rolls, the improvements comprising:
- an integral frame to journal said rollers and rolls including a base, spaced apart upstanding side members rigidly secured to said base and a top member rigidly secured to the tops of said side members;
- a sensor mounting frame having an upper member secured at its opposite ends to said frame side members;
- a lower member spaced a fixed distance beneath said upper member and suspended therefrom;
- sensors mounted on said sensor mounting frame upper member adjacent the outboard back-up rolls of said flights of upper back-up rolls;
- sensors mounted on said sensor mounting frame lower member adjacent the outboard back-up rolls of said flights of lower back-up rolls;
- said upper and lower sensors being adapted to sense and to signal the shifting of adjacent back-up rollers;
- and means to vertically adjust said back-up rollers responsive to said sensing signal.
In a roller leveler including a frame, upper and lower deflectable rollers journaled in said frame having a predetermined gap therebetween when said rollers are not deflected and wherein said upper and lower rollers perform levelling on a work product passing through said gap and flights of upper and lower back-up rolls to support said rollers, the improvement comprising:
- roller deflection detection means, a cradle to support each flight of back-up rolls;
- and automatic means to selectively shift and tilt said cradle responsive to detection of roller deflection by said roller deflection detection means so as to correct the roller deflection as said work product is levelled.
In a roller leveler including a frame, upper and lower deflectable rollers journaled in said frame having a predetermined gap therebetween when said rollers are not deflected and wherein said upper and lower rollers perform levelling on a work product passing through said gap and flights of upper and lower sets of back-up rolls to support said rollers, the improvement comprising:
- roller deflection detection means;
- a cradle to support each flight of said sets of back-up rolls;
- and automatic means to selectively shift a single set of said back-up rolls responsive to detection of roller deflection by said roller deflection detection means so as to correct the roller deflection as said work product is levelled.
In a roller leveler including a frame, upper and lower deflectable rollers journaled in said frame having a predetermined gap therebetween when said rollers are not deflected and wherein said upper and lower rollers perform levelling on a work product passing through said gap and flights of upper and lower sets of back-up rolls to support said rollers, the improvement comprising:
- roller deflection detection means;
- a cradle to support each flight of said sets of back-up rolls;
- automatic means to selectively shift and tilt said cradle responsive to detection of roller deflection by said roller deflection detection means;
- and automatic means to selectively shift a single set of said back-up rolls responsive to detection of roller deflection by said roller deflection detection means so as to correct the roller deflection as said work product is levelled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.