Magnetic rolling system having rollers with laminated ply units disposed therein

A rolling apparatus comprising:

• a frame;
• two cylindrical main rollers, an outer shell of at least one of said main rollers being made of magnetic material being adjacently and rotatably mounted to said frame, at least one of said main rollers being movably mounted to said frame so as to allow adjustment of the distance between said two main rollers, said two main rollers further being disposed to facilitate movement of a workpiece therebetween;
• at least one ply unit disposed within at least one of said cylindrical main rollers and rotatably mounted on said frame by a support axis;
• two electromagnets, each being disposed opposite alternate ones of said two main rollers and said two main rollers being disposed between said two electromagnets, each one of said two electromagnets having a yoke with a coil wound thereon forming a solenoid for magnetizing the respective one of said two yokes by generating magnetic flux perpendicular to the moving direction of the workpiece and along a line through the centers of said two main rollers, one of said two yokes being magnetized as a salient north pole and the other of said two yokes being magnetized as a salient south pole, each of said salient poles being opposite the main roller containing said ply unit;
• means for applying electrical current to each one of said two electromagnets in a first direction to magnetize said two main rollers by the magnetic flux generated by said solenoids so as to attract each other, thereby pressing the workpiece between said two main rollers, and for applying electrical current to each one of said two electromagnets in a second direction to magnetize said two main rollers by the magnetic flux generated by said solenoids so as to demagnetize each other, thereby quickly releasing the workpiece from between said two main rollers;
• and
• an electric motor for driving at least one of said magnetic rollers.