Convertible roll forming apparatus

A roll forming apparatus for forming an edge portion at desired angles relative to a web portion on a strip material, the apparatus comprising:

• a support assembly;
• a first roller assembly supported by the support assembly and moving the sheet material in a feed direction;
• a positioning assembly supported by the support assembly and positionable at a selected one of a first position and a second position;
• a second roller assembly supported by the positioning assembly for forming the edge portion to a first angle at the first position of the positioning assembly and for forming the edge portion to a second angle at the second position of the positioning assembly, the first angle being above the web portion and the second angle being below the web portion.

A roll forming apparatus for forming an edge portion at a desired angle relative to a web portion on a strip material comprising:

• a support assembly;
• a first roller assembly supported by the support assembly and having opposing tooling rollers journaled for rotation on parallel axes, the tooling rollers gripping the strip material adjacent the edge portion to move the strip material in a feed direction;
• a second roller assembly supported by the support assembly independently of the first roller assembly and rollingly engaging the strip material to form the edge portion to a selected one of a first angle and a second angle, the first angle being above the web portion and the second angle being below the web portion, the second roller assembly comprising:
• an idler, journaled for rotation relative to the support assembly about a rotation axis non-parallel to the rotation axes of the tooling rollers, for contacting the edge portion.

A roll forming apparatus through which sheet material passes in a feed direction to form an edge portion to a desired angle relative to a horizontal portion on the sheet material, comprising:

• a mill base;
• a stand supported by the mill base;
• a tooling assembly for supporting the sheet material while the sheet material is moving in the feed direction, the tooling assembly having tooling rollers with forming surfaces defining forming radiuses, the tooling roller journaled for rotation about a first axis;
• and
• a forming assembly supported by the stand and positionable independently of the tooling assembly to form the edge portion, the forming assembly comprising an idler that urges the sheet material against a selected forming radius in forming the edge portion to a selected one of an upward or downward position, the forming assembly having a support member supported by the stand and supporting the idler for journaled rotation about a second axis nonparallel to the first axis.

A roll forming apparatus for forming a flange portion at desired angles relative to a web portion on a strip material comprising:

• a support stand;
• a first roller assembly supported by the support stand and moving the sheet material in a feed direction, the first roller assembly comprising:
• a shaft journalled for rotation relative to the support stand;
• and
• a tooling roller supported by the first shaft and rollingly engaging the strip material;
• a pivoting assembly supported by the support stand and pivotally positionable at a first position and at a second position, the pivoting assembly comprising
• a knuckle having an angled face at a proximal end and a medial portion journalled for rotation with the support stand;
• a gear supported by a distal end of the knuckle;
• a shaft having a worm portion that engages the gear to position the knuckle;
• and
• a motor for driving the shaft;
• and
• a second roller assembly supported by the pivoting assembly for forming the flange portion to a first angle at the first position of the pivoting assembly and for forming the flange portion to a second angle at the second position of the pivoting assembly.

A roll forming apparatus for forming a flange portion on a strip material comprising:

• a support stand;
• a first roller assembly supported by the support stand and grippingly engaging the strip material for movement thereof in a feed direction;
• and
• second roller assembly supported by the support stand independently of the first roller assembly and rollingly engaging the strip material in forming the flange portion;
• wherein the first roller assembly comprises a tooling roller that contacts the strip material adjacent the flange portion, and the second roller assembly comprises an idler that contacts the flange portion, the tooling roller journalled for rotation relative to the support stand about a first axis, the idler journalled for rotation relative to the support stand about a second axis, wherein the first axis is non-parallel to the second axis;
• a support member having a medial portion thereof depending from the support stand and supporting the idler at a distal end of the support member;
• a pivoting assembly for pivoting the support member relative to the support stand to a first position and to a second position, the idler thereby forming the flange portion in a first angle in the support member first position and forming the flange portion in a second angle in the support member second position;
• wherein the pivoting assembly comprises:
• an engagement surface supported by a distal end of the support member;
• a mating engagement surface operably engaging the engagement surface to rotate the support member between the first and second positions;
• and
• wherein the engagement surface comprises a worm gear and the mating engagement surface comprises a threadably engagable worm.

A roll forming apparatus for selectively forming a sheet material at desired angles relative to a horizontal portion on the sheet material comprising:

• first and second support stands separated by a distance wherein the distance between the first and second support stands can be varied;
• a plurality of shafts, each shaft supported by the first and second support stands;
• a plurality of roller assemblies supported by the shafts for moving the strip material in a feed direction;
• a positioning assembly positionable at a selected one of a first position and a second position;
• and
• a forming member supported by the positioning assembly for forming the sheet material to a first angle that is positive with respect to the horizontal portion at the first position of the positioning assembly and for forming the sheet material to a second angle that is negative with respect to the horizontal portion at the second position of the positioning assembly.