Automated profile control—roll forming

Details Automated profile control—roll forming Automated profile control—roll forming

1999-11-04

2001-05-01

Crane, Daniel C. (Department: 3725)

Metal deforming

By deflecting successively-presented portions of work during...

By use of deflector arranged to bend work transversely of...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06223577

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to machines and processes for roll forming. In particular, the invention relates to means to adjust a roll forming machine to accommodate differing thicknesses of metal to be worked.
Roll forming is the term used to describe the working of a sheet of metal to transform the metal into a desired shape. In order to form the metal from a substantially planar condition, the metal is passed through dies. The dies comprise a pair of cooperating rollers that revolve as the material is drawn between the rollers and which cause bending of the sheet into a desired configuration. Typically, roll forming involves a plurality of stations and the transformation from the substantially planar condition of the metal at the feed end to the configuration at the completed end takes place in a series of progressive steps.
Many products are conventionally and commercially made through roll forming processes. Many metals are used in roll forming. Examples are items such as eavestroughing which may be formed from aluminum or copper and roofing panels which may be formed from coated steel. Typically, roll forming is often the desired method for forming products which have a uniform cross-sectional configuration along their length and which may have indefinite or extended length.
One of the products that may be made in roll forming conditions and using, typically, steel, is the array of metallic building products. Such building products may include U-shaped structures which may be used as upper and lower tracks in wall structures and studs which may have differing configurations such as U-shaped, C-shaped, etc. As metallic structures do not warp or twist when drying, such building components are now replacing wood for many applications. The metallic members are used in a variety of applications. A track replaces a wooden header or footer. The track is generally a U-shaped configuration which may be attached to an existing floor or to an existing ceiling structure or may be freestanding. The studs have any of a variety of configurations and are usually located within the upper and lower track to comprise a wall structure. In addition, truss-like components may be made involving a series of members including chords, beams and the like. Where a wall may have an opening for a door or window or similar opening, additional framing members are required at the location of the opening to define the opening and to support the opening within the wall structure. Such studs are conveniently made in a roll forming operation.
The initial utility of metal formed products, in addition to the freedom of many of the problems associated with wood, is the speed with which the walls may be erected. Such structures have found particular acceptance commercially in the building industry where the walls are of the type defined as non-load bearing. Such walls often support drywall or other similar types of cladding material, but do not themselves carry the structural support function of the building. One of the reasons why steel studding has enjoyed greater success in non-load bearing applications as compared to load bearing applications, is that when load bearing applications are desired, the fit of the studs, chords or other load bearing members in the supporting structure such as tracks becomes more critical. Such studs are commonly affixed to the track by means of a fastener such as a screw. It is not desirable that the screw form part of the structural support path but merely fix the location of the stud in track. In a non-load bearing structure, the fit of the stud into the track may not be as critical, while in load bearing situations this becomes much more important.
Typically, in roll forming equipment today, some means is provided for supporting a coil of feed material. The coils of feed material may be of extended length in the order of several hundreds of feet. The material within the coil is of a desired gauge or thickness and of the desired width for making the desired component. The coil of material is positioned adjacent the feed end of the roll forming machine. An apparatus of some kind is included to support the coil in position and to turn the coil so as to feed the material from the coil to the roll forming machine. As the metal passes along the roll forming machine, the metal passes through a plurality of stations and is progressively formed into the desired end configuration. As the product emerges from the roll forming stage, additional dies may be used to notch the product as required and some type of flying die is normally involved to cut the product into the desired lengths. The present roll forming machines all work adequately in this application and produce a uniform product whose overall length but for the severing into discrete pieces is substantially equal to the length of the material wound on the coil.
When it is desired to feed material of a different thickness or width through the roll forming machine, each of the plurality of die sets must be adjusted for the new material. Typically, this involves making adjustments by hand to adjust the space between the roller dies to accommodate the material of differing thickness. As, typically, in the formation of products such as steel studs and the like, both edges of the strip of material are formed, then there will be sets of dies down both the left and right sides of the roll forming machine. As a typical roll forming machine may involve as many as 18 stations, this means that 36 different stations must be adjusted by hand for the new material. This takes substantial set up time, which in turn dictates that changes in set up are minimized as much as possible.
This, in turn means, that once the standard roll forming machine is set up, typically the machine continues to produce the product for which it has been adjusted until the coil of material is exhausted. If a building component having a different thickness is required, then the machine is shut down for what may well be several hours, adjusted for the new material, and then product is produced from the new material. Once set up for the new material, the product of that size and gauge is produced until that coil is exhausted. When the second coil is exhausted, either another coil of the same thickness is fed into the machine or the machine is once again shut down for several hours and readjusted for the first or a third gauge of material.
The gauge of material for building components may vary considerably depending upon the use of the component. Non-load bearing studs need not be of as heavy gauge or thickness as load bearing materials. Similarly, within a given wall structure, whether load bearing or not, differing gauge materials may be used to make the track as opposed to that required for the studs. Similarly, certain of the building components such as headers or framing for openings and the like, may be of different gauge than adjacent framing members. In addition, where openings are large, that is covering more than the typical spacing for such framing components, which in North America is typically 16 inches on centre, then heavier gauge components may be required in some sections of a wall but not in others. Another problem of the existing machines is that because of the lengthy down time between set ups, typically a full coil length worth of product is produced which must then be inventoried. This is followed by producing a full coil length of a different material which requires a second inventory storage space. When two materials are intermixed such as tracks and studs of different thickness, this means the roll formed products must then be selected from at least two different inventory storage locations.
One example of an attempt to handle this issue is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,133, Hayes, issued Jan. 5, 1999. In the Hayes structure one of the forming rolls of a set of roller dies is mounted on an eccentric so that one roller can move relative to the other and so increase the spacing to accommodate thicker material. An eccentric mot

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