Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Coil holder or support – Radially expansible or contractile
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-17
2001-04-17
Walsh, Donald P (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Coil holder or support
Radially expansible or contractile
C242S576100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216977
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a directly driven coiler for winding rolled strip into coils in accordance with the preamble of claim
1
.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such directly driven coilers have become known, for example, through DE-PS 17 52 185 or DE-OS 39 39 119. In these coilers, the relative axial displacement between the coiler shaft and the plunger connected to the segments is effected through mechanical adjustment drives. These adjustment drives are bent lever drives or spring assemblies and spacer elements which can only be actuated when the coiler stands still. Any retightening during the coiling process is not possible in these adjustment drives.
Piston-cylinder units have become known through DE-OS 35 02 452 by means of which it is possible to tighten and release the spring assemblies which serve as adjustment drives and have the above-described disadvantages.
EP-PS 0 004 854 also discloses a piston-cylinder unit which serves directly as an adjustment drive for spreading and despreading the coiler. However, these two coilers provided with piston/cylinder units are not directly driven coilers of the generic type mentioned above, but indirectly driven coilers in which the drive motor is arranged next to the coiler shaft.
The coiler according to EP-OS 0 004 854 does have central rotary feeds, so that, for example, retightening during the coiling procedure is possible, however, if the drive motor for the coiler were to be flanged directly to the coiler shaft, this would result in difficulties in connection with the pressure medium supply because, as a rule, only solid motor shafts are being used, so that the pressure medium could not be conducted to the piston/cylinder unit from the end of the shaft where the pressure medium is fed in. However, if the pressure medium supply is to be placed through the motor shaft, the magnetic effect in the motor could magnetize metal particles in the pressure medium and could possibly lead to clogging of the supply lines. In addition, complicated flexible pressure medium connections would have to be provided in order to bridge any lateral offsets or axial displacements between the drive unit and the coiler shaft.
Rotary feeds have become known through DE-PS 38 06 931 through which the pressure medium can be conveyed radially into a shaft; these rotary feeds have very narrow manufacturing tolerances for an optimum operation, wherein these very narrow manufacturing tolerances exclude a use in difficult conditions as they prevail in rolling mills. In addition, these rotary feeds can only be used up to structural sizes with a maximum 18 mm diameter at the annular gap. Also for this reason, a use in rolling mill plants, for example, rolling mill coilers, where significantly greater diameters are used, could not take place.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the invention is based on the object of further developing a directly driven coiler of the generic type in such a way that it can be moved for spreading and despreading even during the coiling operation.
In accordance with the invention, the direct-drive coiler for winding and/or unwinding rolled strip includes a drum composed of several segments which can be moved so as to be spread and which rest with conically-shaped sliding surfaces against a coiling shaft mounted rotatably cantilevered in a coiler housing, and a plunger guided in the coiler shaft. The plunger is connected through a connecting flange to the drum segments. An axially extending cylinder is mounted in the coiler shaft. The cylinder has a piston which is connected to the plunger and which can effect a relative axial displacement between the coiler shaft and the plunger connected to the segments for producing a spreading movement of the segments. The coiler shaft extends beyond the cylinder with a flanged-on shaft extension which closes the cylinder in the direction toward the axially arranged, directly driving motor. A rotary feed is provided through which pressure medium can be supplied to the piston/cylinder unit provided in the coiler shaft. The rotary feed includes a housing surrounding the coiler shaft and/or the shaft extension, wherein at least one connection each is provided in the housing as a supply line and a discharge line and a bushing is mounted in the housing for each supply line and discharge line. The inner and outer walls of each bushing are equipped with annular ducts which are connected to each other through at least one essentially radially directed bore. The outer annular ducts extend under the supply and discharge connections of the housing and discharge provided for the coiler shaft and/or the haft extension extend under the annular ducts. The rotary feed provides a connection between the piston/cylinder unit and a pressure medium force through which the piston/cylinder unit can be supplied continuously with pressure medium even when the coiler is driven so as to rotate for the purposes of winding or unwinding strip.
The rotary feed is to be arranged in such a way that none of the pressure medium lines extends through the shaft of the motor flanged to the coiler shaft or the shaft extension. Accordingly, it is provided to arrange the rotary feed on the shaft extension. However, it is also possible to provide the rotary feed on the coiler shaft itself. By using a double-acting step piston, the necessary spreading and despreading forces can be predetermined in accordance with the corresponding pressure of the pressure medium.
Since the rotary feed includes a stationary housing, the external connections to the rotary feed can be arranged so as to be stationary. Flexible hoses which are complicated and susceptible to trouble are not necessary for these connections. The bushings arranged within the housing can be manufactured significantly more easily than if the housing would have the corresponding bushing shape. In addition, by separately providing a housing, the bushings and the sleeve can be realized with different material pairings which ensure that the wear is as little as possible and that they are adapted to each other with respect to their thermal expansion in such a way that the gaps between the bushings and the sleeves have optimum dimensions even in the difficult conditions of rolling mills.
The sleeve equipped with the supply ducts can be very easily manufactured. The use of this sleeve makes possible the use of solid shaft extensions which do not have bores, so that a high stability of the shaft extensions is ensured.
The pressure medium emerging between the sleeve and the bushings, through which the bushing rests on an oil film on the sleeve, is discharged through leakage oil lines to a tank. The piston/cylinder unit is also provided with leakage oil lines which end in the oil tank. The leakage oil lines of the piston/cylinder unit only conducts oil if seals of the piston/cylinder unit are detected. In that case, leakage oil indicators can be provided which indicate the defect of the seals.
In order to ensure that the oil between the sleeve and the bushings is not interrupted during the coiling operation, a predetermined oil pressure level must always be maintained on the pressure medium lines. The pressure medium line “spreading” is then under sufficient pressure, so that a stable oil film is ensured. The pressure medium line “despreading” could theoretically be without pressure during the coiling operation, which, however, would lead to damage of the rotary feed if the oil pressure level were not also maintained on the pressure medium line “despreading”.
However, it is also possible to provide additional annular ducts and radial bores in the bushings in order to maintain through the ducts and bores statically an oil film between the sleeve and the corresponding bushing. In that case, the pressure medium lines “despreading” could also remain without pressure during the operation. The oil film has the purpose of absorbing the great weight of the bushings and any acceleration forces which occur at the rolling mill coilers as a c
Gernand Georg
Patzelt Ulrich
Setzer Helmut
Kueffner Friedrich
SMS Schloemann--Siemag Aktiengesellschaft
Walsh Donald P
Webb Collin A.
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