Material or article handling – Article rotator – roller type
Patent
1981-03-11
1983-10-04
Sheridan, Robert G.
Material or article handling
Article rotator, roller type
B23Q 116, B23K 3702
Patent
active
044076215
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a self-adjusting turning roll assembly for the supporting of a workpiece intended to rotate about a horizontal axis and having two substantially circular-cylindrical bearing surfaces axially disposed in relation to each other, this device being provided for each of the bearing surfaces of the workpiece with two roller supports, staggered in circumferential direction of the workpiece, with roller sets, each of which consists of one or more supporting rollers embedded with rotability about a horizontal axis in a holder, which is adapted so that it can swivel about an axis situated in a normal plane to the axis of rotation of the workpiece.
Turning roll assemblies of this type are used expecially in the welding together of tubular workpieces to larger container shells and horizontal hollow bodies by circumferential welds. The individual workpieces, which for example are joined together provisionally by tack welding, are placed onto roller sets and are made to rotate about a common axis, past a substantially stationary welding equipment. Since the bearing surfaces may be unmachined and deviate to a varying extent from an accurately circular-cylindrical shape, and furthermore since it is extremely difficult to ensure under all load conditions precise parallelism between all the axes of rotation of the supporting rollers and the axes of the bearing surfaces, appreciable and uncontrolled axial forces between the supporting rollers and the workpiece may possibly arise. As a consequence of these forces the rotating workpiece will tend to travel in the direction of the axis of rotation which renders difficult the performance of the welding operation. The forces may also give rise to overloading of the bearings of the supporting rollers.
Turning roll assemblies of this type may also be used as driving means for rotating cement kilns or the like.
BACKGROUND ART
From the British patent specification No. 1,034,201 a turning roll assembly of the type described above is known, whose roller holder can be swivelled manually about an axis arranged obliquely in respect of the axis of rotation of the rollers, which makes it possible to exercize control over the direction, but not over the magnitude of the axial forces which arise between the rollers and the rotating workpiece, and thus provides a certain possibility of counteracting an undesirable axial travel of theworkpiece. With a system of such supports it will presumably be possible by successive adjustment of the individual roller sets prior to the start of a welding operation to achieve a setting where the workpiece, at least during a period, can rotate without axial travel or at the most travel at a sufficiently slow speed to be acceptable for the welding work. However, adjustment can be extremely time-consuming, and altered friction behaviour and deformations in the workpiece, which occur in the course of the welding as a consequence of the heating and of welding stresses, may require after-adjustments in the course of which it may be necessary to interrupt the welding. The problems are further intensified in that the elastic deformations, which are caused by forces between the workpiece and the roller sets, may bring about lack of parallelism between the axes of rotation of individual roller sets leading to new axial forces, which in turn alter the deformations and thus increase the instability.
From the British patent specificaton No. 940,261 a turning roll assembly is known, where swivelling of a turning roll to apply a force to the rotating workpiece to counteract its axial movement is produced automatically in response to this movement. Feelers engaging both ends of the workpiece are connected to one turning roller in such a way that the turning roller is swivelled, when the feeler is axially moved by the workpiece. An automatic compensation of the axial movement of the workpiece is hereby obtained. However, the axial loading of the bearings of the turning rollers is out of control and overloading may occur.
DISCLOSU
REFERENCES:
patent: 2865690 (1958-12-01), Risse
patent: 3008439 (1961-11-01), Stanley
ESAB Aktiebolag
Sheridan Robert G.
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