US2552459A - Mill screw motor control - Google Patents

Description

y 1951 B. M. RICE 2,552,459

IILL SCREW MOTOR CONTROL Filed Feb. 14, 1947 2 Sheets-Shet 1 I N V EN TOR.

E Z. 1 Z. 7- 'l 5/4/05 M1. jZ/Ze BY A7 Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE MILL SCREW MOTOR CONTROL Blaine M. Rice, Apollo, Pa.

Application February 14, 1947, Serial No. 728,458

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved control mechanism for controlling the roller adjusting screws of a strip rolling mill to correct excessive lateral camber of strip passing through the mill.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved control mechanism for automatically actuating the screw-down motor means of a strip rolling mill so as to increase the roll pressure at the side of the strip which tends to camber laterally as it passes through the mill and to decrease the roll pressure at the other side of the strip so as to correct the tendency for such lateral camber of the strip.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved control apparatus of simple construction for automatically energizing the screw-down motors of a strip rolling mill to correct for strip camber, whereby when camber occurs at one side of the strip, the circuit for the screw-down motor at that side will be closed, causing the roll pressure at that side to be increased thereby correcting the tendency of the strip to camber laterally toward that side, and to provide further means for stopping the mill if the camber correcting means is inoperative.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein;

Figure l is a front elevational view of a mill screw-down motor control structure in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the control structure of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the control structure of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail elevational view of a pilot member employed at one side of the control structure of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectionaldetail view taken on line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, II and I2 designate vertical supporting posts positioned on opposite sides of the strip supporting conveyor of a strip rolling mill through which strip metal, such as shown at I3 is rolled. Secured to'the posts H and 12 in the same transverse plane and in horizontal alignment are respective sleeved brackets 14 and I5. Secured to the top portions of the brackets is a transverse guide bar It and secured to the lower portions of the brackets is a second transverse guide bar ll. Slidably engaged with the guide bars [6 and 11 between the posts H and I2 are pilot members [8 and I9 positioned in vertical longi- 2 tudinal planes adjacent the side edges of the strip l3.

Journaled in bracket member I4 is a flanged sleeve 25 which is internally threaded. Threadedly engaged through sleeve 20 is the reduced end portion 2| of a transverse shaft 22 whose oposite end portion is journaled in and is axially slidable in bracket member I5. Reduced end portion 2| is locked to sleeve 26 by a lock-nut 23. Secured to the end of portion 2| is a hand crank 24. The main body portion of shaft 22 has left-hand threads 25 threadedly engaged with similar internal threads formed in pilot member [8 and has right-hand threads 26 threadedly engaged with right-hand internal threads formed in pilot member [9. Thus, by rotating hand crank 24 in one direction or the other, the pilot members 18 and I9 may be moved closer together or further apart in accordance with the width of the strip being rolled. Lateral adjustment of the shaft 22 and the pilot members l8 and I9 may be accomplished by loosening the lock-nut 23 and rotating the shaft 22 to thereby move reduced portion 2| endwise in the sleeve 20. When the desired lateral adjustment has been obtained the locknut 23 is again tightened.

Pilot member 18 is formed at its forward end portion with a pair of laterally outwardly projecting ears 2?, 27 between which is pivotally secured an inclined lever arm 28 carrying at its lower end a vertical roller 29 adapted to engage the side edge of the moving strip B3. A spring 3! compressed between pilot member l8 and the other end portion of arm 28 biases roller 29 toward said side edge of the strip. Secured to said other end portion of arm 28 is a resilient Threaded through the end portion of ar 3i is a set screw or pin .32 and threaded through said bar at its intermediate portion is a second set screw or pin 33. Set screw 32 is adapted to engage the button 34 of a control switch 35 when roller 29 is moved outwardly a predetermined amount by the side edge of strip l3. Switch 35 is adapted to be connected in circuit with the roller screw-down motor at the corresponding side of a rolling mill strip aligner of the type shown in Dahlstrom Patent No. 2,289,410 of July 14, 1942, so that when the lateral camber of the strip at that side exceeds a predetermined amount and switch 35 is thereby closed, the related roller screw-down motor is operated and the roll pressure at that side is thereby increased so as to reduce the camber. Switch 35 is also connected with the roller screwdown motor at the opposite side of the mill so as to operate the last mentioned motor in a direction to decrease the roll pressure at said opposite side.

Set screw 33 is adapted to engage the button 36 of a switch 31 when the camber control switch 35 fails to function or the screw-down mechanism fails to operate. Stop switch 31 controls the entire roller mill drive mechanism, and when said stop switch is closed, the roller mill is stopped thus preventing damage to the camber control mechanism.

Pilot member l3 carries elements similar in all respects to those carried by member l and symmetrically related therewith, for controlling the camber at the opposite side edge of the strip I3. These elements include a control switch 33 for the roll screw-down motors of the mill and a stop switch 39 similar to stop switch 31. These switches are actuated by respective set screws or pins 40 and ll carried on a resilient rod 42 secured to an inclined arm 43 pivoted to'pilot member 19 and having a pilot roller d1! engaging the side edge of strip it. A spring biases roller it into engagement with said side edge.

While a specific embodiment of a strip mill screw-down motor control structure has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention other than as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Mechanism responsive to the position of a web edge for controlling web handling apparatus comprising brackets adapted to be rigidly supported at respectively opposite sides of a web, guide bars secured at their ends to said brackets and extending therebetween in spaced apart in substantially parallel relationship to each other, pilot members slidably mounted each at one end on said guide bars and extending in the same direction from said guide bars in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other, said pilot members being adapted to be disposed at respectively opposite sides or" a web disposed between said brackets, manually operated screw means engaging said pilot means for moving the latter toward and away from each other, feeler arms disposed one adjacent each pilot member at the outer side thereof and extending outwardly from the other ends of said pilot members, means pivotally connecting said feeler arms intermediate their length to said pilot members near said other ends of the latter, rollers carried one by each feeler arm at the end thereof disposed outwardly of said other end of the corresponding pilot member, said rollers being engageable with the corresponding edges of a web disposed between said pilot members, resilient bars secured one to each feeler arm at the other end of the latter, each resilient bar being secured at one end to the corresponding feeler arm and extending therefrom substantially in longitudinal alignment with the asso ciated feeler arm and parallel to the outer side of the adjacent pilot member, pins mounted in each resilient bar and spaced apart longitudinally of the latter, and switches mounted on the outer side of each pilot member and having buttons in alignment with corresponding pins carried by the adjacent resilient bar, said switches being successively operated as the roller carrying end of the associated feeler arm is moved outwardly away from the other feeler arm.

2. Mechanism responsive to the position of a web edge for controlling web handling apparatus comprising brackets adapted to be rigidly supported at respectively opposite sides of a Web, guide bars secured at their ends to said brackets and extending therebetween in spaced apart in substantially parallel relationship to each other, pilot members slidably mounted each at one end on said guide bars and extending in the same direction from said guide bars in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other, said pilot members being adapted to be disposed at respectively opposite sides of a web disposed between said brackets, manually operated screw means engaging said pilot means for moving the latter toward and away from each other, feeler arms disposed one adjacent each pilot member at the outer side thereof and extending outwardly from the other ends of said pilot members, means pivotally connecting said feeler arms intermediate their length to said pilot members near said other ends of the latter, rollers carried one by each feeler arm at the end thereof disposed outwardly of said other end of i the corresponding pilot member, said rollers being engageable with the corresponding edges of a web disposed between said pilot members, resilient bars secured one to each feeler arm at the other end of the latter, each resilient bar being secured at one end to the corresponding feeler arm and extending therefrom substantially in longitudinal alignment with the associated feeler arm and parallel to the outer side of the adjacent pilot member, pins mounted in each resilient bar and spaced apart longitudinally of the latter, switches mounted on the outer side of each pilot member and having buttons in alignment with corresponding pins carried by the adjacent resilient bar, said switches being successively operated as the roller carrying end of the associated feeler arm is moved outwardly away from the other feeler arm, and springs disposed one between each feeler arm and the adjacent pilot member resiliently urging the roller carrying .ends of said feeler arms inwardly toward each other.

BLAINE 1V1. RICE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 404,651 Paca June 4, 1889 1,133,300 McGauley Mar. 30, 1915 1,163,565 Schwartz Dec. 7, 1915 1,967,732 Ahlburg Sept. 21, 1931 1,969,536 Winne Aug. 7, 1934 2,069,632 Thomas Feb. 2, 1937 2,274,268 Hercik Feb. 24, 1942 2,289,410 Dahlstrom July 14, 1942 2,317,468 Krieger Apr. 27, 1943 2,341,931 Lloyd Feb. 15, 1944 2,391,881 Clay Jan. 1, 1946 2,511,271 Kaminky et al. June 13, 1950

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