Rolling mill stand with rolls axially constrained with elastic system

Abstract

A rolling mill stand for rolling rod-shaped bodies, in particular tubular bodies, said stand comprising at least three rolls (10) mutually arranged to define a rolling pass line for said rod-shaped and/or tubular bodies, wherein at least one of said three rolls (10) is rigidly mounted on a roll holder shaft (20), freely fixed in turn in a rotational manner to said stand by means of a first hollow support (40) and a second hollow support (30) arranged on opposite sides of said at least one roll (10), respectively, wherein a first portion (21) and a second portion (22) of said roll holder shaft (20) are housed in said first hollow support (40) and in said second hollow support (30), respectively, where the constraint between at least said first hollow support and said first portion (21) of the roll holder shaft is of elastic type.

Claims

1. A rolling mill stand for rolling rod-shaped, tubular bodies, said stand comprising at least three rolls mutually arranged to define a rolling pass line (P) for said rod-shaped, tubular bodies, wherein at least one of said three rolls is integral on a roll holder shaft, which is in turn freely fixed in rotational manner to said stand by means of a first hollow support and a second hollow support arranged respectively on opposite sides of said at least one roll, wherein a first portion and a second portion of said roll holder shaft are housed in said first hollow support and in said second hollow support, respectively, said stand comprising elastic means interposed between said first portion of said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support to define an elastic type axial constraint between said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support, said stand comprising first supporting means rigidly keyed onto said first portion of said roll holder shaft and adapted to facilitate the rotation of said first roll holder shaft with respect to said first hollow support, said elastic means comprising first elastic means and second elastic means arranged along said first portion of said roll holder shaft on opposite sides of said first supporting means, respectively.

2. The stand according to claim 1, wherein the translation of said roll holder shaft along a translation direction parallel to its symmetry axis (X) transforms into the compression of at least part of said elastic means and is thus contrasted by the resistance exerted by at least said part of said elastic means.

3. The stand according to claim 1, wherein the translation of said roll holder shaft along a translation direction parallel to its symmetry axis (X) also translates into the expansion of at least part of said elastic means.

4. The stand according to claim 1, wherein said elastic means are conical and mounted on said first portion of said roll holder shaft.

5. The stand according to claim 1, wherein said first supporting means define a first engagement shoulder and a second engagement shoulder, said first hollow support defines a third engagement shoulder and a fourth engagement shoulder, and said first elastic means engage said first engagement shoulder and said third engagement shoulder, while said second elastic means engage said second engagement shoulder and said fourth engagement shoulder.

6. The stand according to claim 1, wherein said first supporting means comprise a first ball bearing and a second ball bearing.

7. The stand according to claim 1, stand comprising means for adjusting the preload of the elastic means.

8. The stand according to claim 1, said stand comprising means for adjusting the position of the roll in the direction of its longitudinal symmetry axis (X).

9. A rolling mill for rolling seamless tubes, said rolling mill comprising at least two rolling stands arranged in succession along a predetermined direction, said rolling mill comprising at least one rolling stand according to claim 1.

10. A rolling mill stand for rolling rod-shaped, tubular bodies, said stand comprising at least three rolls mutually arranged to define a rolling pass line (P) for said rod-shaped, tubular bodies, wherein at least one of said three rolls is integral on a roll holder shaft, which is in turn freely fixed in rotational manner to said stand by means of a first hollow support and a second hollow support arranged respectively on opposite sides of said at least one roll, wherein a first portion and a second portion of said roll holder shaft are housed in said first hollow support and in said second hollow support, respectively, said stand comprising elastic means interposed between said first portion of said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support to define an elastic type axial constraint between said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support, said stand comprising first supporting means rigidly keyed onto said first portion of said roll holder shaft and adapted to facilitate the rotation of said first roll holder shaft with respect to said first hollow support, said elastic means being arranged along said first portion of said roll holder shaft in an inner space defined by said first supporting means.

11. The stand according to claim 10, wherein said first supporting means define a first engagement shoulder and a second engagement shoulder, and said elastic means engage said first engagement shoulder and said second engagement shoulder.

12. A rolling mill stand for rolling rod-shaped, tubular bodies, said stand comprising at least three rolls mutually arranged to define a rolling pass line (P) for said rod-shaped, tubular bodies, wherein at least one of said three rolls is integral on a roll holder shaft, which is in turn freely fixed in rotational manner to said stand by means of a first hollow support and a second hollow support arranged respectively on opposite sides of said at least one roll, wherein a first portion and a second portion of said roll holder shaft are housed in said first hollow support and in said second hollow support, respectively, said stand comprising elastic means interposed between said first portion of said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support to define an elastic type axial constraint between said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support, said stand comprising switching locking means which can be alternatively activated and deactivated, the activation of said locking means translating into the switching of the axial constraint between said roll holder shaft and said first hollow support from elastic to rigid.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will be further clarified below by means of the following detailed description of the possible embodiments depicted in the drawings where features and/or corresponding or equivalent component parts of the present invention are identified by the same reference numerals. It is worth noting that the present invention in any case is not limited to the embodiments described below and depicted in the drawings; contrarily, all those variants and/or modifications of the embodiments described below and depicted in the accompanying drawings, which are clear and apparent to those skilled in the art, fall within the scope of the present invention.

(2) In the drawings:

(3) FIG. 1 shows a first cross-section view of a stand according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 2 shows a second longitudinal sectional view of a roll assembly and related supporting systems according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 3 shows a second longitudinal exploded sectional view of a roll assembly and related supporting systems according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(6) FIGS. 4 and 5 show further longitudinal and exploded sectional views of a roll assembly and related supporting systems and/or parts thereof according to embodiments of the present invention;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a first cross-section view of a stand according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a second longitudinal sectional view of a roll assembly and related supporting systems according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a second longitudinal exploded sectional view of a roll assembly and related supporting systems according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(10) FIGS. 9 and 10 show further longitudinal exploded sectional views of a roll assembly and related supporting systems and/or parts thereof according to embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

(11) The present invention is particularly applicable in the field of rolling rod-shaped elements, in particular tubes, this being the reason for which the present invention is described below with particular reference to the applications thereof in the field of rolling tubular elements.

(12) It is in any case worth noting that the possible applications of the present invention are not limited to those described below. Contrarily, the present invention is conveniently applied in all the cases of rolling rod-shaped elements in general.

(13) Numeral 100 in FIG. 1 identifies a rolling mill stand equipped with three rolls 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention; the rolls 10 are constrained in a rotational manner to stand 100 (to the frame thereof) and are arranged mutually so as to define a rolling pass line P. Stands of the type depicted in FIG. 1 therefore are used in rolling mills and, for the purpose, are arranged in sequence along a rolling mill with as accurate as possible alignment of the respective pass lines P, the pass lines P further having size and inner shape different from one stand to the next according to the rolling needs.

(14) The rolls 10 are each mounted on a corresponding shaft 20 according to substantially identical methods, where a description of the mounting methods of a roll 10 on the respective rotation shaft 20 will be given below. It is in any case worth noting that according to the present invention and according to the needs and/or circumstances, the fixing and/or mounting methods of the rolls 10 on the respective shafts 20 in each individual stand 100 may also vary from one roll to the next.

(15) As depicted in FIG. 2, roll 10 is keyed onto a substantially intermediate portion of the rotation shaft 20 so as to be rigidly fixed thereto, where therefore when put into rotation, roll 10 drags shaft 20 in rotation, or vice versa according to the type of rolling mill or stand. The rotational constraint between shaft 20 and stand 100 therefore is obtained by means of a first hollow support 40 and a second hollow support 30, said hollow supports 40 and 30 being rigidly fixed to the rolling mill stand 100. In the case of the second hollow support 30, the rotation of shaft 20 with respect to the support 30 itself is obtained by interposing second supporting means 31 between support 30 and an end portion 22 of the roll holder shaft 20, the second supporting means being formed for example, by a roller bearing including an outer ring in contact with the second hollow support 30 and an inner ring in contact with the end portion 22 of the roll holder shaft 20, and also by two series of rolls interposed between the outer ring and the inner ring. In particular, the inner ring is rigidly fixed on the roll holder shaft 20 (on the end portion 22), while the outer ring is rigidly fixed to the second hollow support 30. Moreover, as depicted in particular in FIGS. 3 and 5, two gaskets 33 housed in corresponding seats 133 are interposed between the second hollow support 30 and the roller bearing 31, respectively, the gaskets 33 essentially having the purpose of preventing process liquid infiltrations into the second hollow support 30 which could compromise the functionality of bearing 31. Finally, according to methods which essentially are known and therefore are not described in detail below, bearing 31 is kept in position on the roll holder shaft 20 by means of a first ring 34 and a second elastic ring 35, and finally also by means of a cover 32 fixed (for example screwed) to the end portion of the second hollow support opposite to roll 10.

(16) In the case of the first hollow support 40, the latter instead is formed by three hollow elements fixed mutually so as to house a first portion 21 of the roll holder shaft 21; in particular, said first hollow support 40 comprises a first hollow element 43 substantially similar to the second hollow support 30, a ring nut 42 fixed to said first hollow support 43, and finally a cartridge 41, which is also hollow and fixed to the ring nut 42 according to methods described in detail below. First supporting means adapted to allow the rotation of the roll holder shaft 20 with respect to the first hollow support 40 are interposed between the first hollow support 40 and the corresponding first portion 21 of the roll holder shaft 20; said means in particular comprise a first roller bearing 90 interposed between the portion 21 of shaft 20 and the first hollow support 43, where also in this case there are provided sealing means consisting of a pair of gaskets 44 housed in corresponding seats 45 of the hollow element 43, respectively, and having also in this case the purpose of preventing water infiltrations into the hollow element 43 (more generally into the hollow support 40) which could compromise the functionality of the roller bearing 90 or of the bearings 62 and 63. Also the roller bearing 90 comprises an inner ring rigidly fixed to shaft 20 (to the portion 21 of shaft 20), an outer ring rigidly fixed to the hollow element 43 and two series of rolls interposed (housed) between the inner ring and the outer ring. The ring nut 42 is fixed to the end portion of the hollow element 43 opposite to roll 10, where there are also provided locking means 142 which are substantially similar to the locking means 34 and 35 in order to lock bearing 90 in position, said locking means 142 therefore comprising again a first ring and a second elastic ring. The outer surface of cartridge 41 further comprises a threaded portion 190, where the mutual engagement of said threaded portion 190, by screwing on a corresponding threaded portion 198 of the ring nut 42, ensures both the mutual fixing of cartridge 41 and of the ring nut 42, and the adjustment of the mutual positioning of cartridge 41 with respect to the ring nut 42, and therefore the degree of penetration of cartridge 41 in the ring nut 42. First elastic means 51, a first ball bearing 63, a containment and/or housing element 65, a second ball bearing 62, second elastic means 52 and a first ring 66 and a second ring 67 are interposed between cartridge 41 and portion 21 of the roll holder shaft 20, in particular mounted (e.g. keyed) on the portion 21 of shaft 20, in sequence from right to left with respect to the drawings and therefore away from roll 10. Element 65 in particular comprises an inner ring and an outer ring and is rigidly fixed to shaft 20 (to portion 21), the first ball bearing 63 and the second ball bearing 62 being housed between the outer ring and the inner ring of element 65. Finally, there are provided an assembly of spacers 81 and a cover 69 adapted to be fixed to cartridge 41 according to methods described in detail below.

(17) With reference to FIG. 4, it is also worth noting that cartridge 41 is shaped so as to define an inner contrast and/or engagement shoulder 46, therefore where the first elastic means 51 engage said shoulder 46 and an opposite shoulder 65s1 defined by the outer ring of element 65. In a substantially similar manner, the second elastic means 52 engage a shoulder 65s2 defined by the outer ring of element 65 and a shoulder 47 defined by cover 69. Although it is apparent in consideration of that indicated above, for completeness of disclosure it is worth noting how the engagement and/or contrast shoulders described above are all shaped like a circular crown according to a view along the longitudinal symmetry axis X.

(18) It is also worth noting from that disclosed above that the positioning of the roll in axial direction (along axis X) with respect to the second hollow support 30 and to the hollow element 43 may be adjusted and selected by adjusting the screwing of cartridge 41 on the ring nut 42; indeed, assuming to increase the screwing of cartridge 41 on the ring nut 42, and therefore to increase the penetration (to the right with respect to the drawings) of cartridge 41 in the ring nut 42, by penetrating the ring nut 42, cartridge 41 drags cover 69 therewith in its translation, and therefore also all the components housed in cartridge 41, i.e. the elastic means 51 and 52, the ball bearings 63 and 62 and element 65, due to the thrust exerted on bearing 62 by the elements 66 and 67. Therefore also the shaft is dragged in the same direction (to the right with respect to the drawings), since assembly 60 of the bearings 63 and 62 and of element 65 is rigidly fixed to shaft 20.

(19) A further peculiarity of the roll according to the embodiment described above and depicted in drawings 1 to 5 relates to adjustment means 80, 81 for adjusting the preload of the elastic elements 51; said adjustment means in particular comprise a plurality of screws 80 each housed in a corresponding through hole of cover 69, wherein each screw 80 engages a threaded blind hole made in cartridge 41. Some spacers 81 (variable in number according to the needs and/or circumstances) are also interposed between cover 69 and cartridge 41; it is therefore shown how the degree of compression (preload) of the elastic means 51 and 52 increases as the thickness of the adjusting spacers 81 decreases because the degree of compression of the elastic means 52 between cover 69 and surface 65s2, and also of the elastic means 51 between cartridge 41 and surface 65s1, increases as the thickness of said spacers 81 decreases, while contrarily, increasing the thickness of the spacers 81 decreases the preload of the elastic means 51 and 52.

(20) Finally, there are provided locking means 70 consisting of a plurality of grub-screws 70 which each cross an internally threaded through hole of cartridge 41 and engage the outer surface of the outer ring of element 65, thereby rigidly fixing the roll holder shaft 20 to cartridge 41 and therefore to the first hollow support 40 and finally to stand 100. It is therefore apparent from that disclosed above that once the position of shaft 20 is defined by selecting the engagement by screwing between cartridge 41 and the ring nut 42, axial movements of shaft 20 (along a direction parallel to the longitudinal symmetry axis X) are possible only in case of forces acting on shaft 20, whose axial and parallel component to the longitudinal symmetry axis X is such as to overcome the resistance of the elastic means 51 and 52. Such elastic means 51 and 52 may be designed and made so as to achieve a differentiated behavior (rigidity) between the preload steps and the working steps, and therefore ensure compliance with the operating needs both in the regeneration step (e.g. turning) of the rolls and during rolling.

(21) The behavior of roll 10, in particular of the roll holder shaft 20, indeed may be summarized as follows. For clarity of disclosure, assume to subject roll 10 to a turning cycle and therefore that roll 10 is subjected to forces with axial component (parallel to axis X) due to the use of the lathe tool (not depicted in the drawings) on roll 10. As anticipated, in consideration of the axial forces involved during a turning cycle, roll 10 and the roll holder shaft 20 are or are not subjected to axial movements or possibly are subjected to negligible axial movements and in any case, such as not to compromise the turning operations. Contrarily, considering forces acting on roll 10 with greater axial component, such as those usually involved during the rolling, the roll is translated (for example, to the right with respect to the drawings), dragging in translation the roll holder shaft 20, where the translation of shaft 20 results in a translation of the inner ring of bearing 31 with respect to the outer ring (and similarly, of the inner ring of bearing 90 with respect to the outer ring), and also in the translation of assembly 60 consisting of the ball bearings 63 and 62 and of element 65, and therefore in the compression of the elastic means 51 and in the decompression (expansion) of the elastic means 52. Obviously, in the case of axial forces of the aforesaid type acting on roll 10 in opposite direction (from right to left with respect to the drawings), a movement from right to left of roll 10 and of shaft 20 takes place again, but here with compression of the elastic means 52 and decompression (expansion) of the elastic means 51.

(22) With reference to FIGS. 6 to 10, a description is given below of a second embodiment of the present invention, where the component parts and/or features in FIGS. 6 to 10 already described above with reference to other drawings, are identified by the same reference numerals.

(23) In stand 100 in FIG. 6, the rolls 10 are mutually essentially arranged, as in the stand in FIG. 1, to define a pass line P whereby a detailed description of stand 100 in FIG. 6 is omitted for reasons of brevity. Moreover, in the stand in FIG. 6, the elastic constraints by means of which the rolls 10 are constrained to stand 100 by means of the respective hollow supports 30 and 40 are different from the elastic constraints by means of which the rolls 10 are constrained to stand 100 in FIG. 1; the following description therefore relates to the aforesaid elastic constraints.

(24) The most important difference between the elastic constraints depicted in FIGS. 7 to 10 and those depicted in FIGS. 2 to 5 relates to certain components housed in cartridge 41, and also to the mutual interaction thereof and the interaction thereof both with cartridge 41 and with the roll holder shaft 20.

(25) Indeed, it is in particular apparent from FIGS. 7 and 8 that in the case of the embodiment therein depicted, assembly 60 in FIG. 3, including the two ball bearings 62 and 63 and the corresponding housing 65, is replaced by an assembly again comprising a first ball bearing 63 and a second ball bearing 62, wherein the bearings 63 and 62 here are housed in a housing 65b and a housing 65a, respectively, the two housings 65a and 65b both being ring-shaped but in particular, separate from each other. Ball bearing 63 is housed in housing 65b axially resting against an inner shoulder 651s of housing 65b, and similarly ball bearing 62 is housed in housing 65a, in particular axially resting against an inner shoulder 652s of housing 65a.

(26) A ring 65c is also mounted on portion 21 of the roll holder shaft 20, in particular in the housings 65a and 65b. In detail, the inner shoulders of the housings 65a and 65b mounted one adjacent to the other on the roll holder shaft 20 define an inner space delimited towards the roll holder shaft 20 of ring 65c, where space elastic means 5x are housed. According to the present invention, the aforesaid elastic means 5x may consist of the first elastic means 51 and second elastic means 52 described above, but they are arranged adjacent here, or alternatively they may consist of elastic means made in a single piece. Both the ball bearings 62 and 63 are rigidly fixed to the roll holder shaft 20 (to portion 21), while the housings 65a and 65b are susceptible to being translated with respect to cartridge 41. Moreover, the elastic means 5x are compressed between the two housings 65a and 65b, in particular being engaged by the inner shoulders of the aforesaid housings 65a and 65b.

(27) It is therefore apparent in consideration of that disclosed above that the adjusting methods of the position of the roll holder shaft 20 (and therefore of roll 10 with respect to the hollow supports 30 and 40) in axial direction (parallel to axis X) substantially are similar to those for the positioning of the roll holder shaft 20 described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. Indeed, also in this case by increasing the penetration of cartridge 41 in the ring nut 42 by mutual screwing of the corresponding threaded portions 190, the translation of cover 69 results in a translation (to the right with respect to the drawings) of the bearings 62 and 63, together with the housings 65a and 65b and ring 65c, and therefore in the repositioning (to the right with respect to the drawings) of shaft 20 and finally, of roll 10, where contrarily the repositioning of shaft 20 and of roll 10 to the left (with respect to the drawings) is obtained by decreasing the penetration of cartridge 41 in the ring nut 42.

(28) Similarly, by decreasing the thickness of the couplings or spacers 81 inserted between cover 69 and cartridge 41, the compression (preload) of the elastic means 5x is increased as a consequence of the mutual approaching in axial direction of the two housings 65a and 65b.

(29) The behavior of roll 10 according to the present embodiment, in particular of the roll holder shaft 20, may be summarized as follows. Again, for clarity of disclosure, assume that roll 10 is subjected to a turning cycle and therefore that roll 10 is involved by forces with axial component (parallel to axis X) due to the use of the lathe tool (not depicted in the drawings) on roll 10. Also in this case, since the axial forces involved during a turning cycle are less than the preload of the elastic means 5x (in any case adjustable according to the methods summarized above), roll 10 and the roll holder shaft 20 are not subjected to axial movements. Contrarily, considering forces acting on roll 10 with axial component greater than the preload of the elastic means 5x (such as those usually involved during the rolling), the roll is translated (for example, to the left with respect to the drawings), dragging in translation the roll holder shaft 20, where the translation of shaft 20 results in a translation to the left of bearing 63 and of housing 65b with subsequent approaching of housing 65b to housing 65a and further compression of the elastic means 5x. The same holds true in the case of movement to the right of shaft 20, where bearing 62 and housing 65a here are dragged to the right, with subsequent approaching of housing 65a to housing 65b and subsequent further compression of the elastic means 5x.

(30) It has therefore been shown by the detailed description above of the embodiments of the present invention depicted in the drawings, that the present invention allows the desired results to be obtained and the drawbacks encountered in the prior art to be overcome or at least limited.

(31) In particular, the elastic constraints according to the present invention allow both an axial movement (realignment of the rolls), for example during the rolling (when the axial components of the forces involved are decidedly greater than the resistance opposed by the elastic means), and the turning of the rolls directly on the stand (when the axial component of the forces resulting from the use of the lathe tool on the roll is less than the resistance exerted by the elastic means), and therefore without the need for the preventive disassembly of the rolls from the stand.

(32) Moreover, the present invention provides a solution which can be achieved and/or installed at low costs and by means of operations with reduced and/or equally contained complexity.

(33) Finally, the solution according to the present invention is applicable to different rolling mill stands, in particular for rolling both rod-shaped elements in general and tubes, in particular seamless tubes.

(34) Although the present invention was clarified above by means of a detailed description of the embodiments thereof depicted in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and depicted in the drawings; contrarily, all those variants and/or modifications of the embodiments described and depicted in the accompanying drawings, which are clear and apparent to those skilled in the art, fall within the scope of the present invention. For example, according to the present invention and according to the circumstances and/or needs, the roller bearings may be omitted or replaced by functionally equivalent bearings, and also the elastic means may be made with a multitude of materials and designs known to those skilled in the art.

(35) Indeed, the present invention allows the broadest selection of components.

(36) The scope of protection of the present invention is therefore defined by the claims.