Rope drum and method for the production thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to rope drums for winding and unwinding ropes, having a drum shell, to which end disks are fastened at the end faces, and to rope winches having such rope drums. The invention also relates to a method for producing such a rope drum. According to the invention, the drum shell is seamlessly rolled from an annular workpiece blank by means of a rope groove profile embossed in a non-cutting manner.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a rope drum comprising a drum casing and end plates attached thereto at an end face, the method comprising: seamlessly rolling the drum casing from an annular workpiece blank by a rolling apparatus, forming a rope groove profile at an outer casing surface of the drum casing during and/or after the seamlessly rolling of the drum casing, wherein forming the rope groove profile at the outer casing surface of the drum casing comprises non-cutting machining the rope groove profile by a tool that is mapped in the outer casing surface, forming a rising region for a rope by a rolling process at the outer casing surface at at least one end section of the drum casing, and further forming the rising region by joining a separate part to an annular joining surface formed by the rolling process.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the rope groove profile at the outer casing surface of the drum casing further comprises rolling a rolling tool that is mapped in the outer casing surface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein an inner casing surface of the drum casing is formed as smooth and/or without a groove profile so that when the drum casing is viewed in cross-section, a wall thickness of the drum casing is cyclically thinner and thicker between the inner casing surface and the outer casing surface having the rope groove profile.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising pressure forming the annular workpiece blank at a casing surface side by a main roll and by a mandrel roll that have a radial roll gap between them while rotating the annular workpiece blank about a blank axis of rotation.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising pressure forming the annular workpiece blank at an end face side between at least one pair of axial rolls that have an axial roll gap between them.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising using conical axial rolls that taper toward a center of the annular workpiece blank and are arranged in a common plane that passes through the main roll and the mandrel roll.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming the end plates separately from the drum casing and subsequently joining the end plates to the drum casing, wherein the subsequently joining comprises screwing.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the annular workpiece blank comprises a cast blank or is shaped in a mandrel roll step and/or a forge step from an initially hole-less blank.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to a preferred embodiment and to associated drawings. There are shown in the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1: a schematic front view of a rope winch having a rope drum in accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, with the rope drum being rotatably supported at a winch frame and with a drive transmission being received in the interior of the rope drum;

(3) FIG. 2: a schematic sectional view of the drum casing of the rope drum of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3: a schematic representation of a rolling apparatus for rolling the drum casing of the rope drum of the preceding Figures, with the radial and axial load on a rotating, annular workpiece blank by main and mandrel rolls and by a pair of axial rolls being shown;

(5) FIG. 4: a further view of the drum casing of the rope drum of the preceding Figures, with the partial view a being a plan view of the outer casing surface of the drum casing and showing its rising regions at the end side, partial view b being a sectional view along the line A-A in partial view a and showing the contouring of the rising region in the circumferential direction of the drum casing, with partial view c further being a sectional, enlarged representation of said rising region, and partial view d being a sectional, enlarged sectional view of the drum casing that illustrates the ratio of the depth of the rope groove profile to the wall thickness of the drum casing; and

(6) FIG. 5: a sectionally enlarged representation of the rising region of the drum casing similar to partial view c of FIG. 4, with the rising region being formed in a further embodiment of the invention as a separate component subsequently joined to the drum casing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) As FIG. 1 shows, the rope winch 1 comprises a rope drum 2 that has an at least approximately cylindrical drum casing 3 and two end plates 4 that extend transversely to the longitudinal axis 5 of the drum casing 3, that adjoin the drum casing 3 at the end face, and that project radially over the drum casing 3 to laterally bound the winding space 6 above the outer circumference of the drum casing 3.

(8) Said end plates 4 are in particular rigidly fastened to the drum casing 3 at the end face, with said end plates 4 advantageously being able to be formed separately from the drum casing 3 and being able to be fastened thereto in a shape matched or force transmitting manner, for example by means of stud bolts 7 by means of which the end plates 4 can be fixedly screwed to the end faces of the drum casing 3.

(9) Said rope drum 2 can here be rotatably supported at a winch frame 8, with the end plates 4 advantageously having support sections 9 by means of which the rope drum 2 is rotatably supported at the winch frame 8, for example by means of roller element bearings 10.

(10) To drive the rope drum 2, the rope winch 1 can have a drive transmission 11 that can be at least partially received in the interior of the rope drum 2 and/or can extend through one of the end plates 4. Said drive transmission 11 can, for example, be a single-stage or multi-stage planetary transmission.

(11) A winch drive, for example in the form of a hydraulic motor or of an electric motor, can be connected to said drive transmission 11 to be able to rotationally drive the rope drum 2 about the longitudinal axis 5 of the drum casing 3 an/or to be able to provide a desired braking torque on the withdrawing of the rope from the rope drum 2, with a suitable braking device also being able to be provided for this purpose.

(12) The rope drum 2 can be formed in very large dimensions, for example can have a diameter of several meters and/or a drum wall thickness of 100 mm and more, optionally also several hundred millimeters.

(13) As FIGS. 2 and 3 show, the drum casing 3 of the rope drum 2 is formed as a seamless, joint-free roll profile that can be established by rolling an annular workpiece blank 12. The rolling apparatus 13 can here be formed in the manner of an annular rolling mechanism and/or can advantageously have a main roll 14 and a mandrel roll 15 that bound a radial roll gap between them whose gap width can, for example be set by delivering the mandrel roll 15. The workpiece blank 12, that is sometimes also called a tube blank, can be loaded with pressure and shaped at the casing surface side by delivering the mandrel roll 15 to the main roll 14. In this respect, one of said rolls, for example the main roll 14, can be rotationally driven so that the annular workpiece blank 12 rotates through the radial roll gap and rotates about its workpiece rotational axis while the rolling procedure is carried out. The mandrel roll 15 can optionally also be driven alternatively or additionally to said main roll 14.

(14) The workpiece blank 12 can originally be an already single-piece cast blank that can already be formed in annular shape or can be provided with a hole or formed into annular shape by a mandrel roll step and/or a forge step.

(15) Said main and mandrel rolls 14 and 15 can be substantially cylindrical and can be arranged in parallel with one another so that the radial roll gap has a gap width that is substantially unchanging over its height.

(16) In addition to said main and mandrel rolls 14 and 15, the workpiece blank 12 can be acted on at the end face by at least one pair of axial rolls 17 during the rolling procedure to be able to shape or form the end faces of the drum casing 2 being formed.

(17) Said axial rolls 17 and 18 can each be conical and can taper toward the center of the annular workpiece blank 12, with the rotational axes of the two axial rolls 17 and 18 being able to be arranged in a common plane that can pass through the two aforesaid mandrel and main rolls 14 and 15. In other words, the axial roll pair 17, 18 can be disposed opposite the main and mandrel rolls 14 and 15 or can act on an annular section of the workpiece blank 12 that is disposed opposite the annular section acted on by the mandrel and main rolls.

(18) At least one axial roll of the two axial rolls 17 and 18 can be set in the axial direction toward the other axial roll to be able to exert pressure on the end faces of the workpiece blank 12. At the same time, the produced length of the drum casing can be controlled by adjusting the spacing of the axial rolls 17, 18 from one another.

(19) After the rolling of the drum casing 3, i.e. after the shaping of the workpiece blank 12 by rolling toward the drum casing 3, or also simultaneously with the rolling, a rope groove profile 19 can be formed at the outer casing surface 3a of the drum casing 3, as FIG. 3 shows. Said rope groove profile 19 can be formed by non-cutting shaping, for example by a rolling tool that is mapped in the outer casing surface and is formed in a similar manner to said rope groove profile on thread rolling.

(20) As FIG. 4, in particular its partial views a to c, shows, a respective rising region 19a can be molded to end sections of the drum casing 3 that rises continuously viewed in the circumferential direction, cf. partial view 4b, to allow the rope running up on it to rise and to allow it to run back in the next winding layer.

(21) Said rising region 19a can advantageously also be formed during the rolling of the drum casing 3 so that said rising region 19 is molded integrally in one piece to the drum casing 3 and is formed by a section of the seamlessly formed roller profile.

(22) Said rising region 19a can in particular adjoin the rope groove profile 19 seamlessly and/or without a step so that the rope running in the last rope groove runs harmoniously onto the rising region 19a and is raised to the next winding layer by its upward slope in the circumferential direction of the drum casing.

(23) As FIG. 5 shows, said rising region 19a can, however, also be formed as a separate element that is subsequently joined to the seamlessly rolled drum casing 3. Said separate part can form the total rising region 19a or also only a section thereof.

(24) The separate rising part is advantageously seated on the outer casing surface of the drum casing 3, with the drum casing 3 being able to have a suitably formed joining surface, in particular an annular or partially annular surface, to which the rising region can be joined. The drum casing can advantageously also have an end-face contact surface for said rising region to avoid a lateral pressing away of the separate element, cf. FIG. 5.

(25) The joining surface formed at the drum casing 3 for the separate rising element can be formed in a non-cutting manner at the drum casing and can in particular also be formed during rolling.

(26) As partial view d of FIG. 4 shows, the wall thickness of the drum casing 3 can be considerably larger than the depth of the rope grooves of the rope groove profile 19. The minimal wall thickness x, measured from the smooth inner casing surface to the base of the rope grooves, can, for example, amount to more than 200% or more than 300% of the depth y-x of the rope grooves 19.

(27) The contour of the inner casing surface can differ from the contour of the outer casing surface having the rope groove profile and does not have to follow it. The inner casing surface of the drum casing 3 can in particular be smooth and can in particular be at least approximately cylindrical.