Workpiece Drive and Descaling Device Having a Workpiece Drive

Abstract

A workpiece drive for rotating a circular workpiece in a descaling device has a carrier and at least three support roller modules. Each of the support roller modules has a bearing and a support roller for the circular workpiece. The support roller has a longitudinal axis, a lateral surface and a radius between the longitudinal axis and the lateral surface, and the radius decreases in a longitudinal direction along the longitudinal axis. The bearing supports the support roller rotatably around the longitudinal axis. Each of the support roller modules has a drive and the drive is designed to rotate the support roller around the longitudinal axis. The bearings are arranged on the carrier in such a way that the longitudinal axes have a point of intersection and lie in a plane perpendicular to the earth gravity field vector and such that the longitudinal directions are directed towards the point of intersection.

Claims

1. A workpiece drive for rotating a circular workpiece in a descaling device, comprising: a carrier; at least three support roller modules; wherein each of the support roller modules has a bearing and a support roller for the circular workpiece; wherein the support roller has a longitudinal axis, a lateral surface and a radius between the longitudinal axis and the lateral surface, and the radius decreases in a longitudinal direction along the longitudinal axis; wherein the bearing supports the support roller rotatably around the longitudinal axis; wherein each of the support roller modules has a drive and the drive is designed to rotate the support roller around the longitudinal axis; wherein the bearings are arranged on the carrier in such a way that the longitudinal axes have a point of intersection, such that the longitudinal directions are directed towards the point of intersection, and such that the lateral surfaces for a workpiece placed on the carrying rollers form a conical receptacle with a receptacle axis; and wherein the receptacle axis is oriented essentially parallel to the earth gravity field vector.

2. The workpiece drive according to claim 1, wherein a receptacle opening angle of the conical receptacle is greater than 160° and less than 180°.

3. A workpiece drive for rotating a circular workpiece in a descaling device, comprising: a carrier; at least three support roller modules; wherein each of the support roller modules has a bearing and a support roller for the circular workpiece; wherein the support roller has a longitudinal axis, a lateral surface and a radius between the longitudinal axis and the lateral surface, and the radius decreases in a longitudinal direction along the longitudinal axis; wherein the bearing supports the support roller rotatably around the longitudinal axis; wherein each of the support roller modules has a drive and the drive is designed to rotate the support roller around the longitudinal axis; and that wherein the bearings are arranged on the carrier in such a way that the longitudinal axes have a point of intersection and lie in a plane perpendicular to the earth gravity field vector and such that the longitudinal directions are directed towards the point of intersection.

4. The workpiece drive according to claim 1, wherein the bearings are arranged on the carrier in such a way that the longitudinal axes are radially symmetrical.

5. The workpiece drive according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the lateral surfaces is conical.

6. The workpiece drive according to claim 1, wherein, at least in one of the support roller modules, the bearing is only on one side of the support roller with respect to the longitudinal axis.

7. The workpiece drive according to claim 6, wherein the support roller is arranged between the bearing and the point of intersection.

8. A descaling device for a circular workpiece, comprising: a housing; a workpiece drive for rotating the circular workpiece; and a first scale washer; wherein the first scale washer is arranged in the housing; wherein the housing is formed for receiving the circular workpiece with a first end face, a second end face, an outer lateral surface and an inner lateral surface on the workpiece drive; wherein the workpiece drive, includes: a carrier; at least three support roller modules; wherein each of the support roller modules has a bearing and a support roller for the circular workpiece; wherein the support roller has a longitudinal axis, a lateral surface and a radius between the longitudinal axis and the lateral surface, and the radius decreases in a longitudinal direction along the longitudinal axis; wherein the bearing supports the support roller rotatably around the wherein each of the support roller modules has a drive and the drive is designed to rotate the support roller around the longitudinal axis; wherein the bearings are arranged on the carrier in such a way that the longitudinal axes have a point of intersection, such that the longitudinal directions are directed towards the point of intersection, and such that the lateral surfaces for a workpiece placed on the carrying rollers form a conical receptacle with a receptacle axis; and wherein the receptacle axis is oriented essentially parallel to the earth gravity field vector; wherein the descaling device has a second scale washer and a third scale washer; wherein the first scale washer is arranged on the carrier for spraying the outer lateral surface, the second scale washer is arranged on the carrier between two adjacent support rollers for spraying the first end face, and the third scale washer is arranged on the carrier for spraying the second end face with a liquid medium; and wherein the support rollers, the second scale washer and the third scale washer are arranged in the housing.

9. The descaling device according to claim 8, wherein the descaling device includes a fourth scale washer, and the fourth scale washer is arranged on the carrier for spraying the inner lateral surface with the medium.

10. The descaling device according to claim 9, wherein the fourth scale washer is designed as a lance.

11. The workpiece drive according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the lateral surfaces has a cone opening angle greater than 0° and less than 60°.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In detail, there is a plurality of possibilities for designing and further developing the workpiece drive and the descaling device. For this, reference is made to the following description of a preferred embodiment of a descaling device and of two embodiments of a workpiece drive in conjunction with the drawings.

[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a descaling device in a view with a housing with a first embodiment of a workpiece drive.

[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates the embodiment in a view without a housing.

[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates the embodiment in a cut front view.

[0033] FIG. 4 illustrates the embodiment in a top view.

[0034] FIG. 5 illustrates a support roller of the embodiment.

[0035] FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a circular workpiece.

[0036] FIG. 7 illustrates a cut front view of the workpiece drive.

[0037] FIG. 8 illustrates a conical receptacle of the workpiece drive.

[0038] FIG. 9 illustrates a cut front view of a second embodiment of a workpiece drive.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] FIGS. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of a descaling device 1 for circular workpieces. It has a housing 2, a first embodiment of a workpiece drive 3 for rotating a circular workpiece, a first scale washer 4, a second scale washer 5, a third scale washer 6, and a fourth scale washer 7. The fourth scale washer 7 is designed as a lance.

[0040] The workpiece drive 3 has a carrier 8 and three support roller modules 9. Each of the support roller modules 9 has a bearing 10 and a support roller 11 for a circular workpiece. The support roller 11 has a longitudinal axis 12, a lateral surface 13, and a radius 14 between the longitudinal axis 12 and the lateral surface 13. The radius 14 decreases in a longitudinal direction 15 along the longitudinal axis 12. The lateral surface 13 of the support roller 11 is tapered, which is why the support roller 11 is a frustum. Consequently, the radius 14 decreases in a longitudinal direction 15 along the longitudinal axis 12 in proportion to a distance along the longitudinal axis 12. A cone opening angle 30 of the support rollers 11 is 15°. Frusta as support rollers 11 are advantageous, since they are easy to manufacture. The bearing 10 supports the support roller 11 rotatably around the longitudinal axis 12. Each of the support roller modules 9 has a drive 16 with a motor 17, and the drive 16 is designed to rotate the support roller 11 around the longitudinal axis 12. The drives 16 are designed to rotate the support rollers 11 at an equal speed in an equal direction. The bearings 9 are arranged on the support 8 in such a way that the longitudinal axes 12 have a point of intersection 18, lie in a plane 19 perpendicular to the earth gravity field vector g and are radially symmetrical, and such that the longitudinal directions 15 are directed towards the point of intersection 18.

[0041] The supports 10 are arranged on only one side of the support rollers 11 with respect to the longitudinal axes 12, namely the support rollers 11 are arranged between the supports 10 and the intersection point 18. Thus, the bearings 10 are on the outside and not on the inside. The inner side is on the side of the support rollers 11 on which the intersection point 18 of the longitudinal axes 12 is located, whereas the outer side is on the other side of the support rollers 11. That the support rollers 11 are mounted only on one side 10 on the outside means that the support rollers 11 are easy to remove and install. Since support rollers 11 wear with use, having bearings 10 on one side reduces maintenance costs and downtime. By locating the bearing arrangements 10 on the outside, the bearing arrangements 10 are more easily accessible than if they were on the inside. Thus, maintenance of the bearing arrangements 10 is simplified.

[0042] FIG. 6 shows a circular workpiece 20 in the form of a rotationally symmetrical workpiece for the workpiece drive 3 and for the descaling device 1. It has a first end face 21, a second end face 22, an outer lateral surface 23, an inner lateral surface 24 and a circular outer contour 25. The circular outer contour 25 is an intersection between the outer lateral surface 23 and the first end face 21. The workpiece is red-hot and all surfaces are covered with scale.

[0043] The shape of the lateral surfaces 13 of the support rollers 11, in conjunction with the orientation and arrangement of the support rollers 11 relative to one another, has the effect, firstly, that the circular workpiece 20, which is placed on the support rollers 11 and is red-hot and covered with scale on all surfaces, is in contact with the support rollers 11 only with its circular outer contour 25.

[0044] Thus, a contact area between the circular workpiece 20 and the workpiece drive 3 is reduced compared to the prior art, whereby cooling of the workpiece 20 is also reduced. Secondly, if the workpiece 20 has previously been placed eccentrically with respect to a centering axis 26 passing through the intersection 18 and perpendicular to the plane 19, the workpiece 20 is caused to center with respect to the centering axis 26 as it is rotated by the rotating support rollers 11 so that it finally rotates concentrically around the centering axis 26. The radially symmetrical arrangement of the longitudinal axes 12 causes the circular workpiece 20, which has been placed eccentrically on the support rollers 11, to be centered with the least number of revolutions of the workpiece 20 by the workpiece drive 3.

[0045] The first scale washer 4 is arranged on the support roller 8 for spraying the outer lateral surface 23, the second scale washer 5 is arranged on the support roller 8 between two adjacent support rollers 11 for spraying the first end face 21, the third scale washer 6 is arranged on the support roller 8 for spraying the second end face 22, and the fourth scale washer 7 is arranged on the support roller 8 for spraying the inner lateral surface 24 with water under high pressure. The four scale washers 4, 5 ,6, 7 enable descaling of all surfaces 21, 22, 23, 24 of the circular workpiece 20 in a single operation. It is no longer necessary to reposition the workpiece 20, which reduces the time required for descaling compared to the prior art. The reduced time requirement results in less cooling of the workpiece.

[0046] The support rollers 11, and the four scale washers 4, 5, 6, 7 are arranged in the housing 2, so that the water and chipped, in any case, do not pose a danger to the surroundings of the descaling device 1 and at least a substantial part of the water and scale does not escape from the housing 2.

[0047] The design of the fourth scale washer 7 as a lance makes it easy to move the fourth scale washer 7 into and out of the inner lateral surface 24 of the circular workpiece 20 arranged on the support rollers 11 in the housing 2. The ability to move the fourth scale washer 7 into and out of the inner lateral surface 24 makes it easier to place the circular workpiece 20 on the support rollers 11 and to remove it.

[0048] FIG. 7 shows the workpiece drive 3 in a cutaway front view. In this, two of the three support rollers 11 and a workpiece 20 placed on the support rollers 11 are visible. The outer contour 25 of the workpiece 20 is in contact with the lateral surfaces 13 of the support rollers 11. The longitudinal axes 12 have the intersection point 18 and the longitudinal directions 15 are directed to the intersection point 18. The longitudinal axes 12 lie in the plane 19. The radii 14 decrease in the longitudinal directions 15 along the longitudinal axes 12. A conical receptacle 27 having a receiving axis 28 is formed by the lateral surfaces 13 for the workpiece 20. The tapered receptacle 27 is a geometric surface 31 which is determined by the lateral surfaces 13 of the support rollers 11. The surface 31 has a center point 32 and rises outwardly, i.e., opposite the longitudinal directions 15, in opposition to the earth gravity field vector g. The receptacle axis 28 is substantially parallel to the earth gravity field vector g. Usually, and also here, the receptacle axis 28 coincides with the centering axis 26.

[0049] FIG. 8 shows the conical receptacle 27 in a perspective view from obliquely above. The receptacle opening angle is 170° and is shown exaggerated for better recognizability.

[0050] FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of a workpiece drive 3 of the descaling device 1 for circular workpieces 20 in a cut front view. With the exception of the following, the explanations with respect to the first embodiment also apply to the second embodiment. In FIG. 9, two of the three support rollers 11 and a workpiece 20 placed on the support rollers 11 are visible. The outer contour 25 of the workpiece 20 is in contact with the lateral surfaces 13 of the support rollers 11. The longitudinal axes 12 have the intersection point 18 and the longitudinal directions 15 are directed towards the intersection point 18. In contrast to the first embodiment, the longitudinal axes 12 do not lie in a plane in the second embodiment. The radii 14 decrease in the longitudinal directions 15 along the longitudinal axes 12. A conical receptacle 27 with a receptacle axis 28 is also formed here by the lateral surfaces 13 for the workpiece 20. The conical receptacle 27 is a geometric surface 31, which is determined by the lateral surfaces 13 of the support rollers 11. The surface 31 has a center point 32 and rises outwardly, i.e., opposite the longitudinal directions 15, in opposition to the earth gravity field vector g. The receptacle axis 28 is substantially parallel to the earth gravity field vector g. Usually, as here, the receptacle axis 28 coincides with the centering axis 26.