Ring rolling machine with device for ring manipulation

Abstract

A device (1) for rolling rings, comprising: a rolling device (10) with a main roll (11) and at least one mandrel roll (13a) onto which a ring is loadable, wherein the rolling device (10) is designed to roll the ring, with the mandrel roll (13a) impacting an interior face of the ring and the main roll (11) impacting an exterior face of the ring ;and a manipulator (20) comprising at least one robot (21) designed to manipulate the ring, comprising loading the ring onto the mandrel roll (13a) and/or unloading the ring from the mandrel roll (13a).

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A device (1) for rolling rings, comprising: a rolling device (10) with a main roll (11) and at least one mandrel roll (13a) onto which a ring can be loaded, wherein the rolling device (10) is designed to roll the ring with the mandrel roll (13a) impacting an interior face of the ring and the main roll (11) impacting an exterior face of the ring; and a robot (21) designed to load the ring onto the mandrel roll (13a) and/or unload the ring from the mandrel roll (13a).

12. The device (1) according to claim 11, wherein the main roll (11) is rotatable about a main roll axis and wherein the rolling device (10) further comprises a mandrel roller table (12) rotatable about a table axis, wherein the mandrel roller table (12) comprises the at least one mandrel roll (13a) in form of a plurality of rolling stations (13), each having one mandrel roll (13a), and wherein the main roll axis and the table axis run parallel and offset from one another in such a manner that the mandrel roller table (12) with the mandrel rolls (13a) rotates eccentrically about the main roll (11), whereby different dimensions of a rolling gap between the main roll (11) and a corresponding mandrel roll (13a) are set as a function of an angle of rotation of the mandrel roller table (12).

13. The device (1) according to claim 12, wherein the mandrel rolls (13a) of different rolling stations (13) have different diameters and/or different roll profiles in order to realize multi-stage rolling.

14. The device (1) according to claim 12, wherein the robot (21) is designed to transfer the ring from the mandrel roll (13a) of one of the plurality of rolling stations (13) to the mandrel roll (13a) of another of the plurality of rolling stations (13).

15. The device (1) according to claim 12, wherein the robot (21) is designed to load the ring onto a loading position of the mandrel roll (13a) of one of the plurality of rolling stations (13) and to unload the ring from the mandrel roll (13a) of the one of the plurality of rolling stations (13) at an unloading position.

16. The device (1) according to claim 15, wherein the robot (21) is designed to unload the ring from a magazine (30) before loading onto the loading position and/or to feed the ring to a magazine (30) after unloading from the unloading position.

17. The device (1) according to claim 11, wherein the robot (21) comprises a gripper (21a), which is designed to grip the ring, and at least one movable robot arm (21b), pivotable about one or more axes of rotation, to which the gripper (21a) is attached.

18. The device (1) according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of different grippers (21a) is provided, stocked in a magazine, and wherein the robot (21) is designed to change the gripper (21a) automatically and autonomously.

19. The device (1) according to claim 11, wherein the robot (21) is designed to perform a tool change of the rolling device (10).

20. The device (1) according to claim 11, wherein the robot (21) is designed to change the at least one mandrel roll (13a).

21. The device (1) according to claim 11, wherein the robot (21) is an industrial robot.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a device for rolling rings of the multi-mandrel table type with a manipulator realized by a robot.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Preferred exemplary embodiments are described below with reference to the figure.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a device 1 for rolling rings. For the sake of clarity, the workpieces themselves, that is, the rings in the various stages of processing, are not shown in the figure.

[0032] The device 1 is preferably of multi-mandrel table design, with which a main roll cooperates with a plurality of mandrel rolls integrated in a rotatable table. In such a case, the device 1 is also referred to as a “table ring rolling machine,” a “multi-mandrel ring rolling machine” or a “multi-mandrel table ring rolling machine.”

[0033] The device 1 in accordance with the present embodiment comprises a rolling device 10 and a manipulator 20.

[0034] The rolling device 10 comprises a main roll 11, which is rotatable about a main roll axis, along with an mandrel roller table 12, which is rotatable about a table axis. The mandrel roller table 12 comprises a plurality of, in the present embodiment four, rolling stations 13, each having a rotatable mandrel roll 13a. In other words, a plurality of rotatably mounted mandrel rolls 13a is located on the mandrel roller table 12 or is at least partially integrated therein, as the case may be.

[0035] The main roll axis and the table axis are not shown in FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity, but they are offset from one another in such a manner that the mandrel roller table 12 with the mandrel rolls 13a rotates eccentrically about the main roll 11, whereby different dimensions of the rolling gap between the main roll 11 and a corresponding mandrel roll 13a are set as a function of the angle of rotation of the mandrel roller table 12. The main roll 11 and the mandrel roller table 12 rotate preferably in the same direction. The actuators, for example one or more electric motors, for setting the main roll 11, the mandrel roller table 12 and, if necessary, the mandrel rolls 13a in rotation are located below the mandrel roller table 12, but are concealed by a housing section in FIG. 1.

[0036] The mandrel rolls 13a are mounted at a certain distance from the table axis of the mandrel roller table 12, so that the above-mentioned rolling gap between the respective mandrel roll 13a and the main roll 11 changes periodically between a rolling gap maximum and a rolling gap minimum as a function of the angle of rotation of the mandrel roller table 12. The distance of the respective mandrel roll 13a to the table axis is preferably adjustable, for example in the range of ±25 mm.

[0037] Particularly preferably, the plurality of rolling stations 13 of the mandrel roller table 12 is designed for multi-stage rolling; that is, the property of the mandrel rolls 13a of the various rolling stations 13 differs. In the simplest case, the diameters of the mandrel rolls 13a can differ in this respect, by which different rolling gap minima can be formed depending on the station and thus the ring can be gradually brought into its desired final shape. In this manner, particularly thin-walled rings can be produced in a material-friendly yet efficient manner. Alternatively or additionally, differently profiled mandrel rolls 13a can be used in order to specially structure the shape of the ring in this manner.

[0038] The mandrel roller table 12 can have further devices, such as relief means for reducing the forces acting on the mandrel rolls 13a, sensors for monitoring the rolling process and the like.

[0039] If an annular preform is loaded onto an mandrel roll 13a, it is rolled out with the circulation of the mandrel roller table 12 in the direction of circulation in the reducing rolling gap, until the rolling gap minimum is reached. With the further rotation of the mandrel roller table 12, the rolling gap widens again. In the case of single-stage rolling, the ring is finish-rolled after passing through the rolling gap minimum and can then be unloaded from the corresponding mandrel roll 13a. In the case of multi-stage rolling, the ring is loaded onto another rolling station 13 after such a rolling pass of an mandrel roll 13a, and the above process is repeated until, after passing through all the necessary rolling stations 13 (at least two rolling stations 13), the ring is finish-rolled.

[0040] It should be noted that, for the sake of linguistic simplicity, the workpiece to be rolled in all its processing stages, that is, both as a preform and in its finish-rolled form as well as in all intermediate steps, is mostly referred to herein as a “ring.”

[0041] In accordance with the preceding description, the ring undergoes a plurality of manipulations during the rolling process, including loading, unloading and any transfer of the ring from one rolling station 13 to another. Thus, “manipulation” herein does not mean shaping by rolling, but rather transporting the ring into the rolling device 10, out of the rolling device 10 and, if necessary, within the rolling device 10.

[0042] Such manipulation of the ring is performed by the manipulator 20. For this purpose, this comprises at least one robot 21, preferably an industrial robot, or is implemented by such a robot, as the case may be, Two or more robots 21 can also be provided, for example in the case of high cycle times that are not feasible or difficult to achieve with only one robot 21.

[0043] The robot 21 is designed to load a ring onto a loading position of the mandrel roll 13a of a rolling station 13, and to unload the ring from the mandrel roll 13a of the rolling station 13 at an unloading position. For this purpose, the ring at the preform stage can be taken from a magazine 30 and fed to such a magazine after completion of the rolling process.

[0044] In the simplest case, the one or more magazines 30 may be trays. However, the term “magazine” also covers other means for providing the workpieces, that is, rings at the preform stage, and/or for taking off or transporting away the finish-rolled rings. For example, a magazine 30 can be implemented by a container, a conveying device, such as a conveyor belt, or in some other manner, as long as the workpieces can be picked up by the robot 21 from a pick-up point and, after processing, loaded onto a loading point from which the finished ring can be transported away.

[0045] Particularly preferably, the robot 21 is further designed to transfer a ring from one rolling station 13 within the rolling device 10 to another rolling station 13. In such a case, the robot 21 can unload the ring from an mandrel roll 13a of a first rolling station 13 and load it onto an mandrel roll 13a of a second rolling station 13. The first and second rolling stations 13 can, but do not necessarily have to, be adjacent rolling stations 13. Depending on the number of rolling stations 13 to be passed through, this procedure can be extended by a third, fourth, etc. rolling station 13. In this manner, multi-stage rolling can be realized, wherein all manipulations of the ring can be carried out with only a single manipulator 20. However, a plurality of manipulators 20 with a total of a plurality of robots 21 can of course be applied if necessary.

[0046] The robot 21 has a gripper 21a, which is designed to grip at least one ring and perform the corresponding manipulation. For this purpose, the gripper 21a has one or more gripping means in order to ensure the secure pick-up and loading of the rings. The gripping means can be movable (for example, sliding, pivoting, etc.), plier-like or even rigid, to the extent that the required manipulations can be carried out securely. If the manipulation includes a loading and unloading of the rolling device with a ring, a corresponding plier or gripper concept, as the case may be, can simultaneously create the possibility of picking up a preform from a further transfer point and loading the released rolling station 13.

[0047] In order to be able to use the robot 21 for manipulating different ring products, a plurality of grippers 21a, which may be designed to be product-specific, are preferably provided. These can be stored in a magazine and automatically exchanged, that is, picked up and loaded, by the robot 21 upon a product change. With such a set of different grippers 21a, both the manipulability of the rings and the applicability of the rolling device 10 are further made more flexible.

[0048] The robot 21 further comprises at least one robot arm 21b to which the gripper 21a is attached. Preferably, the gripper 21a can be pivoted about one or more axes relative to the robot arm 21b. Preferably, two robot arms 21b are provided, which robot arms are pivotally connected to each other about one or more axes in order to realize a high number of degrees of freedom and thus a variety of manipulation options.

[0049] In accordance with a further embodiment, the robot 21 is further designed to perform a tool change of the rolling device 10. In particular, the robot 21 can be equipped with a special gripper 21a for exchanging the mandrel rolls 13a, which makes it possible to automatically exchange one or more of the mandrel rolls 13a or to load the rolling stations 13 with the required mandrel rolls 13a upon a product change. The mandrel rolls 13a that are not required can be stored in an mandrel roll store, preferably automatically by the robot 21. In this manner, unproductive auxiliary processing times can be significantly reduced, for example in the event of a technical failure or a product change.

[0050] To the extent applicable, any of the individual features shown in the exemplary embodiments may be combined and/or interchanged.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0051] 1 Device for rolling rings [0052] 10 Rolling device [0053] 11 Main roll [0054] 12 Mandrel roller table [0055] 13 Rolling station [0056] 13a Mandrel roll [0057] 20 Manipulator [0058] 21 Robot [0059] 21a Gripper [0060] 21b Robot arm [0061] 30 Magazine