STAND CHANGE CARRIAGE COMPRISING A LIFTING MECHANISM

Abstract

The present application relates to a stand change carriage (10) for simultaneously receiving and transporting a plurality of stands (12) of a rolling mill (14) for rolling metal rods, wires or pipes, the stand change carriage (10) comprising a plurality of stand places (16), one of the stands (12) being receivable individually in each of the stand places (16), and the stand change carriage (10) comprising a lifting mechanism (18) which is designed to raise and lower each of the stands (12) individually.

Claims

1. A stand change carriage for simultaneously receiving and transporting a plurality of stands of a rolling mill for rolling metal rods, wires, or pipes, the stand change carriage comprising: a plurality of stand places, wherein one of the stands is receivable individually in each of the stand places, and a lifting mechanism configured to raise and lower each of the stands individually.

2. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of wheels for transporting the stands on rails or along a rail-less substrate.

3. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises a spindle mechanism configured to raise or to lower the stands.

4. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises at least four lifting pins configured to grasp the stands, wherein two lifting pins are arranged on each of the stand places.

5. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, wherein the stand change carriage comprises an energy source in order to supply the lifting mechanism with energy.

6. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, further comprising at least four stand places, wherein the lifting mechanism is configured to raise and lower the at least four stands individually.

7. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, wherein a protective barrier is arranged between pairs of the stand places, such that the protective barrier covers an intermediate space between each pair of the stand places.

8. The stand change carriage according to claim 7, wherein the protective barrier is provided on both sides facing the stand places with an inflatable sealing lip.

9. The stand change carriage according to claim 1, wherein the stand places are configured to receive a stand having a hexagonal outside shape when viewed along a rolling direction of the stand.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a preferred stand change carriage on which a stand is received.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows the preferred stand change carriage in a position retracted into a stand base.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the rolling direction of the preferred stand change carriage in a rolling mill.

[0034] FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail of a part of the preferred stand change carriage.

WAYS OF IMPLEMENTING THE INVENTION

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a preferred stand change carriage 10 for receiving four stands 12. For this purpose, the stand change carriage is equipped with four stand places 16 which are all designed to individually receive a stand 12. In the situation shown in FIG. 1, a stand 12 is received in one of the stand places 16, while the three remaining stand places 16 are empty. Viewed from the left, the second stand place 16 of the stand change carriage 10 is occupied by a stand 12, and the first, third and fourth stand places 16 are empty.

[0036] FIG. 1 further shows a rolling mill 14 comprising four stand receiving places 34 of a stand base 32 arranged one behind the other along the rolling direction W. Three stands 12 are received in the stand receiving places 34, specifically, viewed from the left, in the first, third and fourth of the stand receiving places 34. One of the stand receiving places 34, the second stand receiving place 34 viewed from the left, is unoccupied. The stand change carriage 10 is positioned in FIG. 1 such that it can enter the stand base 32 laterally, in order to convey the stand 12 in the second stand place 16 into the second stand receiving place 34 of the stand base 32, in which no stand 12 is yet received, or to receive one or more, in particular all, of the stands 12 located in the stand base 32, in order to completely transport the set of four stands 12. Viewed from the right-hand side in the rolling direction W, the rolling mill 14 is accessible by the stand change carriage 10 or a worker in order to exchange stands 12 or to perform settings on the stands 12 or other parts of the rolling mill 14.

[0037] Viewed along the rolling direction, the stands 12 have a hexagonal outside shape in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, said stands being positioned on a side surface of the hexagon formed by the outside shape, such that a corner of the hexagon at half the height of the stand 12 can be reached on the accessible side.

[0038] The stand change carriage 10 comprises a base frame 36 which is movable on the wheels 20 via a rail system indicated in FIG. 1. The base frame 36 comprises a crosspiece 38 and two limbs 40 extending laterally at the two ends thereof, the wheels 20 being arranged at the two ends of the two limbs 40. The base frame 36 thus spans a rectangular surface which it surrounds in a C-shape on three sides and at each of the corners of which one of the wheels 20 is arranged. Thus, large loads can be received in the interior of the region spanned by the base frame 36, and reliably transported on the wheels 20.

[0039] Along the crosspiece 38, the stand change carriage 10 comprises a four-part lifting mechanism 18. Each part of the lifting mechanism 18 belongs to one of the stand places 16 and is designed to raise and lower a stand 12 individually.

[0040] For this purpose, the lifting mechanism 18 comprises two lifting pins 24 at each of the stand places, in order to interact with corresponding openings in the stands 12. Said openings are provided in the above-mentioned corners of the hexagon, at half the height of the stand 12, other arrangements of the openings and also other means for interaction between the lifting mechanism 18 and the stands 12 also being possible, however.

[0041] The lifting pins 24 are attached to a vertically displaceable slide 42 which is guided over a vertical rail 44. Thus, each stand 12 can be grasped by the lifting pins 24 and raised and lowered individually by vertically moving the corresponding slide 42 along the vertical rails 44.

[0042] A spindle mechanism 22 is provided, in order to operate the lifting mechanism 18. Each part of the lifting mechanism 18, i.e. the slide 42 of each of the stand places 16, is equipped for this purpose with an individually driven spindle 46 which extends from the crosspiece 38 to the slide 42 and interacts there with a thread.

[0043] A protective barrier 26 is arranged between each pair of the adjacent stand places 16, in order to cover an intermediate space 28 between the stand places 16. The protective barrier 26 extends substantially vertically, and is shaped and dimensioned such that it extends in parallel with the outside shape of the stands 12. Furthermore, each of the protective barriers 26 comprises two sealing lips 30 in each case, which extend along the outside shape of the stand 12 located on this side beside the protective barrier 26.

[0044] The sealing lips 30 are inflatable, and can thus establish sealed contact between the protective barrier 26 and the stand 12. If the stand change carriage 10 remains in the stand base 32 during operation of the rolling mill 14, the protective barrier 26 can ensure that no metal and no spraying water escapes from the region between adjacent stands 12 and that no-one reaches into said region.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows the stand change carriage 10 from FIG. 1 in a position retracted into the stand base 32. The part of the lifting mechanism 18 which belongs to the second stand place 16, viewed from the left, is not completely raised, while the three other parts of the lifting mechanism are completely raised.

[0046] It can be seen in FIG. 2 that, in this retracted position, the base frame 36 makes an additional contribution to the machine safety, in that it also covers rotating parts which protrude from the ground for driving the rollers of the stands.

[0047] FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the rolling direction W of the stand change carriage 10 in the rolling mill 14. The stand change carriage 10 can, as shown here, enter the rolling mill 14 and remain there, while the stand 12 transported by the stand change carriage 10 is received in the stand receiving place 34 of the stand base 32.

[0048] In this set-up, the protective barrier 26 can serve, during operation, to protect the intermediate space 28 between adjacent stands 12. The protective barrier 26 can thus prevent material to be rolled from escaping out of the intermediate space 28 or a person reaching into the intermediate space 28.

[0049] The sealing lips 30 on the protective barrier 26 can be inflated in the retracted set-up of the stand change carriage 10, and thus also close the intermediate space 28 in a manner sealed against splashing water. Thus, cooling water which is released in large quantities between the stands 12 during operation can be kept within the intermediate space 28 and be discharged in a controlled manner.

[0050] FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the stand change carriage 10, in order to show the sealing lips 30 in more detail. The sealing lips 30 are located on both sides of the protective barrier 26, in order to establish a splashing water-tight connection with the stands 12 (not shown in FIG. 4) which are located on these two sides, and to hold cooling water released in the intermediate space 28 between adjacent stands 12 within the rolling mill 14 and protect the region in front of the rolling mill 14 from said water.

[0051] FIG. 4 also shows the lifting pins 24 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, without said pins engaging with a stand 12 in order to raise or lower it.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0052] 10 stand change carriage [0053] 12 stand [0054] 14 rolling mill [0055] 16 stand place [0056] 18 lifting mechanism [0057] 20 wheel [0058] 22 spindle mechanism [0059] 24 lifting pin [0060] 26 protective barrier [0061] 28 intermediate space [0062] 30 sealing lip [0063] 32 stand base [0064] 34 stand receiving place [0065] 36 base frame [0066] 38 crosspiece [0067] 40 limb [0068] 42 slide [0069] 44 rail [0070] 46 spindle [0071] W rolling direction