Positioning drive shaft support for roller leveler

Abstract

A roller leveler assembly has a first cassette having a first set of work rolls of a first diameter and work roll spacing and a second cassette having a second set of work rolls of a second diameter and work roll spacing. A drive mechanism selectively drives one of the first cassette of the first set of rolls and the second cassette of the second set of rolls. The drive mechanism has a first set of upper drive shafts and a second set of lower drive shafts and a drive shaft support assembly. The drive shaft support assembly has a first support shaft for supporting the first set of upper drive shafts and a second support shaft for supporting the second set of lower drive shafts. The first support shaft and second support shaft each has a first set of saddles and a second set of saddles for supporting the first set of upper drive shafts and the second set of lower drive shafts in first and second positions corresponding to the work roll center spacing of the first set of work rolls and the second set of work rolls, respectively.

Claims

1. A roller leveler assembly, comprising: a first cassette comprising a first set of work rolls of a first diameter; a second cassette comprising a second set of work rolls of a second diameter; a drive mechanism which selectively drives one of said first cassette of said first set of rolls and said second cassette of said second set of rolls; said drive mechanism comprising a first set of drive shafts and a second set of drive shafts and a drive shaft support assembly, comprising: a first support shaft for supporting said first set of drive shafts, wherein said first support shaft comprises at least one first saddle and at least one second saddle for supporting said first set of drive shafts in first and second positions corresponding to said first diameter of said first set of work rolls and to said second diameter of said second set of work rolls, respectively; wherein when said first support shaft is rotated, said first set of drive shafts laterally and vertically shift from said at least one first saddle to said at least one second saddle.

2. The roller leveler assembly of claim 1, wherein said first position of said first set of drive shafts aligns said first set of drive shafts with said first set of work rolls and said second position of said first set of drive shafts aligns said first set of drive shafts with said second set of work rolls.

3. The roller leveler assembly of claim 1, wherein said first set of drive shafts comprises eight drive shafts.

4. The roller leveler assembly of claim 1, further comprising a second support shaft for supporting said second set of drive shafts, said second support shaft comprises at least one first saddle and at least one second saddle for supporting said second set of drive shafts in first and second positions, respectively.

5. The roller leveler assembly of claim 4, wherein said second set of drive shafts comprises eight drive shafts.

6. The roller leveler assembly of claim 4, wherein said first position of said second set of drive shafts aligns said second set of drive shafts with said first set of work rolls and said second position of said second set of drive shafts aligns said second set of drive shafts with said second set of work rolls.

7. The roller leveler assembly of claim 1, wherein said first support shaft is positioned approximately perpendicular to said first set of drive shafts.

8. The roller leveler assembly of claim 4, wherein said second support shaft is positioned approximately perpendicular to said second set of drive shafts.

9. The roller leveler assembly of claim 3, wherein said first support shaft comprises eight first saddles and eight second saddles.

10. The roller leveler assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one first saddle and said at least one second saddle are positioned substantially on opposite sides of said first support shaft.

11. The roller leveler assembly of claim 9, wherein said first saddles and said second saddles are positioned on substantially opposite sides of said first support shaft.

12. The roller leveler assembly of claim 5, wherein said second support shaft comprises eight first saddles and eight second saddles.

13. The roller leveler assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one first saddle and said at least one second saddle of said first support shaft are offset from one another in a longitudinal direction.

14. The roller leveler assembly of claim 13, wherein said at least one first saddle and said at least one second saddle of said first support shaft are offset from one another in a vertical direction.

15. The roller leveler assembly of claim 14, further comprising a groove extending between and connecting said at least one first saddle of said first support shaft to said at least one second saddle of said first support shaft.

16. The roller leveler assembly of claim 4, wherein said at least one first saddle of said second support shaft and said at least one second saddle of said second support shaft are offset from one another in a longitudinal direction.

17. The roller leveler assembly of claim 16, wherein said at least one first saddle of said second support shaft and said at least one second saddle of said second support shaft are offset from one another in a vertical direction.

18. The roller leveler assembly of claim 17, further comprising a groove extending between and connecting said at least one first saddle of said second support shaft to said at least one second saddle of said second support shaft.

19. The roller leveler assembly of claim 4, wherein said first support shaft and said second support shaft are connected to and driven by a drive gear assembly.

20. A roller leveler assembly, comprising: a first cassette comprising a first set of work rolls of a first diameter; a second cassette comprising a second set of work rolls of a second diameter; a drive mechanism which selectively drives one of said first cassette of said first set of rolls and said second cassette of said second set of rolls; said drive mechanism comprising a first set of drive shafts and a second set of drive shafts and a drive shaft support assembly, comprising: a first support shaft for supporting said first set of drive shafts, wherein said first support shaft comprises at least one first saddle and at least one second saddle for supporting said first set of drive shafts in first and second positions, respectively; a second support shaft for supporting said second set of drive shafts, said second support shaft comprises at least one first saddle and at least one second saddle for supporting said second set of drive shafts in first and second positions, respectively; wherein said first support shaft and said second support shaft are connected to and are driven by a drive gear assembly; wherein when said first support shaft and said second support shaft are rotated by said drive gear assembly, said first set of drive shafts laterally and vertically shift from said at least one first saddle to said at least one second saddle of said first upper support shaft and said second set of drive shafts shift from said at least one first saddle to said at least one second saddle of said second support shaft.

21. A roller leveler assembly, comprising: a first cassette comprising a first set of work rolls of a first diameter and a first spacing; a second cassette comprising a second set of work rolls of a second diameter and a second spacing; a drive mechanism which selectively drives one of said first cassette of said first set of rolls and said second cassette of said second set of rolls; said drive mechanism comprising a first set of drive shafts and a second set of drive shafts and a drive shaft support assembly, comprising: a first support shaft for supporting said first set of drive shafts and a second support shaft for supporting said second set of drive shafts, wherein said first support shaft comprises a set of first notches and a second set of notches for supporting said first set of drive shafts in first and second positions, and said second support shaft comprises a first set of notches and a second set of notches for supporting said second set of drive shafts in first and second positions, wherein said first and second positions of said first drive shafts and first and second positions of said second set of drive shafts correspond to said first set of work rolls and said second set of work rolls, respectively; wherein when said first support shaft and said second support shaft are rotated, said first set of drive shafts laterally and vertically shift from said first set of notches to said second set of notches of said first support shaft and said second set of drive shafts laterally and vertically shift from said first set of notches to said second set of notches of said second support shaft.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drive shaft positioning device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the disclosure;

(2) FIG. 2 is another perspective view of a drive shaft positioning device of FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a spindle support arrangement;

(4) FIG. 3B is a side elevational view of the spindle support arrangement of FIG. 3A;

(5) FIG. 3C is a side elevational view in cross section of the spindle support arrangement of FIG. 3A;

(6) FIG. 4A is a top plan view of an upper spindle support shaft of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2;

(7) FIG. 4B is a side elevational view of the upper spindle support shaft of FIG. 4A; and

(8) FIG. 4C is a bottom plan view of the upper spindle support shaft of FIG. 4A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

(9) The present disclosure relates to roller levelers. It finds particular application in conjunction with cassette roller levelers which have two different roll cartridges which have rolls of different diameters and different center distances. Specifically, the apparatus of the present disclosure is a drive shaft positioning support that supports and shifts the location of drive shafts during cartridge exchanges to match the roll centers of the particular cartridge being inserted.

(10) In order to support the drive shafts, referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the disclosure is shown. A positioning drive shaft support 10 includes two support shafts 16, 18, i.e., a first or upper support shaft 16 for supporting a first set of upper drive shafts 12 and a second or lower shaft 18 for supporting a second set of lower drive shafts 14. Referring to FIG. 2, upper and lower drive shafts 12, 14 are rotatably connected to a first cartridge or cassette 17 of work rolls 21 or to a second cartridge or cassette 19 of work rolls 23. The drive shafts can be equally spaced apart and can be parallel to each other or at slight angles to each other. First cassette 17 includes work rolls 21 of a first diameter and spacing configuration, while the second cassette 19 includes work rolls 23 of a second diameter and spacing configuration which is different than the first diameter and spacing of work rolls 21. In the preferred embodiment, there are eight upper and lower work rolls 21, 23, but other numbers and configurations are contemplated by the disclosure.

(11) Referring to FIGS. 3A-3C and 4A-4C, each upper and lower support shaft 16, 18 preferably has an upper and lower row of grooves or notches called saddles 36, 38, preferably spaced about 180 degrees apart, corresponding to the elevation, horizontal position, and angle of the drive shafts required for each of the two cartridges 17, 19. The saddles can be preferably evenly spaced along the longitudinal axis of the shafts 16, 18. The lower set of saddles is offset from the upper set of saddles to facilitate both lateral and vertical shifting of the drive shafts between first and second positions corresponding to roll center distances of first and second roll cartridges.

(12) As the drive shaft support shafts 16, 18 rotate from one saddle 36 position to the other saddle 38 position, two things happen. First, the drive shafts 12, 14 shift laterally. This accommodates the change in roll center distance between the two work roll cassettes 17, 19. Second, the drive shafts 12, 14 shift vertically. This accommodates the fact that the smaller diameter work rolls operate at closer vertical gaps than the large rolls hence the drive shaft vertical spacing needs to change as well. The support shafts 16, 18 rotate about a fixed center as they go from saddle 36 to saddle 38. Saddle 36 is at a different radial distance (height) than saddle 38. This vertical height adjustment between saddle 36 and saddle 38 is facilitates the lateral shift of the drive shafts 12, 14.

(13) Further, in order to change the position of the drive shafts to accommodate the desired cartridge, spiral grooves 40 are additionally machined in the support shafts 16, 18 between the upper and lower saddles 36, 38 thereby connecting upper saddle to lower saddle, which act to guide or shift the drive shafts from one saddle to the other. Finally, the ends of the support shafts are mechanically tied together via a gear drive mechanism and rotated to move the drive shafts from one saddle of the support shaft to another saddle of the support shaft while the cartridges are out of the leveler.

(14) Referring specifically now to FIGS. 3A-3C, the spindle support arrangement including support shafts 16, 18 are shown in more detail. Hydraulic actuating cylinders 20 are mounted at one distal end 21 of a spindle support shaft 16, 18. Referring to FIG. 3B, a series of gears 22, 24, 26 spaced in a vertical orientation are rotatably connected to the hydraulic cylinder 20 to form a gear drive arrangement 28 for rotating the upper and lower spindle support shafts 16, 18 which are parallel to each other and in turn are supported on opposite longitudinally spaced apart vertical flange assemblies 30, 32. As seen in FIG. 2, in the preferred embodiment, there are eight upper drive shafts 12 and eight lower drive shafts 14. However, other configurations and numbers of drive shafts are contemplated by the disclosure.

(15) Referring now to FIGS. 4A-4C, detailed views of the support shafts 16, 18 are shown. Each support shaft 16, 18 has a row of spaced apart upper and lower saddles 36, 38 located or positioned substantially 180 degrees apart. Each row of saddles is configured to correspond to the elevation, horizontal position, and angle of the drive shafts, among other factors, required for each of the two roller cartridges. Straight grooves are machined into the shafts 16, 18 to form the opposed drive shaft saddles 36, 38. Then, offset spiral grooves 40 are machined in the support shafts interposed between and connecting the opposed offset saddles 36, 38, which act to guide or move the drive shafts laterally and vertically from one saddle to the other, for example, from saddle 36 to saddle 38.

(16) The ends of the support shafts are mechanically tied together and rotated via gear drive assembly 28 to move the drive shafts 12, 14 from a first position corresponding to the first saddle 36 to a second position corresponding to the second saddle 38 while the cartridges are out of the leveler. Specifically, as the support shafts 16, 18 are rotated by the gear assembly 28, the drive shafts 12, 14 which are supported by the saddles 36 on the upper end of the spindles 16, 18 slide along the offset spiral grooves 40 which connect the upper saddles 36 to the lower saddles 38 which are offset with respect to the upper saddles 36. Thus, the drive shafts 10, 12 are laterally and vertically shifted from a first position (at saddle 36) corresponding to a first roll 17 diameter and spacing to a second position (at saddle 38) corresponding to a second roll 19 diameter and spacing. The support shafts are positioned to laterally extend between adjacent drive shafts at approximately 90 degrees. In other words, the longitudinal axis of each support shafts are positioned at about 90 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of each of the drive shafts. The support shafts can be parallel to each other and spaced apart in a vertical orientation.

(17) The exemplary embodiment has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiment be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the above disclosure and appended claims or the equivalents thereof.