Lateral Guide Alignment for Uniform Travel in Roll Stands
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for aligning lateral guide rails in rolling stands fail to ensure uniform and homogeneous travel of products due to misalignments and dimensional deviations, particularly during assembly, maintenance, and modernization, leading to potential curvature issues.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that align lateral guide rails parallel to the center axis of the transport path using actuators controlled by position sensors, adjusting their positions to ensure uniform travel, involving mechanical, laser, or visual measurement of distances, and using shims or proportional combinations for calibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional alignment methods are used for lateral guide rails, then assembly is simpler, but alignment precision and uniformity deteriorate, causing product curvature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical alignment methods with an optical measurement system using lasers and autocollimators. The system projects laser beams onto the guide rails and measures their positions and orientations with high precision, eliminating the need for complex mechanical alignment tools and procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces reference planes and reference lines as intermediaries between the measurement system and the guide rails. These references provide a common coordinate system that facilitates precise measurement and alignment, acting as mediators that translate physical positions into measurable data.
2Measurement precision
If manual alignment procedures are used, then equipment cost is lower, but measurement precision and alignment uniformity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual measurement tools (tapes, levels, and other mechanical instruments) with an optical measurement system using lasers and autocollimators. This substitution provides continuous, high-precision measurement of guide rail positions and orientations, eliminating human error and improving measurement consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time feedback on the positions and orientations of lateral guides through the optical measurement system. This feedback enables operators to make precise adjustments and verify alignment uniformity across the entire transport path, ensuring consistent measurement precision throughout the alignment process.
3Productivity
If alignment is not recalibrated after maintenance, then maintenance time is reduced, but product travel uniformity deteriorates due to misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a systematic alignment verification and recalibration procedure that should be performed after maintenance activities. By preparing the optical measurement system and reference frameworks in advance, the system enables quick post-maintenance alignment checks without requiring extensive rework, thus maintaining both productivity and precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical measurement system provides continuous feedback on guide rail alignment status, enabling operators to quickly identify and correct misalignments after maintenance. This feedback mechanism ensures that alignment uniformity is restored efficiently, minimizing downtime while maintaining high precision standards.
4Loss of time
If traditional alignment methods are used, then equipment cost is lower, but alignment time and correction iterations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces time-consuming manual measurement and adjustment procedures with an automated optical measurement system. The laser-based system can simultaneously measure multiple points on guide rails, providing comprehensive alignment data quickly, thereby reducing total alignment time despite the increased complexity of the measurement equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs more measurements than traditionally required by measuring multiple points along each guide rail and across the entire transport path. This excessive measurement approach ensures comprehensive coverage and identifies alignment issues early, reducing the need for repeated adjustment iterations and ultimately saving time.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures uniform product travel by preventing curvatures and correcting misalignments, facilitating precise alignment during assembly, maintenance, and modernization of rolling stands.
Implementation Method 1
a laser device (102) for projecting a laser beam (103) as a reference axis along the center axis
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a method and a device for aligning at least one lateral guide (20-1,..., 20-4) for laterally delimiting a transport path, in particular for goods to be rolled, through a roll stand (40). According to the invention this is achieved in that, first, the central axis of a transport path is to be defined and then all of the actuators (A1,..., A8) of the lateral guide are to be moved into the respective minimum extended position of the actuators. The respective perpendicular distances (a1,... a8) from at least two measurement points per lateral guide to the central axis are then determined in order to determine an individual calibration stroke for each individual actuator from the minimum of said perpendicular distances in order to actuate the lateral guide. Finally, each of the actuators is calibrated by changing the individual extended position thereof, on the basis of the minimal extended position thereof, in order to change the respective calibration stroke calculated for the respective actuator.