Rolling Mill Roll Exchange Carriage for Fast Work Roll Changes
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Solution Overview
Problem
The frequent wear and deterioration of work rolls in rolling mills due to reduced diameter and high reduction rolling lead to inefficient roll changes, resulting in decreased operation rates and production efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A roll changing device that includes a push puller device, work roll transfer device, and back up roll transfer device, allowing for simultaneous and efficient change of work rolls and back up rolls without stopping the rolling operation, utilizing a device moving carriage with traveling wheels and rack gears to move the rolls in and out of the rolling mill.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rolls are changed by stopping the rolling operation, then roll replacement can be performed safely and completely, but operation rate and production efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention prepares replacement rolls in advance on the carriage before the rolling operation stops. The carriage holds new rolls ready, and upon stopping, the exchange is performed quickly by simply moving the carriage, eliminating the need for complex replacement procedures during the stoppage.
Solution Approach 2:
The carriage serves as an intermediary device that stores replacement rolls and enables their quick transfer to the rolling mill. This mediator allows the rolls to be exchanged without direct manual handling, reducing the time and complexity of the replacement operation.
2Manufacturing precision
If work rolls are changed frequently due to wear, then strip quality is maintained, but production efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Replacement work rolls are prepared in advance on the carriage, ready for immediate installation. This preliminary preparation ensures that when wear occurs and rolls need changing, the replacement can be done quickly without extending the stoppage time, thus maintaining strip quality while minimizing impact on production efficiency.
3Loss of time
If both work rolls and back up rolls are changed simultaneously, then setup time is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The carriage is designed to hold both work rolls and back up rolls simultaneously, merging the storage and transfer functions for both roll types into a single integrated device. This allows both sets of rolls to be exchanged together in one operation, reducing total downtime while the modular carriage design keeps the added complexity manageable.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
Changing rolls in rolling equipment is performed more efficiently. For this purpose, a roll changing device (12) for changing a pair of top and bottom work rolls (21) provided in a rolling mill (11) for rolling a strip to be passed therethrough includes: a work roll holding unit (51) holding the pair of top and bottom work rolls (21) in an attachable/detachable manner and capable of moving the work rolls (21) in a threading direction; a roll holding device (31) including the work roll holding unit (51) and capable of moving in a roll axis direction relative to the rolling mill (11) in a state of holding the work rolls (21) by using the work roll holding unit (51); and a work roll transfer device (32) capable of moving in a direction intersecting with a moving path of the roll holding device (31) and capable of mounting the work rolls (21).