Shiftable Rolling Mill Transmission With Direct-Clutch Low Vibration Stage

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional spur gear pinion gearboxes in rolling mill technology experience significant vibration excitation due to tooth meshing, leading to impaired product quality and productivity losses, especially at high speeds, and are hindered by the large inertia of gear wheels.

Innovation Solution

A gearbox design with a rotatably mounted drive shaft and two output shafts arranged in parallel, connected via an output gear stage, featuring a first clutch for direct torque transmission without gearing in the first gear stage and a second clutch for step-up or step-down in the second gear stage, utilizing form-locking clutches and comb rollers to minimize vibration and inertial effects.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Power

If a conventional spur gear stage is used for torque transmission, then torque can be transmitted between shafts, but significant vibration excitation occurs due to tooth meshing

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetorque transmissionVSAvoidvibration excitation
Core Design Contradiction:
PowerVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes the harmful spur gear tooth meshing mechanism from the torque transmission path. Instead of using a conventional spur gear stage between the drive shaft and output shafts, the invention directly couples the drive shaft to the output shafts via clutches, eliminating the gear teeth and their associated vibration excitation while maintaining torque transmission capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Speed

If conventional spur gear stages are used in all gear stages, then speed reduction or increase is achieved, but the large inertia of gear wheels negatively affects dynamic behavior

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoutput speedVSAvoidinertial effects
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the intermediate spur gear wheels that create harmful inertia from the first gear stage. By using direct clutch coupling instead of gear meshing for the first speed stage, the invention eliminates the large inertial moments associated with conventional gear wheels, thereby improving dynamic behavior and speed control.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Productivity

If high rolling speeds are used to improve productivity, then production efficiency increases, but critical vibration excitations are triggered that impair product quality

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproduction speedVSAvoidproduct quality
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent converts the potential harm of high-speed operation by eliminating the vibration source (spur gear tooth meshing) entirely. By using direct clutch coupling and comb rollers without toothed gears, the system can operate at high rolling speeds without triggering the critical vibrations that would normally occur in conventional gear systems, thus maintaining both high productivity and high product quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

Data Source

PatentEP3638499B1Shiftable transmission in rolling mill technology
Publication Date: 2021.02.17 SMS GROUP GMBH
  • EP3638499B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2

AI summary

The invention relates to a shiftable transmission (1) having at least two shifting levels, preferably for use in rolling mill technology, said shiftable transmission comprising: a rotatably mounted input shaft (20), to which an input torque can be applied; a rotatably mounted first output shaft (30) and a rotatably mounted second output shaft (40), which are arranged parallel and are connected to each other by means of an output transmission stage in such a way that said output shafts rotate oppositely, preferably at the same rotational speed, when an input torque is applied to the input shaft (20) at any shifting level of the shiftable transmission (1); a first coupling (50), which is designed to selectively connect and disconnect the input shaft (20) and the first output shaft (30), a first shifting level of the shiftable transmission (1) being realized in the coupled state, in which first shifting level the input shaft (20) and the first output shaft (30) are connected to each other in such a way that the input torque is transferred from the input shaft (20) to the first output shaft (30) without step-up or step-down, preferably without redirection and without a spur gear stage.