Sliding Block Contours for Articulated Spindle Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Joint spindles in rolling mill drives experience rapid wear due to high torques and surface pressures, leading to frequent replacements and significant idle and assembly times, which are costly and burdensome, especially when unscheduled.
Innovation Solution
The contours of the rotating bodies in the joint spindle are designed to be convex or concave, replacing the need for guide grooves and cams, with a uniformly spherically shaped contour providing optimal stress distribution and guiding properties without stress fractures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If sliding blocks are used in joint spindles to compensate for length and direction changes, then the joint spindle can handle high torques and impact loads, but the sliding blocks experience rapid wear due to high surface pressures and require frequent replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding block is divided into two separate sliding bodies (first and second sliding bodies) with different material properties. The first sliding body has a higher melting point and is positioned at the high stress zone, while the second sliding body has lower friction and is positioned at the contact zone. This segmentation allows each material to optimize its function for its specific operational conditions, reducing overall wear and improving durability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the sliding block are assigned different material qualities based on their functional requirements. The first sliding body uses material with high melting point for the high stress zone near the joint head, while the second sliding body uses material with low friction coefficient for the contact zone with the flat pin. This local differentiation of material properties optimizes performance and reduces wear in each specific zone.
2Ease of manufacture
If sliding blocks are frequently replaced due to wear, then worn components can be exchanged, but significant idle and assembly times are required causing high costs and production losses
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the sliding block into two separable sliding bodies, the invention enables more flexible maintenance strategies. The worn component can be replaced without necessarily replacing the entire assembly, and the modular design may allow for faster replacement procedures, reducing idle and assembly time.
3Ease of operation
If guide grooves and cams are used to provide guiding properties for the sliding block, then the sliding block can maintain proper alignment, but stress concentrations occur leading to stress fractures
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces sharp-edged guide grooves and cams with spherically shaped contours on the sliding bodies. These curved surfaces distribute stress more evenly across the contact areas, eliminating stress concentration points that would lead to fractures. The spherical geometry provides smooth guidance while maintaining uniform stress distribution.
4Device complexity
If conventional sliding block designs are used, then the structure is simple, but the torque transmission productivity is limited due to stress fractures and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding block uses a composite construction with two different sliding bodies made from materials with complementary properties. The first sliding body material has high melting point for thermal resistance, while the second sliding body material has low friction for efficient torque transmission. This composite approach increases productivity by allowing higher torque transmission without stress fractures or excessive wear.
Data Source
AI summary
An articulated spindle (3) which is arranged in particular in a drive of a rolling mill, comprises a coupling sleeve for establishing a connection to an articulated head, or an articulated head (4) for establishing a connection to a coupling sleeve (2), wherein the tongue (1) of the coupling sleeve (2) engages with a cylindrical opening (5) of the articulated head (4) that is located transverse to the rotational axis. A sliding block (19) is arranged between the articulated head and the tongue (1), said block being formed by two sliding bodies (21, 22), which have rotational body contours (23, 24) in two portions, said sliding bodies being arranged rotatably in a rotational body-shaped recess (25, 31) adjusted to the shape of the sliding bodies (21, 22) such that they can perform a pivoting motion in the articulated head (4). The articulated spindle (3) is characterized in that the rotational body contours (23, 24) are designed to be concave or convex and the recess (25) is designed to be accordingly convex or concave.