Straightening Roll Access Using Slide Plate and Support Prism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing straightening machines face challenges in accessing upper rollers for maintenance due to their heavy weight and complex disassembly requirements, making it difficult to inspect, clean, or replace them without tools or cranes.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates a lower slide plate that can be extended to move both upper and lower rollers out of the working area, using an interchangeable prism to support the upper rollers, allowing for easier access and removal of the upper rollers, even when they are heavy, by enabling them to be lifted with a crane.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If the roller frames are removed to access straightening rollers for maintenance, then the rollers become accessible for inspection and replacement, but the disassembly process becomes very complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The roller frame is divided into a fixed part and a movable part (slide plate). The slide plate can be independently extracted from the fixed part, allowing access to the rollers without removing the entire roller frame. This segmentation enables maintenance work while keeping the majority of the roller frame assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The slide plate containing the rollers is extracted from the roller frame assembly. By removing only the slide plate portion rather than the entire roller frame, the rollers become accessible for maintenance while minimizing disassembly complexity and time.
2Ease of repair
If the slide plate is extended to move rollers out of the working area, then the rollers become accessible for maintenance, but the upper rollers cannot be easily attached to a crane for removal due to the slide plate being located above them
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having the slide plate above the rollers (which blocks crane access), the design inverts the arrangement by positioning the slide plate below the rollers. This allows cranes to access and lift the rollers from above while the slide plate remains in its support position.
Solution Approach 2:
The interchangeable prism acts as an intermediary support device. It can be positioned to support the rollers when needed, and its removable nature allows it to be displaced to enable crane access for heavy roller handling without permanent structural interference.
3Reliability
If straightening rollers are mounted in the roller frame with multiple support rollers, then the rollers can absorb forces and prevent deflection, but making the rollers accessible requires removing the entire roller frame
Solution Approach 1:
The roller support system is segmented into the fixed roller frame structure (which provides structural stability) and the movable slide plate (which holds the rollers). This allows the stable frame to remain assembled while the slide plate is independently removed for roller maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The slide plate is designed to be dynamically movable relative to the fixed roller frame. It can be extended and retracted, and selectively removed, while the roller frame maintains its structural integrity and stability during operation and maintenance phases.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a straightening machine for straightening a metal strip or flat metal parts, comprising a number of upper straightening rollers 5 in an upper roller stand 1 and a number of lower straightening rollers 6 in a lower roller stand 2. The upper and lower straightening rollers 5, 6 are arranged such that they form a straightening gap 3 between an inlet 8 and an outlet 9 of the straightening machine in a working area 4, in order to act on the metal strip or metal part to be straightened from above and below and to guide it through the straightening machine in a working direction 7 from the inlet 8 to the outlet 9.Furthermore, the straightening machine comprises a lower slide plate 15, with which the lower straightening rollers 6 can be extended and retracted from the working area 4 of the straightening machine transversely to the working direction 7 on an operating side of the straightening machine, wherein an interchangeable prism 22 is provided for insertion into the straightening gap 3, which is designed such that when the lower slide plate 15 is extended from the working area 4 it can rest on the lower straightening rollers 6, while the upper straightening rollers 5 rest on the interchangeable prism 22.