JP4856875B2 - Process and apparatus for rolling metal bands - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for rolling a self-contained endless band (10) for a metal push belt, which is provided with a first and a second rotatable bearing roller (6, 7) around which the band (10) is intended to be placed and held in an elongated form, the second bearing roller (6) being accommodated in a movable manner in the device, with a rolling roller (11) that is in contact with the band (10) and with a central roller (7) that is in contact with the band (10) opposite to the rolling roller (11), in which device a pushing force (Fu) can be generated between the rolling roller (11) and the central roller (7), to which pushing force the band (10) is subjected, wherein one or both of the rolling roller (11) and the central roller (7) is provided with a concave, hourglass-like shape such that the respective roller (7; 11).

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for rolling an endless metal band according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a band forms part of a generally known metal push belt for use in, for example, a continuously variable transmission, for example EP-A0 950 830. ) And are well known. Such transmissions are generally well known and used, especially in passenger cars. In such a push belt, the band is used as part of a tensioning element comprising several such bands concentrically nested. The band here is formed by rolling a thin plate member to form a tube, closing the tube by welding, and then separating or cutting the ring from the tube. Finally, the ring is rolled to a relatively small band thickness, which reduces the band bendability and the relatively low internal stress of the material when the band rotates on a relatively small diameter bearing. Desirable to get. Since this property is crucial for the quality of the push belt, the desired shape of the band is achieved individually in a very accurate manner for each individual band of the tension element. After the rolling operation, the band typically undergoes some further processing or processing steps before the band is ready for use on the push belt.
Applicants have rolled metal bands in a manner that has not changed since the applicant's 1970 invention of the push belt. The principle of the method is recently disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-11-290908 (Patent Document 2). As insights into the characteristics of push belts and their bands progress and the popularity of continuously variable transmissions increases, especially in light of the band quality requirements according to the state of the technology, the applicant's many years of experience, modern push There is a need to improve the principles of the rolling process and rolling equipment to achieve a fully modern process and corresponding equipment reflecting the belt requirements and advances in general development of technology . In particular, the advances in the push belt technology, it is necessary to increase the force transmitted per unit mass of the push belt, thus also for this, each part of the production process of a push belt, Technology It is hoped that it will perform in a very advanced state.
European Patent No. EP-A0 950 830 Japanese Patent Publication JP-11-290908

Accordingly, one of the objectives of the present invention is to achieve an advanced process and device that produces rolling bands of relatively high quality or anyway having relatively high uniformity.
This object is achieved according to the invention in a rolling process with the addition of measures according to the part in which the features of claim 1 are described. Due to the measures of the present invention, the band is rolled at a specific process setting, which is determined by the material volume of the band to be rolled. For this purpose, prior to the actual rolling process , the measured value of the material volume of the band to be rolled is determined, for example, by a suitable first measuring module of the device for rolling the band.
According to the invention, the volume determination is performed as an arithmetic product of the width, length and thickness of the band to be rolled. However, depending on the production method of the band to be rolled, one or more of these parameters are already well known in advance. In the production process the applicant has developed over the years, which is applied with respect to the width and length of the band, which is actually in the step, are produced from sheet material by welding and cutting process is very precisely performed Yes. Therefore, only the measured thickness value of the band to be rolled is used as the measured material volume. In this case, the variation that may occur in the thickness uniformity of the sheet material is taken into account.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to examples.

(Brief description of the drawings)
Figure 1 is a schematic and internal schematic of rolling process according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a part of the rolling process .
FIG. 3 shows a part of the rolling process .
FIG. 4 shows a part of the rolling process .
FIG. 5 is a phase diagram identified by rotational speed and rolling force according to the present invention , which phase is used in the rolling process to shorten the cycle time in an optimal manner.
FIG. 6 is a side view and cross-sectional view of a band formed in an excellent manner by the process and apparatus according to the present invention.

In the drawings, corresponding structural members are given the same reference numerals.
FIG. 1 shows a rolling apparatus schematically shown in such a way that the rolling process used can also be seen. The apparatus comprises three rolling mill members or modules. The figure shows the first measuring module 1, the roller module 2 and the second measuring module 3 for this purpose from right to left. The rolling device and the rolling process are controlled by an electronic control unit, which is not shown.
The band 10 may be indicated by the term ring in its initial state, that is, before rolling, due to its circular and relatively rigid nature. After rolling, the band may also be indicated by the term belt due to its flexible nature.
Measuring module 1 and 3 is provided with a measuring roller 4 and 5, or whether the band 10 around its periphery rolling, can be arranged so as to measure the thickness D of the band 10. It is preferred that at least one of the rollers 4 or 5 be drivable so that a thickness measurement can be carried out at several places around the band 10 and an average value determined for it. The drivable roller 4 or 5 is preferably operable to move away from the other roller 5 or 4, in which case the band is subjected to a tensile force , which is effective for thickness measurement accuracy, especially reproducibility. is there. The thickness measurement can be performed by a motion sensor DS accommodated between the measuring rollers 4 and 5. According to the present invention , the thickness, or average thickness, is a measurement that determines the volume of the material of the band 10 to be rolled , and is thus a measurement that determines the process settings of the rolling process . The above measured value for the material volume can be determined more accurately if the length of the band to be rolled and, in some cases, the width are determined as well. In this band production process , it is sufficient to carry out only the thickness measurement according to the invention. This is because the length and width of the band 10 are assumed to be constant, which is very likely in combination with known production methods for the band to be rolled. In this known production method, the sheet material is rolled to form a cylinder, the sides of the sheet material that are in contact with each other are then welded together, and the resulting tube is cut into a ring. Is produced.

The roller module 2 comprises two rotary bearing rollers 6, 7 whose first roller 7 is arranged in the center of the roller module 2 and whose second roller 6 exerts tensile forces Fm, Fl. It is operable by the addition and is accommodated in the roller module 2 in such a way that a rolling band 10 can be arranged around it. In order to apply the pulling forces Fm, Fl, the roller module 2 is provided with a first actuating means 21, which in this exemplary embodiment comprises a motor M and a screw spindle S, and the first bearing roller 7 The roller holder 8 can be operated by a second bearing roller 6 which is mounted so as to be able to rotate relative to it.
A motion sensor LS is shown, by which the movement of the roller holder 8 can be determined via the reference member 9 of the roller holder 8, and the length L of the rolling band 10 can also be determined by the sensor. . The tensile force actually applied can be measured by the load cell LC also illustrated. After the rolling is finished, the band length L obtained is determined by the aid of the motion sensor LS, the rolling force Fu or the indentation force Fu between the rolling roller 11 and the first bearing roller 7 applied during the process. By rotating the sensor around the bearing rollers 6 and 7 without adding, the measuring distance between the bearing rollers 6 and 7 and its diameter can be determined accurately. The band length L measured according to the invention is advantageously used to optimize the setting of the rolling process by feedback and can also serve as a control parameter for subsequent processes performed on the rolled band 10. it can.

The roller module 2 further comprises a pair of support rollers 12 which act on the first bearing roller 7, the rolling roller 11 and the pressure roller 13 acting on the support roller 12. Each support roller 12 has an opening around it and acts on the first bearing roller 7 only on each side adjacent to the band 10 through the opening. In this exemplary embodiment, the pressure roller 13 is movable in such a way that an indentation force or a rolling force Fu can be applied to the support roller 12 under the influence of a second activation means 22 comprising a motor M and a screw spindle S. The pushing force Fu can be measured by a so-called load cell LC. As a result of the double support of the first bearing roller 7 by the support roller 12, the pressing force applied by the pressure roller 13 during the rolling operation is applied to the bearing roller 7 in a stable manner balanced by the support roller 12. Communicated. The bearing roller 7 is then supported again by a part of the band 10 on the rolling roller 11, which is supported by the indentation force Fu during the rolling operation by the reaction force Fr. Here, the band is accommodated so as to rotate between the first bearing roller 7 and the rolling roller 11 during the rolling process . The rotational movement of the band 10 is here achieved by driving one or more of the rollers 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13 as indicated by the arrows shown therein. As a result of the rotational movement of the band 10 and the pushing force Fu applied thereto, a flow of material occurs over the entire circumference from the thickness dimension of the band 10 to its length and width dimensions. The direction of movement or rotation of the band 10 is important for the quality of the rolling process, rolling process, in addition to this, the bearing roller 7 away band 10 from the rolling roller 11, the actual deformation of the band 10 is It is carried out by continuously supplying lubricant and coolant to the contact portion between the band 10 and the rollers 11 and 7 in such a way as to occur in the stretched part of the band.
Depending on the thickness D measured in each band 10 before the rolling process , the control unit determines the desired pulling force Fl and pushing force Fu for the associated band 10, which forces are activated 21 or 22 during the rolling process. Added by.

2, 3 and 4 show the movement of each roller 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13 towards each other or vice versa to move the band 10 into or out of the rolling mill. Is shown schematically. For this purpose, an electronically controlled motion unit (and not shown) is present in the rolling apparatus according to the invention, for example in the form of an electrohydraulic unit or the electronically activated air cylinder AC shown in FIG. One of these embodiments acts on the first bearing roller 7 by means of a support arm, so that the latter can be moved towards the indicator roller 12 shown in FIG. However, in another embodiment of the device, it is also possible to operate the pressure roller 13 together with the indicator roller 12 towards the first bearing roller 7. Such mutual movement is performed by placing a band 10 to be rolled around the first and second bearing rollers 6 and 7 and then applying a relatively small clamping or pulling force Fm to the band 10. Is done.
When the first bearing roller 7 comes into contact with the instruction roller 12, a force Fp is applied to the shaft of the rolling roller 11 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the rolling roller 11 is also brought into contact with the band 10. When the rolling roller 11 is energized in a rotating state, the band 10, the support roller 12, and the pressure roller 13 reliably take over the rotation by the force Fp. The clamping force Fm ensures that the second bearing roller 6 takes over the rotation of the band 10 and operates on the bearing rollers 6 and 7 with the band 10 in the proper or centered state.
During the actual rolling process , after the band 10 has been fully accommodated in the rolling mill and the rollers 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13 have reached the required rotational speed, the second bearing roller 6 causes a tensile force Fl. In addition, a pressing force Fu is applied to the band 10 by the pressure roller 13. In this case, the tensile force Fl is supported by the first bearing roller 7, and the pushing force Fu is finally supported by the reaction force Fr applied by the rolling roller 11.

The rolling process itself according to the invention is mainly aimed at achieving the desired uniform band thickness D. The rolling process according to the invention is considered a displacement process , in which case the flow of material from the thickness D of the ring 10 goes to the length L and width B of the ring. For this purpose, the electronic control unit determines the pushing force Fu and the pulling force Fl applied to the band 10 by the device based on an algorithm suitable for the purpose and corresponding to the band volume measurement.
In the rolling process according to the invention, apart from the exact band thickness D, it is also aimed to achieve a high degree of accuracy with respect to the length L of the band 10. Therefore, the stability of the band width B obtained after the rolling operation depends greatly on the stability of the material volume of the band 10 that has not yet been rolled. In order to reduce the effect of diffusion in the band width B obtained after rolling, i.e. in fact a disadvantage and therefore undesirable effects, as a result of the finite stability of the material volume size of the band 10 to be rolled. According to a special embodiment of the present invention, measures are taken to divide the band 10 to be rolled into at least two rolling groups, this group being identified by the length L of the band intended after rolling, for which the setting of the rolling process is Different for each rolling group.
In practice, this puts a band 10 with a relatively large thickness D into a first rolling group that is rolled to a relatively large length L, and a band 10 with a relatively small thickness D is relatively small. It means to enter the second rolling group that is rolled to length L. In particular, the rolling process settings, for the first rolling group the ratio between the tensile force Fl and pushing force Fu is characterized in that it is selected to a value higher than that of the second rolling group. Thus allowed, as a result of variations in the length L of the rolled band 10 obtained by efforts, a range of variation of the bandwidth B obtained after rolling is actually have small values between the individual bands 10 Show.

In this particular embodiment of the invention, several bands 10 are push belt tensioning elements nested concentrically with respect to each other, and for which purpose the bands must be of different lengths. There are advantageous ways to use these bands . Now, the band 10 from the second rolling group, that is very suited to the band 10 of the first rolling group the nest. Accordingly, the length L between the tension elements and is rolled band 10 are different, it is advantageous to make the band nest, according to the present invention, the variation in the width B of the band 10 in tension elements decreases Can also be used advantageously. The number of various rolling groups that need to be defined is, of course , determined by the maximum variation width at the assumed band width B and the number of bands 10 per tensile element.
Rolling pushing force Fu and pulling force Fl exerted during, due feedback actually applied by the force being measured with the aid of load cell is adjusted by the control unit. Further, according to the present invention, the quality of the rolling process, it is Ru associated substantially determined by the fact that is controlled based on the force Fl and Fu. This is in contrast to the process control possible based on the relative positions of the bearing rollers 6 and 7 and the rolling roller 11 and the central roller 7.
As shown in FIG. 1, the band thickness D obtained after rolling can be measured with the aid of the second measuring module 3. The thickness measurement is preferably performed outside the roller module 2 in order to use the device efficiently. Such measurements, whether you are cod also rolling process setting is actually desirable rolling the selected result, it is possible to check, for example, it is possible to detect wear, such as the first bearing roller 7.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the speed of the rolling process or the cycle time required for rolling one band 10, which is the first during the main phase HF of the rolling process . rotational speed of the rotational speed of the bearing roller 7, thus the band 10 is also achieved by choosing a relatively high have value. According to the invention, here it is necessary to add a deceleration phase UF to the rolling process after the main phase HF, in which the rolling forces Fu and Fl, and preferably also the rotational speed, are also in the main phase HF. This is much lower than in the case of. Such a rolling process is shown in the diagram of FIG. 5 where, depending on the cycle time t, one of the rotation speed rpm of the band 10 and one of the two rolling forces, in this case Fu, is given as an example. ing. In Figure 5, it shows a rolling process with a single rolling phase WF by a dotted line for comparison.
According to the present invention, the decrease Ri least 10% der, preferably between 25% and 50%. Such rolling process, in the main phase, the thickness corresponding portions of the band 10 decreases relatively quickly in the initial stage, accuracy or stability of the final result of the process is somewhat ing sacrifice, on the one hand the deceleration phase, has the advantage that the desired thickness D of the band 10 is accurately and obtained in a stable manner, also uniformly distributed throughout the band length L obtained.
Apart from the above measurements, based on actual experience, the characteristics of the rolling process including the reproducibility of the rolling results discussed above and the shortening of the cycle time t are between the rolling roller 11 and the first bearing roller 7. It has been found that the inherent diameter ratio improves, and the band 10 is rolled between these rollers, one of the rollers must be much larger than the other as shown in FIG. In particular, the diameter of the rolling roller 11 must be at least three times the size of the diameter of the first bearing roller 7, but is preferably about four times. Such a diameter ratio has the additional advantage that the wear rate of the rolling roller 11 is very slow, so that in most cases only the bearing roller 7 that is relatively easy to remove and disassemble is worn during operation. Therefore, it needs to be replaced . As a result, it has a beneficial effect on the production capacity and maintenance costs of the rolling mill.

FIG. 6 schematically shows a side view and a cross-sectional view of the rolled band 10. In this figure, the above parameters of the band 10, namely the length L, the width B and the thickness D, are shown again. It is also shown that the rolled band 10 can be provided with an arcuate shape with a radius R when viewed in cross section. The figure also shows that the rolled band 10 can be provided with a barrel shape when viewed in cross-section. That is, the thickness D measured at the center of the band 10 is larger than the thickness A measured near the edge of the band 10.
The configuration of the rolling mill, especially the rolling roller 11 specific diameter ratio of the first bearing roller 7, it is very compatible in order to obtain the desired band shape. According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a desired shape of the cross section of the band 10 according to the shape of at least one of the rollers 7 and 11. For example, according to the present invention, in particular in order to obtain the barrel, each roller 7 or 11, for example, slightly to thin it toward the center point of the roller the roller from the edge, i.e. concave hourglass Providing the shape is advantageous because a non-cylindrical shape can be provided.
Apart from the above description, the invention also relates to all the details of the drawings, to the extent that a person skilled in the art can reasonably and clearly infer, and to the claims.

It is a summary and internal schematic of rolling process according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows a part of rolling process . It is a figure which shows a part of rolling process . It is a figure which shows a part of rolling process . Ru Figure der phase identified by the rotational speed and the rolling force based on the present invention. It is the side view and sectional drawing of the band which are formed with the process and apparatus based on this invention by the outstanding method.

1 : First measurement module 2 : Roller module
3 : Second measuring module 4, 5 : Measuring roller 6, 7 : Bearing roller
8 : Roller holder 9 : Reference member 10 : Band 11 : Rolling roller 12: Support roller 13: Pressure roller

Claims (4)

A process for rolling one independent endless band (10) for a metal push belt, comprising:
Here, before the rolling, the band is formed by welding both ends of a metal plate to create a cylinder, and cutting the cylinder to create a ring-shaped metal endless band,
In the first process step, one band (10) is arranged in an unrolled form on at least two relatively movable and rotatable bearing rollers (6, 7), the second step Then, the band is inserted in contact with the rolling roller (11) at the position of the first bearing roller (7), and in a third process step, the band is inserted into the rollers (6, 7, 11) A pushing force (Fu) is locally applied between the first bearing roller (7) and the rolling roller (11) during one rotational movement driven by at least one of 11). The band (10) is subjected to a tensile force (Fl) by the movement of the second bearing roller (6) of the bearing rollers (6, 7) ,
One particular rolling process setting of the rolling process is determined by one parameter representing the volume of material of the band (10),
The parameter is only related to the thickness (D) of the band (10) to be rolled,
The pre-rolling process setting is applied at least between the tensile force (Fl) applied by the second bearing roller (6) and between the first bearing roller (7) and the rolling roller (11). Related to the indentation force (Fu),
The tensile force (Fl) and the pushing force (Fu) that actually act on the band (10) are measured and adjusted to match the values to be applied to the respective forces (Fl, Fu).
The process characterized by this. After completion of the rolling step, at least the band thickness (D) is preferably a band length (L) is also characterized in that it is measured in the subsequent process steps, the rolling process according to claim 1 . The rolling process according to claim 2 , characterized in that the band thickness (D) is measured as an average value of a plurality of thickness measurements at locations dispersed in the longitudinal direction of the band (10). According to the measured value of the volume of the material of the band (10), the band (10) to be rolled is further divided into two or more rolling groups, and the setting of the rolling process is different for each rolling group. wherein the rolling process according to any one of claims 1 3.

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