To adjust the position in the lateral direction of a continuous belt, e. g., a paper wire in a paper-making machine, it is advantageous to use a. device which in principle consists of a roller over which the belt runs, and the roller is at least at one end supported in a bearing which can be displaced so that the longitudinal axis direction of the roller is moved out of its normal position at right angles to the direction of travel of the belt.

Displacement of the bearing is carried out in response to a pulse from a sensing means which senses the edge of the belt.

Earlier Norwegian Patent No. 164553 describes an adjustable bearing where the moving parts are fully protected against external influences, as for instance din accumulation.

The bearing is movably supported in a base and actuated by displacement means, the displacement bearings being hermetically encased in their respective bellows, fixed between the bearing and the base, which at the same time serve as displacing means.

The displacement bearings are preferably arranged diametrically on each side of the bearing, and the bearing has on each side a projecting portion provided with grooves for receiving and cooperating with correspondingly dimensioned rollers supported in the base, the rollers preferably being supported in the base by means of needle bearings Furthermore, the bellows are comiected to a pneumatic source ? and displacement of the bearing takes place in response to pulses from a sensor which in a known way senses the edge of the belt.

The bearing described above has a compact and robust design, displacement bearings having minimal friction and a steady and linear movement of the adjusting bearing.

This bearing, also known as the THUNE wire and felt controller, has been on the market since the middle of the 1960s, and more than 10, 000 units have been supplied to the paper industry worldwide. It has been found to be extremely robust and dependable in operation, but its maintenance is complex and laborious. More specifically, the problem is that the wear components in the form of bellows and rollers cannot be changed without dismantling the bearing, which also means that the adjusting roller7 owing to its weight, must be strapped and lifted free of the bearing using a crane.

According to the present invention which is a direct further development of the bearing described above, the problem outlined above is solved by a device. and a method as disclosed in the characterising clauses of claims 1 and 4 respectively. Advantageous- embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims- A more detailed description of the invention is given in the following description, with reference to the attached drawings wherein : Figure 1 is a partly cut-away longitudinal view of the device according to earlier Norwegian Patent No. 164S53 ; Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device according to the present invention ; Figure 4 is a top view of the device shown in Figure 3 ; Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in Figure 5.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, it can be seen that the previously known bearing is made in the form of a spherical bearing having a bottom half 7 and a top half 24. An adjusting roller (not shown) is, in the operational state, fixed between the bottom half 7 and the top half 24 of the bearing. On each side, the bottom half of the bearing is provided with a flange 6, 8, and projections 21 project from These flanges in diametrically opposite directions. Provided in the vertical side faces of each of the projections are grooves 20a and 20b (Fig. 2) which receive and cooperate with rollers 19a and 19b respectively. These rollers are supported in an expedient manner in their respective projections 17a, 17b, The rollers may, e. g., be supported on a bolt with the aid of needle bearings. The projections 17a, 17b project from a cup-shaped part 13 which has a flange I2 and 2. The cup-shaped part 13 is screwed by screws 16 to a base 1.

Bellows 4 and 10 are fixed between the bearing 77 24 and the base 1, i. e., in this case between the respective flanges 6 and 8 of the bearing and the respective flanges 2 and

12 of the cup-shaped parts 13 screwed to the base 1. They fixed by retainer rings 3, 5,9, 11 which by means of screws 18, 22, indicated only by centre lines, are screwed to the respective flanges and hold the bellows in place. The bellows can be connected to a fluid source via non-illustrated connecting pipes.

Shown screwed in place in each of the cup-shaped parts 13 is a stopper in the form of a screw 14 which can be locked in a desired position by using the nut 15. However, this stopper has been found to be superfluous, and consequently has been emitted from units produced in recent years.

As mentioned in the introductory portion of the description, the adjustable bearing works in that the bellows volume is varied in response to pulses from one or more sensors which sense the continuous belt. The bearing can be mounted in all positions, and Te movement of the bearing is steady and linear. As mentioned in the introductory portion of the description, there is however a problem associated with replacing wear components in the form of the bellows 4, 10 and the rollers 19a and 19b.

With reference to Figures 3 To 6, a bearing according to the present invention is shown.

As also mentioned previously in the introductory portion of the description, this bearing is a direct further development of the bearing described above, and the same or similar parts have been given the same reference designations as the bearing described above.

It should also be mentioned tk. at the invention in the illustrated embodiment is symmetrical about a line perpendicular through the centre of the longitudinal axis of the bearing.

According to the invention, the wear components can be replaced without dismantling the bearing, i. e., with the bearing and the adjusting roller in place in the machine, which is preferably a paper-making machine. In a preferred embodiment, the replacement is done using a cartridge system, where the cup-shaped part 13 and the part comprising the flange 8 and the projection 17 together with the roller 19 and the bellows 10 are removed as a single assembly and replaced by another similar assembly (cartridge) containing new rollers 19 and new bellows 10.

In order to achieve the aforementioned effect, the central part of the bearing is divided into three sections, the bottom half 7 of the bearing being divided at both ends, and whore the flanges 6, 8 in respective flange portions are fastened to the bottom half 7 by a plurality of bolts (not shown). Furthermore, at least two bores 25, 27 are

advantageously provided in the bottom half 7 of the bearing, and two lugs 29 provided with bores 28 project up from the base 1. The bores 25, 27 are so arranged that in the respective extreme positions of the bearing 7, 24 they are radially aligned with the bearings 28 When removing a cartridge containing said wear components, the preferred method will be as follows, assuming that the cartridge on the right-hand side is to be replaced : 1. Air pressure is applied to the right-hand bellows 10, so that the bottom half 7 of the bearing moves the maximum distance to the left (to end sTop).

2. A locking bolt (not shown) ig passed in through the bores 28 in the lugs 29 and the bore 25 in the bottom half 7 of the bearing- 3, The air pressure is removed from both bellows.

4. The screws connecting the bottom half 7 of the bearing and the flange 8 are loosened, so that the weight of the bearing 7,24 is borne by the locking bolt.

5, The screws connecting the bottom half 7 of the bearing and the flange 8, and the screws 1 Ç which fasten the cup-shaped'part 13 to the base, are removed. This causes the expanded bellows 10, which is now depressurised, to contract.

6. The cup-shaped part 13 including the flange 12 and the rollers 19 are pushed to the left and out of the base 1, where there is sufficient space after the bellows 10 has contracted, 7. The cartridge, including projections 21, cup-shaped part 13. bellows 10, retainer rings 9,11 and rollers 19, is lifted out and replaced by another similar cartridge.

Installation of the new, similar cartridge is carried out in the reverse order of that described above, and the cartridge on the left-hand side is replaced in a similar way in that the bearing 7,24 is moved towards the opposite right-hand end stop,