The present invention relates to a supportive struc¬ ture for supporting a roll stand arrangement of the kind which includes a roll unit, two drive spindles, a pinion stand and a drive unit, which are built togeth¬ er to form a single assembly unit.

Present day roll stand arrangements included in a rolling line of a rolling mill are comprised of sepa¬ rate parts which are connected to a supportive struc¬ ture and mutually coupled together to form a function¬ al unit with the aid of coupling devices, which at times have the form of quick-fasteners which enable components to be separated quickly from one another, to facilitate the exchange of mill components and maintenance. One drawback with this arrangement re¬ sides in the amount of work that is required in in¬ stalling and trimming such a roll stand arrangement so that it can be integrated in the rolling line. When switching from one rolled product to another rolled product, it is often sufficient to replace a roll stand fitted with horizontal rolls in a rolling line with a similar roll stand that is fitted with vertical rolls, and vice versa. There is therefore a need to construct the roll stand so that its rolls can be fitted both horizontally and vertically without need¬ ing to make radical adjustments and without comprehen¬ sive reconstruction of the roll stand.

In Swedish Patent Application 9300848-0 filed simulta¬ neously with the present Application, Applicant has proposed the construction of a roll stand arrangement in the form of a single assembly unit, so as to avoid the aforesaid problems and so as to provide a simpli¬ fied but nevertheless highly flexible rolling mill construction.

The object of the present invention is to simplify the installation and exchange of roll stands still fur¬ ther.

According to the invention, this object is achieved with a supportive structure of the kind defined in the introduction which is characterized in that the base structure is adapted either to support the roll stand arrangement in a horizontal position or in a vertical position. Since the base structure can support a roll stand arrangement both horizontally and vertically, only one type of supportive structure need be used in the rolling line, therewith simplifying construction of the line and enabling the position of the roll stands to be changed selectively without changing the supportive structure.

According to one preferred embodiment of the inven¬ tion, the base structure attachment points are so disposed that a horizontally arranged roll stand is anchored to the base structure at the same points as a vertically arranged roll stand. According to one variant of this embodiment, the base structure in¬ cludes a base structure plate onto which a base struc- ture bed is anchored firmly at said fastening points, this bed including guides which coact with flanges on the roll stand arrangement so as to slidingly carry said roll stand, and a displacement mechanism which is firmly connected to the roll stand arrangement and which functions to adjust the rolls of the roll stand arrangement to selected axial positions in relation to the rolling mill line by displacing the entire roll stand arrangement, and which also functions to main¬ tain the roll stand arrangement in its adjusted posi- tion.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments of the inven-

tion and also with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an inventive supportive structure as seen from above;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken at right angles to the rolling line of the supportive structure shown in Figure 1 with a roll stand arrangement mount- ed on said structure with the rolls extending horizon¬ tally;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III-III in Figure 2;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned view of the supportive structure of Figure 2 taken from above;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the supportive structure of Figure 1 similar to the view of Figure 2 but with a roll stand arrangement mounted with the rolls extend¬ ing vertically; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VI-VI in Figure 5.

The supportive structure 1 shown in Figure 1 is com¬ prised of a concrete slab or plate 2 which has a trough-like recess 3 and its distal end as seen in the Figure. The recess 3 is open at its forward end in the Figure and merges with a transverse channel 4 provided in the plate 2. Arranged on the side of the channel 4 distal to the recess 3 is a further recess 5 which seen transversely is open in both directions. The recesses 3 and 5 have flat bottoms.

As will be seen clearly from Figure 1, the bottom of the recess 3 has affixed therein four upstanding rods 6, 7, 8, 9. These rods are provided with screw threads

at their free ends and function as anchoring points for securing a roll stand arrangement to the support¬ ive structure in a horizontal or vertical position.

The embodiment of a roll stand arrangement illustrated in Figures 2-6 comprises a roll unit 10, a cassette 11, a pinion stand 12 and a drive unit 13. The roll unit 10 is carried by the cassette 11, which in turn is carried by the pinion stand housing 14, as is also the drive unit 13. Two spindles 15, 16 are journalled in the pinion stand housing and are in driving connec¬ tion with the rolls 17, 18 through the medium of a coupling holder mounted in said housing. The pinion stand housing also carries a roll hoist mechanism.

The drive unit 13 includes an alternating current motor 19 and a planetary gear mechanism 20, said motor and mechanism being placed adjacent one another with the output shaft of the alternating current motor in the same plane as the input shaft of the planetary gear mechanism. These shafts also extend parallel with one another and are mutually connected by means of a gear transmission 21. The planetary gear mechanism and the alternating current motor are both placed on that side of the gear transmission which lies proximal to the pinion stand housing.

It will be evident from the above description that the roll stand arrangement is constructed to form a single assembly unit which is attached to a supportive struc¬ ture by securement of the pinion stand housing.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 2-4, the roll stand arrangement is mounted on the supportive struc- ture 1 with the rolls extending horizontally. In this case, the roll stand arrangement is secured displace- ably to the supportive structure by virtue of guide flanges 22 which project outwards from respective sides of the pinion stand housing laterally in rela-

tion to the longitudinal axis of the roll stand and which coact with corresponding guides 23 mounted on a base bed 24 arranged in the recess 3 in the concrete plate 2 of the supportive structure and securely fas- tened thereto by tightening down on the screw-threaded rods 6-9. The pinion stand housing has provided on the underside thereof a fastening flange 25 which is located beneath the gravitational centre of the roll stand arrangement and to which there is fastened one end of a rod 26 or the like of a displacement mecha¬ nism 22 mounted in the base bed 24. The displacement mechanism 27 is preferably a rack-and-pinion type mechanism or a screw-nut type mechanism, although other types of displacement mechanisms, such as hy- draulic piston-cylinder devices, can also be used.

This displacement mechanism enables the rolls 17, 18 to be displaced laterally in relation to the rolling line of the mill, by displacing the entire roll stand arrangement with the aid of the displacement mecha- nis .

The roll stand arrangement also includes a fastening mechanism which is attached to the pinion stand hous¬ ing 14 and functions to fasten the cassette 11 secure- ly to the pinion stand housing, this fastening mecha¬ nism being, for instance, an eccentric type mechanism which when a cylindrical body forming part of the mechanism is rotated causes a surface which is eccen¬ tric in relation to the centre of rotation to come into abutment with a complementary surface on the cassette and to press this surface forcefully against an abutment surface on the pinion stand housing. Other types of fastening mechanisms than an eccentric mecha¬ nism can be used, of course.

In order to facilitate a roll change, the cassette 11 is connected with a known withdrawal device 28 when the cassette is disconnected from the pinion stand housing 14, i.e. when the cassette is not engaged by

the eccentric surface of the fastening mechanism. The withdrawal device 28 enables the cassette, and there¬ with the roll unit carried thereby, to be moved to the left in Figures 2 and 4 until the entire cassette rests on a carriage means 29. The roll unit 10 can be lifted from the cassette resting on the carriage means with the aid of an overhead crane or the like and be replaced with a new roll unit, or alternatively the carriage supporting the cassette and roll unit can be moved laterally to one side in relation to the longi¬ tudinal axis of the roll stand arrangement and re¬ placed with another carriage loaded with a replacement cassette. The carriages 29 run on transverse rails provided in the recess 5 in the concrete slab or plate 2.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a roll stand arrangement similar to that illustrated in Figures 2-4 but with the rolls extending vertically on the supportive structure 1. In this case, the roll stand arrangement is supported by a base bed 30 which includes two vertical columns 31, 32. These columns include guides 33 which coact with flanges 22 on the roll stand arrangement, and a displacement mechanism 34 which is similar to the displacement mechanism 27 and which functions to move a rod 35 which is fixedly connected to the fastening flange 25 on the pinion stand housing of the roll stand arrangement. As will be seen from Figures 5 and 6, the base bed 30 is also secured to the supportive plate or slab 2 with the aid of the rods 6-9.

Similar to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 2-4, the base plate or slab 2 carries a cassette withdrawal device 28 and carriage means 29 to facilitate the exchange of cassettes.

It will be understood that the aforedescribed and illustrated embodiments of the supportive structure

can be modified in many ways within the scope of the invention. For instance, the structure may support other types of withdrawal mechanisms than those illus¬ trated. Furthermore, an inventive supportive structure can be used in conjunction with roll stand arrange¬ ments constructed to form an assembly unit different to those types of roll stand arrangements described and illustrated. For instance, a roll stand arrange¬ ment having single groove rolls can be fastened di- rectly to the concrete plate with the rolls extending horizontally, since no displacement mechanism is required with roll stand arrangements of this kind. The invention is therefore only restricted by the content of the following Claims.