Plant for the reversible rolling of steel strip

Abstract

A rolling plant has a reversible rolling mill with two stands. Each upright of the stands rests on a support structure via a bearing surface and is fastened thereto by a bolt or shank integral with the structure and cooperating with the upright via a removable fastening device. The bearing surface of each upright is provided on the lower face of the upright, without extending beyond the lateral faces directed along the rolling direction of the uprights, and is formed with a hole opening into a hollow housing provided in the upright and having an orifice opening onto a lateral face of the upright. The bolt or shank extends through the hole and projects into the housing, and the removable fastening device is placed inside the housing.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A rolling installation with a reversing mill, comprising:
 two stands disposed adjacent one another in a rolling direction of the rolling installation, each stand including two uprights for supporting a plurality of rolls;   a support structure carrying said uprights, with each said upright resting on a support surface of said support structure;   wherein said support surface of each said upright is provided on an internal face thereof, without projecting beyond a lateral face of said upright in a rolling direction;   said upright having a hollow seat formed therein with an aperture opening onto the lateral face of said upright, and at least one through hole opening into said hollow seat;   at least one shank fixing each said upright to said support structure, said shank being attached to said support structure, extending through said bore, and projecting into said hollow seat, and a detachable fixing device disposed in said hollow seat and cooperating with said upright to affix said upright to said support structure.   
     
     
         12 . The installation according to  claim 11 , wherein said hollow seat is a cell, said cell being formed with an aperture opening onto a lateral face of said upright, perpendicular to a direction transverse to the rolling direction and oriented towards an outside of the respective said stand. 
     
     
         13 . The installation according to  claim 11 , wherein said hollow seat is a slot, said slot being formed with an aperture opening onto a lateral face of said upright, perpendicular to a direction transverse to the rolling direction and oriented towards an outside of the respective said stand. 
     
     
         14 . The installation according to  claim 11 , wherein said detachable fixing device is a nut, said shank is a threaded bolt, said support structure is formed of solid concrete and said bolt is anchored in said solid concrete, and said bolt projects through said through hole in said upright of said stand and said nut is screwed onto said bolt. 
     
     
         15 . The installation according to  claim 11 , which further comprises means for driving the rolls, including a reduction gear having an input shaft to be connected to a motor, first and second output shafts to be connected to the rolls to be driven, and at least one intermediate shaft coupling said input shaft to first and second output shafts, and wherein at least the axes of said output shafts and intermediate shafts are vertically superposed to thereby reduce a footprint in the rolling direction. 
     
     
         16 . The installation according to  claim 11 , which further comprises means to change rolls, including a carriage shared by said first and second stands and movable, in a direction perpendicular to the rolling direction, between a service position in a vicinity of said first and second stands and a waiting position away from said first and second stands, said carriage having at least two racks configured to carry a train of rolls and arranged side by side in the rolling direction, and a device for roll loading and roll unloading configured to unload worn rolls from a stand onto an empty rack and to load new rolls from a rack into a stand. 
     
     
         17 . The installation according to  claim 16 , wherein said carriage includes a mobile deck capable of movement in parallel to the rolling direction, and wherein said at least two racks are placed on said mobile deck. 
     
     
         18 . The installation according to  claim 17 , wherein said at least two racks of said carriage are four racks and said mobile deck is movable between the first and second positions, such that, in the first position of said mobile deck, the racks of a first pair of racks are respectively placed in a vertical plane of the rolls of said first stand and said second stand, and, in the second position of said mobile deck, the racks of a second pair of racks are respectively placed in the vertical plane of the rolls of said first stand and said second stand, said carriage having first loading/unloading means configured to serve the first stand and second loading/unloading means configured to serve the second stand, enabling the first and second stands to be loaded and/or unloaded simultaneously or separately. 
     
     
         19 . The installation according to  claim 11 , configured to roll strips with an entry thickness of up to 10 mm and a width of up to 1,600 mm, and wherein a distance between said lateral face of an upright of the first stand, perpendicular to the rolling direction and oriented towards the second stand, and said lateral face of an upright of the second stand, perpendicular to the rolling direction and oriented towards the first stand, is less than 1,500 mm. 
     
     
         20 . The installation according to  claim 19 , wherein the distance between said lateral face of an upright of the first stand, perpendicular to the rolling direction and oriented towards the second stand, and said lateral face of an upright of the second stand, perpendicular to the rolling direction and oriented towards the first stand, is greater than a space strictly necessary to enable an operator to pass for an exceptional intervention. 
     
     
         21 . The installation according to  claim 20 , wherein the space strictly necessary to enable an operator to pass is measured at least 700 mm.