Roll roundness measuring and machining apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring the roundness and concentricity of an outer surface of a roll having oppositely disposed ends spaced along a longitudinal axis, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of spaced roll supports for rotatably supporting said outer surface;
drive means for rotating said roll about its longitudinal axis;
means for limiting the axial movement of said roll during rotation;
a pair of locators, one of said locators mounted adjacent each of said oppositely disposed ends of said roll, said locators establishing a reference line along said roll;
means for measuring the roundness of said outer surface as it is rotated on said supports, said measuring means comprising a plurality of displacement monitoring means for simultaneously measuring variations in the contour of said outer surface and movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; and
means for determining the true axis of rotation of said roll, whereby a profile of said roll can be obtained by comparing roundness measurements taken at any point along said longitudinal axis to said true axis of rotation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for measuring and machining the roundness and concentricity of an outer surface of a roll having oppositely disposed ends spaced along a longitudinal axis. The apparatus includes a plurality of spaced roll supports for rotatably supporting the outer surface, and one or more drive wheels to rotate the roll about its longitudinal axis. An axial strut is provided for limiting the axial movement of the roll during rotation, and a pair of locators are individually mounted adjacent each of the ends of the roll and establish a reference line along the roll. A plurality of displacement monitoring devices using lasers simultaneously measure variations in the contour of the outer surface and movement of the reference line as the roll is rotated. The apparatus is further designed to determine the true axis of rotation of the roll, whereby a profile of the roll can be obtained by comparing roundness measurements taken at any point along the longitudinal axis to the true axis of rotation. A preferred embodiment includes an electrical discharge machining device which can utilize roundness and concentricity measurements to optimize the machining of the outer surface.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring the roundness and concentricity of an outer surface of a roll having oppositely disposed ends spaced along a longitudinal axis, said apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of spaced roll supports for rotatably supporting said outer surface; drive means for rotating said roll about its longitudinal axis; means for limiting the axial movement of said roll during rotation; a pair of locators, one of said locators mounted adjacent each of said oppositely disposed ends of said roll, said locators establishing a reference line along said roll; means for measuring the roundness of said outer surface as it is rotated on said supports, said measuring means comprising a plurality of displacement monitoring means for simultaneously measuring variations in the contour of said outer surface and movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; and means for determining the true axis of rotation of said roll, whereby a profile of said roll can be obtained by comparing roundness measurements taken at any point along said longitudinal axis to said true axis of rotation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for precisely machining the outer surface of a roll having oppositely disposed ends spaced along a longitudinal axis and for selectively measuring the roundness and concentricity of said outer surface, said apparatus comprising
a plurality of spaced roll supports for rotatably supporting said outer surface; -
drive means for rotating said roll about its longitudinal axis; means for limiting the axial movement of said roll during rotation; means for machining said outer surface as it is rotated on said supports, said supports and machining means providing a centerless machining arrangement; a pair of locators, one of said locators mounted adjacent each of said oppositely disposed ends of said roll, said locators establishing a reference line along said roll; means for measuring the roundness of said outer surface as it is rotated within said supports, said measuring means comprising a plurality of displacement monitoring means for simultaneously measuring variations in the contour of said outer surface and movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; means for determining the true axis of rotation of said roll, whereby a profile of said roll can be obtained by comparing roundness measurements taken at any point along said longitudinal axis to said true axis of rotation; and feedback means for periodically monitoring the changing roundness and concentricity of said other surface as it is machined. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A process for accurately measuring the roundness and concentricity of a roll having oppositely disposed ends spaced along a longitudinal axis and an outer surface with a relatively large outer diameter, said process comprising the steps of:
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rotatably supporting said outer surface of said roll on a plurality of spaced roll supports; mounting a pair of locators adjacent said opposite ends of said roll and determining a reference line of rotation of said roll between said locators; limiting axial movement of said roll along said longitudinal axis during rotation of said roll on said supports; measuring the roundness of said outer surface as it is rotated on said supports, said measuring means comprising a plurality of displacement monitoring means for simultaneously measuring variations in the contour of said outer surface and movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; determining the true axis of rotation of said roll by calculating the mean center of said outer surface at a pair of spaced apart points along the longitudinal axis of said roll corrected for movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; and obtaining a profile of said roll at any particular point along said longitudinal axis by comparing roundness measurements taken at such point to said true axis of rotation. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A process for precisely machining a roll having oppositely disposed ends spaced along a longitudinal axis and an outer surface having a relatively large outer diameter and for accurately measuring the roundness and concentricity of said roll, said process comprising the steps of:
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rotatably supporting the outer surface of a roll on a plurality of spaced roll supports, said supports situated to support said roll for centerless machining; mounting a pair of locators adjacent said opposite ends of said roll and determining a reference line of rotation of said roll between said locators; limiting axial movement of said roll along said longitudinal axis during rotation of said roll on said supports; measuring the roundness of said outer surface as it is rotated within said supports utilizing a plurality of displacement monitoring means for simultaneously measuring variations in the contour of said outer surface and movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; determining the true axis of rotation of said roll by calculating the mean center of said outer surface at a pair of spaced apart points along the longitudinal axis of said roll corrected for movement of said reference line as said roll is rotated; obtaining a profile of said roll at any particular point along said longitudinal axis by comparing roundness measurements taken at such point to said true axis of rotation; and machining said outer surface of said roll as it is rotated on said supports. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification