Innovative tool for chuck
assembly / disassembly for cold rolling
05 FR GECB 0DTL
Abstract
A French SME
specialised in precision mechanics has developed and patented an innovative
tool for assembly or disassembly of a chuck onto a cold rolling bar. This
tool allows significant time reduction during chuck installation or changing
procedure, but also increased safety of the operations for workers. The SME
is looking for end-users, ideally but not only in the cold rolling (tube
manufacturing) sector, to offer a tool adapted to their needs.
Description
The proposed system addresses a problem originally observed in companies
specialised in the rolling of metallic tubes. During this process, a hollow
cylindrical part is repeateadly passed between two rollers and a conical
chuck in order to reduce both its diameter and its thickness.
The cold rolling machine itself is composed of a rotating bar at the end of
which the chuck is attached with threaded elements.
This chuck must be changed frequently. The chuck changing process is
difficult and dangerous because during the machine operation, the tightening
torque is increased by the mechanical efforts. The operation thus requires
two workers and two standard flat wrenches with long levers applied on both
ends of the chuck and the bar. One wrench is used to maintain the bar and
the other one to apply a loosening torque on the chuck. The operation is
lengthy and the torque may decrease suddenly, causing brutal breakout of the
wrench and potential accidents.
Similar operations are also required in other industries, using tubular
tools which are thread mounted with a high torque on the rotating axis of a
machine as in for instance in the drilling and spinning sectors.
The present system avoids these drawbacks. It consists in a sophisticated
wrench that can easily be operated and carried by a single worker. The
wrench is threaded around the tool assembly at joint point (for instance
where the tubular tool is attached to the rotating bar or axis of the
machine). Each side of the wrench is then fixed onto the machine axis on one
side, and the tubular tool on the other side. Inside the wrench, a driving
system allows by a rotation-translation mechanism and with no efforts from
the operator to tighten the tool on the machine axis until a preset torque
is reached or inversely to loosen the tool by applying the right torque. The
wrench is then carried away when the operation is over. This operation is
fast and completely safe.
(Click on
the images for full-size view)
The SME offers to develop specific applications and is looking for companies
- either production companies in cold rolling, drilling, spinning sectors
facing this problem daily
- or companies manufacturing drilling, rolling or spinning tools and
equipment and willing to provide an additional service to their clients by
providing such a system adapted to their own tool.
Innovative Aspects:
- Mobile wrench that can be fixed on the ' machine axis-tubular tool'
assembly in any place and by a single worker without any other tool.
- Drive mechanism of the tubular tool vs. the machine axis allowing to apply
a tightening or loosening torque without any efforts.
Main Advantages:
- Safety of the operation: the effort to apply on the wrench is very low and
there is no wounding risk due to the brutal rupture of the tightening
torque.
- Small dimensions: roughly 30 cm long, 20 cm high and the diameter
depending on the chuck diameter itself.
- Higher productivity: 1 worker needed for a 5-minute operation instead of 2
workers and 20 minutes.
- Possibility to change the tubular tool of the machine, thus requiring just
a short break in production.
Development phase
Available for demonstration - A prototype has been produced and tested
Collaboration
details
- Type of partner sought: industry
- Specific area of activity of the partner: end user or equipment
manufacturer in the following sectors : cold rolling sector, well drilling
sector, spinning presses, or any mechanical production using tubular tools
thread mounted on the rotating axis of a machine.
- Task to be performed : the offering SME will provide engineering and
design of an adapted system according to the partner's own specification.
Training and system manufacturing are also provided.
For more information
Laurent Volle
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