DE20304532U1 - Fiber-plastic compound roller is for heating or cooling purposes with its tube made of these materials and an elastomer layer firmly attached to the tube - Google Patents

Abstract

The fiber-plastic compound roller is for heating or cooling purposes with its tube (1,2) made of these materials and an elastomer layer (3) firmly attached to the tube. The elastomer layer on its outer periphery has a spirally shaped or parallel to the tube axis arranged profile, comprising a profile trough (4) for transport of a heating or cooling medium over the complete work width of the roller and a profile rib (5) corresponding to the profile trough. On the elastomer layer is shrunk a heat-conducting tube, which acts as the roller cover (6). The roller cover is of steel/refined steel, and has a relatively reduced material thickness in comparison with the elastomer layer and the roller tube wall.

Description

Fiber-plastic composite roller

The invention relates to fiber-plastic composite rollers which are designed as heating or cooling rollers. The material for the roller tubes consists of a fiber-plastic composite, for example carbon fiber or glass fiber composite materials.

As is well known, heating and cooling rollers are available in a wide variety of designs. It is often required that the roller temperature is as constant as possible across the entire roller surface and is not subject to any fluctuations over time.

The heating and cooling rollers are mainly used as single-shell or double-shell designs.

In the case of single-shell rollers, the interior of the tube can be equipped with spray tubes, through which the medium with a heating or cooling effect is supplied to the roller tube. The temperature of the outer surface of the roller is thus influenced by the metallic roller tube.

Double-shell rollers often have spiral-shaped webs on the metal roller tube, between which the heating/cooling medium is guided. The heat is transferred from the medium to the outer body. It should not be overlooked that part of the energy is lost through dissipation into the interior of the roller tube in this design.

In order to meet high requirements for heat output and to keep the temperature on the outer surface of the roller stable, special designs are used. The aforementioned principle of the medium being guided between the webs is retained. However, an internal channel system is provided to achieve a stable heating or cooling output so that the required surface temperature is achieved with minimal deviations.

There are various proposals in the patent literature to meet the high requirements for heat or coolant supply.

Attempts have already been made to transfer the heating/cooling medium directly to the surface from the outside, see DE 30 05 526 entitled "Roller with a roller surface to be heated or cooled". According to DE 30 05 526, heat exchange devices in the form of chambers are used in which the heating/cooling medium

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is swirled and there is direct contact between the chambers and the roller surface. Apart from the high manufacturing costs, the question arises as to whether these rollers meet today's requirements for high rolling speeds.

DE 200 20 581 Ul also describes a heatable roller. In this case, axially parallel holes are made in the roller body near the outer surface of the roller. Heating/cooling coils are located in the holes. This type of heat/cold transfer results in high costs for producing the holes, especially when it comes to roller tubes for larger working widths. Unbalance problems are also considered to be very disadvantageous here.

It should also be noted that smooth-running rollers made of plastic are used, which have considerable advantages over metal roller tubes under certain operating conditions. For example, the smooth-running rollers can reduce the installed drive power, allow the rollers to accelerate or brake more quickly, and place less strain on the bearings of the rolling mill. The materials used are mainly carbon fiber and glass fiber composites.

However, the problem with heating or cooling rollers made of plastics is that they are not heat-conducting materials. The already mentioned rather simple

The solution of introducing the heat/cooling medium into the interior of the roller tube does not lead to success here.

Therefore, the object of the invention is to propose a fiber-plastic composite roller which has a high degree of efficiency with regard to heating and cooling performance, which is easy to manufacture and represents an ultra-light roller in order to exploit the advantages of fiber-plastic composite materials more than before.

According to the invention, the object is achieved, with reference to claim 1 with regard to the inventive concept. The further embodiment of the invention results from claims 2 to 6.

The following is to be explained in order to explain the invention. As already mentioned, the roller tube, i.e. the base body, consists of a fiber-plastic composite material. A layer, e.g. made of hard rubber, silicone or another elastomer, is applied to the non-conductive roller tube. Profiles are incorporated into this layer to transport the heating or cooling medium. These profiles are incorporated into the elastomer layer in a spiral shape or parallel to the tube axis. A heat-conducting tube, i.e. a metallic tube, preferably made of steel or stainless steel, is shrunk over the elastomer layer. As will be shown in the first embodiment using the drawing, a high degree of efficiency is achieved in transferring the temperature to the outer surface of the roller, because the troughs of the profiles in the elastomer layer can be made wider than the webs. The shrunk-on tube has an excellent fit on the elastomer layer and can be made relatively thin-walled.

Alternatively, it is possible to insert metal pipes into the recesses of the profiles of the elastomer layer. These pipes can be made as special profiles to match the profile of the elastomer layer.
For example, a pipe with a rectangular profile would be useful, because the width

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The surface of the rectangular profile would provide very good heat transfer to the shrunk-on jacket pipe.

The profiles are incorporated into the elastomer layer when it is manufactured. This increases the degree of prefabrication during the manufacture of the rollers.

The invention will now be explained using two embodiments.
The figures show in principle:

Figure 1: Part of a fiber-plastic composite roller, partially cut
Figure 2: Detailed view of the elastomer layer with inserted pipe (special profile)

The reference symbols used mean:

1 - Roller tube

2 - Wall of the roller tube

3 - Elastomer layer with profile

4 - Profile recess

5 - Profile web

6 - outer layer of the roller/roller shell

7 - Pipe (special profile)

1. Example

Reference is made to Figure 1.

The roller tube 1 consists of a fiber-plastic composite material. Examples of materials used are carbon fiber (CFRP) or glass fiber (GFRP) composite materials. The use of other plastics is possible. An elastomer layer 3 is applied to the wall 2 of the roller tube 1, which can consist of silicone, hard rubber or other comparable materials. It is advisable to apply the

Elastomer layer 3 on the roller tube 1, the profile is incorporated into the production of the elastomer layer 3, which, according to Figure 1, consists of a rectangular profile trough 4 and corresponding profile webs 5. Other profile trough cross-sections are conceivable, e.g. semicircular profile trough cross-sections. The profile is incorporated into the elastomer layer in a spiral or parallel to the axis of the tube, so that the heating/cooling medium is transported in the profile troughs 4 over the entire working width of the roller. A metal tube is shrunk onto the elastomer layer 3, which represents the roller shell 6.

It is obvious that with this solution according to the invention, an effective heat/cold transfer to the roller shell 6 takes place and, due to the design, thermal energy losses hardly occur within the roller. The roller tube 1 with the advantage of low weight, in combination with the elastomer layer 3, also has the advantage of largely preventing thermal energy losses.

2. Example

Reference is made to Figure 2. Compared to Figure 1, this is a variant.

Rectangular profile troughs are incorporated into the elastomer layer 3. Basically, as in the first embodiment, a profile trough is incorporated in the elastomer layer in a spiral shape. A metal pipe 7 for the flow of the heating/cooling medium is advantageously placed in the profile trough 4, adapted to the cross section. The special profile of the pipe 7 should be designed in such a way that the heat energy is transferred to the roll shell over a large area. *

In addition, it should be noted that with regard to known rollers, an appropriate coating is applied to the roller shell 6 if required.

The invention described achieves the previously formulated objective in a comprehensive manner. A very light roller is proposed by using fiber-plastic composite material for the roller tube 1. Although the roller tube 1 itself is not heat-conductive, a solution was found to transfer the thermal energy to the outer metallic layer 6 of the roller with high efficiency.

In view of the advantages of smooth-running rollers already mentioned, it should also be added that fibre-plastic composite rollers with heating/cooling effect and a very large working width (for example 13 m, if necessary) can now be brought onto the market, which previously caused transport problems due to their high weight.

Claims (6)

1. Fiber-plastic composite roller, which is designed as a heating or cooling roller, characterized in that the roller tube ( 1 ) consists of fiber-plastic composite material, an elastomer layer ( 3 ) is arranged firmly on the roller tube ( 1 ), the elastomer layer ( 3 ) has a profile on the outer circumference which is arranged spirally or parallel to the tube axis, consisting of a profile trough ( 4 ) for the transport of a heating or cooling medium over the entire working width of the roller and a profile web ( 5 ) corresponding to the profile trough ( 4 ), and a heat-conducting tube, namely the roller shell ( 6 ), is shrunk onto the elastomer layer ( 3 ). 2. Fiber-plastic composite roller according to claim 1, characterized in that a heat-conducting tube ( 7 ) is placed in the profile recess ( 4 ). 3. Fiber-plastic composite roller according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the heat-conducting tube 7 is adapted with its profile to the profile of the profile trough ( 4 ). 4. Fiber-plastic composite roller according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the tube ( 7 ) is designed as a special profile so that a large-area heat energy transfer to the roller shell ( 6 ) takes place. 5. Fiber-plastic composite roller according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the roller shell ( 6 ) consists of steel/stainless steel and has a relatively small material thickness in comparison to the elastomer layer ( 3 ) and the roller tube wall ( 2 ). 6. Fiber-plastic composite roller according to claim 1, characterized in that the roller shell ( 6 ) is coated if necessary in a manner known per se.