The invention relates to a smoothing rolling mill, more specifically, to such a rolling mill tool having at least two smoothing rollers, whereby the connecting line between the roller centers of two neighboring rolls and the center of curvature of the work piece surface to be smoothed differs from 180.degree. and wherein the smoothing rollers are unevenly distributed about the circumference of the work piece.
Rolling mill tools of the type just referred to are known in the art, for example, as disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,294,910 especially FIGS. 1 to 4, and German Pat. No. 1,294,325, especially FIGS. 1 to 3. Tools of this type are further known from an article or brochure entitled "Glattwalzen" (Smooth Rolling), by Dr. Eng. Helmut Koenig published on 1954 in "Das Industrieblatt", page 44, FIG. 28 by Deutscher Fachzeitschriften- und Fachbuchverlag GmbH Stuttgart in the series "Schriftenreihe Feinbearbeitung". A smooth rolling apparatus of the described type is also disclosed in a dissertation or thesis filed on Sept. 25, 1972 by Paul Neese with the Institute of Technology at Braunschweig, Federal Republic of Germany under the title: "Steps for Reducing the Unroundness of Smooth Rolled Work Pieces", see especially FIG. 25.
A brochure published by W. Hegenscheidt GmbH and entitled "Centerless Smooth Rolling Machine", type 7489 (B1/O) also illustrates smooth rolling tools of the type here involved.
German Pat. No. 1,131,545 describes a smooth rolling apparatus in which the smoothing rollers are arranged with a slight angularity relative to the central longitudinal axis of the work piece in order to improve the feed advance capability of the smoothing rollers.
Smoothing roller tools which also work to provide the necessary feed advance of the work piece must be so constructed that they provide a throughput capability as large as possible in order to work efficiently and hence economically. Stated differently, the work piece to be smoothed must be completely finished as quickly as possible. The feed advance capability of a tool may be the higher the more smoothing rollers are simultaneously operational. This is so because the feed advance capacities of all the individual smoothing rollers are added up to provide the total sum of the possible feed advance. However, certain structural requirements which are unavoidable, call simultaneously for a smooth rolling apparatus as described above. In other words, the required tool structure is such that each individual smoothing roller effective on the work piece is not capable of delivering its full feed advance capacity because due to the arrangement of the rollers an overlap between the working ranges of the individual smoothing rollers occurs. The extent of the overlap reduces or diminishes the feed advance capacity.
In the mentioned prior art the smoothing rollers operating on the work piece may be arranged in a tool carrier which is common for all rollers. In the alternative, individual and/or groups of smoothing rollers may be arranged in partial tool components so that the smoothing roller tool will comprise a plurality of partial tools in the latter instance.