Roll roundness measuring and machining apparatus and method

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.