Yoder Manufacturing of Cleveland,
Ohio, a member of the Formtek Group, has recently been contracted to refurbish
and upgrade an existing WH-350 tube mill to produce structural shapes (HSS). Formtek has designed a new style weld squeeze
box that consists of a five (5) roll and four (4) roll configuration as deemed
necessary by the particular product being produced. Either configuration utilizes a top head roll
assembly consisting of two (2) top edge rolls that control the edge
presentation prior to welding. The head
roll assembly has vertical adjust as a group and individual adjustments to
compensate for improper strip edge alignment.
The main squeeze pressure is provided by the bottom squeeze unit which
will utilize two (2) side rolls only for rounds that range from 1.500” to
3.250” (38.1 to 82.6 mm) OD or two (2) side rolls and one (1) bottom roll for
rounds that range from 3.250” to 5.000” (82.6 to 127.0 mm) OD. With the ability to switch from 4-roll to
5-roll configuration allows the operator the utmost in flexibility to provide
the proper material presentation for the welder. The bottom squeeze roll assemblies are unique
in that there is fast sides close adjustment as well as a fine tuned (and
geared) close adjustment, thus eliminating the need for operators to utilize
cheater bar tools, which can cause injury if they slip. All roll spindles are “dead-shaft” design so
the bearings are housed within the rolls to yield the best possible bearing
life for the weld box, which is considered the worse case scenario for
environment on the tube mill.
The weld box assembly has one last
feature that is the ability to move up and downstream with respect to the tube
mill flow. This allows the operator to
fine tune the weld VEE angle with respect to the last fin-pass. Therefore, depending on your particular
tooling design, the weld VEE angle can be changed to gain the best operating
parameters for your particular product.
The weld squeeze box assembly can handle up to wall thicknesses of
0.250” (6.4 mm).
Formtek is a group of long-established
companies, each with a well-known name and a history of providing innovative,
reliable equipment to the metal forming and metal processing industries. As a
single source provider, Formtek continues to supply it’s customers with
the highest quality equipment, parts and service available in the industries it
serves.
