What is a Plate Roll Machine and What is it Used for?

02, Dec. 2024

 

What is a Plate Roll Machine and What is it Used for?

Plate rolling is an incredibly essential aspect of metal fabrication. It involves the rolling of flat sheet metal to create cylindrical items such as pipes, tanker trailers, buckets, and pressure vessels. Since most of the products delivered during plate rolling are sophisticated, cutting-edge and unique, they are created using specialized equipment that is known as the plate rolling machine or the plate bending machine. In this article, we'll take a look at what a plate roll machine is and its use in the manufacturing industry. 

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What is a Plate Roll Machine?

A plate roll machine is a piece of equipment that is used to roll various types of sheet metal into round, semi round, round with varying radii or conical shapes (some machines specialize in rolling materials back to flat too!). The rolling machine boasts a working mechanism that allows it to bend flat sheet metal into a large arc or cylinder or even a square, an ellipse shape and a multi-section arc. Utilizing a series of precise and strong hardened rolls powered by either hydraulic or mechanical methods, the rolls are brought into a pitching position with the material desired to be shaped. Once the material is firmly held between two of the rolls, a third and sometimes fourth roll is brought into position pushing the material causing the initial bend, or what is referred to as the pre-bend. The rolls then begin to rotate pulling material through the pinched rolls and past the pushing rolls forcing an arc into the material. 

What are Plate Rollers Used for?

Sheet rolling machines are used in the production of nearly all types of cylindrical products. Their application extends to a vast array of items including pressure vessels (Heavily used in the Oil and Gas Industries), home appliances, ships, wind power, military arsenal, aerospace and automobile refit. 

Since not all rolled metals are created equal, every project may require a specialized type of plate roll machine. Therefore, you should expect to find a vast array of plate rollers in the market. The type of equipment you choose should be based on the complexity and uniqueness of the customer's orders. Some of the standard metal rolling machines include: 

  • 2 Roll Machines (Ideal for thin, highly repetitive circular rolling)
  • 3 Roll Initial Pinch (Most popular design due mostly to cost)
  • 3 Roll Double Pinch (Affordable design for heavier bending applications)
  • 3 Roll Variable Translating Geometry (Affordable Design for Variable Radii applications)
  • 4 Roll Double Pinch (The most versatile of the designs) 
  • Vertical Rolls (Perfect when rolling very large Radii such as above ground fuel and water storage tanks)
  • Automated Cycle & Specialty Rolls (Spiral Duct Rolls, Corrugated Material Rolls etc.)

The two roll plate machines are designed to bend flat sheet metals with a width of up to 8-12' and 12 Gage thickness. This makes them ideal for batch production of thin cylindrical items used in household appliances such as filter canisters.  

Three roll sheet rolling machines can be further classified into asymmetrical, horizontal lower roller move type and geometric variable plate rollers. Although all tools in this category operate using different principles, they are all used to bend medium to thick plates. The three-roll sheet bending machines are commonly used not only in general fabricating but also in chemical, boiler, shipbuilding, metal structure, petroleum and machinery manufacturing industries. 

The 4-roll plate bending machines are renowned for transforming flat sheet metal into spherical body, cone tube body or other shapes. Four roll plate bending machines are more productive, precise, safer, versatile, and easier to operate than the rest. Once the material is set and pinched the two rolls on either side of the pinched roll do all the work without having to remove the plate and rotate it for pre bending both ends. They can roll up to 8'  thick plate steel and are most likely to be outfitted with CNC controllers for variable radii applications and  complex shapes such as elliptic and polycentric workpieces. Their greatest advantage is that they can be used on a wide range of sheet metals and can also accept a high degree of automation. They can also be used to roll tube segments, ovals, rounded boxes and other shapes.  

Browse SFMS' Inventory of Plate Rolling Machines!

If a plate roll machine is the next piece of equipment you want to add to your fabrication shop's arsenal, don't look further than Southern Fabricating Machinery Sales. Our expansive inventory boasts a plethora of roll bending machines that are sure to meet and exceed the needs of your customer. Whether you are looking for a quality used 2 roll machine or a new 4-roll plate bending machine, you'll be sure to find them at SFMS. We are ideally positioned as the number one supplier of the utmost in productive and sophisticated plant roll machines available in the market today. 

Working Principle and Classification of Plate Bending ...

Working principle:

The upper roller of the symmetrical plate rolling machine is at the symmetrical position of the two lower rollers through the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic cylinder to act on the piston for vertical lifting movement, and the final gear of the main reducer drives the gears of the two lower rollers to mesh for rotating motion, which is the rolling motion Provide torque. The flat plastic metal plate of the plate rolling machine passes between the three working rolls of the plate rolling machine. With the help of the pressing of the upper roller and the rotation of the lower roller, the metal plate is continuously bent through multiple passes, resulting in permanent plastic deformation. Roll into the required cylinder cone or part of them. The disadvantage of this hydraulic three-roller bending machine is that the end of the plate needs to be pre-bent with the help of other equipment.This rolling machine is suitable for large rolling machines with a thickness of more than 5Omm. A row of fixed idlers is added under the two lower rollers to shorten the span of the two lower rollers, thereby improving the precision of the rolled workpiece and the overall performance of the machine.

Classification:

Because of the different fields of use, the types of bending machines are also different. From the number of rolls, it is divided into three-roller and four-roller. The three-roller is divided into a symmetrical three-roller bending machine, a horizontal downward-adjusting three-roller bending machine, an arc downward-adjusting plate bending machine, an upper roller universal three-roller bending machine, and a hydraulic CNC bending machine. From the transmission point of the mechanical type and hydraulic type.In terms of the development of plate bending machines, the upper roll universal type is the most backward, the horizontal down adjustment type is slightly advanced, and the arc down adjustment type is the most advanced.

Three-roller bending machine:

Mechanical

Hydraulic

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1.The mechanical three-roller bending machine is divided into symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Mechanical three-roller symmetry

Performance characteristics of mechanical three-roller symmetrical plate bending machine: The structure of the machine is three-roller symmetrical.The upper roller moves vertically at the center symmetrical position of the two lower rollers. t is obtained by the transmission of the screw nut and the worm. Rotational motion, through the output gear of the reducer meshing with the lower your gear, provides torque for the rolled sheet. The disadvantage of this machine is that the end of the plate needs to be pre-bent with other equipment.

Mechanical three-roll asymmetrical

The main features of the mechanical three-roll asymmetrical plate bending machine: the structure of the machine is a three-roll asymmetrical type, the upper roller is the main drive, and the lower roller moves vertically to clamp the plate and mesh with the upper roller gear through the lower roller gear, At the same time as the main drive; the side rollers are tilted and lifted, with dual functions of pre-bending and rounding Compact structure, convenient operation, and maintenance.

2.Hydraulic

The main features of the hydraulic three-roller symmetrical plate bending machine: the upper roller of the machine can be vertically raised and lowered, and the verticality hydraulic transmission is obtained by the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic cylinder acting on the piston rod the lower roller is driven in rotation, and the output gear meshes through the reducer. To provide torque for the coil there is an idler under the lower roller, which can be adjusted. The upper roller is in the shape of a drum, which improves the straightness of the product and is suitable for ultra-long tanks with various cross-sectional shapes.

lt is an upward-adjusting symmetrical three-roller plate rolling machine, which can roll metal sheets into circular,arc-shaped, and conical workpieces within a certain range. The two lower rollers of this model are the driving rollers and the upper roller is the driven roller. It is widely used in shipbuilding, boiler, aviation, hydropower, chemical, metal structure, and machinery manufacturing industries.

it is suitable for the bending deformation of metal plates. It can roll around, arc and tapered workpieces within a certain range, and has the function of pre-bending the end of the plate. The two lower colors of this model are active rollers that can move horizontally. The roller is a driven roller that can move up and down. There are mechanical and hydraulic movement modes. The driveshafts are all connected by universal couplings.

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