Rolling mill work roll assemblies

Claim 1

A rolling mill work roll assembly comprising a hollow shaft member which is co-axially secured to or formed integrally with a work roll drive shaft and which extends co-axially in a bore of a work roll, said work roll including an annular member formed to define a rolling groove or surface of the work roll, said shaft member having a first end face and an axial hollow in said shaft member open at one end onto said first end face and closed at the other end, said closed end of said hollow presenting a first reaction surface, means integral with the shaft members adjacent said open end of said hollow to provide a second reaction surface facing in the opposite direction to said first reaction surface, whereby said hollow shaft member is adapted to be axially stretched by load applying means acting on and between said first and second reaction surfaces to cause sufficient diametrical reduction of said hollow shaft member to permit insertion and removal thereof into and from its assembled position in said work roll bore, said shaft member when not so stretched having a diameter too large to permit such insertion and removal, said shaft member thereby exerting radial loading outwardly on said work roll when the stretching force is removed, thereby determining radial location of said work roll with respect to said hollow shaft member.