Machine for conditioning pipes made of thermoplastic material and relative method
AssigneeSica S.P.A.
InventorGiorgio Tabanelli
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A machine for conditioning pipes made of thermoplastic material, including a station for accumulating pipes made of thermoplastic material, at which the pipes are positioned side by side and parallel to one another and with a first predetermined direction of longitudinal extension, a plurality of operational stations for conditioning respective ends of the pipes made of thermoplastic material, positioned side by side along a second predetermined direction at right angles to the first direction, these operational stations including a station for forming bells on the ends, a positioning device designed to pick up a group of pipes for transferring it from one to the other of the above-mentioned stations.
Claims12
A machine for conditioning pipes made of thermoplastic material, comprising:
- a station for accumulating pipes made of thermoplastic material, at which the pipes are arranged side by side such that respective longitudinal axes of the pipes are parallel to each other and extend in a first direction, and the pipes have a spacing between each other in a second direction transverse to the first direction;
- a plurality of operational stations for conditioning respective ends of the pipes, the operational stations comprising a station for forming bells on the ends,
- a positioning device configured to pick up a group of the pipes for transferring the group from one of the stations to another of the stations, the positioning device comprising a rack configured to engage by gripping the group to retain the group during the transfer between the stations, the rack comprising a plurality of gripping elements, each configured to engage with one of the pipes of the group, wherein the positioning device comprises a movement device for relative movement of the gripping elements of the rack, the movement device being configured to vary, in the second direction, a spacing of the gripping elements and thus, the spacing of the pipes engaged with the gripping elements, between two of the stations.
A method for conditioning a pipe made of thermoplastic material comprising the following steps:
- feeding a plurality of pipes of equal diameter to an accumulation station,
- placing the pipes in a group, positioned alongside each other such that respective longitudinal axes of the pipes are parallel to each other and the pipes have, in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axes, a spacing between each other of a first distance between adjacent ones of the longitudinal axes,
- transferring the group to a first operational station at which the pipes are subjected to a first conditioning,
- transferring the group from the first operational station to a second operational station at which each of the pipes is subjected to a second conditioning,
- varying the spacing between the pipes of the group in the direction from the first distance to a second distance different from the first distance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.