Tank fabricating equipment
OwnerWilliam A. Schahuberinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A design for tank fabricating equipment and system comprises a frame supporting opposing arms for supporting one or more tank shells. The opposing arms pivotally engage opposing sides of the tank shells to force them into a circular cross-sectional shape. The arms are provided with rollers for aligning the tank shell with adjacent components during fabrication. In some embodiments, the rollers are provided with a circumferential channel to accommodate welding seams and to ensure alignment of butt joints.
Claims14
A tank fabrication machine for joining at least two tank components, at least one of which is a tank shell;
- the tank fabrication machine comprising:
- a frame composed of at least one structural member on each side of a center line of the frame;
- a drive roller mounted on the frame;
- a first arm member and a second arm member attached to the frame on opposing sides of the center line of the frame;
- a third arm member and a fourth arm member attached to the frame on opposing sides of the center line of the frame;
- a first arm roller mounted on said first arm member, a second arm roller mounted on said second arm member, a third arm roller mounted on said third arm member, and a fourth arm roller mounted on said fourth arm member;
- a tank shell disposed on the drive roller;
- wherein a first end of each of said first, second, third, and fourth arm members is pivotally mounted onto the frame;
- wherein said first arm member is configured to bring the first arm roller in contact with the tank shell above a horizontal plane that bisects the tank shell and said second arm member is configured to bring the second arm roller in contact with the tank shell above the horizontal plane that bisects the tank shell;
- and
- wherein said third arm member is configured to bring the third arm roller in contact with the tank shell below the horizontal plane that bisects the tank shell and said fourth arm member is configured to bring the fourth arm roller in contact with the tank shell below the horizontal plane that bisects the tank shell.
A tank fabrication machine for joining a first tank component to a second tank component, the tank fabrication machine comprising:
- a first upper roller and a second upper roller;
- a first lower roller and a second lower roller;
- wherein the first and second lower rollers are configured to support the first and second tank components from below a horizontal plane that bisects the tank components;
- wherein the first and second upper rollers are configured to apply pressure to the first and second tank components from above the horizontal plane that bisects the tank components
- wherein each of said first upper, second upper, first lower, and second lower rollers has a first coating spaced apart from a second coating on an outer surface such that a circumferential channel is formed by a gap between the first coating and the second coating, wherein all of the first upper roller, second upper roller, first lower roller, and second lower roller circumferential channels are aligned.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.