A machine for processing tubing comprising:
- a chamber having an outer structure and an interior space;
- a heater configured to add thermal energy to the interior space of the chamber;
- a conveyor belt comprising twenty or more links, the conveyor belt having a width and configured to translate in a 360° path that includes a substantially linear sub-path that passes through the interior space of the chamber and that comprises a changing subset of the twenty or more links as the conveyor belt translates, each of the twenty or more links comprising a distal end and a proximal end, each of the twenty of more links pivotably coupled in relation to a distal adjacent link and in relation to a proximal adjacent link, wherein each of the twenty or more links is configured to rotate about an axis that is generally transverse to the 360° path, each of the twenty or more links further comprising a generally planar outer-facing surface extending from the distal end to the proximal end, such that, the generally planar outer-facing surface of each link of the substantially linear sub-path is adjacent to a generally planar outer-facing surface of at least one other link of the substantially linear sub-path, causing a generally planar composite surface to be maintained along the substantially linear sub-path as the conveyor belt translates in the 360° path;
- and
- wherein a first link of the twenty or more links comprises a first longitudinally-extending barricade adjacent a first side of the generally planar outer-facing surface of the first link and a second longitudinally-extending barricade adjacent a second side of the generally planar outer-facing surface of the first link, the first longitudinally-extending barricade of the first link transversely separated from the second longitudinally-extending barricade of the first link by a transverse distance that is less than one-half of the width of the conveyor belt,
- wherein a second link of the twenty or more links comprises a first longitudinally-extending barricade adjacent a first side of the generally planar outer-facing surface of the second link and a second longitudinally-extending barricade adjacent a second side of the generally planar outer-facing surface of the second link, the first longitudinally-extending barricade of the second link transversely separated from the second longitudinally-extending barricade of the second link by a transverse distance that is less than one-half of the width of the conveyor belt,
- and wherein when the conveyor belt is in a translated position such that the first link and the second link are both included in the changing subset of the twenty or more links of the substantially linear sub-path, a distance between the distal end of the first link and the proximal end of the second link is less than a total length of the substantially linear sub-path, such that an elongate member resting on and extending along the generally planar composite surface, between the first longitudinally-extending barricade and the second longitudinally-extending barricade of the first link of the twenty or more links and between the first longitudinally-extending barricade and the second longitudinally-extending barricade of the second link of the twenty or more links is transversely restricted from migrating more than one-half of the width of the conveyor belt.