Apparatus and method for beading tubes
AssigneePressure Vessels, Inc.
InventorCharles L. Adams
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The specification discloses an apparatus and process for beading the projecting ends of heat exchange tubes to a header or tube sheet of a water heater. The apparatus comprises an expandable mandrel having outwardly movable jaws supported around the forward end of a spindle. The mandrel is adapted to be inserted into a tube and to be expanded outward to tightly grip the inside of the tube near the header and to expand the tube against the header. An annular beading head having an annular beading groove is supported around the spindle rearward of the jaws and is adapted to be moved forward to engage the groove with the projecting end of the tube to force the end of the tube radially outward and against the side of the header.
Claims13
A method of beading to a header, the circular end of a hollow tube extending through an aperture formed through the header and projecting a short distance beyond one side of the header, said method being carried out with the use of an expandable mandrel adapted to be inserted into the tube and an annular non-segmented beading head movable axially relative to said mandrel and having an annular beading groove with inside wall structure adapted to engage the projecting end of the tube and to force the end of the tube outward relative to its axis, said method comprising the steps of:
- inserting the mandrel into the end of the tube,
- expanding the mandrel to apply pressure radially against the inside surface of the tube at a point spaced inward from its projecting end and to tightly grip the tube near the header and to expand the tube against the header, and
- while said mandrel is expanded, moving the beading head forward relative to said mandrel to engage its groove with the end of the tube to force simultaneously, all portions of the projecting end of the tube around its 360.degree. perimeter radially outward against the side of the header,
- retracting the mandrel and the beading head, and removing the mandrel from the tube.
Apparatus for beading the end of a tube extending through an aperture formed through a header and projecting a short distance beyond one side of the header, comprising:
- support structure,
- a mandrel carried by said support structure and adapted to be inserted into the tube to be beaded and which is expandable outward and retractable inward relative to its axis,
- a beading head carried by said support structure and adapted to be moved axially relative to said mandrel and toward and away from the end of the tube to be beaded and having an annular beading groove with inside wall structure adapted to engage the projecting end of the tube and to force the end of the tube outward relative to its axis,
- means for expanding said mandrel outward to tightly grip the inside of the tube near said header and to expand the tube against said header, and
- means for moving said beading head forward relative to said mandrel and toward the end of the tube to engage said inside wall structure of said annular groove with the projecting end of the tube and to force the end of the tube outward and against the side of the header.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.