Means for fabricating tapered tubing
OwnerLloyd Elliott Emburyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Tapered spiral tube in continuous lengths is fabricated with an alternating increasing and decreasing diameter, the length being severed at the locus of change. The taper may be straight, convex or concave, the tube being produced from strip-stock which is squeezed between biassing rollers whereby one or other edge is thinned, and as a consequence lengthened and convexly curved. The entire fabricating process is automatic, being predetermined by templet means and monitored by feed-back measures felt by the tube while being fabricated.
Claims15
A machine adapted and designed for fabricating tapered tube from flat ribbon-stock, said tube being in the form of a chain of continuously connected complete 360.degree. frusto-conical helical turns wherein adjacent turns are welded to each other substantially along their edges comprising in combination:-
- i. roller means including ribbon-stock squeezing rollers, the width of the space between said rollers and between which said ribbon stock moves being changeable so that variable pressure is applied to said ribbon-stock, a longitudinal edge portion including an edge of said ribbon-stock being thereby reduced in thickness relative to the opposite edge portion and said ribbon-stock thereby being curved in its general or overall plane before being wound into helical tube, and
- ii. automatic means for programming the desired variable diameter of the said tube as it is being fabricated including:-
- a. tube-taper variation-governing means responsive to rotation of said rollers while said tube is being fabricated.
- b. diameter variation sensing means continuously responsive to feed-back information indicating change in the diameter of said tube.
- c. variable response means for changing the rate of response of said tube-taper variation governing means to the rotation of
- d. motion translating means responsive to said primary taper tube-taper variation governing means for converting said fed-back information into action upon said roller means whereby the space between said rollers through which at least an edge-area of said ribbon-stock moves may be changed and the consequent pressure upon said edge-area altered to vary the curvature of said ribbon-stock in its said plane.
A machine for fabricating tapered tube from flat ribbon-stock said tube being in the form of a chain of continuously connected complete 360.degree. frusto-conical helical turns having the adjacent edges of adjacent turns welded to each other substantially along their edges wherein the improvement comprises in combination:-
- a. automatic means including the tube-taper reversing means for continuously and automatically converting said stock by winding it into successive tapered lengths of tube each alternative one of which increases and each intervening one decreases in diameter while being so converted, toward the leading end thereof, and
- b. means for automatically severing said tube into lengths.
A machine adapted and designed for fabricating tapered tube from flat ribbon-stock having opposite edge areas, said tube being in the form of a chain of continuously connected complete 360.degree. frustoconical helical edge-welded turns, said machine comprising in combination:
- i. roller means for applying thickness-reducing pressure upon either of the opposite edge-areas of said ribbon-stock so that the pressure varies uniformly across the strip,
- ii. automatic means for programming said machine for the winding of the said ribbon-stock into tube according to a predetermined variable diameter per unit of fabricated tube length, said means including:
- a. tube-taper variation-governing templet means,
- b. means for moving and controlling the rate of movement of said templet means relative to said tube at its locus of fabrication, and
- c. means responsive to movement of said templet means for varying said pressure applied by said roller means and thereby the taper or diametrical variation per unit of fabricated tube length.
A machine for fabricating tapered tube by the helical winding of flat-stock, including a fabricating head assembly having flat-stock deforming roller-means;
- and winding means, wherein the improvement comprises:
- A. automatic means for converting said stock into successive lengths which simultaneously rotate and travel longitudinally, each alternate one of said lengths increasing and each intervening one decreasing in diameter while being so converted, towards the leading end thereof, said means for converting including in combination:
- i. flat-stock deforming roller-means in the form of a pair of adjacent rollers each having an axis between which said flat-stock moves in being so deformed,
- ii. means for mounting one of said rollers for limited reciprocating movement between parallelism with the other and slight axial angularity to apply thickness-reducing pressure upon either of the opposite edge-areas of the ribbon-stock,
- iii. tube-taper reversing gear means being actuable to reverse the tube-taper when each of said lengths has reached a predetermined size, and
- iv. means actuated by changes in the diameter of each length co-acting with tube-taper variation-governing means for controlling the relative axial angularity of said roller pair,
- B. means for severing said lengths substantially at the junction of each alternate and intervening lengths.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.