Return elbow and crossover bender

An apparatus for forming a C-shaped elbow from an elongated tubular element, comprising:

• a frame;
• a first forming means stationarily positioned on the frame and having a first nonlinear forming groove extending at least part way therearound;
• support means swingably supported on said frame for swinging about a first pivot axis which is spaced from said first groove and extends substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise direction thereof;
• driving means connected to said support means to swingably move same between first and second positions which are spaced apart by a selected angular extent;
• a second forming means positioned adjacent said first forming means and having a second forming groove therein, with at least portions of said first and second forming grooves being disposed opposite one another to define a forming bore therebetween into which extends said tubular element;
• intermediate supporting means for supporting said second forming means on said support means for permitting said second forming means to both pivotally move relative to said support means about a second pivot axis which is substantially parallel to said first pivot axis and linearly moves relative to said support means within a plane which is substantially perpendicular to said first pivot axis;
• and
• guide means coacting with said intermediate supporting means for constraining same to move along a selected nonlinear path which is substantially parallel and conforms to the nonlinear configuration of said first forming groove in response to swinging movement of said support means, whereby said opposed first and second forming grooves thus define said forming bore therebetween which is progressively displaced along said first groove in response to swinging of said support means to cause progressive bending of said tubular element.