Equipment for forming can bodies

A can body forming equipment comprising:

• a continuous length of can forming cylinder;
• a forming section provided at the starting end of said cylinder;
• said forming section being provided with a can body blank feeding mechanism which feeds said blank into a position around the outer periphery of said cylinder to form the same into a roughly cylindrical body with opposite ends of said blank positioned proximate each other at a lower part of said cylinder,
• a bending section provided somewhat spaced apart from said forming section;
• said bending section being provided with a stationary die internally of said cylinder at a lower part thereof and with a movable die externally of said cylinder and directly below said stationary die, the lower end face of said stationary die and the upper end face of said movable die being tapered inwardly of said cylinder to such an extent that said opposite ends of said roughly cylindrical body are slightly bent inwardly;
• a heating section provided somewhat spaced apart from the preceding bending section;
• said heating section being provided with high-frequency induction heating coils at positions corresponding to said opposite ends of said roughly cylindrical body, those portions of said coils corresponding to the corner portions of said opposite ends being spaced apart from said ends by a larger gap than that corresponding to the center portions of said ends;
• a can body completing section provided at the ending end of said cylinder;
• said can body completing section being provided with a spline cut in the underside of said cylinder and having a length corresponding to the length of the can body, said spline being provided therein via a heat-insulating material with a cooling and pressure-receiving part which has a coolant passage and has its lower end face exposed outside,
• a vertically movable hammer being provided directly beneath said lower end face of said pressure-receiving part, said hammer having a recess in which a striking part having a coolant passage is provided via a heat-insulating material;
• said cylinder having an outwardly extending mechanism on both lateral sides thereof in said completing section, and pushing members being provided on the opposite sides of said cylinder externally thereof;
• feeding pawl members for advancing said roughly cylindrical body to the respective succeeding steps being provided freely projectably at each advanced end of said forming section, bending section, heating section and can body forming section of said cylinder.