Reinforced tubular articles
AssigneeDunlop Limited
InventorsRoy Simkins, James F. Yardley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The production of a reinforced tubular article employs a rotatable roller (1) and a fixed mandrel (3) which are spaced apart so as to define a nip (4) there-between. A strip (5) of reinforced polymeric material is fed through said nip and caused to wind helically around the mandrel (3) by the action of the rotatable roller (1), thereby forming a tubular article (7) the wall thickness of which is equal to size of the nip (4). A carrier strip (11) of low friction material may be provided to assist movement of the reinforcing strip (5) over the mandrel (3). Said movement may be further assisted by arranging the rotatable roller in skewed relation relative to the fixed mandrel.
Claims13
A method of producing a reinforced tubular article comprising helically winding a strip of reinforced polymeric material around a fixed mandrel such that successive turns are in contact with one another, by feeding said strip through the nip defined by a rotatable roller and said fixed mandrel to cause the strip to wind around the fixed mandrel by the action of the rotatable roller, the width of the nip being equal to the desired wall thickness of the tubular article;
- rotating the newly formed tubular article about the mandrel by drive means positioned downstream from the mandrel;
- maintaining the newly formed tubular article under a substantially uniform torque by sensing means connected to said drive means.
Apparatus for the production of a reinforced tubular article comprising a rotatable roller and a fixed mandrel spaced to define a nip therebetween;
- means for feeding a strip of reinforced polymeric material helically through said nip, the minimum width of the nip being equal to the desired wall thickness of the tubular article;
- drive means downstream of the mandrel to assist rotation of the newly formed tubular article;
- sensing means for control of the drive means to maintain a substantially uniform torque in the length of the tubular article between the mandrel and the drive means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.