Processing of copper tubing
AssigneeKabel-und Metallwerke Gutehoffnungshutte Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsOtto Uhlmann, Klaus-Peter Uhlmann
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Several lengths of tubing are interconnected either in advance by welding or brazing, or on-line by hollow plugs, and fed through an annealing furnace, a jacketing station, and a cutter, whereby flushing gas such as air, oxygen-enriched air, or an inert gas are sucked through the respective trailing end. The on-line, end-to-end connection can also be additionally used for tubings as prepared in advance and permits continuous processing, particularly combining process annealing with removal of oil residues.
Claims26
A method of processing copper tubing having been drawn to final size under utilization of a drawing oil, comprising the steps of
- providing a plurality of such copper tubing;
- interconnecting these tubings in a gas-conductive manner in order to form a long, continuous, string of tubing;
- continuously passing the string of tubing through an annealing furnace, to heat the tubing to an annealing temperature, well above an evaporation temperature of the oil as was residually deposited inside the tubing;
- and
- removing resulting vapor continuously through an unconnected end of the tubing.
A method for processing copper tubing following sizing under utilization of a drawing oil, comprising the steps of
- passing copper tubing through a furnace for annealing, whereby drawing oil deposits evaporate;
- applying suction to the trailing end of the tubing so that evaporated oil deposits are removed through said trailing end;
- providing another such tubing having a front and a trailing end;
- connecting the front end to the trailing end of the first-mentioned tubing under utilization of a hollow plug in order to obtain a string of tubing;
- applying suction to the trailing end of the other tubing so that vapors can be removed through the latter's end;
- continuing the annealing during the connecting step, and repeating the providing, connecting, and applying steps to obtain a continuous process on a continuous string of tubing;
- and
- cutting the resulting, continuous string of tubing into shorter lengths.
A method of processing copper tubing following sizing under utilization of a drawing oil, comprising the steps of
- providing a plurality of such tubings;
- interconnecting them end to end by means of one of the following brazing and welding, resulting in a string of tubing having a leading end and a trailing end;
- annealing the string of tubing gradually from the leading end to the trailing end, whereby oil deposits are evaporated;
- continuously applying suction to the trailing end of the string of tubing in order to remove evaporated oil;
- and
- cutting the string of tubing into shorter lengths following the annealing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.