Fixture and method for making spiral wound hose
AssigneeAlopex Industries, Inc.
InventorsDonald R. Chivens, Paul Greskovics
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved fixture and related method are provided for making spiral wound hose from elongated strips of thermoplastic material. The fixture includes feed rollers for spirally winding inner and outer interlocking strips from opposite directions onto a rotating mandrel. As the strips are wound together, a laser integrally fuses the strips to each other along a continuous line of contact to form an elongated hose. Rotating channeled guide rollers are spaced circumferentially about the mandrel to advance the formed hose continuously off the mandrel.
Claims8
A method of making spiral wound hose, comprising the steps of:
- spirally winding an inner strip of thermoplastic material onto a mandrel, the inner strip having a generally U-shaped geometry defined by a central web joined at opposite ends to a pair of generally parallel ribs, said inner strip winding step comprising winding the strip in a radially outwardly open orientation with the ribs of adjacent spiral turns in generally abutting back-to-back relation;
- spirally winding an outer strip of thermoplastic material onto the mandrel over the inner strip, the outer strip having an outboard wall joined at its opposite ends to a pair of generally parallel legs, said outer strip winding step comprising winding the outer strip in a radially inwardly open orientation with the outboard wall overlying adjacent ribs of adjacent spiral turns of the inner strip and with the legs disposed in axially outboard positions relative to said adjacent ribs;
- and
- laser welding the inner and outer strips together along a continuous line of contact at the juncture of the outboard wall of the outer strip and the underlying adjacent ribs of the inner strip to form the spiral wound hose.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.