Apparatus for fabricating drip irrigation tape
AssigneeJames C. Roberts
InventorsJames C. Roberts, David E. Mominee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus is disclosed for fabricating drip irrigation tape from a water impervious polyethelene film. A shaping assembly with a water-cooled vacuum drum preforms a groove along one edge, a folding device folds the strip lengthwise to form a first conduit, and a sealing assembly with an electrically-heated heat sealing wheel joins the edges along opposite sides of the groove to form a seam in which the groove defines a secondary conduit that is resistant to deformation. Flat spots on a pair of outwardly-extending annular ribs around the circumference of the heat sealing wheel produce breaks in the seam for inlet ports and outlet ports.
Claims18
An apparatus for fabricating tubing suitable for drip irrigation applications, which comprises:
- means for shaping a strip of flexible material having a first edge portion and a second edge portion to define a groove in the first edge portion that extends lengthwise along the strip;
- means for folding the strip lengthwise with the first edge portion and second edge portion overlapping to form a first conduit;
- and
- means for joining the first edge portion and the second edge portion together along opposite sides of the groove to form a seam in which the groove defines a secondary conduit and along which breaks in the seam define a series of inlet ports between the first conduit and secondary conduit and a series of outlet ports between the secondary conduit and the exterior of the tubing.
A method for fabricating tubing suitable for drip irrigation applications, which comprises:
- shaping a strip of flexible material having a first edge portion and a second edge portion to define an indented groove in the first edge portion that extends lengthwise along the strip;
- folding the strip lengthwise with the first edge portion and the second edge portion overlapping to form a first conduit;
- and
- joining the first edge portion and the second edge portion along opposite sides of the groove to form a seam in which the groove defines a secondary conduit of depth equal to the depth of the groove and along which breaks in the seam define a series of inlet ports between the main conduit and the secondary conduit and a series of outlet ports between the secondary conduit and the exterior of the tubing structure.
A method for fabricating tubing suitable for drip irrigation applications, which comprises:
- shaping a strip of flexible material having a first flat edge portion and a second flat edge portion to form an indented groove in the first edge portion that extends lengthwise along the strip;
- folding the strip lengthwise with the first edge portion and the second edge portion overlapping with opposing portions of their flat faces in face to face contact to form a first conduit;
- and
- joining the contacting faces of the first edge portion and the second edge portion along opposite sides of the groove to form a seam in which the groove defines a secondary conduit of depth equal to the depth of the groove and along which breaks in the seam define a series of inlet ports between the main conduit and the secondary conduit and a series of outlet ports between the secondary conduit and the exterior of the tubing structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.