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US 5,205,889 AGranted
Method and apparatus for producing flexible tubes of any length
AssigneeManuli Rubber Industries S.r.l.
InventorsGiuseppe Cioffi, Guido Albertini, Stefano Barbieri
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for producing flexible tubes of desired length from several strips of rubber and/or fiber reinforced rubber. The apparatus comprises a wrapping machine and a vulcanizer arranged in series on a common axis along which a core can move.
Claims8
A method of producing flexible tubes of desired length from several superposed strips of rubber and/or fiber-reinforced rubber comprising the steps of:
- fitting an unvulcanized end of a previously-wrapped first section of tube onto a lateral surface of an end portion of an elongate cylindrical core leaving a remaining portion of the lateral surface of the core uncovered;
- covering said remaining portion of the core with a plurality of superposed strips of rubber so as to form, as an extension of the first section, a second section of tube having a first end adjacent the first section, an intermediate portion and a second end opposite the first end;
- inserting into a vulcanizer a portion of the core covered by the unvulcanized end of the first section, the first end and the intermediate portion of the second section leaving outside the vulcanizer a portion of the core covered by the second end of the second section;
- vulcanizing the unvulcanized end of the first section, the first end and the intermediate portion of the second section inserted in the vulcanizer so as to join the first and second sections to form a vulcanized portion of tube;
- separating the vulcanized portion of tube from the core by blowing air into the core so that the air passes through holes formed in the surface of the core and works its way between the outer surface of the core and the inner surface of the tube to separate them;
- expelling the core from the vulcanizer until the second end of the second section of tube is fitted onto the lateral surface of the end portion of the core with the vulcanized portion of the tube remaining inside the vulcanizer;
- and
- repeating the above steps until the tube has reached the desired length using as the first section of tube at any time the entire portion of the tube produced up to that time.
5 more elements
Apparatus for producing flexible tubes comprising:
- a wrapping machine for depositing strips around an elongated cylindrical core and a vulcanizer arranged in series with said wrapping machine on a common axis;
- said wrapping machine including a trolley which is provided with a motor for moving the trolley on rails, said trolley having a through hole for the passage of the core in correspondence with the common axis and at least one head which rotates about the axis and carries at least one reel bearing the strips to be deposited;
- and
- said vulcanizer having holes in its ends in correspondence with the common axis, propulsion means for moving the core along said common axis into said vulcanizer, and means for supporting the moving core being provided wherein the vulcanizer has, in proximity to its ends, means for sealing against the core covered by the strips which is introduced into the vulcanizer and means for expelling the core out of the vulcanizer toward the wrapping machine including at least a through hole formed in the core surface and means for connecting the hole to air blowing means.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.