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US 5,813,299 AGranted
Automatic feed rotary tubing cutter for fuel rod tubing of a nuclear fuel assembly
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorRichard N. Soucy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary tubing cutter enables automatic tube cutting without requiring manual rotation of the cutter. The apparatus includes a motor driven gear assembly including a blade gear and a feed gear. The feed gear includes a plurality of cam slots that receive pins attached to the cutting blades of the blade gear. Rotation of the feed gear relative to the blade gear effects feeding of the cutting blades. The apparatus is particularly useful for fuel rod tubing of nuclear fuel assemblies.
Claims12
A rotary tubing cutter, comprising:
- a first rotatable gear pivotally supporting a plurality of concentric cutting blades;
- a plurality of cam pins, one each being attached to said plurality of cutting blades, respectively;
- a second rotatable gear disposed substantially coaxially with said first gear, said second gear having cam slots therein and being configured to control a cutting position of said cutting blades, wherein said cam pins engage said cam slots, respectively;
- and
- a motor coupled to said first gear and said second gear.
2 more elements
A rotary tubing cutter, comprising:
- a first rotatable gear pivotally supporting a plurality of concentric cutting blades;
- a plurality of cam pins, one each being attached to said plurality of cutting blades, respectively:
- a second rotatable gear disposed substantially coaxially with said first gear, said second gear including means for controlling a cutting position of said cutting blades, wherein said controlling means comprises a plurality of cam slots corresponding to said plurality of cutting blades, said cam slots receiving said pins and urging said cutting blades via said pins simultaneously toward and away from a center of said first gear when said second gear is rotated relative to said first gear;
- and
- driving means for driving said first gear and said second gear.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.