Method for handling a fiber reinforced plastic tube, and combination of such tube wound on a reel
AssigneePipelife Nederland B.V.
InventorsLambertus Gerrit Peter Dalmolen, Peter Jeroen Cloos
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Abstract
A method for handling a fiber reinforced tube the tubular wall of which has a stiffness which allows the tube to maintain a nominal circular cross section of its own, the tube including a liner, a fiber reinforcement surrounding the liner and a coating surrounding the fiber reinforcement, includes the steps of: flattening the tube so as to obtain a non-circular shape, such as an oval or elliptical shape, subsequently winding the flattened tube onto a reel. Thanks to the method, a combination of a wound flattened tube and a reel is obtained which is fit for road transport.
Claims8
A method for handling a fiber reinforced tube a tubular wall of which has a stiffness that allows the tube to maintain a substantially circular cross section,
- said method comprising:
- flattening the tube between a pair of opposed pressure members so as to obtain a less substantially circular cross section, such that a width of the cross section is larger than a thickness of the cross section;
- and
- subsequently winding the flattened tube onto a reel, wherein a direction of the width of the cross section is parallel to an axis of the reel;
- wherein said flattening comprises:
- applying a pair of opposed caterpillars, facing parts of which enclose a nip of predetermined magnitude that is smaller than an outer diameter of the tube;
- making the facing parts of the caterpillars carry out a movement in a same direction;
- and
- guiding the tube between the facing parts of the caterpillars, by the movement of the caterpillars, while flattening the tube,
- wherein said tube comprising a liner, a fiber reinforcement surrounding the liner, and a coating surrounding the fiber reinforcement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.