Patent ID: 6494353
Filing Date: 2002-12-17
Classification: B21D,B23D,Y10T

Abstract:
A thin wall continuous tube driving apparatus, comprising:a frame; a carriage reciprocally movably mounted on said frame between at least first and second positions; at least first and second opposing pairs of endless conveyor belts, each pair having opposing first and second endless conveyor belts and separate drive motors therefor mounted on said carriage and movable therewith in a direction transverse of a longitudinal direction of each said opposing pairs of endless conveyor belts; at least two side-by-side endless grooves in at least one of said first and second endless conveyor belts, a surface of each endless groove being configured to oppose a surface on the other of said first and second endless conveyor belts to define at least two sets of openings, a tube from a tube source being received in a selected one of said openings, said surfaces on each of said first and second endless conveyor belts belts being configured to frictionally engage the tube from opposite sides thereof; and drive means for reciprocating said carriage to orient a selected one of said openings in axial alignment with an axis of the tube from the tube source.