Abstract:
A coil of tubing can have either adjacent tubes or tubes with a space therebetween. To hold the tubes in place a material such as an adhesive can be placed across the top of the coil, on the bottom of the coil or both to hold the coil in place. The material can also envelope the coils such that the coils are banded. The coils may have a length of a straight portion of tubing prior to the coil beginning and an angled portion on the inside diameter for inserting or extracting a product in the tubing which may be similarly retained. The tubing may be coiled by insertion between two templates. The templates have injection ports for inserting material to hold or encase the tubing. Thus the tubing may be inserted in the templates, a material to hold the tubing in the coiled position inserted and the coiled tubing removed from the templates ready for use in their coiled position with the material on the tubing holding the tubing in the coiled position.

Description:
This application is a division of Ser. No. 09/580,108 filed May 30, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,573. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to packaging and more particularly to securing tubing in a coil with an adhesive material. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In the past when a coil of tubing was to be stored in a coil, one tube was secured to the next by a band around the coiled tubing, such as twist ties, tape, frames, or other devices surrounding the entire coil. A coil of tubes has also been secured by one tube having a concave member and the adjacent tube having a convex member for fitting into the concave member. Coils of tubes have also been connected by adhesives placed on the outside of the tubes such that tangent tube portions are glued together. It is difficult to apply an adhesive to a tube and then coil  it with tangential portions glued together since the tangent space is a line which does not offer much surface area. At least one design called for a flattened tangential portion to provide for a larger surface area but the tube is then not round. There are no tubes secured together adhesively with the adhesive applied radially across the coiled tubes on one side of the coil. 
     There is a further need for a coiled tube to have an angled end portion for easy attachment of objects on the end of the tubing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A coil of tubing is wound with tangential portions of the tubing adjacent in a template having a top half with a coiled trough and a bottom half with a coiled trough such that when the tubing is inserted into the tem plate and pushed forward the template guides the tubing in a spiral such that it is coiled. The two templates may be slightly spaced during the tube insertion for ease of inserting the tube. When the template is filled with tubing the templates are moved together to firmly hold the coiled tubing in place and an adhesive is injected through the bottom template across the top of the coiled tubing to form tabs of adhesive which semicircularly surround the tubes and fill in the gaps therebetween and extending slightly above the tubes to secure the tubes to one another. When the tubes are so secured, the template is opened and the coiled tube is removed. The template halves are then ready to admit another section of tubing to be secured in a coil. 
     In a second embodiment the tubing is inserted in the templates as before but the adhesive is injected on both sides of the tubing semi circularly surrounding the tubes. 
     In a third embodiment the tubing is banded by totally surrounding the tubes.  
     In a fourth embodiment the tubing has an angled portion on the inner diameter to facilitate placing a lure in the end of the tubing. The angled portion of the template forces the tubing to angle away from the coil and then heat-treats the tubing so that it remains angled after release from the template. 
     In a fifth embodiment adhesive fills the gap between the inner diameter and the angled portion thus holding the angled portion in place. 
     In a sixth embodiment adhesive fills the gap between the inner diameter and the angled portion thus holding the angled portion in place as well as holding the angled portion near the beginning of the tubing. 
     In a seventh embodiment the tubing is spaced such that adhesive fills the area between the tubing for a larger surface area and better bond of adhesive to the tubing. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to secure a coil of tubing such that it will not uncoil by adhesively connecting the windings in the coil to each other. 
     It is an object of the invention to quickly and easily coil a length of tubing. 
     It is an object of the invention to use a small amount of adhesive to secure the coil. 
     It is an object of the invention to coil the tubing and secure the coil in the same template providing a one step process of coiling and securing the coil. 
     It is an object of the invention to quickly coil and secure the tubing. 
     It is an object of the invention to secure the coiled tubing in a low cost manner using a small amount of adhesive on one half of the tubing surface area.  
     It is an object of the invention to quickly and easily remove the adhesively bound coil from the templates. 
     It is a further object of the invention for the template to provide an angled portion of tubing on the inside of the coil to attach objects to the coil without interference from the rest of the coil. 
     It is still a further object of the invention to heat treat the tubing in the template to relieves stress in the angled portion such that the tubing maintains its angled shape on removal from the templates. 
     It is an object to provide adhesive for securing tubes on one side of the coil of tubes. 
     It is an object to provide adhesive for securing tubes on both sides of the coil of tubes. 
     It is also an object of the invention to provide a band of adhesive around the tubing for holding the tubing together. 
     It is an object of the invention to secure the tubes from uncoiling at the angled portion where the tubes join the coil. 
     It is an object of the invention to coil the tubes with a gap between the tubes for securing the tubing with adhesive totally surrounding the tubes. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of a tube coil held together by adhesive tabs.  
         FIG. 2  is a cross section of a tube coil held together by adhesive tabs taken along the line  1 — 1  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3A  is a cross sectional view of the top template. 
         FIG. 3B  is a plan view of the top template. 
         FIG. 4A  is a plan view of the bottom template. 
         FIG. 4B  is a cross sectional view of the bottom template along line  2 — 2  of  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the adhesive injector. 
         FIG. 6  is a side cross section of the adhesive injector along line  3 — 3  of  FIG. 5  in conjunction with the top template and bottom template. 
         FIG. 7  is a bottom view of a tube coil held together by adhesive tabs on the top and bottom of the coil. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross section of a tube coil held together by adhesive tabs on the top and bottom of the coil taken along the line  4 — 4  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9A  is a cross sectional view of the top template showing 
         FIG. 9B  is a plan view of the top template. 
         FIG. 10A  is a plan view of the bottom template. 
         FIG. 10B  is a cross sectional view of the bottom template. 
         FIG. 11  is a side cross section of the adhesive injector along line  5 — 5  of  FIG. 10A  in conjunction with the top template and bottom template. 
         FIG. 12  is a bottom view of a tube coil held together by adhesive bands around the coil. 
         FIG. 13  is a cross section of a tube coil held together by adhesive bands around the top and bottom of the coil taken along the line  6 — 6  of  FIG. 12 .  
         FIG. 14  is a side cross section of the adhesive injector for forming an adhesive band around the coils in conjunction with the top template and bottom template. 
         FIG. 15  is a bottom view of a tube coil having an angled portion on the inside diameter held together by adhesive tabs on one side of the coil. 
         FIG. 16A  is a cross sectional view of the top template of  FIG. 15  showing a heating pin and an actuator therefore taken along line  7 — 7  of  16 B. 
         FIG. 16B  is a plan view of the top template for the tube coil with an angled portion. 
         FIG. 17A  is a plan view of the bottom template for the tube coil with an angled portion. 
         FIG. 17B  is a cross sectional view of the bottom template for the tube coil with an angled portion taken along line  8 — 8  of  17 A. 
         FIG. 18  is a bottom view of a tube coil having an angled portion on the inside diameter held together by adhesive bands around the coil and adhesive filling in between the angled portion and the coil. 
         FIG. 19  is a cross section along  9 — 9  of  FIG. 18  showing the angled portion of the tubing. 
         FIG. 20A  is a plan view of the bottom template showing the angled portion of the tubing. 
         FIG. 20B  is a cross sectional view of the bottom template taken along line  10 — 10  of  FIG. 20A . 
         FIG. 21  is a side cross section of the adhesive injector for forming an adhesive band around the coils and filling in the space between the coil and the angled portion in conjunction with the top template and bottom template. 
         FIG. 22  is a side cross section as in  FIG. 21  with the addition of filling in the space between the coil and the incoming tubing angled portion with adhesive to keep the tubing from angling outward when it is released from the template.  
         FIG. 23  is a side cross section of the adhesive injector with the tubing spaced apart such that adhesive can totally surround the tubing. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows a coil of plastic tubing  70  held together with adhesive tabs  80 .  FIG. 2  shows a cross section along lines  1 — 1  of  FIG. 1  showing the adhesive tabs  80  holding the tubes  70 . The adhesive tabs  80  are on the one side of the coil of tubes  70  and cover one half of the diameter of the tubes  70 , penetrating to where the tubes are tangentially adjacent, such that a large bonding area of adhesive holds the tubes  70  in the coil. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  show a top template  20  used to coil the plastic tubing  70 .  FIGS. 4A and 4B  show the bottom template  30  used in conjunction with the top template  20  to coil the tubing. The spiral trough  25  of the top template  20  and the spiral trough  35  of the bottom template  30  are mirror images of each other. As can be seen, when the plastic tubing  70  is inserted at  29 ,  39  the templates  20 ,  30  will guide the tubing in the spiral troughs  25 ,  35  until it reaches the trough ending  28 ,  38 . The tubing  70  is now at the desired length and coiled at the desired diameter. The tubing may be precut to length or cut at the end of the templates  20 ,  30 . When the templates  20 ,  30  are held apart by a small distance the tubing  70  may be more easily threaded through the templates  20 ,  30 . Although four turns of the tubing are shown any number of turns of the coil may be used. When the tubing  70  reaches spiral trough ends  28 ,  38  the top plate  20  and the bottom plate  30  can be moved into contact with each other to firmly hold the tubes  70  in place. Adhesive can be then be injected through adhesive ports  44  to form the adhesive tabs  80  around a portion of the tubes  70 .  
       FIG. 4A  shows the adhesive injectors  40  spaced around the spiral troughs  35 . Although six adhesive injectors  40  are shown here any number may be used so long as the number of adhesive tabs  80  applied will hold the coil of plastic tubing  70  together. 
     The adhesive injectors  40  are shown in greater detail in  FIGS. 4B ,  5  and  6 .  FIG. 5  shows a top view of the adhesive injectors  40  wherein the spiral trough  45  is continued as in trough  35  so as to guide the tubes  70  through the template  30 . The adhesive tab cavity  42  is shown for injecting an adhesive adjacent one half of the circumference of the adjacent tubes  70  for securing the tubes  70  to one another. The adhesive  80  is injected into adhesive tab cavity  42  through port  44 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a cross sectional side view of the adhesive injector  40  along line  3 — 3  of  FIG. 5  and a portion of adjacent top plate  20 , bottom plate  30 , adhesive reservoir plate  50  and adhesive reservoir  60 . Adhesive from the adhesive reservoir  60  can be pressurized or pumped to flow through adhesive passage  47  to adhesive port  44  and injected into adhesive tab cavity  42  to bond tubes  70  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     The adhesive can be a polypropylene adhesive material with a low melting point compared to the plastic tubing  70 . A heater for adhesive reservoir  60  may be required to keep the adhesive in reservoir  60  in a liquid state until it is injected into adhesive tab cavity  42 . The top template  20  and the bottom template  30  when made of a metal such as aluminum act as heat sinks and carry way the heat of the adhesive material  80  to help the adhesive material  80  harden faster. 
     When the adhesive material  80  has cooled sufficiently to hold the coiled tubing  70  the templates  20  and  30  are separated and the coiled tubing  70  with the adhesive tabs  80  thereon are  removed from the templates  20 ,  30 . The templates  20 ,  30  are then placed proximate each other and are ready to receive more tubing  70  to be held in a coiled position by adhesive tabs  80 . 
     An insulation material  48  such as Teflon® is preferably used to line the adhesive passage  47  and the adhesive port  44  such that the hot adhesive passing therethrough is insulated from the heat sink of the templates  20  and  30  which tend to cool the adhesive and clog the adhesive port  44  and the adhesive passage  47  during dwell times between injections. 
     In another embodiment, shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8  the adhesive tabs  80  are placed on the top of the coil of tubes  70  and simultaneously placed on the bottom of the coil as best seen in  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 7  shows the width of the adhesive tabs as about half the width as shown in  FIG. 1 . Since both sides of the tubing  70  are secured the tabs  80  do not need to be as wide. Thus the tubes are held with about the same amount of adhesive but being secured on two sides helps prevent separation of the coil on what would otherwise be an unsecured side. 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  show the top plate  20  and the associated adhesive injectors  40  for placing tabs  80  on top of the coil of tubing  70 .  FIGS. 10A and 10B  show the bottom plate  30  and the associated adhesive injectors  40  for placing tabs  80  on bottom of the coil of tubing  70 .  FIG. 11  shows a cross section of the top plate  20  with adhesive injectors  40  and bottom plate  30  with adhesive injectors  40  for injecting adhesive tabs  80  on the top and bottom of the coil of tubing  70  simultaneously. 
     In another embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 12–14  the adhesive can be formed into bands  81  around coils of tubing  70 . The bands  81  are not as wide as tabs  80  in  FIG. 1  since the bands  81  are securing the tubing  70  on the top, bottom and sides of the coil of tubing  70 . The bands  81  may be even narrower than the tabs  80  which secure the coil of tubing  70  on both sides of the tubing as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8  because the adhesive now totally surrounds the coil of tubing   70 .  FIG. 14  shows how the adhesive injectors  40  in the top plate  20  and bottom plate  30  form the bands  81  of adhesive material around the coil of tubing  70  by expanding the adhesive tab cavity  42  of  FIG. 11  to adhesive tab cavity  41  of  FIG. 14  such that the adhesive flows around the coil of tubing  70 . 
     Alternatively for the banding embodiments of  FIG. 12-14  the adhesive material may be replaced by a plastic or other material which will surround and hold the tubing since the tubes are now surrounded by the material and are not held by the adhesive properties of the material. 
     Although  FIG. 14  shows adhesive material being applied through top and bottom templates, since the adhesive tab cavity  41  surrounds the tubing only one injection template is needed, although it maybe better for even and faster distribution of the adhesive material to use two injection templates. 
     In another embodiment shown in  FIG. 15  it is desired to provide an angled portion  75  of the tube  70 , which is bent at an angle toward the center of the coil to facilitate placing an object such as a lure  90  in the end of the tube  70 . 
     In order to provide the angled portion  75  such that the tubing  70  retains its angled shape, a set of top and bottom plates  120  and  130  as shown in  FIGS. 16A ,  16 B, and  17 A,  17 B are employed.  FIG. 16A  is a top cross sectional view of top plate  120  taken along line  7 — 7  of  FIG. 16B .  FIG. 17B  is a top cross sectional view of bottom plate  130  taken along line  8 — 8  of  FIG. 17A . The tube  70  is inserted into the spiral trough  25 ,  35  between partially opened plates  120  and  130  as before, however as the tube  70  reaches the end of the spiral trough  25 ,  35 , the tube follows angled portion  127 , 137  until it is stopped at the end of the trough  128 ,  138 . The plates  120  and  130  are then placed adjacent each other to firmly hold the tubing  70  for the application of adhesive tabs  80  as before. In order for the tubing to maintain its angled portion shape  75  after  extraction form the plates  120 ,  130  the tubing  70  needs to be heated to relieve the stress at its bending point  157 . When the tubing  70  cools it will then maintain its new angled configuration. 
     In order to heat the tubing  70  at its bending point  157  a pin  150  on an actuator  100  is placed in a housing  110  attached to the top template  120 . When the templates  120  and  130  are adjacent and adhesive is being injected into adhesive tab cavities  42 , pin  150  having a hot portion  151  is lowered through aperture  123  in top template  120  into aperture  133  in bottom template  130  by actuator  100  such that the hot portion  151  of pin  150  is adjacent tube  70 . The plastic tubing  70  is heated on one side thereof to relieve the stress of bending. The plastic then cools in its angled position and will remain in that angled position after it is removed from the templates  120 ,  130 . 
     The hot portion  151  of pin  150  should be adjacent one side of tube  70  for approximately 1 to 3 seconds. The hot portion  151  is preferably electrically heated to between 300 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The time and temperature varying depending on the type of tubing used. 
     The hot portion  151  of pin  150  is preferably positioned above template  120  before and after it heats tube  70 , to keep template  120  cooler such that it acts as a heat sink for cooling the tube  70  after it is heat-treated. 
     The hot portion of pin  150  has an insulation material  155  on it such as Teflon® so that it guards against scorching of the tubing  70  and promotes movement of the pin  150  along the tubing  70  without excessive friction interfering with pin  150  motion. 
     Preferably the angled portion  75  of tube  70  is angled at approximately 15 degrees to facilitate attaching the lure  90 .  
     The angled tubing can have a tab  80  on one side of the coil of tubing  70  as shown  FIG. 2  in, be held together by tabs  80  of adhesive on both sides of the coil of tubing  70  as in  FIG. 8 , or have bands  81  of adhesive as in  FIG. 13 . 
     In an alternative embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 18–21  the coil of tubing  70  angled portion  75  can be held in place without heat stressing the tubing  70  and thus eliminating the pin  150  and actuator  100  of  FIG. 16A , by banding the angled portion  75  to the coiled tubing  70  and filling the volume therebetween with adhesive as shown in  FIG. 18-19 . In order to fill in the volume between the angled portion  75  and the coiled tubing  70  a modified adhesive tab cavity  42  is used.  FIGS. 20A and 20B  show the bottom plate with adhesive band cavity  43  used on the portion of the coil with the angled portion  75  and band cavities  41  used on the remainder of the coiled tubing. 
     If the adhesive is of a type that is hot enough to heat treat the plastic tubing used in the coil then the angled tubing can be heat treated to relieve stress in the tubing caused by the angling. Otherwise the adhesive band and the adhesive filling the gap between the coil of tubing  70  and the angled portion  75  with keep the tubing in place. 
     Alternatively as above the banding  81  of the coiled tubing  70  may be replaced by tabs  80  on one or both sides of the coiled tubing  70 . 
       FIG. 21  shows adhesive added to the adhesive angled cavity  43  to hold the angled portion of tubing  75  in place with adhesive. 
       FIG. 22  shows incoming tubing to the coil held such that when it is removed from the template the incoming tubing does not uncoil from the configuration it was in while inside of the template. If the incoming portion of the tubing is not held at a point just prior to where it starts coiling on the coil it will spring out as it is removed from the template, unraveling until stopped by the first adhesive band or tab. The extended band including the incoming tube portion of tube   70  may be made by extending the adhesive band filler cavity  43  of  FIG. 20A  outward along line  10  to engulf the tube  70  in the straight portion of trough  35  just before it starts to be coiled. 
       FIG. 23  shows an embodiment of the invention in which the tubing  70  in the coil is gapped such that adhesive can flow between the tubes  70  and form a bond all around each individual tube for a larger surface area of bonding of adhesive on the tubing and a stronger band. The gapped tubing may be totally surrounded by adhesive or alternatively a tab of adhesive as in  FIGS. 1–6  may be applied between the tubes only on the top half of the tubing. 
     The invention contemplates any combination of gaps between the tubing, adjoining tubing, tabs on half the tubing, bands around the tubing, outer diameter angled portions in the band, inner diameter portion in the band, adhesive injectors on the top only, adhesive injectors on the bottom only, or adhesive injector on the top and bottom, heated adhesive or non heated adhesive, or using non adhesive material to band the tubes. 
     Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.