Patent GB-590653-A (GB)
Title: Method and means for forming corrugated tube from a strip
IPC: B21C37/12
Filed: 1944-09-20
Abstract: 590,653. Making tubes. TITEFLEX, Inc. Sept. 20, 1944, No. 17971. Convention date, Aug. 18, 1943. [Classes 83 (ii) and 83 (iv)] Angular bending; coiling helical tubes ; seaming.-Mechanism for forming a corrugated tube from a strip comprises in combination a member about which the strip passes, a rotatable reaction roller embraced by said member, the roller being eccentric to the member and the member having an opening at one side permitting co-operation of the reaction roller with a sealing roller, the sealing and reaction rollers having cooperating grooves and ridges adapted to interfold marginal portions of the strip. A flat strip of metal 1 is drawn from a reel over guide pulleys 2 and 4 and then between three pairs of co-operating rolls 5, 6 ; 7, 8 ; 9, 10, Fig. 1, by which the strip is successively bent until on leaving the rolls 9, 10 it has the form shown in Fig. 6. Each of the rolls 6, 8 and 10 is movable away from its co-operating roll for adjustment or inspection of the strip, being mounted as shown in Fig. 3. Each roll is carried by a spindle 11 mounted in a block 12 pivotally mounted on a pin 13. A handle 17 containing a spring-pressed plunger 15 is pivoted at 220 and may be moved so that the plunger engages either the right-hand corner of a recess 14 in the block in which case the roll on the spindle 11 would be pressed against its co-operating stationary roll or the left-hand corner of the recess in which case the block is swung anticlockwise as shown in the Figure, carrying the roll away from the stationary roll. The strip comprising a central fold or groove 100 with marginal portions bent respectively into a curled-over part 102, 103 and into a rightangled bend 101<1> is now fed into the seaming device. This comprises end pieces 20, 21 spaced apart by a cylinder 23, Fig. 9, the central space 22 being filled with oil for the lubrication of the device. A driven shaft 27 mounted in the member 21 drives a member 32 mounted in the end piece 20 through a known form of universal coupling 28, 31. A shaft 34 fixed to the member 32 extends up through a bore in the piece 20 and through a member 35 and at its upper end carries a mandrel 36 adapted to receive the completed tube. The member 35 is fixed in the end piece 20 and serves as a mounting for a sleeve 37 having an integral gear 39 by which it is rotated from the shaft 27 through gears 43, 42, shaft 41 and gear 40. At its upper end the sleeve is formed as an internal reaction roller having projections 38 of the correct size and angle to enter the groove 100 of the strip as it is being formed into a tube. A split housing 44 for the sleeve 37 has an upstanding crescent-shaped portion 45, Fig. 18, also shaped on its exterior surface with helical projections to co-operate with the tube and with stripper rollers 45<1> and 46..The seaming roll 47 and the two stripper rolls are mounted equidistantly around the shaft 34 with their axes inclined at the correct angle for co-operation with the helical corrugations of the tube being formed. Roll 46 is mounted on a shaft 48 in a sleeve 49, Fig. 11, rotatable about a fixed shaft 51. A gear 61 on the driven shaft 27 drives through gearing a member 58 of a universal coupling, the other member 55 of which is geared to the shaft 48 of the roll 46. Similarly, the other two rolls are also driven from the shaft 27. In order to allow adjustment and inspection of the strip, the sleeve 49 is rockable about the shaft 51 by means of a handle and plunger similar to that described with reference to Fig. 3 for adjusting the rolls 6, 8 and 10. The other two rolls of the seaming device are similarly movable to and from the work. In operation, the strip, formed as shown in Fig. 6 enters between the member 38 and the seaming roller 47. The curled-over part 102, 103 of the entering convolution is pushed over the end 101<1> of the previous convolution and then bent up and pressed to form a double seam, Fig. 20. If desired, a thread of solder 113 may be included in the seam which is then subsequently heated to form a soldered joint. The solder thread is preferably looped around a spring-pressed pulley carrying electric contacts so that the drive of the shaft 27 is interrupted if the thread breaks. When the newly seamed portion of the tube leaves the seaming roll it is fed upwards by means of the helical guide grooves on the member 45 and the rolls 45<1> and 46, which rolls, together with the seaming roll 47 and member 38 act also to rotate the tube and feed the strip. Specification 101,418, [Class 83 (ii)], is referred to.