Patent ID: 7175406

Claim:
Apparatus for forming a plastic attachment along an end of a tube within a cavity of a mold, the tube comprising an inside surface and an outside surface, the apparatus comprising: (a) a first assembly including at least a plurality of first members adapted for gripping the tube along the outside surface thereof and for releasing the tube; (b) a second assembly adapted for moving the first members and the gripped tube between a first position spaced from the mold and a second position at the mold, at which second position the first members form a first end wall of the mold; (c) a third assembly adapted for moving to and from the mold and forming a first side wall of the mold radially outside the tube when the third assembly is at the mold; (d) a fourth assembly adapted for moving to and from the mold and for forming a second side wall of the mold radially inside the tube when the fourth assembly is at the mold; (e) a fifth assembly adapted for forming a second end wall of the mold at the end of the mold opposite the first end wall; (f) at least one inlet for passing plastic charge into the mold cavity; (g) a rotation system adapted for rotating the first assembly and thereby rotating the gripped tube around the mold cavity for distributing the plastic charge throughout the mold cavity; and (h) the fifth assembly further adapted for moving the second end wall along and between the first and second side walls, to apply pressure to plastic charge in the mold cavity, and thereby form the plastic charge into the shape of the mold walls and cavity.