Patent ID: 7398813

Claim:
A device for welding plastic tubes comprising a tube loading station, a first tube holder having first and second parallel tube holding areas, a second tube holder having a first tube holding area in line with said first tube holding area of said first tube holder when said tube holders are in said tube loading station whereby a first tube may be placed in said aligned first tube holding areas across a location where said tube holders are adjacent each other and whereby a second tube may be placed in said second tube holding area at a location where said tube holders are adjacent each other, a tube clamp in each of said first tube holding areas of said tube holders for clamping the first tube to create a generally fluid free area of the first tube where said clamps are clamping against the first tube, at least one of said tube clamps being laterally movable with respect to the other of said tube clamps while said tube clamps are in the clamping condition to increase the length of the fluid free area of the first tube and to create an enlarged gap between said tube clamps at a stripping station, said tube holders being movable to a cutting station with said clamps maintained in the clamping condition, a non-heated cutting device in said cutting station located for cutting through the first tube at the gap between said tube clamps and being capable of cutting through the second tube at a location between said aligned second tube holding areas to create two cut stub ends from the cut first tubes and with the second tube having at least one stub end, said tube holders being movable to a heating/melting station with said clamps maintained in the clamping condition, a heating device in said heating/melting station for heating/melting the stub ends of the tubes, realigning structure for realigning the tube holding areas so that one of said tube holding areas of said first tube holder becomes aligned with a tube holding area of said second tube holder to dispose a heated/melted stub end of the first tube toward and in alignment with a heated/melted stub end of the second tube, and lateral shifting structure for moving the aligned stub ends of the first tube and the second tube into contact with each other and become welded together at a welding station.