Patent ID: 7695420

Claim:
A machine for producing a tubular product by helical winding of strips of web material, comprising a mandrel, a winding member arranged to helically wind strips of web material about said mandrel and form a continuous tube; and a rotating disk-shaped cutter arranged to cooperate with said mandrel to cut the continuous tube into individual tubular products, wherein said disk-shaped cutter is carried by a rotating arm, and wherein said mandrel has a first section with a cross-section of a first diameter in an area where said cutter contacts the continuous tube being formed about said mandrel, a second section with a cross-section of a second diameter upstream of said first section, and a third section with a cross-section of a third diameter downstream of said first section, wherein said first diameter is narrower than each of the second diameter and the third diameter, the second diameter and the third diameter each corresponding to an inner diameter of the continuous tube formed about said mandrel.