Claims
- 1. A method of conveying and rotating tube stock for tooling finishing on an end of each of the stock, the method comprising the steps of:
- A. rotating the tube stock with rollers that are rotated with a predetermined surface speed by means of a rotary drive,
- B. overrunning the rotary drive of the rollers by engaging the tube stock with a second drive means driving said tube at a predetermined greater speed, thereby allowing the rollers to rotate freely, and
- C. rotating the stock faster for tooling finishing by the second drive means to provide constant non-slipping contact between the stock and rollers to reduce abrasion and improve tooled finish appearance and quality.
- 2. A method as defined in claim 1 in which the stock is heated before step B.
- 3. A method as defined in claim 1 in which steps B and C are performed simultaneously.
- 4. A method of moving glass tubes by translating and rotating each tube prior to forming an end finishing operation on the tube at a finishing station, the method comprising the steps of:
- A. conveying glass tubes in a generally horizontal path by means of rotatable conveyor rollers arranged for adjacent rollers to rotatably support said glass tubes and a drive for translating the rollers througlh said finishing station,
- B. rotating each tube in the nip between said two adjacent rollers at a first rate,
- C. heating each tube prior to the end finishing operation,
- D. rotating the tubes by a separate drive engaging the tubes running at a second rate that is faster than said first rate just prior to the end finishing operation, and
- E. simultaneously disengaging the rotary drive from the rollers by overrunning the rotation of the tubes through said separate drive to cause the rollers to rotate faster than the drive of the rollers and maintain a constant and nonslipping contact of the rollers and the tubes.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 280,579 filed July 6, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,776 granted Feb. 28, 1984.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
280579 |
Jul 1981 |
|