The object of the present invention is a machine for forming, by means of pressurized fluids, and for profiling, by means of profiling tools, a metal tubular product, for instance a pipe, in one work cycle. Another object of said machine is to form in the same production cycle a metal tubular product, for instance a pipe, in two different non-adjacent portions by using two injectors, as well as to form said tubular product in two adjacent portion by using one injector
Machines are known for profiling metal tubular products, for instance a pipe, here below shortly referred to as “pipe”, to perform rolling, tapering, flaring, molding, calibration, and/or other similar operations.
Machines are also known for forming pipes capable of performing one or several expansions of the pipe wall, which operation is called forming, by using high or very high pressure fluids. Such machines are capable of performing an expansion of the pipe wall in one portion only thereof.
A drawback of the known machines is thus in that they are capable of either profiling or forming a pipe. Also, they are not capable of forming a pipe, by creating expansions of the surface, in two different portions of a pipe in one forming cycle only. Such drawbacks oblige the companies to buy two different machines, i.e. one for forming and one for profiling, which means occupying space and charging workers with the task of handling pipes from the forming machines to the profiling one. Another drawback is in that the forming operation shall be repeated should it be necessary to perform such operations in different non-continuous portions of a pipe.
The drawbacks of the known machines are solved by a machine according to the present invention
The present invention provides a machine equipped with a pusher suitable for pushing the pipe to be machined to a position suitable for being clamped by a vise. In the external portion(s) destined to form said pipe, there are placed one or several female molds suitable for determining the form(s) desired for such pipe following the expansion thereof thanks to the high or very high pressure that the inner wall of the pipe is submitted to. Such pressure is obtained by means of an injector introduced inside the pipe. Such injector, fed with a pressurized liquid via a fluid-dynamics control unit, is provided with at least one radial channel which allows to retain the high or very high pressure liquid in the desired zone so as to deform the inner wall of the pipe. Such inner wall, by adhering to the mentioned mold(s), gets the desired profile.
The injector is provided with one retractable gasket, another feature of which is in that it is self-centering during the expansion step, i.e. before the high or very high pressure liquid goes out. Such feature of the gasket makes it possible and in a very advantageous manner the adhesion of the gasket to the inner wall of the pipe, thus increasing the effectiveness of the injector.
The present invention provides an injector having two radial channels which make it possible to retain the high or very high pressure liquid in the desired zone in order to deform the inner wall of the pipe. Said injector is also equipped with two gaskets having the above illustrated features, i.e. those of being retractable and self-centering during the expansion step. Such injector makes it possible to perform a pipe forming in continuous portions thereof in one and the same work cycle. Such pipe forming is obtained in known machines by using two conventional injectors. An injector with two gaskets according to the present invention is thus capable of reducing the number of the work cycles.
The known machines make it possible to form one end only of a pipe during one work cycle. A machine according to the present invention makes it possible to form both ends of a pipe in one and the same work cycle. It includes a second injector in a position specular with respect to the first injector. In this way, said second injector can form the other end of the pipe in a similar way as that illustrated in the previous paragraphs in one and the same work cycle. Said second injector can also be provided with one radial channel only and one gasket only or with two radial channels and two gaskets, thus increasing the flexibility and the forming capabilities of a machine according to the present invention. The combinations of the injectors used of a machine according to the present invention are numerous. Such machine can have one injector with one gasket and the other injector with two gaskets or two injectors with two gaskets.
The two injectors with two gaskets each can operate at different pressures because the fluid-dynamics control unit is equipped with means suitable for simultaneously feeding each injector with fluids at different pressures. In other words, the mentioned control unit can feed, for instance, the first injector with a fluid at 1200 Bars and simultaneously feed the second injector with a fluid at 400 Bars. The mentioned control unit is thus suitable for feeding the injectors with two gaskets with fluids at different pressures, which means apparent advantages in productivity. Two different formings of a tubular product can be made with one injector by using that injector only.
The machine according to the present invention is also capable of profiling a pipe formed during one and the same work cycle. In order to advantageously achieve such result, a battery of profiling tools is placed next to at least one of the two injectors. When pipe forming is over, the injector moves back, goes out of the pipe, and moves along the X axis or along the Z axis, thus leaving space for the operation of the profiling tool specified by the work cycle. Remember that such tools can be tools to perform rolling, tapering, flaring, molding, calibration, and/or other similar operations.
b show a partial cross-sectional representation of an injector with two gaskets.
A battery (7) of profiling tools is located next to the first injector (6),
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102016000033912 | Apr 2016 | IT | national |
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Entry |
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Battery—Google Definition Mar. 24, 2019 (Year: 2019). |
Specular—Google Definition Mar. 24, 2019 (Year: 2019). |
Joint—Google Definition Mar. 24, 2019 (Year: 2019). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170282233 A1 | Oct 2017 | US |