STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS

Abstract

“STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FROM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS” for machines that produce spiraled tubes (1) or pipes from continuous strips (2) that are wound on a roll (3), forming first a profile of at least one continuous flat strip (2) of metal or any other type of smooth material, which after the profiling process are spiraled and interlocked to itself to form a continuous segment of spiraled pipe (1) or hose and that the strips (2) raw materials are usually provided and stored in the form of pancakes, rolls (3) or coils. The strip is fed from the storage area to the initial profiling stage of the process by means of a feeding mechanism (4) in such manner that at least one strip (2) is unwound by guides (5) and induced in a spiral pathway (6) along the machine axis (7), and that in order to keep the strip (2) on the said spiraled trajectory (6) the system includes secondary guides (10) which together with the primary guides (5) act as to limit the deformation and bending of the strip (2).

Description

This application for a patent, its description, and claims is regarding to an inventive solution in matters of the system for transporting raw materials within a coiled tube forming machine that can be translated as raw material feeder equipment for material which are presented in the form of strips, profiles or wires with 10 defined features.

The unique equipment was designed with the aim to simplify the transportation of raw materials stored on reels, rolls, or coils, from its storage position especially to the initiation point of the profiling process for forming continuous spiraled tubes.

BACKGROUND FOR THE INVENTION:

i. Field of the Invention

The presented invention relates to strip profiling machines as a general and more specifically, to an apparatus for making spiraled tubes or pipes from continuous strips that are interlocked.

ii. Description of the Prior Art

A brief explanation is presented about the state of the art for machinery that process strips for the production of spiraled tubes or pipes, as well as the way these types of machines and processes are being fed. It will be possible for an expert technician to recognize the aspects that guide the development needs and technological advances which are the basis for the innovations presented in this patent application.

The prior art shows examples of all sorts in relation to the transportation and processing of metal strips. This prior art is clearly shown in the patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,008; FR 83,194,74; U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,829; U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,596, among others.

The U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,980 patent of Nov. 15, 1988 is regarding an apparatus for making helically wound interlocked flexible pipe and includes a rotating head mounted for rotation about a main shaft which center of rotation coincides with the geometrical length axis of the flexible pipe being formed. The raw material is stored at the rear end of the machine in the form of strips, which are wound on bobbins. The strip is guided from the rear to some point at the front of the machine parallel to the machine axis through a channel in the main shaft. To reach the front of the machine the strip undergoes drastic changes in the feeding direction on its trajectory. The system further includes a rewinding system to load the strip onto the storage bobbins.

The U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,008 patent of Apr. 19, 1988 is an equipment to form spiraled pipes from metal strips. The strip is unwound from the inner diameter of the coil, which is located directly around the pipe forming process.

The FR 83,194,74 patent of Dec. 6, 1983 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,276) refers to equipment designed to make a continuous tubular structure from metal strips. The metal strip is perpendicularly fed to the axis of the machine to forming rollers, which are mounted on same machine face on which the raw material is stored, and which rotates around a horizontal axis. The equipment further has a set of pressure rollers positioned around a mandrel to interlock the profiled strip, and thereby form the tubular structure. The mandrel rotates in a direction opposite to the direction of the plate.

The U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,829 patent of May 30, 2000 refers to equipment for producing a spiraled tubular structure from two grooved profiles delivered from two separate coils. The feeding of the profiles is parallel and linear in relation to the rotating axis and applies a variable tensioning device to maintain control of the process.

The U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,596 patent of Feb. 16, 1988 refers to equipment for the production of coiled tube from a metal strip. The strip is supplied from coils and transformed in to a profile, which is spiraled without being interlocked. The interlocking process occurs in a second phase where the axial speed is greater than the axial speed of the spiraling process. This differential in axial speed causes the interlocking of the spiraled profile.

As can be concluded the machines that produce interlocking coiled tubes, also known as housing, or carcass, are common in the state of technology. The tubes are produced from a profile derived from a continuous strip of flat metal or other smooth material, profiled and subsequently spiraled and interlocked to form a continues segment of hose or tube.

The strips or tapes are usually stored in the machine in the form of pancake rolls, coils, or bobbins, which are located at the front or rear end of the machine. The strip is traditionally transported from the storage area to processing point in a pathway perpendicular to the rotating axis, linearly aligned to this axis, or in a combination of the two forms, linear and perpendicular, requiring dramatic changes in the transportation direction of the strip.

Strips with large cross-sections or made of resistant materials are difficult to bend and thus presents great difficulties its transportation between the coil and the point of processing and profiling, especially when needing to undergo dramatic changes in the transportation direction along its way. The previously applied solution for this difficulty was to position the coil eccentric on front side of the machine, in such a manner that the strip is fed perpendicular to the machine axis into the profiling process without inducing any significant twisting or bending of the strip.

The previous applied solutions for stocking and transportation of raw materials present a number of disadvantages:

• • Storing raw material eccentric on the front side of the machine only permits the storage of small amounts of raw materials. As a result the machine needs to be re-stocked frequently with new batches of raw materials, resulting in frequent and long interruption of the productive process. As a consequence the machine can only reach a low level of overall productivity.
  • The storage of raw materials in an eccentric position creates large centrifugal forces, which need to be offset by the incorporation of a counter balancing system which compensates for the eccentric weight of the stored raw materials. As the raw material is being consumed by the profiling and tube forming process, the eccentric weight of stored material changes and as such the counter balancing system needs to be continuously adjusted during the production process.
  • In the case of strips of thin and flexible raw material it is possible to store this material at the rear of the machine. This allows the storage of large amounts of materials, and the storage can be concentrically located around the machine axis. The transportation of the material from the back to the front end of the machine is traditionally executed in a pathway that results in a combination of feed directions perpendicular and linear to the machine axis. This requires a number of drastic changes in the position of the strip during its trajectory.

The aim of this invention is to simplify the pathway of the stored raw material to the processing area within the machine. The presented invention of “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS” is anchored in the concept of transporting the raw material a spiraled pathway parallel along the rotational axis of the machine. This concept in particularly provides advantages when processing strips with large cross sections, or made of resistant and/or inflexible materials. The pathway of the strip in this proposed solution eliminates drastic changes in the material pathway which reduces the material deformations and as a result reduces the creation of undesired internal material tensions.

As a practical consequence of the present invention, there is no need to balance eccentric forces, which are eliminated due to the storage positioning concentric to the machine axis.

The storage system which is located at the rear end of the machine allows for increased capacity of strip thus reducing the number of production interruptions for the loading of raw materials. It also includes an optional second storage area, which allows the supply of raw material time parallel time to the pipe formation process.

Since there are no sharp bends along the route of the tape, the transport of the material requires much less effort which allows for a better control of the feeding process.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presented system, showing the material feeding system to the profiling operation;

FIG. 2 represents a side view of the presented invention, showing the spiraled pathway for the raw material from the storage area to the front end of the equipment;

FIG. 3 represents the top view of the presented invention showing the spiraled pathway for the raw material from the storage area to the front end of the equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description should be read and interpreted with reference to the presented figures. These figures are presented for explanatory purpose, and not with the intention to limit the scope of the invention.

STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS:

The machine that produce spiraled pipes (1) from continuous strips (2) of material that are wound on a coil (3) or bobbin, forming first a profile of at least one continuous flat strip (2) of metal or any other type of smooth material, which after the profiling process, is spiraled and interlinked to itself to form a continuous segment of spiraled pipe or hose. (1) This process results in a flexible and structural tubular member, which can be either the final product or the first layer of a multiple layered pipe or tube. This first layer is commonly referred to as “Carcass” (1).

The raw material strip (2) is generally supplied in bobbins, coils, or pancakes (3) and stored at the rear end of the machine. The strip may be amended in the form of weidmends to produce long length of profiles and pipes. In case the machine is equipped with multiple storage compartments (3), the reloading of these compartments can be executed during machine operation (time parallel to the pipe production) or during machine stoppages. The raw materials storage areas (3) can be adjusted in width to allow different sizes of raw material strips (2).

The presented invention “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS” for machines that produce spiraled tubes (1) or pipes, from continuous strips (2) of metal or any other type of smooth material that are wound on pancakes (3), coils or bobbins, forming first a profile of at least one continuous flat strip (2). After the profiling process the pre-formed strip (12) is spiraled and interlocked to itself to form a continuous segment of spiraled pipe (1) or hose. The raw material is fed to the machine from the storage area (3) by a strip feeding mechanism (4) in such manner that at least one strip (2) is unwound by guides (5) and induced in a spiraled pathway along the main machine axis (7), which takes the strip to the entry point of a profiling box (8), and that said guides (5) ensure that the strip (2) passes over cylindrical and/or conical rollers (9) in such a manner that it induces a slight twist in the strip (2) to start following the said spiraled pathway (6). In order to maintain the strip (2) on the said spiraled trajectory (6) the system includes secondary guides (10) which together with the primary guides (5) act as to limit the deformation and bending of the strip (2). The strip feeder mechanism (4) controls the feed rate of the strip (2) by means of tension and/or speed in order to provide synchronization with the speed of the profiling system (8) and subsequently the rate that the profiled strip (12) is supplied to the pressurizing rolls (11). The pressurizing rolls (11) functionally operate in parallel both as guides and pressurizing elements to finalize the interlocking of the profiled strip (12) which was previously formed by the profiling box (8). The profiling box (8) include an arrangement of sets of profiling rolls mounted in a particular sequence on shafts (13) which are driven and which can be adjusted to allow for variations in pressure, strip size and profile. The profiling box (8) is mounted directly on the rotating main face plate (14) of the machine, or on an adaptor system (15) which allows to adjust the profiling box (8) position in such a manner that is possible to directly feed the profiled strip (12) into the pressurizing rolls (11) while maintaining flexibility to produce spiraled pipes (1) with different profiles, diameters and thickness.

In a further constructive variation, the machine is constructed with a through-bore in the length direction of the main shaft (7) to allow the passing of a primary element which can serve as the center element of the spiraled pipe. (1)

A mandrel (16) rotates in the same direction as the main shaft (7), however at a slower rate, thereby avoiding the gripping between the spiraled pipe (1) and the mandrel (16).

Claims

1- “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS” for machines which form spiraled pipes (1) processes strips (2) of rolls of material (3), first forming a profile from one or more continuous strips (2) of flat metal or other smooth material, which are subsequently spiraled and interlocked to form a continuous length of spiraled pipe (1) or hose and that said strips (2) of raw materials are usually provided in the form of pancakes (3), bobbins or coils, characterized by the fact that said machines utilize a feeding mechanism (4) in such manner that at least one strip (2) is unwound by guides (5) and induced in a spiral pathway (6) along the main machine axis (7) which takes the strip to the entry point of a profiling box (8), and that said guides (5) ensure that the strip (2) passes over cylindrical and/or conical rollers (9) in such a manner that induces a twist in the strip (2) to start following the said spiraled pathway (6), in order to keep the strip (2) on the said spiraled trajectory (6) the system includes secondary guides (10) which together with the primary guides (5) act as to limit deformation and bending of the strip (2).

2- “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS” according to claim 1, characterized by fact that the equipment feeder mechanism (4) controls the feed rate of strip (2) by means of tension and/or speed in order to provide synchronization with the speed of the profiling system (8) and subsequently the rate that the profiled strip (12) is supplied to the pressurizing roils (11), which functionally operate in parallel both as a guides and pressurizing elements to finalize the interlocking of the profiled strip (12) previously formed by the profiling box (8).

3- “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS”, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it includes a profiling box (8) with an arrangements of sets of profiling rolls mounted in a particular sequence of shafts (13) which are drive and adjusted to allow for variations in pressure, strip size and profile.

4- “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS”, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the profiling box (8) is mounted directly on the rotating main face plate (14) of the machine, or on an adapter system (15) which allows to adjust the profiling box (8) position in such a manner that it is possible to directly feed the profiled strip (12) into the pressurizing rolls (11) while maintaining the flexibility to produce spiraled pipes (1) with different profiles, diameters and thickness.

5- “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS”, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that in a constructive variation, the main machine shaft (7) contains a through bore in its length direction in order to allow the passing of a primary element which can serve as the center element of the spiraled pipe (1).

6- “STRIP GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR MACHINES THAT FORM PIPES FROM CONTINUOUS PROFILED AND SPIRALLED STRIPS” according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it include a mandrel (16) which rotates in the same direction as the main shaft (7), however at a slower rate, thereby avoiding the gripping between the spiraled pipe (1) and the mandrel (16).