US2647193A - Apparatus for producing tubular members - Google Patents

Description

y 23, 1953 c. E. COATES ET AL 2,647,193

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING TUBULAR MEMBERS Filed Dec. 28, 1951 c i I o J H I 22 m," '5: :io Z/- V; 13 H 23 26 4 INVENTORS.

CLYDE E. ConTes fiRTHuR L. WILL/HHS 21 @224? @MZM' Patented July 28, 1953 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MEMBERS- Clyde E. Goates and Arthur L williams warren, Ohio, assignors to Federal-Machine & Welder Company, Warren,.0hio,-:a; corporation of Ohio Application December 28, 1 951, serial No'. 263,928

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to apparatus for producingtubular members, more particularly to appa ratusfor forming tubular members from sheet metal, and the principal object of our invention is to provide new and improved apparatus of the character described.

In: apparatus of this nature it has been customary to provide means which cooperate to join contiguous edges of the tubular member in seam relation. These seam-forming means are generally supported at the free ends of spaced-apart arms which are secured to and project outwardly of a supporting structure. Since the tubular member is ordinarily formed about the lower arm, passed between the seam-forming means and the seam formed by pressure actuated means, it will be apparent that in forming relatively long, small diameter tubular members, the necessarily small size lower arm will have a tendency to deflect excessively, thus seriously effecting the quality of the seam.

In the prior art, this deflection has been alleviated by making the lower arm large. enough to withstand the forces involved. This, however, has led to excessively large lower arms, and in any event to lower arms so large that it hasbeen impossible to form relatively small diameter tubular members.

Our invention provides apparatus which can produce tubular members of a greater length to diameter ratiothan has been heretofore possible, while at the same time providing apparatus which is lighter and less costly than that of the prior art, and is capable of producing high.qual-- ity and uniform tubular members.

In the drawing accompanying this specifica-' tion and forming a part of this application, there is shown, for the purpose of illustration, an embodiment which our invention may assume, and in this drawing:

Figure l is a fragmentary side'elevational view of apparatus embodying our invention, and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary transversesectional view generally corresponding to the line 2-'-2 of Figure 1.

Our improved apparatus for producing a tubular member is fragmentarily shown in the drawings to comprise a main housing I and upper and lower arms i i and l [respectively which project laterally therefrom. These arms support certain mechanisms as will laterbe shown.

A plurality of rolls l3 are rotatably carried in housings I 4' supported in any suitable manner, such as by the upper arm H as herein shown, and these rolls are driven by shafts [5 which are 2 connected to" asource of power contained within the main'housing Ill: The rolls [55 comprise the roll forming unit and, as shown in Figure 2, the rolls are adapted to'form sheet material into a tubular shape so that it coils about the lower arm.

A-Z bar lit-is presently securedby any appropriate means-to the upper portion of the lower arm 12-. Vertically offset, longitudinally extendingslots are provided in opposite faces of the 2 bar as shown in Figure 2. (It is to be understood that all or part of the 2 bar may be replaced by rollers serving the same function.) This" construction is common to electric resistance welding equipment of the seam-welding typeand" detailed description is therefore believed torbeunnecessary. As will later be described, the slots in the Z bar maintain the longitudinally extending ends of the coiled sheet material in proper alignment for the subsequent seam forming operation.

the present embodiment a lug 24 projects upwardly from the 2 bar i5, and a tension rod 25,..ha ving1 abifurcated lower end portion 26, is secured: to the lug by means of pin 21. The upper end. of the rod 25' may extend into the upper arm l lyand'the-rod may be secured thereto by any desirable means, a nut 28 threaded upon the rod presently being shown.

Welding means are presently employed for joiningthe'two' edges of the coiled sheet, seam welding wheels. being. used in the embodiment illustrated in the drawing. Figure 1 shows a conventional seam welding machine comprising a lower'weldin'g-wheel l Trotatably carried by the lower arm I2, and an' upper wheel i8 rotatably c'arried 'by ahead I 9 that is slidable vertically in waysprovided by theupp'er arm I I. A fluid cylinder '20 m'a'ybearranged as shown to provide for pressure downwardly upon the head IS) in order to urgethe-welding-wheels together with the requir'ed 5 amount of I force.

The welding wheels il and it are presently drivenby the following means: A drive knurl 2| is spring pr'essed" against the periphery of the upper wheel I18, the knurl being driven from a power unit within'the housing I 0 through a shaft 22 an'da'." gear box 23. The lower wheel in this case is not'driven directly but is free to rotate with theup'pe'r wheel in response to the tangential forces produced thereby.

In operation, flat'stock may be rolled at a position removed from" the welding apparatus and the tubular form may then be disposed about the lower arm, or the rolls [3 may be positioned as shown in the drawing so that the flat stock is rolled and simultaneously positioned about the lower arm. As the stock S emerges from the rolls 13 in the presently disclosed embodiment, it may be guided by guides (not shown) so that the emerging edge enters the right-hand slot of the 2 bar 16 as viewed in Figure 2. When the trailing end of the stock drops from the rolls, it enters the left hand slot of the Z bar and this position of the stock, with both ends secured in respective slots, is shown by dot-dash lines in Figure 2.

Conventional means, not shown, may then operate to move the stock between the welding wheels for the purpose of joining the two contiguous edges together. After the stock has moved from the portion of the 2 bar adjoining the rolls l3, it will be apparent that another piece of stock may be fed to the rolls and thus another tubular member formed.

As disclosed in Figure 1, the rod 25 is disposed between the forming rolls l3 and the weld wheels ll-lS. Thus, the tubular member may be formed by the rolls l3 and the longitudinal edges may be positioned in the slots of the 2 bar prior to the time the tubular member is moved toward the weld wheels lll8. Accordingly, the tubular member is held clear of the rod 25 and its connection with the lower arm I2 and no interference therebetween is set up since the tubular member leaves the 2 bar after it has passed the rod 25. The rod 25 forms a brace between the arms to eifectively minimize deflection thereof which is ordinarily caused by pressure application of the weld wheels.

In View of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have accomplished at least the principal object of our invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that our invention is not limited thereto.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for joining contiguous edges of sheet material formed to tubular shape comprising joining means including at least two members adapted to clamp said contiguous edges therebetween, arm means supporting one of said members, said arm means extending outwardly of a support and through said tubular shape, positioning means secured to said arm means for holding said contiguous edges in predetermined alignment, and means secured to a support and connectable to saidpositioning means for supporting an extended portion of said arm means.

2. Apparatus for joining contiguous edges of sheet material formed to tubular shape comprising welding electrodes arranged to join said contiguous edges, arm means supporting one of said electrodes, said arm means extending outwardly of a support and through said tubular shape, Z bar means secured to said arm means for holding said contiguous edges in predetermined alignment, and means connectable to said 2 bar means for supporting an extended portion of said arm means.

3. Apparatus for joining contiguous edges of sheet material formed to tubular shape comprising a support, spaced-apart upper and lower arms secured to and extending outwardly of said support, a seam-welding wheel carried by each arm in spaced relation with respect to said support, Z bar means secured to said lower arm for holding said contiguous edges in predetermined alignment, and means connecting said Z bar means to said upper arm for minimizing deflection of said arms.

4. Apparatus for producing tubular members from sheet material comprising a support, spaced-apart upper and lower arms secured to and extending outwardly of said support, means for forming said sheet material to a tubular shape and for disposing said tubular shape about said lower arm, a seam-welding wheel carried by each arm in spaced relation with respect to said support, said seam-welding wheels being arranged to join the contiguous edges of said tubular shape, 2 bar means secured to said lower arm for holding said contiguous edges in predetermined alignment, and means connecting said Z bar means to said upper arm for minimizing deflection of said arms.

5. Apparatus for producing tubular members from sheet material comprising a support, spaced-apart upper and lower arms secured to and extending outwardly of said support, a plurality of rolls for forming said sheet material to a tubular shape, said rolls being arranged in manner to cause said tubular shape to coil about said lower arm, a seam-welding wheel carried by each arm in spaced relation with respect to said support, said seam-welding wheels being arranged to join the contiguous edges of said tubular shape, 2 bar means secured to said lower arm for holding said contiguous edges in predetermined alignment, and means connecting said 2 bar means to said upper arm for minimizing deflection of said arms.

6. Apparatus for producing tubular members from sheet material comprising a support, a pair of arms extending from said support in spacedapart relation, a seam welding wheel carried by each arm in position spaced from said support, roll means for forming the sheet material to tubu- Iar form and for disposing such tubular form about one of said arms between the weld wheel carried thereby and said support, a Z bar carried by said one arm and having means for receiving the contiguous edge surfaces of said tubular form when the latter is disposed about said one arm and holding said edge surfaces in predetermined relation, said receiving means being elongated in the longitudinal direction of said one arm, roviding for feed of said tubular form to said eld wheels, said edge surfaces leaving said rec iving means and entering between said weld wh els and being joined by pressure and heat eifected by said weld wheels, and brace means extending between'said arms for opposing deflection thereof caused by operation of said weld wheels, said Z bar holding said tubular form clear of said brace means.

CLYDE E. COATES. ARTHUR L. WILLIAMS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 904,771 Fulton Nov. 24, 1908 1,133,578 Rietzel et al. Mar. 30, 1915

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